1st to 30th September 2005

Thursday 1st September 2005   -   Day 190   -   Yorkeys Knob to Double Island

We’re off today so pay our fees and leave Half Moon Bay Marina at 1000 hours.  Forecast is for 15—20 knots increasing to 25 knots during the day but we are only going to Double Island, 6 nm away.  Can’t stay in the marina forever at $25 per day.  8 days and the bill was $200—soon empties the kitty.  True wind at present is around 15 knots and we are sailing with the Genoa at around 4—5 knots with a bit of a side swell.  There’s no hurry.  We have just been through a rain shower.  Maybe, now it is Spring, the weather may start improving.  We have just sailed past Carol’s unit and she was on the balcony waving certain parts of her body at us and taking photos.  We couldn't really see herjust the flash from her camera.  I asked her if we looked small and she said “No”, we looked good.  We are sailing so slowly that she can probably see us an hour later as we pass Palm Cove.  We can see the public jetty from here.  Anchored at Double Island at 1230 hours and there is a couple of trawlers and a huge motor cruiser here too.  Not only does the motor cruiser have a really nice tender he has two jet skis as well.  He left after lunch and did some really weird things.  At first we thought he had gone aground but then we thought that maybe it was a new boat and was doing sea trials.  It certainly looked new.  He kept going forward a tad and then reversing a tad.  He’s gone now.  Started painting some coasters for Christmas presents.  Hmm—not fantastic but I’m getting better—I think?  The first set is for Moo as I know she will think of the hours that have gone into them and, hopefully, not be too critical.  And, remember, the boat is bouncy all of the time and I only paint away from marinas when I am at an anchorage.  It is a little bit swelly here but it feels secure.  We may go somewhere else tomorrow but we need to stay local as Geoff has another specialist appointment on Wednesday.  The trawlers are off to start their trawling and we are now all alone here apart from a small cruise ship anchored closer to Palm Cove..  Tony sent a text message to say he had seen us anchored behind Double Island as he flew in from Skarden. 

S16° 43.688  E145°40.585

Friday 2nd September 2005  -   Day 191   -   Double Island

Not such a bad night considering he wind strength.  The trawlers are back this morning.  Spent the morning painting and Geoff worked on the back panels.  Weather doesn’t settle down until tomorrowso we have to keep busy or get bored utof our minds (we always seem to keep busy).  Yippee—A SMS from Sally who has just managed to get mobile reception for a short time.  They are 6nmfrom Santos Island, wherever that is—I shall have to look it up.  Not much to report.  Our neighbors, the trawles, haven’tgone out tonight.  Maybe they’re having the night off or they are processing their catchfrom overnight.  Very blowy with gust of 20 knots plus at the anchorage.  The trawlersmust have dumped some fish oil or something asthere is a slick and where it is has calmed the seasto a glassy finish.  Strange to see.  The cruise shipis also back.  It was gone before we got up this morning.  Geoff caught a baby shark which actually looked cute.  He lived to see another day.  S16° 43.688  E145°40.585

Saturday 3rd September 2005   -   Day 192   -   Double island to Green island

0800 hours and it’s sunny and the wind is currently around 8 knots.  A good night andwehad a 3rd trawler for company last night but the cruise ship has gone.  We have an airlock in the midship tanks again.  Trouble is you waste water every time you bleed the tanks.  We had swapped over from the front tanks as they tasted tainted.  Maybe strong Chlorine from Yorkeys.  Left the anchorage at 1000 hours and off to Green Island.  As the crow fliesit is 16.8 nm but we have to tack because of the wind direction so we will have to do atleast 21.6 nm which puts an extra 90 minutes on the trip.  It’s a bit buncy as we currently have a side swell as we are going East and not with the wind which is SE.  It is now 1430 hours ans we have given up trying to sail there as we were going too much out of our way.  As we have been beating into the wind it has been a bit of a rough passage with quite a few waves breaking over the cabin sole (roof).  Another 45 minutes to the anchorage and I hope the anchorage is tenable in 20 knot winds.   Well, we are here and anchored quite a way off where the anchorage is listed in ‘Cruising the Coral Coast’.  The wind is about 15 knotsfrom the SE, it is very swelly and very exposed and I don’t think I will like it here.  There are a lot of bommies here so you have to be careful.  We’ve got all of our chain out which is barely enough so we will set the anchor watch on the GPS tonight.  It is now 1730 hours and we’ve moved further around the Island.  Geoff wasn’t at all happy with where we had anchored and the scope of the chain we had out.  We moved a bit around the island to get more shelter from the wind and we managed to find 6 metres of water to anchor in.  So he’smuch happier now.  Green Island is our first Coral Cay and not too far off the coast.  Trounced Geoff at Scrabble.

S16° 44.870   E145°57.804

Sunday 4th September 2005   -   Day 193   -   Green Island

Not such a bad night, woke a few times but slept reasonably well.  It’s a bit swelly as we come up towards hight tide this morning.  Went for a swim off the back of 2AB and there were heaps of fish there.  Geoff cleaned the hull for a  bit until his fingers gave out.  Bacon and Eggs (Sunday) and then we went ashore.  The island was quite a surprise.  Small enough to walk round in 45minutes but a nice resort, shops, cafes, restaurant, activity centre, underwater viewing conservatory, crocodile farm, research station, glass bottom boats, diving, parasailing, guided nature walks, swimming and snorkelling, helicopter and seaplane rides.  We only spent $10 on a couple of thick shakes—cheapskates.  We walked around the island but my ankle did its normal thing of giving out and bang, down I went.  It really annoys me!  Within 10 minutes I was back walking—it is so weird!  On the way back to 2AB we looked at the coral through the bathescope.  Stopped  off and chatted to Ralph and Jeanette of Wairangi who said they are going to Upolu Reef tomorrow which we had also decided to do as the weather is supposed to be perfect for the reef over the next few days.  Tony sent a text asking where we were as they had driven to Palm Cove to seeif we were still anchored behind Double Island.  We sent a text back saying where we were and where we were going and did they “Wanna Come?”.  The answer was in the affirmative and they will arrive on the ferry tomorrow morning at around 0930.  We must bed costing them a small fortune what with the tilt train to Lucinda and now the ferry to Green Island.  They must be clean.  Geoff and I then went in the water and did a thorough clean (as best as we could) off the hulls at the waterline.  I scraped thelittle mollusc things off and Geoff followed with shade cloth.  This was a hint given to us by John on Adventurous as shade cloth is a good non scratch scrubber.  Geoff beat me at Scrabble again.  Hmmmmm! 

