1st to 31st July 2005

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Friday 1st July 2005 - Day 128 - Shaw Island to Hamilton Island

Up at 0700 and on our way. Rinsed out all the clothes washing I had in soak last night en route and changed the bed for Chris & Wade plus final cleaning. Arrived at Hamilton around 0945 and docked perfectly (no one looking, as usual). Took the washing up to the laundry to put in the dryer and then when I got back to 2AB Chris and Wade had just arrived.  Had a cuppa and then I went for a shower and shampoo and Geoff went to the office to pay the fees of $25 for 2.5 hours. Left about 1215 and are on route to Airlie Beach to provision. It is now 1450 and we have been sailing all the way under the main and Genoa with Chris at the helm. Called Abel Point Marina and found there was a public jetty so Geoff dropped Chris and I off and we caught a taxi to Cannonvale to BiLo and reprovisioned.  We then got the taxi back to the yacht club where Geoff picked us up at the pontoon.  It was a bit of a squash in the tender with the three of us and all the shopping.  Back on 2AB it was time for nibbles and sundowners. Quick tea, bought cooked chook! Chatted and then bed.

S20º 15.927 E148 º 58.668

Saturday 2nd July 2005 - Day 129 - Airlie Beach to Tongue Bay

A very still and quiet night and didn’t get up till 0800. Left Muddy Bay and headed for Hook Passage. Sailed all morning doing just over 5 knots. Weather forecast tomorrow is for a strong wind warning of 25—30 knots but seems ok for tonight. Wade had fun tweaking the sails and Chris spent time on the helm, then sunbaking. I must have got acclimatised as it is not hot enough for me. Mind you, saying that, it got quite warm in the afternoon. We got into Tongue Bay at 1615 at 2 hours after low tide. We all then went for a swim and, at present, it is quite still. Tried to watch “Pirates of the Caribbean” but couldn’t as it was the wrong region. Cooked a roast but left two of the heat beads out so it took ages to cook and was just ok. Bed at 2200—late for us!

S20º 14.350 E149 º 01.000

Sunday 3rd July 2005 - Day 130 - Tongue Bay

The wind picked up during the night and we had gust of 24> knots in the anchorage. Boat feels stable and anchor is holding well so we will stay here for the day. The forecast is for 20-30 knots till about Wednesday when it reduces a bit to 25 knots. Lets hope they are wrong and it eases before then as it is not a good start to Chris and Wade’s holidays. Chris has a bad headache this morning so she is resting. Geoff is installing the repaired gas solenoid valve that Wade brought with him. Once he has finished that we will have bacon and eggs (yes it’s Sunday) - which we have now consumed. Wade, Chris and Geoff yelled at a charter cat which anchored, once again, right on top of us so they moved. Geoff then took Chris and Wade ashore where they climbed the saddle to Whitehaven Beach above Hill Inlet and back. They said there was a lagoon at Hill Inlet but only a very narrow and shallow course in. Geoff and Wade then went ashore and came back with about 30 oysters which they opened, cleaned and ate—yuk! Played Scrabble after dinner and Wade won.   It’s very windy but quite snug in the anchorage. The other three are talking about going around the headland tomorrow to see if we can find the channel to go into the lagoon.

S20º 14.350 E149 º 01.000

Monday 4th July 2005 - Day 131 - Tongue Bay

Up at 0700 and up anchor and motored around the headland to try to find the channel. Unfortunately, the seas were too rough for us to see as far as we would have liked into the channel so we returned to Tongue Bay. We then had brekkie and Chris and Wade had the remainder of the chicken curry on toast! Chris is now doing her quilting and Geoff is baking bread. Quiet and uneventful day. S20º 14.350 E149 º 01.000

Tuesday 5th July 2005 - Day 132 - Tongue Bay to Butterfly Bay

Up at about 0800 and decided to go out to sea a little and try to sail down to Shaw Island but it was too rough to sail south so we turned tail and sailed to Butterfly Bay where we were able to pick up a buoy. Still bouncy with bullets. Let’s hope we don’t regret it. Chris, Geoff and Wade went snorkeling and I curled up with a book and relaxed. They didn’t end up snorkeling from the tender as it was too rough so went swimming on the beach instead. Chris saw a huge groper here (no it wasn’t Geoff). Winds are 20—25 knots today which is better than the forecast of 30 knots. AND it’s sunny. Hopefully tomorrow will be even better. We all went off to bed early (except Chris the ‘Night Owl’) as we were too tired to play Scrabble. S20º 04.364 E148 º 55.712

