1st to 31st October 2005

Saturday 1st October 2005 - Day 220 - Lizard Island

Nice day but still windy but less so, I think. Maybe not. Note: It is a minimum of $750 per person per night to stay at the resort on Lizard—WOW. David from ‘Alice’ came over to see some video clips and the Qosmio laptop and took some stuff back to put onto his laptop.  He and his wife Lynn have only just returned to Lizard after they received the shocking news that their son, 26 years old, had died in his sleep. They left the boat at Lizard and Erica from ‘Ovide’ looked after it and they left to sort out everything. What a tragedy. They are still getting to grips with it and taking each day at a time and they have their good days and their bad. Went over to one of the bommies in search of Nemo. Went in backward from the tender—a first for me and not at all elegant from the look on Geoff’s face. At last we have found Nemo’s, about 3-4 of them, so we now know what sort of anemone to look for. The bommie was a very interesting ecosystem with an abundance of fish but the coral was just ok. Geoff made bread but he forgot about it and left it proving too long but it wasn’t too bad. I took stock of what food we had and after 16 days it will start to get really interesting.  Let’s hope the winds ease up by then. Geoff went over to ‘Alice’ to look at his computer system. I got some washing ready to take to the well tomorrow as Bernie from ‘Eaglehearts’ has given me the guilt's as she has done a load today (even sheets—bugga that). We are not going ashore for drinks tonight. Two guys and a girl from the big motor cruiser ‘My Way’ (owned by Mick Doolan but chartered out) went for a jog along the beach (back and forth). I watched as our mob egged them on until the girl stopped to speak. I never saw if the guys stopped in the end.

Sunday 2nd October 2005 - Day 221 - Lizard Island

Nice day, still windy and no change in the next 4 days, according to the weather forecast.  Went for a dip then went ashore and did my washing. Whilst I was doing this Geoff filled up 2 x 10 ltr containers of water and carried them, one by one, to the tender. Whilst at the tender he chatted to the passengers off of the brand new ‘Ocean Princess’ that was on it’s last 2 days of a cruise from Darwin to Cairns. Costs about $700 per day but still better value than staying at the Lizard Island Lodge for the same price. Whilst he was chatting to them a big bronzed lady wandered by with only a G String on and no top. Apparently she was much bigger than me so she must have been a sight. The mind boggles. Geoff told the cruise passengers that Watson’s Bay had now been declared a “Nude Beach” and they should all strip off. Being elderly they declined. Geoff thinks she is off of one of the motor cruisers as she isn’t one of the yachties that we know. Back to2AB and put up a washing line this time as I didn’t want the fiasco of the rust stains again! They are showing the Rugby Grand Final at the Marlin Bar tonight and we are going just for the sausage sizzle to eke our food out a little bit more. We know one of the teams, the “Townsville Cowboys” so will barrack for them. Geoff took his laptop over the Katani2 and I swam over a little later. Played Scrabble with Lorraine and she beat me by 10 which wasn’t too bad as she is much better at it than me. A few more yachts have come in today. About 6pm we took off for the Marlin Bar to watch the Grand Final. I have found out the other team playing was the West Tigers (Sydney). It was a good match (I actually enjoyed it) and Sydney won. Whilst there I took the opportunity to ring Glynn and find out how my niece, Laura, was who had been in a diabetic coma after being struck down with a bug after her return from Turkey. She’s fine now and they were both on their way out for some “Retail Therapy”. Rang my sister Kay—out—normal! Rang dad and had a good natter. Rang Bob at half time as I knew he would be watching the rugby. Caught up on everything that’s been happening.  Tried Sally and Martin but not in phone range. Back to 2AB after partaking of the sausage sizzle and parting with $41 somehow.

Monday 3rd October 2005 - Day 222 - Lizard Island

Nice day but windier. Quick dip. Didn’t do much. Geoff copied some DVD's and I did a crossword.  Made Beef Olives. We went snorkelling and saw two types of Nemo’s , the darker ones in the dark brown anemones and the more orange ones in the purple anemones.  We fed the fish which was fun (tch, tch I can hear from Michelle and Alli who wouldn’t even let me feed the seagulls at Lakes Entrance). Back to 2AB and cleaned the hulls off.  Cooked up some pappadams to take to shore with hummus dip and they went very quickly.  Dinner, Scrabble and bed. So, as I said before, didn’t do much.

Tuesday 4th October 2005 - Day 223 - Lizard Island

Nice day but very windy. Lazed around until just after 10am when we went over to Cheryl and John on ‘Windsong’ an 11mtr Simpson cat. They had previously lost their original Elite cat ‘Phoenix’ to a fire in 2003 in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Luckily they were cruising with another cat otherwise who knows what may have happened to them. It’s pretty desolate country up there. Anyway, we played Scrabble and ‘blow me down’ I beat her! We then went over to Kaz2, a 10.5 Crowther cat. Looked over the boat and looked at his internet system. Then we went ashore and picked up another 20 ltrs of water. Back to 2AB and Geoff popped over to Andy and Erica on ‘Ovide’ and they will visit tomorrow. Geoff then made some bread and made extra so that I could make a pizza for lunch, wrong type of cheese but what the heck. Geoff cleaned the rust spots off the hulls and then we had a swim.  Didn’t go to shore tonight as we had bread in the oven. Looks good too.