S16° 44.870   E145°57.804
 

Monday 5th September 2005   -   Day 194   -   Green island to Upolu Reef

Very rocky night, not nice at all but I did get some sleep.  Hope it is not too rocky for Carol and Tony tonight.  The toilet seat is busted this morning.  Wairangi has already left for Upolu Reef.  Tony and Carol arrived at 0910 and Geoff went to pick them up and we headed off at 0930.  Calm, sunny day and we motored as there was no wind.  Uneventful trip and we got to Upolu Reef around 1115 hours.  The sight that greeted us was a very small sand cay about 50 metres across surrounded by clear crystalline aqua water and isolated reefs.  We anchored in 3 metres of brilliantly clear water and it wasn’t long before we were all in the water.  There were heaps of brilliantly coloured fish everywhere.  Special things I saw were three Nemo’s and a giant clam.  I have seen better coral  but this place is  just magical.  Geoff took the tender to the cay and we walaked and swan all the way around it (such a long way—50 mtrs).  I then swan back to 2AB, which was quite a distance but the current was with with me.  Lunch and a lay down.  We have new neighbours.  He’s a cat called Platypus and he’s a Cloud 11.  Geoff and Carol went out in the tender t have a look at more reef areas and then when they came back Geoff went over to Platypus to say hi and introduce himself.  He’s now settled on their front deck with a glass of wine.  I finished off some of the coasters and they are now ready to be varnished.  Now I am starting on a door stopper and door knob holder.  We had the rest of the Mackerel for tea thatwe caught on Tony and Carol’s previous visit.  Played 500 and Geoff and I won,  I also won “Man bites Dog”.  Really tired, bed at 2215.  S16° 40.227   E145°55.886
 

Tuesday 6th September 2005   -   Day 195   -   Upolu Reef—Arlington Reef—Cairns

Calm night.  Checked on slapping noise during the night but it was low tide and was waves breaking on the reef close by, but not that close.  There was a huge Batt Fish of our stern this morning and he was very tame and we fed him bread (sshhhhh) and then Tone and Carol went in and fed him by hand and took some photos.  Some of them came out well.  Off at 0945 for the 4nm trip to the south west tip of Arlington Reef and another snorkel.  Another glorious day with variable winds 5—10 knots.  Ideal for visiting the reef but, of course, not sailing weather really.  We all know you can’t have your cake and eat it too!  I’m just thankful that the weather is nice at the moment.  PLEASE STAY NICE!   Anchored in a small lagoon at 1045.  We had to pass over some coral to get into the lagoon but they were deep enough (high tide) and we are only staying a little while, 2 hours at the most.  Splash and we are in.  The coral was so close we could stay close to 2AB.  The seas are as flat as a pancake and an azure blue, clear with great visibility.  Magic!  Some parts of the coral was showing stress but mostly close to the surface where they get battered by breaking waves.  The coral, on a whole, was lovely with many  types I hadn’t seen before and the fish were very colourful but the’ coup de gras’ was the abundance of Giant Clams.  They were huge and we saw at least six in our little patch of coral.  Depending on the angle you looked at them you saw various hues of different iridescent green.  From aqua through to emerald green.  Magnifico!  The thought passed through my mind that they may have been re-established here from the breeding colony at Orpheus Island.  We all dived down to examine the Giant Clams and Geoff took both photos and movies which came out well.  Diving with a snorkel was a first for me as I usually stay looking on the surface.  I don’t know why IU had never done it before as I have always been an underwater swimmer from a tiny age.  After about an hour we got back on board and had lunch and left the lagoon before we got trapped  (which I don’t think we would have but better safe than sorry).  As we left the lagoon Tone saw a manta Ray.  The seas were like glass on the way back and, after threading our way through the channel dotted with coral between Upolu Cay and another reef, Geoff put on the auto pilot and we all set on the front with our feet dangling.  I was the only one who couldn’t reach the water, being a little short ‘A’.  It’s a pity we couldn’t stay longer but Geoff has to see the specialist and Tone has to go back to work.  Got into Cairns Marlin Marina, berth E23 at 1645 hours.  $50.38 for 2 nights.  Shower and shampoo and then of to Montezumas for a Mexican meal and then a wander into town to finish off with ice cream.  On the way back we spoke to some people who were on the pile berths.  They cost $38 per week or $91 for the month.  Apparently the anchorage near the piles is notorious for dragging of the anchor so it would be worth going on the piles.  Very tired so early to bed.                  S16° 55.150  E145°46.889

 

Wednesday 7th September 2005   -   Day 196—Cairns, Marlin Marina

Woken up early by Geoff dragging the chain out of the anchor locker.  Then we had some people ring and come and look at the Cobb cooker.  We sold it to them for $75 as we saw a hairline crack in the plastic.  They have the payment slip so can always get it replaced under warranty.  Tone then came to pick us up and we dropped him back to work and continued on with tha car.  First stop was to Sharplift to buy 55 metres of new anchor chain.  Then on to Whitworths to buy a new marine toilet.  Then general shopping where I managed to get a short sleeve/leg wet suit for myself for snorkelling—what a sight— and what a difficulty in getting it on.  Then on to the specialist who explained all the results of the blood tests.  He does have Scleroderma which is an abnormal protein in his blood which hinders the blood in getting to the peripheral areas,  such as his fingers.  The specialist wants Geoff to have more specialist tests when he gets to Melbourne.  Geoff will have a probe inserted into his heart, lunds and thorax so they can determine that the blood is getting to these organs ok.  This is where the danger lies.  He also needs to stay in a warm climate.  Great doctor!  We then went and picked Tone up from work and then on to the unit for a BBQ.  We then all watched the making of ‘In Search of the Holy Grail’.  Did you know that there is a singing scenen in it where they go off into the mountains and the mountain depicted is Mt Buffalo!  Hope Parks Vic got royalties for that .