Wednesday 6th July 2005 - Day 133 - Butterfly Bay to Stonehaven

Up late, leisurely brekkie and Chris and Wade went snorkelling. Then about noon we headed off towards Blue Pearl Bay, Hayman Island to see if we could pick up a buoy but no luck. Its quite deep to anchor here. We then went on to Langford Reef for a quick stop over for a walk. Then on to Stonehaven to anchor but found the last spots left were in quite deep water close to other yachts. Eventually we anchored in the rain, almost dark and nerves frayed with frustrations. But once we had anchored, dried out and had a stiff drink we were all fine. Scrabble again and Chris won this time. Bed at 2200 with all the curtains open to ensure we can keep a look out on the huge motor boat we have anchored next to. They have taken up at least 8 boats worth of anchorage. Quite annoying when you think they have the chain to anchor in deeper water. S20º 05.250 E148 º 54.300

Thursday 7th July 2005 - Day 134 - Stonehaven to Blue Pearl Bay

Very broken night as the bullets were very strong and we kept checking on the motor launch, but we were fine. Had brekkie then sailed to Blue Pearl Bay and picked up a mooring at 1100 hours and hoping we can stay on it. We are the last one in so there are plenty of boats that should leave before us. We then all went snorkeling and the coral was quite beautiful and the fish such fantastic colours. Geoff put our digital camera in it’s underwater housing and took some photos. The housing worked very well, as it should, it cost as much as the camera. The others then went for a rock scramble so I curled up with my book again. Rock scrambling is not my forte, as a lot of you would know. Chris then went for another snorkel . We have managed to keep our buoy but we have just watched a duel between a cruiser yacht and a commercial tour boat. The yacht missed the buoy (dropped it) and the tour boat got it. Once again it’s a bit annoying, as these tour boats are large with plenty of chain to

anchor in deeper water, whereas yachts up to 12 metres don’t have as much and find it hard to anchor in 13 mtrs. We thought about giving up our buoy to the cruising yacht and picking up the free 9 mtr buoy but we are really 10.2mtrs. I expect it would have been ok.

S20º 14.350 E149 º 01.000

Friday 8th July 2005 - Day 135 - Blue Pearl Bay to Cataran Bay

Good, quiet night. After brekkie we headed off to Cataran Bay. Started sailing after 20 minutes and it was a little lumpy. We sailed for a while but needed to tack too much so decided to motor and headed to Macona Inlet for lunch as it was too lumpy to make lunch en route. I was surprised at how swelly it was in Macona Inlet! All the sailing stuff is being done for me so, I must admit, I have been very lazy and relaxed with a book. After lunch we motored to Cataran Bay where we picked up a 9mt buoy. They are really for a 9 mtr monohull and a 10 mtr catamaran but there is hardly any wind here so we should be fine.  We then went snorkelling and it was an easy swim from the boat. We are on a  mooring just around the corner from Cataran Bay and the coral and fish were the best yet. We swam through a huge school of silver fish. They weren’t worried about us and were so numerous that it was hard to see the coral through it. We all had the same thought “Where are all the sharks who these fish are dinner for?” We will go again in the morning. At dusk there were a large amount of pelagic fish jumping to the rear of the boat. We think they were probably Tuna come to feast. Red Emperor for tea—Cajun style.

S20º 04.364 E148 º 55.712

Saturday 9th July 2005 - Day 136 - Cataran Bay to Hamilton Island
Quiet night. Up and another snorkel with more photos and a video. Bit cold this morning so didn’t stay in long. Will buy a light wet suit, I think. A cooked brekkie (AND it is not Sunday). Left Cataran at 1130 and stopped at Whitehaven for lunch. Then on to Hamilton Island where they gave us a very small side berth. We are behind a cat with guys who have decided to party so lots of noise. Chris and Wade went to Foot’s and I went off with some of the washing and met the others at Foots. Wade bought Chris a marble turtle and seahorse for her birthday—lucky Chris. Fish’n Chips for tea and then back to 2AB where we watched the movie “The Gift”. It was a good movie. The party lads had gone ashore but when they came back they were a little noisy but not too bad.