Wednesday 5th October 2005 - Day 224 - Still Lounging at Lizard

Up earlyish. Made banana muffins. Erica and Andy came over and we had the muffins for morning tea. We talked about a million things. I lent Erica my Compaq laptop power supply to try out. Went and gave Lorraine back her painting book and stopped for a cuppa and then went and collected 40 ltrs of water. On the way back we stopped off for afternoon tea on ‘Ovide’ and Erica said the power supply works well so she will get one. Back to 2AB and print off a photo of the seaplane landing besides ‘Alice’. It turned out to be his last trip as he has health problems. The photo was a present to Lynne on ‘Alice’ from Erica on ‘Ovide’. Cooked more pappadams and off to the beach for drinks. Say goodbye to everyone in case we leave in the morning, which I don’t really think we will do. Got the boat ready for departure. I must get a haircut when I get back to civilisation as my curls are back.  Maybe it’s the saltwater.

Thursday 6th October 2005 - Day 225 - Still Lounging at Lizard

Up at 0630 to get the weather forecast.  It’s starting to look better for the 4 day forecast so we will stay another day to let the seas calm down a bit. Called up Cheryl and Lorraine to come over for a last game of Scrabble and to look at 2AB.  At 9.30 John brought Cheryl over and had a look at the boat as they have an 11 mtr Simpson. Lorraine had a look too.  Had pikelets after the game and saved some for Graeme who came over later. Relaxed. There’s a book swap on the beach tonight and then we are off to Katani2 for pizza. It was a good night. Graeme is such a dag—he reminds me so much of Robert—that’s a compliment  Bob. Back to 2AB at 9.30pm as an early start in the morning.

Friday 7th October 2005 - Day 226 - Lizard Island to Egret Reef

Up at 0515, yawn as we will try to leave today if it’s not too bouncy. Left the anchorage at 0600 and it is now 0700 and it’s quite bouncy but tolerable—just. We have spent 24 days at Lizard and we will probably be back. We took Stugeron just in case it is rough as we may have got soft after spending all those days at Lizard. As we get nearer Cooktown I am hoping we will get less seas. We are currently motor sailing with the main and reefed Genoa.  Whoopee—phone reception so have picked up and sent some text messages. Apparently Jeanette is putting in a manager at the backpackers and moving back to Melbourne. She only lasted 10 months. We were having a reasonable run, albeit motor sailing, and decided to bypass Cape Bedford and Cooktown and anchor at Egret Reef as the wind is so light now.  It feels weird anchored in what looks like open ocean. I had a salt water deck shower and shampoo on the front deck. Geoff laughed because I wouldn’t go naked. He said did I think there was a ship out there with a big telescope to spy on me. But, you can’t change your nature, can you? Geoff has gone off in the tender to fish as he is suffering withdrawal symptoms as Lizard was a Marine Park B designation and a no go. Here is a General Use B. But he came back empty handed. Coastwatch is on the prowl again around here but they haven’t spoken to us. The toilet pump is playing up and won’t pump straight to sea so we are having to pump it into the holding tank and then pump it to sea. We have a complete new toilet system on board ready to go in.     S15° 28.137 145° 24.335

Saturday 8th October 2005 - Day 227 - Egret Reef to Low Isles

What a quiet night. Light wind when we went to bed but it died completely during the night.  Being on a reef we thought it was going to be a bit swelly at high tide but nothing!  We left at 0700 with hardly any wind at all. If anything it was SSE at 5knots max so it is a motor job unless it gets stronger. 90 minutes out and we have just seen 2 dolphins. They ignored us. They are certainly not as friendly as NSW/VIC dolphins. We have just been overtaken by a butterfly—whatever next? At 0930 it was like a mill pond and Geoff read to  me from Lt James Cook’s journal where he hit Endeavour Reef which is just about where we are now. Geoff has been philosophising on what it must have been like for James Cook when he hit the reef all those miles from home with the responsibility for so many lives. He was 1500 nm from the nearest known port (Batavia) with a hole in his ship and 3.5 feet of water in his hull, Luckily he had pretty much the same weather as we have now as we pass that very same spot 235 years and 6 months later. Geoff has this thing about defining moments in history and his position in it because of the circumstances and decisions made so long ago. When he skippered the charter yacht ‘High Jinks’ 2 years ago he named the trip “The Thank You Lt James Cook trip”. Today he feels even more connected with the events of so long ago as he looks out over the ocean and the rugged coastline as Cook and his crew did. Whoops, our deep plastic lure has just got savaged and has now been replaced by a metal spoon lure so no fresh fish for dinner tonight, as of yet. 1500hours and the wind, what there is, is NNE @ 4knots and now it’s started to rain! I wanna go back! We haven’t made up our minds yet where we will anchor tonight as we are waiting for an update on the weather. It will either be a Cape Kimberley (Penguin Passage) or Low Islets. Well we have just heard there’s a thunderstorm warning for the Cairns area. It’s really raining now so we are trying to catch water. Ok, we have just heard the updated weather forecast and it looks like it is going to be heavy showers and stronger winds in our area so we are going to Cape Kimberley for the night. We just caught a Spotted Mackerel but just as we got him to the boat he got off. Bumma. Rains gone, sun is shining, wind has died. What happened to the weather forecast?  Mich rang just as we were entering Penguin Passage. It is quite nice here

and there are people swimming off the beach so they can’t be too worried about the crocs!  AND this is the mouth of the Daintree River and I know there are crocs in the Daintree River cos I’ve seen them with my very own eyes. Once we anchored we put the lines in but didn’t get a bite. S16° 16.820 E145° 28.770