Thursday 8th September 2005   -   Day 197   -   Cairns to Double Island

Up early as there is a lot to do before chuck out time at 1000 hours.  Geoff attached the anchor to the new chain and secured it in the anchor locker, filled up with water, last clothes wash and then we both wash down 2AB.  Left our berth at 0950 and docked at the fuel dock to take on diesel and genny fuel.  Once refuelled we did a quick tour of Trinity Inlet and noticed Windana, Charm and Wairangi were there.  We then headed out through the leads on route to Double Island.  Whilst we were still in the leads Geoff called me onto to deck to witness a water spout (mini tornado eve water) in the distance near Green Island.  It soon dissipated but was very interesting to see (from a distance!).  We sailed via the designated dumping ground and got rid of our old anchor chain and then we sailed past Trinity Beach.Once again, we couldn’t see Carol but she could see us and said we looked impressive but her eyesight is not so good!  It was a good, easy sail and we anchored at Double Island at 1515 hours.  Geoff went off in the tender to Palm Cove to buy bait, batteries and milk.  When he came back he made me a Kahlua and milk topped with spray cream.  Decedent!  Mid afternoon nap as we were both tired. Dinner, TV treat and bed.  S16° 43.705   E145°40.613

At the fuel dock and dwarfed by a much
larger catamaran.

Friday 9th September 2005   -   Day 198   -   Double Island to Low Isles

Good night and sunny this morning.  We waited for the weather forecast and we’re off the the Low Isles today which is just north wast of Port Douglas.  We sailed most of the day with just the Genoa.  We did have the main out for a little while but is caused problems so we took it in.  It was an uneventful trip apart for a little side swell.  We saw a strange boat coming towards us from Port Douglas and when it got closer we could see it was a junk.  Pirates?  No commercial cruise boat.  It looked good with all its sails up.  We arrived at the Low Isles at 1345 and managed to pick up a Marine Parks buoy for the night.  Geoff and Carol off of Nardu are also here.  We last saw them at Shaw Island in the Whitsundays.  I little later there was a knock on the boat hull and the couple from the next boat have come for a visit.  They are June and Dave from ‘Lady Virago’ a 38’ Spence sloop.  They are also heading north, but slowly.  We then went ashore to explore.  There is a lighthouse here and plenty of birdlife.  We saw an Osprey and then sat on the shore and watched the Terns dive bombing into the water to catch the bait fish there.  We then watched the Gulls chase the Terns in the hope they might drop their catch.  What lazy buggas they are!  Geoff caught the Terns  catching the bait fish on mivie.  On route back to 2AB we stopped for drinks on Nardu.  They are on their way back from Lizard Island.  Their cat is only 1.5 feet linger than ours but has a wider beam so has much more room in the saloon than us, plus it’s much newer.  But, of course, you are looking at paying at least $350,000 for a cat like that which is way out of our budget.  Back to 2AB for dinner.  Missed a call from our accountatn.  Beat Geoff at Scrabble—just!   S16º 22.901   E145º 33.828

Lighthouse at the Low Isles



Pirate junk??????

 Saturday 10th September 2005 - Day 199 - Low Isles to Cape Tribulation

Up early. Sunny day. The USB to Serial Port device that lets the GPS talk to the computer has given up the ghost. We will try to see if we can get another one and a spare in Cooktown. We can still use the GPS and the charting software on the laptop—it just means I have to chart our course manually ever 30 minutes putting in the waypoints myself. The wind was very light so we motored the 4 hours it took us to get to Cape Tribulation. On route I saw a black fin which I believed to be a big shark. It certainly wasn’t a dolphin but also could have been a Manta Ray. When we anchored we found Lady Virago was also anchored in the bay with us. Lovely day and it is certainly getting hotter. Gave the coasters their first coat of varnish. Then to shore for an explore. Cape Tribulation came as quite a surprise. It is part of the Daintree National Park and is well laid out with boardwalks etc.  One of the walks take you to a lookout where you could see 2AB nestled in the bay below.  Mind you, this is only  a calm weather anchorage. Saw bush turkeys. Back to 2AB and a quick dinner and relax. Geoff beat me at Scrabble. S16º 04.355 E145º 28.283

Cape Tribulation

Sunday 11th September 2005 - Day 200 - Cape Tribulation to Cooktown

Up early—0600 hours as we have a long haul today. Probably no sailing as the winds are from the N-NW but so light that hopefully it will be calm and we won’t have to bash into it.  We are still trying for Lizard island which is about 3 days away. We will only be able to stay until the northerlies kick back in but have been told that may be weeks away. Left at 0700 and motored with the main up for 6 hours when the wind changed to the east and allowed us to set the sails and sail the last 3 hours. Nice day, uneventful trip. Sailed with the autohelm on so I did some more painting (in between my half hourly plots and checking the horizon) and Geoff sewed the zip on the clear in front of the helm station as it was coming undone, plus he did some more work on the back panels. Got into Cooktown at 1545 hours.  This is the furthest north of Oz we have been and it is the last town on the east coast of Oz.  Geoff has just told me we are parallel with Angola and Brazil. It’s turned overcast and cooled down a bit and I think it may look like rain. After about an hour when we were happy with the anchor holding, we went ashore for a quick look around and look at all the historical plaques etc. Bought some prawns on the way back and had prawn cocktails and G&T’s (Gin & Tonic) on the front deck as dusk fell. Since the wind has died down we have been doing 360/180º swings, along with everyone else but the anchor feels secure.  Sometimes it is better to have the wind blowing to the boats in the same positions. When there is no wind you just go with the tidal flow and no pressure to keep the anchor dug in.  Hope we have a peaceful night and don’t worry too much about the anchor holding. I think that reading about anchorages and their problems in ‘Cruising the Coral Coast’ is sometimes very ‘off putting’. TV again so we watched the news. Just been reminded that it is 9/11 and it is the 4th anniversary of that fateful day. This means that this time 4 years ago we were in Fiji. Mozi’s and sandflies here! S15º 27.651 E145º 14.865