 
Sunday 10th July 2005 - Day 137 - Hamilton to Airlie Beach

Up early and off to the laundry with the towels, sheets etc. Chris and Wade helped me carry them up and then left me with a hug and said they would be back. At 0945 I was still there so I missed them when they caught the shuttle bus to the airport. Geoff came at 1015 and helped me back with all the clean laundry. We then went to the chandlery where we baught a mooring pole (you can use it on anything you want to get a rope on). Hopefully it will help me when we need to come into a berth as it should mean I don’t have to jump off. Paid our dues at the office and handed in a questionnaire which wasn’t at all complimentary but the girl said that it was good as they were trying to get the company to upgrade their amenities/facilities etc. They still have the temporary amenities block from 3 years ago where there is no changing area for the showers. You have to strip off in the open in full view of all and sundry who want to use the showers or toilets and there is absolutely nowhere for you to hang up your clothes or towel. Disgusting, especially as you are paying $75 per night which is 3 times more expensive than most marinas. Of course, they have a monopoly and can charge these prices. Saw Wade and Chris’ plane  off and waved and waved but found out later that they didn’t have a window seat so didn’t see us. We left at 1100 (chuck out time) and are now en route to Airlie Beach to await a parcel from Glascraft in Brisbane. And now I have to work again! I had been so lazy whilst Chris and Wade were with us and let them do all the sailing stuff. We had a really good sail to Airlie Beach. When we were nearly there Geoff espied a charter cat whose sails were just flogging and they were heading straight towards Pioneer Rocks and were very close to them. Before that their sails had been just flogging and they seemed to be going around in circles. Their name was “Sea Dragon” and Geoff radioed them to see if they were ok but got no reply from them. We did, however, get a reply from their charterer “Charter Yachts Aust”, asking if there was a problem. Geoff told them what he had witnessed and the charter company said they would monitor the radio, just in case. Later, during the radio skeds, we heard that they were having trouble getting the mainsail down. They were also having a problem with the jib earlier when Geoff noticed them, so they either have a rotten boat or they are rotten sailors. We think, even during our most novice times, we were never as bad as that.  We got into Airlie about 1500 hours and found a nice spot to anchor after cruising back and forth just outside the marina to try to pick up marinanet. No go, the signal was there but too weak. TV again! Caught up all the news.

Monday 11th July 2005 - Day 138 - Pioneer Bay, Airlie Beach
Nice sleep in! The wind has picked up a bit but it is good here. Rang Glascraft and they haven’t sent our goods yet as they have been waiting for the Auto helm belt. Asked them to send what they had straight away as we don’t want to wait around too long. They will let us know when the belt is in. Completed the June journal in PDF format and then went by tender into Abel Point Marina with the laptop to pick up our emails and will reply when we get back to 2AB. There was one email from my accountant saying that I need to retire to qualify for small business relief for capital gains. We also snuck into the showers to have a long shower and shampoo! Tch tch. Back to 2AB and type up my resignation letter with a heavy heart. I wish I could have my cake and eat it too! Spent the afternoon getting company stuff ready to send off to the accountant. It’s hard to get the brain into business gear again! Also got the email replies ready.  S20º 15.826b E148 º 43.465

Tuesday 12th July 2005 - Day 139 - Pioneer Bay, Airlie Beach

Yahoo! Pure Magic and Gecko have just arrived—we wondered where they were. We are going to share a taxi with Peter and Christine. We all choofed of to BiLo at Cannonvale and wandered further up to the hardware and marine shop and bought a few things then got supplies. I also bought some acrylic paint and brushes plus pencils to have a go. Geoff, meanwhile, had bought me some tubes of oil paints and brushes (good ones) so I should have fun even though I expect to be useless to start with. Whilst ashore, Geoff picked up the latest edition of “The Coastal Passage” and there on the back was a photo of Sally, Martin and Sammy. Back to 2AB to put everything away and vac pack all the meat. Parcel hasn’t arrived yet

Wednesday 13th July 2005 - Day 140 - Pioneer Bay, Airlie Beach

Rained a touch during the night but so far is a nice day. Geoff has put up better curtain rails for the head/shower area and given the poo stick another varnish. The poo stick is to measure how much sewage is in the holding tank and then it will be hung over the side in salt water to sanitise it. Took the tender to Airlie and went to the internet café and did our emails, journal, banking etc. Left my memory stick behind but got it back the next day.  We then went off to the post office and, low and behold, the parcel had arrived. Then we had a nice surprise as the marine battery charger was only $724 and not $845 as quoted. Great. We then caught the bus to Cannonvale to buy some more bits from the marine store and then back to Airlie where we went into a Games/Puzzle shop and spent nearly $100 on some more games. Back on 2AB Geoff put some shelves in the back deck lockers. I did some base painting of a coaster to see how I would go. Geoff installed the new marine battery

charger with a few choice words when things were not going his way. BUT, after a bit of lateral thinking, it is now up and running.

Thursday 14th July 2005 - Day 141 - Pioneer Bay, Airlie Beach

Wind has changed to the north. It is light but it has increased the swell. Big clean up today.  The genny is on and charging the batteries with the new charger. We will probably have to run the genny for about 4 hours to completely top up the batteries. I had a go at painting a pencil and a coaster. I’m terrible but surely I must get better. Geoff ferried some water from shore to top up the water tanks. After lunch we went into Airlie to post off the car battery chargers we have replaced as they weigh a bit and some bait. When we got back to the yacht club to retrieve our tender, Christine and Peter were there so we ended up at the yacht club having sundowners. Got back to 2AB just after dusk. After dinner we tried out our new games of Mankala, Arne and Quizmo. Quite swelly as the wind is still north. We, along with hundreds of other yachts—it’s like Burke Street here, are now on a lee shore but the wind is light and the anchorage has good holding. 