Sunday 9th October 2005 - Day 228 - Cape Kimberley to the Low Islets

Quiet night, no wind and no thunderstorms so we could have carried on to the Low Islets last night. Still, better safe than sorry.  We will go out to Batt Reef today as it is only 12nm and we can come back here if the winds increase or continue on to the Low Islets. As we went through Snapper Passage we passed ‘Coolwater’ (the 1st made Perry Cat) that had been at Lizard. They called on the radio and asked for info on the anchorage we had just left. Then 60 minutes later a cat crossed our path going north. It was Lloyd on Tsunami who was heading to Lizard. We originally met him in McKay and we caught up on all his news. He had been delayed as a few things on his Seawind 1000 had to be fixed before he could continue north again. Arrived at Batt Reef at 1140 after catching a nice Mackerel on route. We also saw dolphins on our approach to Batt Reef. Flat seas, no wind and plenty of sun.  Went for a snorkel but the coral was quite disappointing and the current quite strong. Left at 1300 hours and nearly had a heart attack when the starboard engine wouldn’t start and then realised that I hadn’t pushed the starboard engine stop back down. Silly me! Whew!  Hoisted the Main and Genoa as wind is now N 10 knots. Engines off and we are only making 3 knots as the wind is so light but we only have 7 nm to go to Low Islets. Genoa furled and Spinnaker up and Geoff is steering manually as the wind is quite finicky. It works well but it certainly gets the adrenalin pumping. But , 35 minutes later it’s back in and the Genoa is back out as the wind wasn’t quite right for it. Sailed with the Main and Genoa and got to Low Islets at 1600 hours and anchored on the south west side with a bit of protection from Low Isles itself.  Lloyd had stayed in the same place the night before and said the anchorage was fine. There are quite a lot of boats in the lagoon but this means they get no protection at all and have their sterns to the reef. The wind is so light I suppose they believe it will be ok.  It’s a little bouncy at present but it is high tide and turning so expect it will calm down later.  Rang Sammy and had a good natter and caught up on things. Sally and Martin are on route to the Solomon’s and will be back late November or early December and will clear customs either at Cairns or Townsville. We have just noticed that Windsong and 2XS are in the lagoon here. We gave them a call and we believe they passed us whilst we were at Batt Reef.  They were leaving Lizard the day after us. The radio skip was also great today so Geoff managed to call Graeme on Katani2. They had taken 23 people out to the Cod Hole yesterday and said it was a great day. Battered Mackerel and chips (the last of the fresh spuds) and tinned tomatoes for tea. It was very yummy and just how I like it. Geoff excelled himself again. Then we watched ‘Finding Nemo’. Sweet!           S16° 23.411 E145° 33.391

Monday 10th October 2005 - Day 229 - Low Islets to Cairns

Leave anchorage at 0730 after a very quiet night. Before we left there were a pair of Osprey (quite large) sitting on the spreaders. Magnificent birds, but their poo isn’t magnificent and now Geoff is having to clean it off the bimini cover. No wind, millpond seas, sunny but very hazy as there are bush fires raging near Innisfail. Been there, done that! We booked into Marlin Marina at Cairns for a few days and we are thinking of hiring a cheap car for a couple of days. Rang Kerry from ‘Paladin’ who lives in Cairns. He found us a ‘Rentabomb’ for $76 for 2 days so we may do that. 1200 hours and we are just passing Double Island, Trinity Beach and Carol and Tony’s place. They are both away so no waving this time. No rain, no swell and sun. It’s going to be deadly in the marina. Got into the marina at 1600hours and it was a tight berth right next to a 12 month old cruiser. I called out to him that we were coming in and he helped to tie up for us. Just as we were coming in the wind whipped up after none all day and we nearly nudged his boat, but we didn’t. We finished tying up when I saw a sea snake at the bottom of our transom steps swimming by.  He must have been mad at something as he was hissing away. Perhaps we were in his spot.  Kerry rang and after a shower he picked us up and we went to the Cairns Cruising Yacht Squadron for dinner and then back to his place for dessert and coffee. Back to 2AB and checked our emails and now Geoff is getting frustrated as he searches for his signature on the two laptops. He needs to sign papers to finalise his dad’s estate. I think he is about to throw mine into the drink so I think I had better rescue it. Bed, I think.

Tuesday 11th October 2005 - Day 230 - Cairns

Well it is now 10pm and I am absolutely shattered. We got up early and I put on two loads of washing whilst Geoff cycled to the ‘Rentabomb’ office. He picked up an old non air conditioned Toyota Corolla for $34 per day with unlimited kms. He was too mean to pay an extra $4.50 per day for an air conditioned one, We then went off with our huge list. 1st stop Bunning's and $200 poorer, then Whitworths and $300 poorer and then on to Markwell Marine and $600 poorer (we have bought a new depth/fish finder as the current one doesn’t show depth increments as points and we never know if we are in 1 metre or 2 metres of water), then on to Coles and reprovision and another $500> poorer and then at Cash Converters we managed to buy the same model Canon digital camera as the one Geoff damaged so another $180 poorer. Back to 2AB and it has taken me from 6pm to 10pm to put all the supplies away. My feet and back is killing me and then I had t make the bed as I had washed all the linen. So now I am too tied to write up the journal in more detail—sorry. BED!