Monday 12th September 2005 - Day 201 - Cooktown to Cape Bedford

Very, very still night. Checked the depth at one stage during the night at low tide but we were ok. Went ashore to find a computer shop, which we found but they didn’t have what we wanted. Said “You’re the third person to ask me for that”. Duh—supply and  demand — lady!. We also tried the electronic store—nope. So we are still manually plotting, which is ok, just a little more work. We picked up a few more groceries and chandlery stuff, hauled anchor at 1145 and left for Cape Bedford. We had a NE wind hovering around the 15 knot mark so we were bashing into it, which wasn’t all that comfortable but ok and we only had 3 hours to go. We arrived at South Cape Bedford and anchored along with another cat and then a tri came in. It was a little bouncy to start with. We then went ashore (keeping an eye out for crocs) and what a mess! Because of the NE winds we were anchored in a bay on the, normally, windward side of Cape Bedford and all the flotsam and jetsam of the human waste factory gets deposited Here, along with coconuts and cuttlefish. The beach was also inundated with sand lice, mozies and sandflies. Pretty as a picture from afar but then you get closer. So not the nicest of anchorages. I would expect the bay around the north of the cape would be much nicer but not for us with these winds. On the trip up we received an SMS from Sally as she had just got mobile reception and they had just arrived at Santos Island. They left for Santos on the 2nd September, so their passage took 8 days. She said she would try to ring tomorrow but I told her I doubted if we will have mobile reception.  I also rang up work (well ex work really) and had a chat to Enzo. Good to catch up.  Funnily enough, I still miss everyone at work (and I still keep calling it work—it hasn’t sunk in yet that I won’t be going back—maybe I can get a casual job on the gate). I hope they all miss me and haven’t forgotten me already! I also caught up with my accountant and everything is nearly finalized. We are still hopeful that we won’t have to pay any capital gains tax which will give us another year of cruising kitty. Currently I can hear cursing and groaning coming from the galley area. Every time we have a rough passage our electric salt water pump in the galley packs it in. I heard somewhere that cruising is really just fixing boats in exotic places and they’re not far wrong. For some reason it gets an airlock and then you (as in Geoff) has to siphon it out. They are burning off on the headland south of us. There was a lot of smoke as we sailed passed and now it’s dark you can see the red glow as the burns slowly make their way down the gullies.

S15º 16.635 E145º 20.402

Tuesday 13th September 2005 - Day 202 - Cape Bedford to Lizard Island

Pongo Pugh is all I can say this morning! I was awoken by a terrible smell   thenight. I checked out our toilet and the eggs but it wasn’t them. Went on deck and realized the smell was coming from the shore from all the rotting flotsam and jetsam. Well, at least it wasn’t us. Very still night. Up at 0615 and up anchor and leave for Lizard Island at 0700. We had only been going 20 minutes when we caught a Mackerel. A Spanish this time and our first as all the others had been Spotted Mackerel. He checked in at 85cm. The wind was from the south at 4 knots True (2.8 apparent). We were in the shipping lane so had to keep an eagle eye out. A tanker on our stern took 20 minutes to come abreast of us. He passed us with a wide berth and his wash took 12 minutes to get to us.  It’s a lovely day but a little humid. We will probably be able to watch the mildew grow before our eyes. Wind was too light to be able to sail so we motor sailed with the Genoa.  As we got closer to Lizard Island we could probably have put up the MPS but by then it wasn’t worth it. Got into Mrs Watson’s Bay, Lizard Island around 1500 hours and anchored in 3 metres of water with 4 hours to go before low tide. We anchored as close to the picnic table as we could as John, from Adventurous, had told us this was the best spot. Apparently there is a gully on the left hand side of this bay that is notorious for yachts dragging their anchors. We made sure we were well dug in . It seems to be another of those anchorages where boats seem to be facing all over the place. We are in amongst all the cats so, hopefully, we should all swing the same way. Once we were happy with the anchor holding it was ‘splash’ and we were in for a swim. Nice to not have to worry about crocs for a while. The water was lovely and clear and refreshing and it was nice to cool off as it is 32º today and a little humid. We dried off then opened a bottle of Champers to celebrate getting to our goal. We hadn’t eaten much so it went straight to our heads so by 1630 we needed a little afternoon nap. We were woken at 1730 as everyone congregated ashore for late afternoon/ pre dinner drinks, nibbles and socialising. Our heads were still too fuzzy so we thought we would leave the socialsing until the next night. We had a cup of coffee to wake ourselves off and then we sat on the front deck to watch the sun go down (Enzo—I stared but no green flash!) It was supposed To be Mackerel for dinner but the cook fell asleep again (the cook NOT being me—I don’t cook fish). The cook eventually awoke but neither of us was very hungry so we had Chicken Noodle Soup instead. Trounced Geoff at Scrabble.