S20º 15.826b E148 º 43.465

Friday 15th July 2005 - Day 142 - Airlie Beach
Quite a swelly night which meant a lot of broken sleep. It should change to south later today and should be better. We will probably head off north tomorrow. Geoff took the bike ashore and cycled towards Shute Harbour to another chandlery. He came back with 2 new charts but we have one of them already so he is contemplating whether to take it back as it is $30 we don’t need to spend. It’s 1330 and still a north wind with a lot of swell. Hurry up wind change! Geoff popped back into Airlie and caught a bus to the chandlery store and replaced the chart with one we didn’t already have. He wasn’t long and came back bearing gifts—an ice cream (drumstick) no less. By this time I could hardly keep my eyes open after the bad night so I went for a nap for a while. Geoff is now napping—oh it is such a hard life. I’ve made a goulash for tea so now it just needs reheating. Looks like the wind is slowly changing as we are not on a lee shore anymore but we still have about 90 degrees to go. A nice sunset but not good enough for a photo. It’s getting to the stage where it has to be superb to take a photo. Worked out a passage route and destination for tomorrow. As we went to bed the wind had swung fully around and the anchorage is very calm. The new marine battery charger is working well. S20º 15.826b E148 º 43.465

Saturday 16th July 2005 - Day 143 - Airlie Beach to the Gloucester Passage

A very still night so a very good sleep. A couple of swallows have decided to visit this morning.  Also, there have been quite a few whale sightings over the past few days so we will have to keep an eye out. The holding tank is now full so has lasted 2 people 6 days. Went into Abel Point Marina to pick up genny fuel and picked up our latest emails for a while.  We backed in to the fuel berth—a first for us. Left at 1030 and have been sailing on and off since till now, at 1230. Pumped out from the holding tank once we were away from populated areas and a few nautical miles from shore. Washed salt water through it and pumped again and then sanitised the tank. It is working well and not a problem. It’s 1425 and we’ve just had “WOW” time. Geoff spotted 2—3 whales up ahead so he got out the camera and I took the helm. Whilst he was looking down at the camera settings a whale breached right in front of 2AB (but quite a distance away). He came straight out of the water—just like on the doco’s. Geoff missed it. He took movies anyway but he was shooting into the sun and we were quite a distance away (doing the right thing) so we will have to see if he got any of them. Oh what a temptation it is to go up close and so hard not to. We have to keep 100 metres away but we were much more than that. What wonderful mammals. Hopefully we will see more. 1530 and we are now anchored of Montes Resort at Passage Inlet just past the Gloucester Passage. We have just had a dolphin give us a show at the stern of us. Leaping and cavorting and just having fun. It must be the day for aquatic mammals plus a Green Back Turtle. Beat Geoff at Scrabble—

Just!   S20º 03.693 E148 º 26.929

Sunday 17th July 2005 - Day 144—Montes

Very still night but that is all about to change as there is a strong wind warning for the 4 day forecast. We went ashore to Montes Resort (very low key resort) and had a shower at $3 each and did some hand washing. Collected various small shells to replace the boring rocks in the Mankala game. We then wandered up the beach to the more up market Eco Resort (run by yachties) and had a couple of coffees at ’The Oar’ bistro there and chatted to the other yachties there. Spoke to them about heading off to Bowen and they advised against it as the anchorage here is better for sitting out strong trade winds. We also have more choices of anchorages here. So we decided to stay—hope it’s a good decision. We met up with Denise from Hakunamatata and Kirsten of Holomahal.  We had met Kirsten and her partner at Digby Island but had only heard Hakunamatata on the radio when all the VMR’s had trouble understanding their name. Back to 2AB and baked a cake but burnt its bottom as I forgot it as I was having a game of Mankala with Geoff. He likes this game as he often beats me! More turtles. Watched the movie ‘Rainbow Warrior’ and did some painting which I think I may be getting better at—maybe. Geoff baked 2 loaves of bread. Heard ‘Roma’ on the radio and said a quick hello.  They are in Jonah Bay in the Gloucester Passage and are sitting out the winds there. We are about another 4 nm further on. S20º 15.826b E148 º 43.465