Wednesday 12th October - Day 231 - Cairns

Well, in the early hours the boat next door left and another took it’s place and I never heard a thing. Geoff is fitting the new toilet today and, as most things boat, things are never easy.  He had the valve the wrong way and pooee water squirted out under pressure all over him.  Rumblings and grumblings. After he had showered and changed we headed off into town to get some more bits and pieces and then back to 2AB where Geoff finished installing the toilet.  We’ve bought some strong Descaler chemical to see if we can stop the pipes from blocking up. He is now worn out as it has been quite hot and humid today. It was very hot in the car, maybe next time he will pay that extra $4.50 per day for air conditioning. He tried to have a nap but the guy on the boat opposite has his mobile on speaker phone and is yelling really loud so that was the end of that. Later we went up and phoned Lloyds Bank in the UK to try to re-activate Geoff’s bank account that they had made inactive through lack of use. They had sent a letter asking to confirm he wanted it to stay open but, of course, it was past the reply date when we actually received it. Now he has to see a solicitor to be legally I.D.’d with a letter to get it eopened. We need it in case there is anything left over from Geoff’s dad’s estate plus it has just over £500 in it anyway.

Thursday 13th October2005 - Day 232 - Cairns

What a night. I had a really bad tummy ache and vomiting. Maybe I touched something yesterday when Geoff was taking out the old toilet. We cleaned up the boat ready for the off tomorrow.  Closed the Company business account and company credit cards. Put in for the diesel rebate. I am claiming about 60% of the diesel use for generating power. We should get back $150 for the 6 months which is not to be sneezed at. Geoff fitted a new access hole for the water distribution system with the new access hole being on the front side of the saloon seat rather than under the seat cushions. Much easier to get to and much easier to see what you are doing when you want to change tanks. Another hot day but there is more of a breeze today. Washed the boat. Whilst washing the boat the skipper from a large motor cruiser (Bohemian) gave Geoff 12 cans of Whisky and Coke and 1 beer and I got 4 stainless steel platters. Apparently, the owner doesn’t allow alcohol in glass bottles on board and his wife doesn’t like the platters.  Very nice too! As it was our last day in Cairns we then walked along the Esplanade and found a nice café where we both had a light meal of salads each. I was still a bit wary with my stomach.

Friday 14th October 2005 - Day 233 - Cairns to Fitzroy Island

Up at 0730 hours. Geoff had a look to see if he could quickly install the Garmin Depth/fish Finder but was a bit iffy about it so will read up on it a bit more. Left at 1000 after refuelling.  As we were going out of the leads Geoff said that a yacht (Saltheart) just outside the leads looked to be aground. As we came up to them they waved to us and said that they were indeed stuck on a sandbar and were we able to help. We said we would give it a go but we only had 2 small engines and were not sure if they were up to it. We edged up to her and they brought a rope across in the tender. We were still in 4 metres of water so they had been very unlucky to hit the sandbar but were also having gearbox troubles. Geoff put the rope around the starboard mainsheet winch and then tensioned it off with another rope off the anchor winch and then we slowly went forward. I didn’t think that it was going to work but slowly we saw them starting to move and then they were off. Many thanks and 6 beers richer we left them to it. This is when we heard them radio Coastguard Cairns saying they had gearbox trouble and were going to sail to a better anchorage to work on it. It’s quite bouncy at present but we are still in reasonably shallow water. Sailed side by side with ‘Low Profile’ for a while who we had last seen at Lizard island, but they soon got ahead of us as they have much bigger engines and we are both motor sailing at present. They had left Yorkeys Knob this morning. Got to Fitzroy Island about 1420 hours and picked up a buoy in the same area as before. Winds are SE—E to 15 knots so we should be just dandy. Geoff went for a snorkel and said it was warm but cloudy. I started work on making the sun shade for the cockpit area so we can sit out there in the heat of the day when at anchor and not get burnt to a crisp. After tea we played Scrabble and he beat me—he’s getting so much better. Bed.

S16° 55.994 E145° 59.112

Saturday 15th October 2005 - Day 234 - Fitzroy Island to Mourilyan Harbour

Up at 0745 because Geoff has decided we will head down to Mourilyan Harbour as the wind is from the east and he wants to make the most of it. It’s a long passage and I would have liked to start earlier than this and I was looking forward to a day of snorkelling at Fitzroy. Whilst on passage I continued sewing the sun shade (mesh) and finished the main sewing by midday. I will finish it off when I next have time, when at anchor. Up to now the winds have been mainly ESE about 7 knots so we’ve been motor sailing again. I’m looking forward to sailing from Mourilyan Harbour to Dunk as we can take our time as it is not too far.  Mind you, now I’ve said that the winds will probably be wrong or too light. The forecast for tomorrow is NE 10—15 knots but then they often change it on you. Today was an uneventful trip and we motor sailed all day and got into Mourilyan Harbour at 1730 hours. Didn’t like the first spot we anchored in so moved and now we are happy. Great sunset, roast in the oven and relax with a G&T.