S14º 39.649 E145º 27.056

Celebratory drink

Wednesday 14th September - Day 203 - Lizard island

Very still night. The bay we are anchored in is very picturesque and a secure anchorage.  The reef is close to us so is only a short swim. There is a resort (yachties not welcome),  a bore well (most important) and the climb to Cooks Lookout (ugh) to be done. Cooks Lookout is where Lt. James Cook climbed to the top and eventually located a passage out of the Great Barrier Reef. Apparently, he never anchored at Lizard Island. He came across from Cape Flattery in a pinnacle (a small sailing boat). There are 15 cruisers here at the moment and some stay for a month or more. We have been told that sometimes you have no choice as you have to wait for the northerlies. We have enough food on board to last well for a month and longer on stranger foods, but we won’t starve. We then went for a snorkel and, once again, Giant Clams abounded. There were many varieties of coloured fish, lovely soft corals and then Geoff beckoned me to him. There in a hole was a  terracotta coloured octopus. A fairly large octopus by the look of his breathing tube and his eye. Neat! We had just got back on board and were rinsing of the salt when we had visitors. He was Kerry from ‘Paladin’ a 29’ Crowther Windspeed cat, and a backpacker along for the ride called Kathline. He has a friend who has a Cloud 9—Silver Cloud. They came on board for morning tea and then said they were off to the lagoon which was part way around the island and invited us along. We passed the resort and then in the next bay we visited the Research Station. They were happy to talk to us and show us what they were doing but there is a proper tour on Monday at 1100 hours which we will probably go to. We then continued through 2 more bays, picking our way through the coral and getting out and towing the tender by hand when the coral was too close and might be damaged. The lagoon has lots of soft coral and really wonderful powder blue staghorn coral. Once we had picked our way into the Lagoon itself there was an abundance of Green Backed turtles. As we neared them they would scoot off at a very fast rate of knots. We were surprised at how long it had taken to get to the lagoon from Mrs Watsons Bay (6nm). We had already filled up the outboard motor once on route.  We decided to have lunch on on a nice looking island ahead but when we got there we found it was called Seabird Island and housed a colony of Sooty Terns and the smell to go with it. ‘Guano’ at it’s extreme so no lunch here. The Sooty Terns were most unconcerned about having human company so we left them to it. By this time the tide had started to rise so it was a much easier journey picking our way through the coral back to Mrs Watsons Bay. If we had realized how long it was going to take we would have smothered ourselves with 30+ sunscreen. As it is my knees and face are now quite pink and warm. Back to 2AB for our delayed lunch on the back deck. It’s nice to now have the weather to utilize the back deck more. We brought out the directors chairs and just relaxed for a while before putting up the sun shade canvas. We then went across to ‘Paladin’ to see how he tilts his solar panels to keep the sun on them. Back to 2AB and then ashore for a BBQ as it is one of the cruisers birthday today. His name was Graham, he was 62 and was from Katani2, a 57’ Crowther cat anchored nearby. It was a theme party and you had to go as a sea creature. Geoff went as a ‘Groper’ - yes, it figures and I went as a petitie ‘Seahorse—of course. We cooked up our Mackerel fillets on the BBQ and, I must admit, I drank too much again. So—when I went to get into the tender I didn’t quite make it and ended up falling in and getting soaked. Someone took a photo — the bugga! It was hilarious and the water was quite warm. Definitely a Mazzie thing to do!

Thursday 15th September 2005 - Day 204 - Lizard Island

Quite strong winds just after we went to bed and we tugged at our anchor a fair bit. I wondered if the sun shade was catching the wind too much but it eased off soon after and the shade was still there ok this morning. Voltage is down to 12 volts this morning so  we will probably have to have the genny running for a few hours today. We both went for our early morning dip. Geoff spent the morning making up a shelf for above the freezer compressor unit and it looks good. I did some more work on my painting work. Everything is coming along and I am actually getting better. After lunch we went in for another swim and I gave the hulls a wash down with the shade cloth whilst I was there. It

then started to cool down so at 1600 hours we decided to go ashore and venture a bit further a field. We wandered along the boardwalk through the mangroves and there wereinformation plaques all along the path, some only a few metres apart. It was very nicely done and well maintained. We came upon a ranger who was using a whipper snipper onthe track in preparation for a fuel reduction burn with the track being the firebreak.  Eventually the track led us to the Airstrip and onto Chinaman’s Ridge Track, which took us over the hill back to Mrs Watsons Bay. On top of the ridge there was a magnificent view of 2 of the bays and there was little 2AB anchored along with the other yachts. She’s small but she wasn’t the smallest there. Geoff took heaps of photos then we wound our way back over the ridge back to Mrs Watsons Bay. A 90 minute trip all up. Note: Mrs Watson and her husband took up residence on Lizard Island in the late 1800’s. He used to harvest Sea Slugs. Whilst her husband was away fishing one of her Chinese Servants was killed by natives. Mrs Watson, her new baby son and her other, wounded Chinese Servant fled to sea in a boiling down tub (used to boil down the sea slugs). After many days they landed on an island (now called Watsons Island) where they eventually perished from lack of water. Mrs Watson kept a diary which was with her when she

died—hence the history of the above. The diary and the tub are now in the museum at Cairns. I must make an effort to go and see them on my return to Cairns. When we arrived back at Mrs Watsons Bay it was 1715 and everyone was starting to congregate on the beach for pre dinner drinks and nibbles so Geoff scooted off, post haste, to 2AB and soon arrived back with some drinkies. At 1900 it was staring to get cool so I carefully got into the tender and back to 2AB for dinner. I think, tomorrow, that we may be going up to Cooks Lookout at 358 metres—oh dear—but it’s worth the climb I am told. Geoff beat me at Scrabble—just!