Monday 18th July 2005 - Day 145 - Montes—Sinclair Bay—Eco Resort—Montes

Decided to head south further down the coast to Sinclair Bay to see what it is like and what the fishing was like. It was very shoal which meant you had to anchor way out in the middle of the bay in 2 metres of water. Made you feel very isolated. Anyway, we put the rods in and got a bite straight away . Small but bait but that was it—no more bites. So we had brekkie and had a good sail back to the Eco Resort and anchored. As we were anchoring we heard an air horn sound which gave me a start as I thought maybe someone didn’t like where we were anchoring but it was Neil and Sandra from Persephone who we met up with at Goldsmith Island. We may visit later. It was very swelly at this anchorage so we decided to go back to Montes where the swell is light to non existent (so far). We forgot to take the fishing lines in so when we re-anchored Geoff had to put on his snorkel and mask to check the propellers. Geoff put the line in and got 2 nice sized Blue Spot Emperors so fish for tea.  I am slowly getting used to all this fish - wish I liked it more—wish they made fish with no bones! Ah well, its good Omega 3 I suppose.               S20º 15.826b E148 º 43.465

Tuesday 19th July 2005 - Day 146 - Montes Resort—Passage Inlet

Well the strong wind warning has now changed to a gale warning with winds up to 40 knots per hour. Geoff went and checked his crab pot but the fish carcass had gone but no crabs.  He then motored to ‘Adventurous’, a white sloop that is also anchored in this bay (at present there are only 2 of us here—all the others are in the next bay around the corner or Bona Bay). The people on ‘Adventurous’ are John, Maria and 11 year old Zane. They have been cruising for 4 years and know the area well and said this bay is the best one to sit blows out as the swell is awful around the corner and the bullets are severe in Bona Bay. So here we’ll stay. 40 knot winds is going to be a new experience for us—one experience that I’m not to keen to witness. Geoff then came over for me and we went onboard for morning tea. Maria is schooling Zane by correspondence and he had just started learning Japanese. Maria was finding it hard to tutor Zane in Japanese as she knows nothing of the language so we were able to help out there. It was actually quite fun although the brain had to go in overdrive, as it must be at least 15 years ago that we learnt the language and lack of use has made us stale but a lot of it came back to us. Anyway, he finished his assignment so Maria was pleased. Apparently there are a couple of isolated bommies in this area and one is to the front of us which we will check out at low tide but we think we are fine. Geoff has put the crab pot in again so we will see if we have got anything in the morning (nothing). He also got some better copying software from John so he is now busily copying a heap of DVD’s for watching later on. Winds have been gusting to over 25 knots and it has been a bit swelly at tide turn but so far so good.               S20º 03.693 E148 º 26.929

Wednesday 20th July 2005 - Day 147 - Montes Resort, Passage Inlet

Not a bad night but blowy. Got up late. Charlie rang but it went to message bank before I

could answer it. He said I should change my message so I then spent the next hour trying to find out how to do it and found I had to ring Telstra to do it. But it’s done now and reflects the life I now lead. John, Maria and Zane came over for morning tea and I made pikelets. (Note: Sandfly remedy = 1/2 dettol, 1/4 baby oil, 1/4 vinegar. Mix and put into spray bottle and spray on skin to use as a deterrent. Note: Egg substitute = 1 dtsp vinegar plus 1 tsp bi carb.) John, Maria and Geoff did some DVD copying whilst Zane and I played some games and then Geoff and Zane did some Japanese study work. They came at 1100 and left at 1500. We all watched a yacht sail (tacking all the time) right into this anchorage but he had to put the motor on at the last minute. He also used a lead line to check his depth. Maybe he didn’t have a depth finder. So far the winds have gusted to 35 knots. 3 other yachts have now come into this bay from the other bay as they were probably suffering from the swell and fetch around there. Gave Charlie a call and he rang me back and we had a natter and I told him I had resigned. He will give everyone my regards tomorrow at DMT. Poor Polly has been sick with shingles. I must give her a ring. It has been raining so I have been collecting rain water in buckets and have collected 10 litres in the last couple of hours. Unfortunately`it’s much too blowy to put up our rain catcher. Geoff is still copying DVD’s so we should have heaps to watch during the rainy days.                S20º 03.693 E148 º 26.929

Thursday 21st July 2005 - Day 148 - Montes Resort, Passage Inlet

Quiet night and nice lay in. No reason to get up early. Geoff is STILL copying DVD’s.  Wind has picked up some more and its raining on and off. Sue and Arno will now be on their way to Magnetic Island. Hope they brought their wet weather gear. Another yacht has just arrived from around the other bay, at this rate it will get quite crowded here. We’re glad we got here first but as we’re a cat we can go closer in shore so won’t get crowded out here. I think there is only the cat Persephone in the next bay, all the rest are yachts. Not much to report as we are just whiling away the time by sitting here waiting forthe weather to pass. Had a text from Sue who said she nearly threw up on the ferry from Townsville to Magnetic Island as it was so rough. Had a call from Jack and Charlie about my resignation/retirement and had a nice chat. Wish I didn’t have to go!