S17° 36.504 E146° 07.409

Sunday 16th October 2005 - Day 235 - Mourilyan Harbour to Dunk Island

Very quiet night. Nice day today, well in here it is as this is a very sheltered anchorage.  The entrance is very hard to see from the ocean as the two hills at its entrance give the impression of an unbroken coastline. It was only discovered in 1872 when the brig ‘Maria’ struck a reef in a cyclone and the paddle steamer ‘Basilisk’ discovered it when looking for survivors. It has a large basin inside (and very peaceful it is too) and is the mouth of the Moresby river and now is a large sugar port. It was completed in 1979 and can load at a rate of 25,000 tonnes a day and can accept ships up to 50,000 tonnes. A big sugar ship has come in this  morning. Geoff has gone ashore for a look around and is surprised that I don’t want to go. What is there for a girl to look at, does he think? He will probably prove me wrong!  No—he said there was nothing there to see. We up anchored and left the harbour at 0945 hours and motor sailed for two and a half hours and then the wind turned to ENE around 8 knots average so we turned the engines off and have been slowly sailing to Dunk Island for the last three and a half hours at about 2.5—3 knots. It’s been an uneventful trip so far and a nice day. Geoff put the stoppers on the back panels so they can now be used as tables again.  I baked some sultana scones, from scratch I might add, and they actually turned out well. A little on the small size as I couldn’t find anything to cut them with at the right size but still good scones. Geoff also fitted the new amp meter for the solar panels and we were getting 6.8 amps at noon when the sun was as overhead as it can be at this latitude. This is good as the panels, rated together, have an output of 7 amps per hour. We then watched the amps gradually decrease as the sun got lower and lower. And at 1600 hours was only putting out 2 amps per hour. We will add a tilt mechanism at some later date so they can be tilted towards the sun as the day progresses. The wind generator hasn’t turned itself on at all today as the wind is so light. We anchored at Dunk Island at 1630 hours with another 3 cats. A nice salad for tea tonight so only had to cook the bacon and spuds for the potato salad. Trounced Geoff at Scrabble and listened to Hornblower on ‘Talking Books’.

S17° 56. 428 E146° 08.008

Monday 17thOctober 2005 - Day 236 - Dunk Island to Zoe Bay

Nice day. On a lee shore but no wind at all to speak of. Left the anchorage at 0720 on route to Zoe Bay which is on the ocean side of Hinchnbrook Island. It is supposed to be a really beautiful bay with a waterfall but a hard bay to get to as it is exposed to the sea and you can only go there in calm weather conditions—not a SE trade wind. It looks perfect today so we are keeping our fingers crossed. Some cruisers take years to get there! On the way up we had winds of 25 –30 knots from the SE so it was a definite a ‘No No’ then. Today is forecast at E-NE 10-15 knots. Left Dunk at 0720 and motor sailed with just the main up until about 1230 when the wind shifted N/NNE at around 5—7 knots so we hoisted the Spinnaker and shut off the engines and sailed at around 3.5 knots. Not fast but with plenty of time to get to Zoe Bay. Just before this we had made a small detour to Eva Island as it was a Dugong Protection Zone. It wasn’t charted at great depth so we took a lot of care. I saw a Dugong swimming under the water beside us but it was just a whitish blur. I was up at the bow watching for any hazards when I saw him. Geoff said the fish finder showed up a massive object and the shape even looked like a Dugong! Just past Eva island we caught a nice Spanish Mackerel so fish’n chips for tea tonight. We got into Zoe Bay around 1445 after a nice couple of hours sailing under Spinnaker but then it took us a good 45 minutes to anchor.  We tried six times in six different locations before we could get the anchor to hold.  Brenda and Rick and their little woof “Vicky” on Low Profile are also in the bay with us and they popped over on their way back from the beach and stayed a good two hours. It’s a very calm anchorage at present. It is very pretty with mountains, covered in rain forest, rising from the depths with the perpetual clouds hovering just on their peaks. Hinchinbook makes its own weather and it’s quite often overcast and raining here. It is now 2015 and we’ve eaten the yummy fish’n chips (battered again) and now Geoff is using the Mackerel scraps for bait for his fishing. It’s a Marine Park A here so you can only use one line and one hook per person. Anyway, he didn’t catch anything worth keeping so they all lived to fight another day!