Friday 16th September 2005 - Day 205 - Lizard Island

Overcast today so we are going to leave Cooks Lookout for another day as we want to be

able to see Cooks Passage when we get there. Kerry from ‘Paladin’ came by to borrow the magazine ‘Cruising Helmsman’ to read the article of the cat that pitch poled crossing the Wide Bay Bar a couple of days after we went through.. Kerry and Geoff got talking about solar panels. We have 2 x 60 watt panels but Geoff’s amp meter isn’t working so he hasn’t been able to test them and he has always been a bit iffy about them working properly. While they were talking boys talk I went in for a quick dip. They were right into it when I got back and Kerry had brought over his amp meter. I left them to it and started cooking pikelets for morning tea. Anyway, they eventually came to the conclusion that the solar panels had been wired up incorrectly and that the connections were definitely poor. Geoff has rewired them so we will see tomorrow when we get a full day of sun how they perform. Late afternoon we took the tender to two bays northward, Mermaid Bay, to look at the coral through the bathescope. There was a lot of blue Staghorn and soft coral, Giant Clams and fish but, once again, I feel the coral was stressed. Back to 2AB to prepare dinner and then to shore to play Petanque (pronounced P-tonk), the French version of Bocce. A relaxing day. The sun was out and it was quite hot. In the afternoon we visited Graham and Lorraine on the Crowther 57’ cat Katani 2. Oh boy, luxury plus and it’s for sale for a cool $695,000. It’s 13 years old but very, very nice.

Graeme and Lorraine

Saturday 17th September 2005 - Day 206 - Lizard Island

Nice sunny day today so it looks like Cooks Lookout is the go. Plus lots of blockout and water, me thinks! Geoff has blocked the loo up! What a problem as it is trying to come over the rim so he’s working on it now. Well, he fixed it but not a nice job (in both senses). Thank goodness it wasn’t me! Blockout on, water bottles out of the freezer, lunch, camera, decent shoes, binos and we’re off. We’ve been told it is a 3 hour return trip if you take it easy. The first thing that greeted me was the sign at the bottom of the walk stating ‘Caution, this is an extremely hard walk’ - not a good start. The first half was bloody hard. Scrambling up (sometimes on all fours), I mean UP, granite faces that were very steep. I checked my pulse at one of the many rest stops and it was 120 and after 10 minutes was still 104. So after we had got over the really hard stuff we continued ever upward. By this time, of course, my legs were like jelly. When we were nearly at the top I told Geoff to go on ahead and let me plod ever upward at my own pace. I seriously thought I wouldn’t make it at this stage but I have never given up on a walk so I slowly plodded on and made it. It was a climb of 358 metres so it doesn’t sound too bad, but it was. When I got to the top I found that Geoff had dropped the camera and broken it. Bit of a bumma but he didn’t do it on purpose. We still have the Nikon as a spare but we will definitely replace the Canon as it is the best little camera we have owned and we have a underwater housing that fits it and cost the same as the camera. Luckily he had taken photos of Cooks Passage before he dropped it. We spent about an hour up the top, had a bite to eat, signed the Visitors Book and descended down. Ow, ow, ow—hips, toes, ankles, back and neck were all complaining. We knew Lizard Island was so named by Lt. James Cook as the only wildlife he had seen were lizards. All we had seen up to now were a couple of Skinks so thought these were the lizards he meant until Geoff nearly trod on a 1 metre Goanna laying on the path. He didn’t see it till the last moment when it moved and it nearly scared the pants of him. Then a few metres down the path we saw another. I had heard a lot of crashing in the undergrowth on the way up and wondered what was making all the noise. Now we knew. The island must be inundated with them.  Down, down, down and hard yakka (Ozzie speak for work) in a very different way. We eventually got down at 1530 and we left at 1030. 1 hour at the top so 4 hours return trip so where is this 3 hours return if you take it easy?. Their easy and my easy must be 2 different things. Back to the tender—Oh No—look at how far the tide is out. Carry the tender (3 stops) to the water and back to 2AB. Climb out of tender onto 2AB and GROAN.  Drinks! It was in the mid 30’s today. Bathers and splash—Ah! Climb back in— GROAN—collapse into chair and wind down—Ah! I will NEVER, EVER climb that hill again but I am so glad that I did it. To stand where Cook stood and see what he saw—MAGIC! Now there’s a dive boat behind us and he has had the loudest  compressor/generator going for the last hour or so. It must be at least 4 times as noisy as ours and its bloody annoying. We have now put ours on as nobody will hear ours over this one. You can hardly hear other generators in the anchorage apart from this one. Cooked a quick tea. Too tired to go ashore for drinks. Trounced Geoff at Scrabble.

Sunday 18th September 2005 - Day 207 - Lizard Island

Had a bad night. Thought I would sleep like a log after the exercise of climbing Cook’s Lookout yesterday but bits ached everywhere and I felt I hardly slept. Forecast is for SE winds 20/25 knots for the next 3 days so we will stay here a little while yet. Kerry from Paladin has left this morning but we may catch up with him in Cairns. Salt of the Earth type is our Kerry. Bacon and Egg—yes it’s Sunday. Started out overcast but soon fined up. We went ashore to get some water from the well and do some clothes washing. The pump for the well is 250 metres up a sand track. Quite a way when you have to carry it back! Went for a quick swim off the beach then back to 2AB for lunch. After a bit of painting I struggled into my wetsuit and we went for a snorkel on the reef. We then cleaned the propellers of growth and carefully cleaned the hulls. Slime on the antifoul is good, trees are not and have to go. It was good visibility and there is a resident stingray under 2AB. Dry off then to shore for pre dinner drinks and nibbles. Met a guy and girl who are crew from the sloop ‘Carmalita’, which came in this afternoon. Small world, she had stayed at our hostel in Bright with her ex boyfriend who was a regular of the hostel. Drank too much then back to 2AB to cook a roast dinner. Oh—also—there is a plush motor cruiser here and word has it that it belongs to Mick Doolan but nobody has spoken to anyone off this boat so we are not sure. Word also has it that if you come across Dick Smith on his boat he will invite you on board and talk your ear off. Very tired—oh this life is so hard to take.