Friday 22nd July 2005 - Day 149 - Montes Resort, Passage Inlet

Quite swelly during the night for about an hour but ok after that.  AND still it goes on! The wind is still very strong and shows no sign of lessening. CABIN FEVER is starting to set in. We are hoping to get to shore today but the seas are quite rough so we would get very wet. We will see. The winds seem to have shifted to ENE which means the seas are not so calm now.  ‘Adventurous’ gave us a call and said they were going to The Oar Bistro for lunch and did we fancy it. We did, so off we went.  I had fettuccini but couldn’t eat it all so took the rest back in a doggy bag as I’m a poor cruiser now and didn’t want to waste it after paying for it. Whilst there we had a shower and shampoo, complimentary with lunch. Once back on board I dabbled with the oils Geoff gave me. Polly rang, she must have read my thoughts as I had been thinking about her. We had a good natter. The wind seems to by dying down a bit now—Whoops—spoke too soon.

Saturday 23rd July 2005 - Day 150 - Montes Resort, Passage Inlet, Edgecombe Bay

Quiet night. The forecast says Monday & Tuesday will be 15—20 knots so then we can be

off. Still a strong wind warning for the next couple of days but at least not a gale warning.  Winds for today are forecast at 25—30 knots. Geoff is STILL copying DVD’s. Says he might as well now he has the chance. Oh Dear—the Coriander has got the dreaded black spot so it has been given a Burial At Sea! It’s done well, especially as it is me that has been looking after it. I have had it since Gladstone so it has lasted 2 months and is not supposed to do well in a salt environment. Went ashore to walk up the other end of the beach and collected some more shells for painting. Once back on board we worked out the capacity of the old eutectic fridge so we are ready to investigate a freezer when we get to Townsville.

Sunday 24th July 2005 - Day 151 - Montes Resort, Passage Inlet, Edgecombe Bay

Got up very late. Forecast is for SE winds 18—23 knots easing to 15—18 knots in the late

afternoon. Geoff went in the tender and cleaned the hulls and I cleaned the brass work. We then decided to head to Bowen, 12 nm way so we had a head start and an easier run on the Monday. I was a bit apprehensive when we left as I wasn’t sure if the seas had died down enough but I needn’t have worried as the wind is averaging 15 knots and the seas are about .5 of a metre if that. Evan so, it is slow going as we’re only making 3.5—5 knots. It will be ok if we can maintain 5 knots and , I suppose, we can always put the motors on. But, after 90 minutes we had to put the motors on and motor sail. Unbelievable, 8 days of strong winds and gales and the Pffffff—nothing! Geoff is trying out a tip that he got from John which is to tie old useless CD’s onto fishing line and let it out next to your trolling line. It’s supposed to look like a big school of fish and attract the pelagic fishes. We will see!  Nope—the seas are too strong for them and now we have only a few bits of CD’s left. No fish today. Anchored at Grays Bay, north of Bowen at 1700 and logged off with VMR Bowen.  WE HAVE TV AGAIN! Watched the news for the first time in 9 days. Now wish I hadn’t as it is all doom and gloom. More attempted bombings in London and an innocent man shot. Bombings in Egypt and Turkey. Maria rang to see how we were and wish us luck.    S19º 58.897 E148 º 15.266

Monday 25th July 2005 - Day 152 - Bowen to Cape Upstart

Up at 0615—YAWN. You can tell we are on passage again. Very quiet anchorage. It is now 0830and we have been sailing with the mainsail and a poled out Genoa in the gull wing configuration. AND we have Mackerel for tea! AND another now for spare. It’s now 1130 and the wind has settled down and is not so fluky now so we have put SUE on. SUE is the auto helm and is short for “Sails Us  everywhere”. No—SUE’S off—it’s still too fluky. Arrived at Cape Upstart at 1400. It’s quite windy here at present but the boat feels quite stable.  Wind generator is pushing the amps in anyway and 2 hours later it’s still pumping although the forecast has been downgraded. Perhaps it is just a blowy part of the coast.  Watched the movie ‘Captain Ron’. S19° 42.051 E147° 45.279

Tuesday 26th July 2005 - Day 153  Cape Upstart to Cape Bowling Green

♫ On the road again ♪ Wind eased off about 1am and changed direction a bit but not swelly. Off at 0700 as wind is supposed to change to E-NE this afternoon. Motor sailed for a while and then, as the wind was on 9—12 knots true,we decided to be brave and hoist the Spinnaker with thoughts uppermost in our minds of what happened the last time we hoisted it. It’s now up, we’ve cut the motors and we are sailing at approximately 5 knots which is fine. After a couple of hours the wind became too light so we took the Spinnaker down. The sailmaker in Mackay said he didn’t like the way it was configured so Geoff said for him to do whatever he thought so after mending it he reconfigured it and Geoff said it was so much easier to get up and down now.  Good! Got into Cape Bowling Green at 1530 and anchored. A bit swelly. Cape Bowling Green is basically a long flat sand spit that covers at times and is a haven for flotsam and jetsam. There are some great shells here and I even found 3 Nautilus shells but they were damaged. I would love a Nautilus shell. Watched the sun go down. I still haven’t seen the whole horizon go green as it slips below the horizon when setting at sea. Has anyone else seen this phenomenum?      S 19° 18.525 E 147° 23.475