S18° 23.190 E146° 19.773

Tuesday 18th October 2005 - Day 237 - Zoe Bay

Nice sunny day. Quiet night although I didn’t sleep much as I think I may have been worrying about the anchor holding. Perfect weather to be in Zoe Bay. At 1015 we left in the tender for the south east corner of the bay where the track to the waterfall starts. This trip alone took 15 minutes. When we reached the beach there were a lot of warning signs about recent croc sightings. It’s enough to give one (Maz) the eebie jeebies! Eyes wide open (Maz) we started up the track and it was an easy 30 minute walk apart from one patch which was a bit of a rock scramble and then, there it was, the delightful Zoe Bay waterfall and fresh water swimming hole. We had passed Brenda and Rick from Low Profile on the way and Brenda said there were a lot of people there. When we got there we found seven people there, but hardly a crowd. There were 5 people off a day trip motor boat and a couple off of a sloop from Cardwell. They all left soon after we got there and we had the place to ourselves.  Well almost! Plus the March flies. We both had a long swim and Geoff re-discovered that you don’t float all that well in fresh water. (Author’s note: he doesn’t float all that well in salt water either!). There were a lot of Jungle Perch in the swimming hole and Geoff fed them with March Flies that he had stunned when they were trying to have a go at him.  Sweet Justice! They were very unusually marked fish. There were also heaps of tadpoles but the fish weren’t at all interested in them, for some reason. Once smothered in insect repellent we headed back down the trail, once again “Eyes Wide Open”. A couple of times lizards gave me the fright of my life but no crocs were seen. Back at the tender we found the tide had gone out quite a way and the way down to the waters edge with the tender was quite steep. Once the tender and us were on the water Geoff realised there was a problem with the throttle control on the outboard. The top of the throttle control had come unscrewed from the carburetor. Whilst he was jury rigging it I was trying to stop us drifting into the mangroves with the aid of an oar. Geoff, being the Whiz that he is, soon got the engine going. By this time the wind had whipped up and we got absolutely saturated on the 15 minute trip back to 2AB but the water was quite warm. This bought back to my mind that the skipper from the motor boat had warned us to start looking out for stingers and irikanji as it was coming up to that season. We had completely forgotten about them. That’s what happens when you spend so long at a place like Lizard Island when you can swim, wherever, whenever! After lunch Geoff fixed the throttle linkage properly and we then went over to Low Profile for drinks. It was a lovely cat which Rick had taken 6 years to build himself and a very professional job he had done of it, I must say. He made all the cabinets, doors—everything. The doors are made of wood but they look like fibreglass. It is a Grainger (a very well known brand) and is over 12 metres long. Their previous cat was a 10.2 metre Simpson very similar to ours. It is currently for sale in Darwin if anyone is interested!  Geoff then went up the croc infested creek in the tender to fish for Barra as he had been told they were there but came back empty handed. I have just realised why you have a man on board. I went to get the rice container out of the cupboard and found maggots. OH YUK! One of the UHT milks had punctured and had been found by a roving blowy.  GEOFF—I yelled. He cleaned it all out for me, disinfected everything and then I put everything back. Luckily most things are in containers but not a nice job. I have decided I will keep the next lot of milk in the space under my bed where they are least likely to get squashed or punctured.

Wednesday 19th October 2005 Day 239 - Zoe Bay to Herald Island

07:00 and it’s “bye, bye” Zoe Bay. There was a nasty beam swell leaving the anchorage with very confused seas. Not nice at all but much better once we changed course 45 minutes later. As we passed Lucinda jetty again I found the note I was talking about in the journal on the way up. It says the jetty is 5.76 kms long and dips 2 metres off straight following the earth’s curvature. So there you go! Good sailing weather and we are sailing with the Main and Genoa on a broad reach and we even got to a speed of 6.1 knots once. This isn’t bad for little 2AB as she is quite heavy with fuel and water at the moment. Unfortunately we had to break the peace and put the engines on as our voltage was getting very low and we needed to recharge the batteries. So it has been a long passage with confused seas, periodic large waves, overcast and some good sailing and some motor sailing. We are about 11 nm from Magnetic Island and I shall be pleased to get there. Long passages really take it out of you, even when the boat is on autohelm. We have a few long passages ahead of us as northerly anchorages are far and few between although you can get away with some anchorages if the wind is light or drops in the afternoon. But still, a few night sails ahead, I have no doubt. I have come a long way in the last 8 months and the learning curve is huge and I will continue to learn until we give up sailing. At least I have mostly overcome the nerves that plagued me in the early days although I still get apprehensive, which I don’t think is a bad thing as it’s when you get blasé that things go pear shaped. Got into the anchorage in Bolger Bay at 1725 hours. The bay is quite shoal so we had to anchor a fair way out, but it is secure. It is getting quite gnarly out to sea but should calm down early evening. We would probably have been ok in Horseshoe Bay once the winds died down but it is exposed to the north so better safe than sorry. Had a shower on the back steps before bed and, yes, I was actually naked this time. We were the only boat in the anchorage.         S19° 08/576 E14 6° 46.967

Thursday 20th October 2005 - Day 240 - Magnetic Island to Cape Upstart

Up at 0200 hours and YAWN! A long passage of 73nm today so will take about 15 hours.  At 0400 I went  back to bed for a couple of hours then relieved Geoff at the helm. It was a mixed bag today of motor sailing and great sailing. We could have sailed all day as the wind was good and once the sails were set the autohelm behaved perfectly. The reason we did some motor sailing was the distance we had to cover and the need (my need) to get into the anchorage before dark. Received a text message from Bernie on ‘Eaglehearts’ saying they had left Lizard & were at Cape Tribulation. Also heard Brad from “Carmalita” on the radio and it seems he isn’t far behind us and will pass us during the night as he and his crew are doing a night passage to the Whitsunday's.  AND THEN, four hours from Cape Upstart I got a call from Lisa as they (about 40 of them) were having a goodbye bash for Polly. (My old work colleagues) They put me on speaker phone and I had a quick chat to Polly over all the noise in the background. Said “hi” to everyone and heard a low roar back so think they all said “HI” back. God, I miss all you guys but I wouldn’t miss this experience for the world! When are you coming to visit???????? Not all at once, we will sink! But how lucky can you be? No mobile reception for ages and then a window of 5 hours and Lisa calls. Brilliant. I walked around with a grin on my face for the next hour.  Apart from that bit of excitement it was a long day, uneventful trip, good sailing. We reached 6.6 knots that I actually noticed but we could have been faster, who knows. We normally average around the 3.5—4.5 knots. Geoff cooked dinner—Mexican Shepherds Pie. The gas detector solenoid valve has gone again so it will have to go back again. They sell it for marine environments but it hasn’t been marine-ised (as in all stainless steel components).  The gas detector alarm side of it is still working though, which is good.

