Around the Top

Sunday 18 May

A slow sail got us from Cairns to the Low Isles along some of the most beautiful coastal scenery. Surprisingly we found 9 yachts at anchor. Half of them were on the Darwin/Kupang Rally list. The fridge is still working ok, but we noticed some issues with our house batteries. It seems we will have to do something about them before we leave Australia.

Monday 19 May

We left just before sunrise for Hope Island and soon were followed by all others and quickly overtaken by some. This time we took a little pass between the two neighbouring reefs arriving at low tide. It was easy to find our way into the half lagoon dodging some coral heads. At high tide of course the sandbanks and reef were no longer exposed and we put up with the chop.

Tuesday 20 May – Thursday 22 May

This was probably our best sailing so far. Both sails up, beam reach, around 14 knots wind. No wonder we averaged 6 knots. But we still arrived at Lizard Island after dark, due to our late start. We wanted enough sunlight to see all potential coral hazards on our way out of Hope Island. On our way we easily passed the boat that passed us late the day before. When we talked to him later, his comment was “you left us for dead”. I couldn’t have put it nicer myself. 10 miles before Lizard a Securetay call came through about some kind of bombing exercise taking place within 5 miles of Lizard. Soon an Australian Warship past us and we watched some nice display of bombing taken place northwest of us.

The following morning, we moved a bit closer to the beach. Arriving at night make us just a little bit more careful, and we stayed out further than normal. About a dozen boats were anchored here. We were just contemplating what to do on this beautiful day when a dinghy came past, informing us that a group of cruisers would walk to Coconut Beach at nine. Would we like to come? Of course we would!

It was a nice walk with a lot of nice people, and we talked all the way. When I thought we had reached our destination, the fun really started. We had to climb over a rather steep ridge, and the other side looked like bare rock. But there was a way, and for the steepest part there were some ropes to hang on to. In our rush to join the group, I had packed the wine instead of the water. The white shiraz in a spring water bottle looks the same as water mixed with Ribina. But others shared theirs, so we survived without getting drunk.

The beach really had coconut trees, and provided the usual scenery of windward beaches: Beautiful sand, and rubbish at the high water mark. Plastic bottles, thongs (never a matching pair), even a plastic chair. The children in the group found some Nautilus shells, more items for the on-board collection. Some people opened coconuts to taste, even some green ones for the milk (very nice) and the soft flesh. We were back at the boat about 2pm.

Drinks on the beach, and more talk about issues and future plans. This was a very pleasant day. Our plan was to scale Cook’s Look on the following day, this time we took water, and we needed it. It was close to two hours up a rather steep hill, and from our heart rate we could tell that our fitness has suffered considerably. But it was worth it, and we wrote our names in the book at the summit. We met some people who stayed at the resort, younger and fitter than us. The way down was a lot easier, and we finally saw a goanna. It was Lizard Island after all. On the last rock, I slipped, and the Admiral called out in German: “Not on the last few metres!”. This resulted in a couple sitting on the beach addressing us in German. Well, you never know who you meet.

We also had to sample the reef, but we were rather too exhausted. Our snorkelling lasted only for an hour, mainly to cool us down after the walk. Drinks on the beach, more talk, and temporary good-byes to those who chose to stay a bit longer.

Friday 23 May

A long and mostly uninteresting sail (72 miles) past Cape Melville to Bathurst Bay, only interrupted by our first significant fishing success. We caught a Spanish Mackerel on a trolling lure. It was just over legal size (75 cm). The fish landed in the cockpit, leapt and fought with great agility trying to spit out the lure. All between my feet. Within seconds there was blood all over and the fish was still well alive. I realised the autopilot wasn’t even switched on. So I climbed on top of the bench and continued steering while Mike killed our dinner. The slaughter and filleting made an ever bigger mess and it took Mike over one hour to clean up. But the fish was excellent tasting and very fresh of course.

Saturday 24 May

Another long sail (75 miles) with arrival at Morris Island, a coral reef with a tiny cay on it, after dark. The wind freshened during the late afternoon to over 20 knots, and we had a beam swell. It was not pleasant and very tiring. The only remarkable event was the attack of the flying fish. We saw some jumping (flying) about 4m high and 10m in distance. One of them attacked me, but was foiled by the lifeline. Three scales marked the spot where contact was made. Now I know why we need the lifelines!

When we arrived, there were already another three boats anchored, and that helped us to find a protected spot. We skipped dinner and went straight to bed, we were just exhausted.

Sunday 25 May – Friday 30 May

The forecast does not sound nice, there is a strong wind warning for Torres Straight to Cooktown. We decided to move a bit closer to the next destination and sailed 20 miles to Night Island. This is also protected from East and Southeast winds, so we should have another peaceful night. The wind appears to calm down in the mornings, and freshens by mid-morning and easing of at late afternoon. So behind Night Is we stayed 2 nights (hence the name). We are considering to ignore the forecast and sail short legs of about 40 miles. This should get us to Portland Roads tomorrow, and Cape Grenville the day after. Hopefully then the forecast will be less than the current 25-30 knots.

Well, it was again 20-25 knots, and we moved to Portland Roads. It consists of a handful of houses and a telephone box. I took my change, and all was fine until I tried to speak. The microphone did not work, and my dollar stayed in there as well. We did not even see one crocodile, although there was an interesting warning sign. It said basically that launching a dinghy is close to suicide. The Admiral was rather worried. I talked to another cruiser, and he confirmed that he had seen crocodiles on the beach where we had parked our dinghy. Another close shave for us!

The sail to Margaret Bay was fast and uncomfortable. Gusts got up to 30 knots, and that makes it hard not to spill the drink. But we are another 45 miles closer to the top.

Our next stop was Bushy Islet, due to the fact that we could not make it to the Escape river before dark. For the first time we felt the outgoing tide to be a disadvantage. When we got there at low tide a was very calm but soon the big sandbank disappeared and the rolling started. The good thing is that we are now less than 40 Miles from Cape York, and tomorrow we will leave the Coral Sea behind us.

Saturday 31 May and 1st June

Off at sunrise we sailed slowly in light winds. Outgoing tide slowing us again. But that was ok because we needed to get to the Albany Passage not before low tide. According to the cruising guide it should be at 2 pm. We were spot on getting there after catching a spotty Mackerel to slowly make our way through pushing 3 knots tide. But the good thing was we could enjoy the scenery a bit longer. One comment was “This passage is nicer than Nara Inlets. 2nd after Hinchinbrook Channel”. Due to the tide being wrong that afternoon we anchored around the corner 3 miles short of Cape York. We were just sitting down with a coffee when the AIS receiver went off with the message: Dangerous vessel approaching. We pressed the button and saw a red triangle racing through the passage. Soon another Navy ship went past us within 0,3 of a mile and we had this beautiful place all for ourselves. On Sunday morning we had the tide in our favour and left with a very light breeze. So we were pushed by the tide around Australia under a cloudless sky. After rounding the breeze picked up a little and the tide picked up a lot. Soon we were doing nearly 12 knots speed over ground. So we zipped past Possession Island before we could even see it properly. High tide got us into Seisia. Nice palm fringed beaches. Turquoise water and a very hot day.(32 degree). If it weren’t for the crocodiles, a swim would be on the menu.
The weather forecast for the crossing of the Gulf looks good. The winds should be light due to the high being slow.

I’m not sure about internet access in Gove. We’ll update again when we get an opportunity.

Until then
Take care

Rosi & Mike