Wednesday 27th July 2005 - Day 154 - Cape Bowling Green to Magnetic Island

A nasty beam swell started up at 0300 as mid tide set in and Geoff couldn’t sleep so decided we should head off. YAWN. After I had assisted in getting the anchor up and setting the sails I retired to my bed. Not that I got much sleep as it is quite noisy when you are under sail. Got up again at 0700 to relieve Geoff and there is sunshine—yes—sunshine, that stuff that is always supposed to be happening in Qld. It’s now 1130 and we are anchored in Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island and the sun is still shining. Sue and Arno are on the bus on their way over here. Well, we have just damaged out 2AB. A guy from another yacht came across and said we had anchored on top or very near to a wreck and it would probably be safer if we moved. As we were only moving a few metres we tied the tender to the side instead of bringing up onto the davits. As usual, when you are doing something out of your usual system, things happen. The rope pulley that normally holds the tender on the davits was just in the water and when we reversed to dig in the anchor it hit the propeller and wrapped around it. This put strain on the Targa Bar and the fibreglass has cracked badly and a davit support has cracked and needs welding. So, we will be spending more time in Townsville than we thought to get it fixed. Arno had arrived by kayak as they had left their mobile phone back in the unit and couldn’t contact us to let us know they had arrived. Geoff went in to pick them up in the tender and we had lunch on board. We then went by bus to their unit in Arcadia where I did some washing and had a lovely long shower.  Back to 2AB and chicken and chips for tea. After tea, Geoff braced the davit with rope and look at the damage. It’s not as bad as we had originally thought and he thinks it will be quite easy to fix. Then the water pump decided to suck in air and wouldn’t shut off. Geoff will go to shore tomorrow and get some water to fill up the 2 front bladders to see if that will help to get the air out. It’s nothing major, just annoying.              S19° 06.729 E147° 51.704

Thursday 28th July 2005 - Day 155 - Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island

Another nice day. Sue and Arno will be here around 1000 and we are sailing to one of the bays that there is no road into it to do a bit of snorkelling. Geoff went over and got some water to fill up the front bladders and it has fixed the problem. Neither of the front tanks were completely empty so he will install boards under them to try to get the last amount out of them. Out of the 250 litres in the front bladders we can only pump out about 170 litres before the pump stops pumping so it will be good if we can get it all out. This means we use just over 10 litres per day. So this means, in theory, that with the 550 litres of water we have on board we should be able to stay out at least 50 days. Geoff picked Sue and Arno up and we sailed to Huntingfield Bay where we saw a dugong as we went in to anchor. We then all went for a swim. After lunch the wind had changed to NE so we sailed out from the bay quite a way to then tack and try to sail back to Horseshoe Bay. The tack basically took us back to where we had been so we ended up motor sailing. The wind and seas had built up quite a bit and we even had a wave over the top of the saloon. For land lubbers (Sue) it was quite an experience but she was very brave and although she was feeling sick towards the end, she made it. Once anchored we went ashore and had a celebratory pizza at $29.50 for the four of us. Ice cream and then see them off on the bus. We are meeting them tomorrow to go on a 8 km bike ride from

Picnic Bay to West Point.          S19° 06.729 E147° 51.704

 

Friday 29th July 2005 - Day 156 - Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island

Left 2AB with the folding bikes (not much room for 2 people and 2 bikes in the tender) and caught the bus at 1000 to Arcadia. Had porridge there for brekkie. We then caught the bus to Picnic Bay where Sue and Arno hired bikes (brand new) and we cycled to West Point 8 kms away along a dirt road. Pretty area but too shallow for swimming so we ate our packed lunch then cycled the 8 kms back. Arno and Geoff then decided to cycle the 6 kms back to Arcadia whilst Sue and I caught the bus. The bus goes around the houses and on route stops at Nellie Bay at the Ferry terminal. AND who should get on our bus? None other than Kris Kristoffensen. He sat behind us for a while with his partner? And son?  And it was definitely him and he definitely has an American accent. Then just before the

bus left he and his son? Got off the bus and caught the ferry back to Townsville. I knew he was performing in Townsville at some time but I never expected to see him and more so on a lowly public transport bus! Strange things happen at sea! Anyway, we had only just got back to the unit by 1 minute when Geoff and Arno turned up—and they had stopped off to do some shopping. Just shows you how slow the bus was. After cocktails on the balcony (Sex on the Beach) we headed up to the RSL where there was a market and a Thai Food stall where we had tea. Nice and cheap at $6.00 a meal. Back on the bus to Horseshoe Bay, jump in the tender to try to find 2AB in the dark as we hadn’t left any lights on as we were away all day. We found her eventually but it wasn’t easy. We left the bikes with Sue and Arno and they are riding them back here tomorrow.