S°19 43.385 E147° 45.334

Friday 21st October 2005 - Day 241 - Cape Upstart to Gloucester Passage

Good night. Left anchorage at 0800 hours. Autohelm is playing up this morning. The light wasn’t working on it last night so Geoff had a look at it to see why. He must have knocked a button as now the autohelm is going to starboard when you press +degrees to port and port when you press starboard. Not very helpful so we have the “B” manual out. It was soon fixed. Thank goodness as it really wears you out when you have to manually steer all day.  Since rounding Cape Upstart and setting the sails we have had great sailing. These southward legs have been much better sailing so far than our northward legs. We are averaging 6 knots which is great. Rang Polly to wish her good luck properly as it was just too noisy yesterday even though it was good to hear everyone on speaker. Polly will be on extended LSL until next June when she will make up her mind on what she wants to do. 1420 hours and we are now having to steer manually as the wind has increased and is too gusty for the autohelm. She stays on course for about15 minutes and then the alarm goes off. So it’s steer for a while , autohelm for a while but we’re travelling along at a fair rate of knots. We have both the Genoa and main reefed as we think we may be in for some localised gusty squalls. Motored for the last two hours to recharge the batteries and got into Breakfast Bay, Gloucester Passage at 1725 hours. We are back where we spent eight days sheltering from gales in August and when we met John, Maria and Zane from ‘Adventurous’. Sent them a text message o say hi. Calm anchorage at present.

S20° 03.176 E148° 27.582

Saturday 22nd October 2005 - Day 242 - Breakfast Bay, Gloucester Passage

Very calm night as the northerlies seem to die out over night which is good for sleep but not for the wind generator. We have decided to stay here for the day and do some chores and we have booked into Abel Point Marina, Airlie Beach, for one night tomorrow and fill up with water, do the washing, do internet and emails, get a few supplies and pick up a parcel from the post office. It is $60 per night so we can only afford the one day here. It is now 1535 hours and we have just had an interesting experience. Rumbles of thunder in the distance all day and then we got hit by a very strong quall from the SW. We are now on a lee shore, it’s bucketing down, thundering and blowing hard. I just tried to put the new laptop in the oven but it is too big so I have put my laptop and the GPS in instead. And why put it in the oven I hear you asking? We are using the oven as a faraday case. A Faraday case is a metal box that protects electronic equipment from electro magnetic radiation (lightning).  Our new oven is stainless steel so should, in theory, make an effective faraday case. When a boat is hit by lightning it usually loses all its electronic gear so by having a laptop and the GPS is the oven we are hoping that, if we get hit and let’s hope we never do, at least we will still have some navigation gear. Saying that, I always plot hourly onto a paper chart as well. 15 minutes later and it is all over. We are no longer on a lee shore and the sun is returning.  I am glad we weren't out sailing in that although we would have seen it coming and reefed or brought the sails in ready. But not nice! It has actually done us a favour as Geoff had emptied the port keel water tank and dried it out in readiness of installing the new transponder for the Garmin Fish/Depth Finder we bought in Cairns. When he looked into the tank he found there was over 1 litre of fresh water in it. We knew it must have come in from the rain but where was it getting in? We found out it was coming in from the port overflow pipe that was not properly sealed, so it is now fixed. We’ve swung around again so, maybe, there is another squall on the way. These squalls and thunderstorms are forecasted for the next couple of days. I have just spotted a large Kangaroo eating a small tuft of grass at the sand spit nearby. It’s funny how much of a thrill I got by seeing a land animal again.  Weird! Geoff even took a photo. Once we were happy that the weather had settled we went ashore onto Gloucester island and had an explore. No decent shells and no sign of the Roo!

Sun 23rd Oct 2005, Day 243-Gloucester Passage - Abel Point Marina, Airlie Beach

Very quiet night and a nice day. Bacon and Eggs , yep it’s Sunday. Geoff dangled the line in but that was about it. Then at 0800 hours we headed off for the “Big Smoke’ of Airlie Beach. Got a nice berth to ourselves but, of course, furthest away from the amenities. Sea Dancer’ and ‘Persephone’ are on the same finger as us, as is ‘High Jinks’ the 41’ Hunter sloop we chartered when my dad came over. Received and sent emails, did banking and then rode our bikes to Cannonvale to do a little reprovisioning. Not too big but big  enough to get a taxi back. I then put on 2 loads of washing whilst Geoff changed the oil in the engines.  After a shower we once again headed off on the bikes to Airlie to treat ourselves to dinner. AND this is when I had a bad experience and fell off my bike!!! We took the boardwalk trail which turns into a gravel path. Geoff, as usual, was way ahead of me. In the glow of my LED headlamp I saw a large stick across the track. It wasn’t until I ran over it that I realised it was soft and moving. The shock of running over a large brown snake was enough to cause me to wobble, hit the edge of the gravel and “SPLUT” I was down (an easy thing for me under any situation). I didn’t really hurt myself but the thought crossed my mind as I hit the dirt “Where’s that B snake” Luckily he was heading in the other direction to me. Dust myself down and continue into town. You can bet I had my eyes wide open on he way back. I wasn’t so enamoured of this land creature as the Roo I had spied yesterday. Once back to 2AB I started to feel a little stiff so have taken something to help me out. I shall probably dream of snakes tonight. I mean, that’s the last thing I expected to see in Airlie.