Monday 19th September 2005 - Day 208 - Lizard Island

Didn’t sleep well again. Ended up reading for a couple of hours during the night. It is quite blowy this morning but the sun is out and it promises to be a nice day. After brekkie we set off for the Research Station. We had decided to walk the 3 kms thinking that the walking track would be similar to the 1km track to the airstrip. Wrong! Once we had passed the airstrip the track became a deep loose uphill sand track. Oh boy, was this tiring and it was also a hot day. How I wished we had gone by tender. Once there we had a nice long ice cold drink from the water fountain. We had 15 minutes to relax and wind down before the tour started. The tour was quick but informative and we both bought a T shirt each. I then gave Polly a quick call from the pay phone and then Sue and Arno. Then fill up our water bottles for the trek back which turned out to be not half as bad as it was downhill most of the way.  Got back to 2AB and I rinsed out the washing I had in soak. Bugga, one of Geoff’s new T shirts (dark green) has run so I now have more “wear on the boat only” T shirts. Never mind, they don’t last long in this climate anyway. They soon look the worse for wear with the sun and salt and the harsh washing they get. Hey, we think Mick Doolan went by in his tender and he waved but I’m still not sure as he had sunglasses on so how can you tell.  Well, I don’t know why I even bothered to do the washing as it is now worse than when I started (albeit clean). Geoff won’t put me up a washing line for some perverse reason. Says he doesn’t want wet washing hanging all over the back deck. He said “Do what the other cruisers do, hang it over the safety lines”. Ours are not covered in plastic and I said it would get rust marks on the washing. He said it wouldn’t so now I have rust marks all over my clean washing. So what with the green dye and now rust marks I really think I shouldn’t have gone to all that effort. I will have to organise a line myself. Went to the beach for drinks and there were a lot of people there this time. We met Kevin and Bernie from the Lightwave cat ‘Eaglehearts’ who we had heard on the radio most of the way up. We met Alistair Dick and family from the cat ‘Hard on’. He said with a name like his he had to buy a cat with a name like that. We didn’t feel like drinking (I’m sure you can become alcoholics if you cruise long enough) so just took juice this time. Light tea and then watched the movie ‘Hildargo’ and enjoyed it immensely. It is quite windy and, since we have sorted out the wiring of the solar panels and with the wind generator pumping in those amps, the voltage is staying really good.

Tuesday 20th September 2005 - Day 209 - Lizard Island

Good night’s sleep and up late. A bit overcast at present but it usually burns off. The temperatures have been in the low to mid 30’s but very bearable with the wind/breezes. Spoke too soon as it stayed overcast all day so I cleaned the cooker, fridge and the stainless steel safety rails and then polished them. Geoff had a fiddle with the water system and checked out more on how it works and may have found the cause of the air lock. He baked some bread and did some cleaning. He also got most of the rust stains out of the clothes with a rust remover for gel coat. He also cleaned out the bilges, filled in the holes with putty where the old back panels were and put a bigger panel under his water bladder under his bed. I also did a bit more painting. Still blowy but we have been told this is normal for Lizard Island.  Nothing much to report today except for the fact that the cats Alacrity and Eaglehearts have moved forward and are on either side of us now.

 Eaglehearts

Alacrity

Wednesday 21st September 2005 - Day 210 - Lizard Island

Good night, still blowy. Did more cleaning and cooked pikelets, Did more painting. Chris and Sally from Alacrity came over for morning tea and we had a good natter. Their tastes are very similar to ours. They are from the USA and are on a retirement visa which gets reassessed every 4 years. They own a unit in Panama. I think they like it here. Cooked curry and then went to the beach for more socializing.  New boats in are ‘French Maid’ (Dave and Allison) and ‘Official Business (Anette, a Kiwi and the skipper herself). Will visit tomorrow.  Watched the movie XXX with Vin Diesel. Quite violent. Ralph and Jeanette from Wairangi have just arrived.

Thursday 22nd September 2005 - Day 211 - Lizard Island

Good night but still very blowy. Voltage is really good this morning. Splash and in for my morning ablutions. Not much to report. Relax and enjoy life. Paint, go to well to pick up water.  Drag the 25 ltr containers back up the 250 mtr track like a horse plus carrying another 10 litres.  Visit Anette and the boys on ‘Official Business’. More painting then sundowners on ‘Alacrity’ with Chris and Sally and Kevin and Bernie from ‘Eaglehearts’. Back to 2AB at 7.30 pm for a light snack as we had eaten too many nibbles. Found out Chris and Sally know John, Maria and Zane from Adventurous.

Friday 23rd September 2005 - Day 212 - Lizard Island

Still blowy but a little less. Nice day. What did we get up to. Nothing much! Started typing up my journal but only got to the 16th. No painting. Swim and washed my hair. Visit Kevin and Bernie on ‘Eaglehearts’. Geoff visited Alacrity and set up their DVD. Went ashore and drank too much. Rest and relaxation. One day rolls into the next. Geoff is reading a Bill Bryson book borrowed from Alacrity ‘I’m a Stranger here Myself”.

Saturday 24th September 2005 - Day 213 - Lizard island

Nice and sunny but still blowing. Went for my morning dip. Put a small amount of washing in soak and later we went ashore to pick up more water and I rinsed out the washing whilst I was there and washed my hair. On route back we stopped off to tell Ralph and Jeanette from Wairangi about the drinks on the beach at 5pm. I had a lesson on starting and driving the tender. I will have to go solo one day—what a wimp I am. Back to 2AB and Geoff cooked bread and Golden Syrup sultana cake from scratch out of his head. I made Cheesy Potato biscuits for nibbles tonight on the beach but they came out more like flattened scones.  A lot of the cruisers are going around to the Marlin Bar tonight to watch the AFL Grand Final.  We thought we would give it a miss as we are not into footy and have no idea who is playing. Went in search of Nemo but couldn’t find him. The water was quite cloudy and cold. Off to the beach for drinks with the biscuits come scones. Fried rice for tea.