Saturday 30th July 2005 - Day 57—Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island

Nice day again. This is the last page of the journal that Flic gave me and has lasted 5 months. Thanks Flic. I will have to get another one out for tomorrow. Changed the bed linen as I am going to take them and the towels to Sue and Arno’s to wash. It’s free! We have booked into the Breakwater Marina at Townsville for a week as from next Tuesday.  Sue and Arno might sail over with us. We will get the welding done whilst we are there and Geoff will try to get in to see the specialist. They have said there are no vacancies until November but we have explained our situation and she will try to get him in. We will find out on Monday. I know that once we are in a marina again we will start spending money—big problem. Popped ashore for bread and milk, checked our emails and sent a fax. Rang Sally and Martin and they leave Vila in 3 days. Both have been working hard. Sally at the clinic and Martin on some building of the clinic. They probably need a rest by now. They are back in Oz about late October. Went for morning tea on ‘Top Gear’ a Northshore 38’, David and Annette. Nice boat even though it is 20 years old. Found out they have good TV reception so we will have to look at our antenna. Sue and Arno arrived at 1500 and Geoff went to pick up the bikes whilst they had a swim. Not a good swim as they got bitten by sea lice or something similar. They came on board for afternoon tea of pikelets. Arno and I then winched Geoff up the mast to look at the antenna fittings but they look ok. We can get TV with our rabbit ears so looks like either the antenna or the wiring is no good. A new antenna is only about $80. It may have broken the time we had the trouble with the Spinnaker off Percy Island. We headed ashore around 6pm as Sue wasn’t too keen in going in the tender after dark. We went to Noodies Mexican Restaurant. We had eaten there with Sally and Martin in November last year but it has since changed hands. A couple from Port Arlington, Victoria bought it in March but the chef is the same and the food is still good and a reasonable price. Sue and Arno then caught the bus back to Arcadia and we went back to 2AB. We had left the genny running to boost the battery power as it was getting low (down to 12.1 volts) so were able to leave the boarding light and anchor light on and she was easy to find this time. Note: Saw a Nautilus Shell for sale in the local gift shop for $49.95—WOW. ’Sea Dancer’ has arrived since we have been ashore.

Sunday 31st July 2005 - Day 158 - Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island

Up at 800 and Geoff has started to look at fixing the crack in the fibreglass. He has moved the steel plate from the inside to the outside and put a thick piece of wood inside and bolted the 2 together. You would not know it was cracked by looking at it now. Now we only need to get the crack welded and the fibreglass can be mended at anytime. We have hoisted the tender, with the engine on, to test it and it feels really secure. Geoff feels it is actually stronger than before. It’s a good job he’s an handyman. I don’t think you could really go cruising if you weren’t— unless you were rich of course. The people from ‘Sea Dancer’ said hi on their way past in their tender. I wish I could remember their names—I will have to ask then again. When I meet new people I normally write their names, boat name, boat type and where I met them in a book. But I missed ‘Sea Dancer’ somehow. Sue and Arno then came sailing by on a hobie cat and seemed to be going quite well but once past us they had trouble getting back to us. There are so many boats anchored here they were worried they were going to hit one. Geoff went and towed them back with the tender and Sue came on board then Geoff and Arno continued on with the hobie cat. At one stage they were really flying.  At the end of their allotted time Arno decided to row the tender back to shore and Geoff was To take the hobie cat into shore. He had just taken off when it looked like it was going to flip over but he threw himself across it and stabilised it. He told us later that the rudder arm had come apart. Back on 2AB and we had a passing visit from the crew of ‘Windana’, the big cat we were  anchored with at Cape Bowling Green. Tony, Gwen and their children Sarah and Nathan. They had met Baza and Helen, the previous owners of 2AB, last year. We then popped in the tender to go ashore to catch the bus to Arcadia. On the way in we recognised a couple of faces we knew. It was Sarah, David and Boatswain the German

Shepherd from Baybird who we had got friendly with in Gladstone. Sarah has been teaching at Townsville. It was good to see them again as we had often wondered how they were getting on. Back to Arcadia for a bbq of Chicken Satay and barbecued prawns. We both ate too much. Back to 2AB, scrabble and then bed.