Sunday 25th September 2005 - Day 214 - Lizard Island

Nice day, windy but easing. Geoff went up the hill today to get mobile reception. Got 2 text messages from Glynn saying that Laura is out of danger and then that Laura is out of hospital. There must have been a message that I didn’t receive saying she had gone into hospital. Geoff didn’t reply as it was the middle of the night there. I won’t be able to ring until I get in mobile range or go to the payphone at the Marlin Bar at night. I hope they don’t think I don’t care.  Morning dip then bacon and eggs. Did some painting then went back in to clean the hulls. Relax then to shore for drinks. Looks like we may be able to leave here Thursday or Friday as it looks like the weather may be moderating.

Monday 26th September 2005 - Day 215 - Lizard Island

Still blowy. We may have to do an inventory of what food we have left. We only have 3 spuds left then it is on to tinned potatoes and then powdered potato. We are already on powdered milk for tea and coffee saving what little UHT milk we have left for cereal. As for fresh veggies go we’re down to sweet potato and pumpkin and a few tomatoes but I still have a few peas, corn and spinach in the freezer then it’s on to a couple of cans of carrots and then dried Surprise veggies. We took up the carpet from the back deck and scrubbed down all the fiberglass and Geoff cleaned some more of the stainless steel. Sally popped over as did Bernie. Made muffins, painted and then at 3pm Ralph and Jeanette from ‘Wairangi’ came over for afternoon tea. We had a really good natter and they left at about 6.30 pm. Very nice couple. Didn’t go ashore tonight.

Tuesday 27th September 2005 - Day 216 - Lizard Island

Woken early as Raptor left and Kaz2 took their place and then, for some reason, Kaz2 hoisted up their sail then pulled it in again making a hell of a racket at 6am. Everyone was then awake and the people from Kaz2 then went back to bed. We were invited for morning tea on ‘Wairangi’ at 1030 am and left there at 2pm. We had left the genny on whilst we were away and the batteries were full when we got back but by mid afternoon they were down to 12.4 again. We found the deck light had inadvertently been knocked on draining the batteries. Bumma. We will have to recharge them again tomorrow. Geoff finished wiring the spare volt meter then we went to shore for drinks. ‘Reflection’ have arrived but it is time for us to leave as soon as we can as we have been told there is a big game fishing competition starting here on the 8th October and it becomes party week. Apparently the anchorage gets inundated with fishing power boats who just want to party. Thanks, but no thanks!  Just a relaxing day.

Sundowners on the beach

Wednesday 28th September 2005 - Day 217 - Lizard Island

Still blowy. Morning dip. Then a quarantine boat came around and they were writing notes in a book so  can only presume that they were checking registrations and nationality of the boats anchored. He then radioed the Warship Ipswich which was anchored further out and headed out to them and they have now left. We also heard the Coastwatch plane calling boats that were on passage near here asking them to identify themselves so they must have been having a bit of an operation going on.  Ralph came over to look at the solar panels and they have decided to take one of the diodes away and now it looks like they are working to their full capacity and will be even better if we can tilt them at 37º for the latitude here. We then went to Katani2 to play Scrabble. Lorraine beat me by 70 but only beat Geoff by 4. It was a good game. Graeme has a water maker that makes 160 litres per hour (how about that) and will give us 25 litres when he next makes some. Nice of him. Drinks on the beach and then back to 2AB. Whoops—Geoff has just blown up the voltage meter somehow but luckily we have the other one that he has just installed so we can still see what power we have left. Listening to the radio it looks like it is not so nice out there so we will be staying here a while yet. Mackerel for tea!

Thursday 29th September 2005 - Day 218 - Lizard island

Nice day again. Up late. Call from Lorraine on Katani2. Did we want a game of Scrabble?  Quick wash and clean teeth and over we go. Lorraine, Cheryl, Geoff and I played Scrabble whilst Graham and John brewed beer. We left an empty 25 ltr water container there for Graeme to fill next time he makes water. Cheryl won, Lorraine 2nd and the Whites 3rd and 4th. Tch, tch!  Got a good cake recipe for a fat and egg free fruit cake. Went around a few of the boats and collected rubbish and did a garbage run around to the Marlin Bar. The bin is across black sand and it was extremely hot and we had to really run as it was unbearable.  Sandals next time. Rang Sue and Arno from the pay phone and found out she had been on the phone for 3 days with our accountant finalizing things for us. Tried to ring him but he was out to lunch so will come back and try tomorrow. Back to 2AB and Geoff fixed the selector switch for the volt meter on the main panel board which he blew up yesterday. It blew when he reinserted the globe so he has now put a fuse on it. Call from Katani2 saying the water was ready so Geoff went to pick it up. Didn’t feel like going to the beach so invited Bernie and Kevin from Eaglehearts over after tea. They have only been married since February and have taken a year off to sail. Showed them the game Quizmo and Man Bites Dog and then showed Kevin the Qosmio laptop as he is into IT. We think we should have probably left today as it seems the wind is forecast at SE 20—25 for the foreseeable future.

Friday 30th September 2005 - Day 219 - Lizard Island

Nice day again but windier. Went to the Marlin Bar and rang Sue and my accountant.

Seems, overall, taking into account company tax, capital gains tax and personal tax we get about $250 back but a big accountant’s bill. Our accountant says that because we didn’t close the company bank account down we will still have to do a company tax return next year. So as soon as I can pick up the internet again I will close the company bank account down and transfer all the remaining money across to our personal account. We then went across to Katani2 and Geoff did some work on Graeme’s computer. Lunch and then back to 2AB. We then went snorkeling in search of the elusive Nemo’s. Saw some great fish but no Nemo’s so will try elsewhere tomorrow. Geoff saw a 4’ Black Tipped Reef Shark with 4-5 Remoras stuck to it. We also saw a magnificent massive Giant Clam in ‘The Clam Garden”.