Monday 24th October 2005 - Day 244 - Abel Point Marina to Shute Harbour

I will start towards the end of the day today. We are currently anchored in Shute Harbour safe and sound after surviving a fairly violent local storm. The day started at Abel Point Marina rushing to do the last minute things whilst still in the marina. Check out time was 1200 hours so we did have some time to pack up the bikes, wash the boat, fill up with water etc. We headed out into quite choppy conditions into wind until reaching Pioneer Rocks before turning SE for the run down to our proposed anchorage at Lindeman Island. During the passage we heard radio reports about a severe squall that had developed at Lindeman with reported gusts of 35 knots. We continued on our track as we were still a fair way from Lindeman thinking it may have dissipated by the time we got there but also looking at alternative anchorages. Reports came in over the radio saying the squall was developing over a larger area that would encompass the whole of the Whitsunday's. Tentative plans were made to cut the trip short and anchor in the southern anchorage of Hamilton Isloand in Driftwood Bay, close to the end of the runway. At this point Geoff decided it was time for a cuppa so I went down below to put the kettle on but got urgently called back on deck almost straight away to help get in the Genoa. Geoff had been watching the skies and decided that conditions were deteriorating and the sky was starting to look decidedly evil. We were very close to Shute Harbour. So close in fact that we could see the masts of the yachts anchored there. We decided to make a bee line for Shute so full throttle, straight ahead was ordered but the storm beat us. We estimated we were within 1nm mile of the harbour when the storm hit us and within seconds the visibility went, literally, to zero, torrential rain, thunder and lightning and I saw the initial wind gust at 43 knots from the SE. The wind was probably more after that but I was too busy to look. Geoff decided with zero visibility it was much to dangerous to try to anchor in the harbour and we were much better of staying where we were. The radar was on but absolutely useless as the rain just drowned out any reading.  Spare laptop and GPS went back in the oven. For the next hour we mostly hoved too (stay into wind in one spot) with an occasional circle as we were moving at 6.5 knots with no sails up. It wasn’t that frightening as the wind and rain flattened the seas somewhat and we were protected as we had entered the bay enough for it to give us some help. Being a cat she also stayed quite stable. I certainly won’t say it was comfortable. Even with our storm jackets on we got cold and soaked The rain was quite painful and felt like needles but you had to keep looking into the gloom just in case there was another boat out there in the same position as us. Meanwhile the radios had gone berserk. You had to have been there listening to understand the pandemonium.  Cries for help from charterers coming in, one on top of the other, and the charter companies radio operators trying to calm then down and try to stop them panicking. One lost three anchors, another his tender, another his engine, lots of sickies and another lost his headsail and got one of the sheets (ropes) wrapped around his propeller. Some of the voices were panic stricken and, I must admit, it would have been very frightening for some of them, depending on their experience. I think the charter companies did a brilliant job of calming them down and helping them, as much as they could in the situation! We were just hoping we didn’t get struck by lightning and lose our laptop and GPS which we were relying on quite heavily at that time. After just over an hour it started to clear and we were able to make out the land again and motored into Shute Harbour to dry out and Geoff got his well earned cuppa. 2AB was a good girl and did well. Later we watched the news and the storm was on it. We had sent a text to Sammy, in Albury, and she said it had been on the news there. The news stated the winds at Hamilton Island registered at just over 100 kms per hour which equates to 55 knots per hour. There are more predicted for tomorrow so we are thinking out our strategy. Make a run early to a safe anchorage or stay here? Probably make a run for it.

S° 20 18.127 E148° 47.512

Tuesday 25th Ocotober 2005 - Day 245 - Shute Harbour to Thomas Island

Well, what a contrast! The night was as still as and the sun is shining brightly. We spoke to Rick on ‘Low Profile’, who weathered the storm in Turtle Bay. He said boats were all over the place yesterday with many boats dragging and in trouble. I think we were probably better where we had been. We left the anchorage at 0815 on route to Thomas Island keeping an ‘eagle eye’ on the weather. On route I decided to change my message on my mobile phone as the other one was very long. So if you want to hear my new message give me a call!  Geoff fitted the new controls for the new Depth/fish finder and it’s now off and running.  Two navy patrol boats passed us. Don’t know where they came from. Got into the anchorage at Thomas Island at 1500 hours and we ended up anchoring out quite a way. It is only a small bay but there are ten boats here. We thought it would be secluded but we were wrong.  We went to anchor in closer but the guy in the only other cat there said we were too close so we came out a bit. We had come astern of him with the intention of dropping 45 metres of chain and once we had backed up we would have been quite a distance from him. Still, I expect he was sill skittish from the storm the day before when boats were all over the place.  I would say he had never been to Lizard where, by necessity, you anchor with the minimal distance between boats. We had chosen to anchor near him as cats swing in a likewise manner.  Still, never mind. Geoff had a snooze and I dangled the line but got nothing. Pizza for tea and relax.

S20° 32.869 E149° 07.212

Wednesday 26th October 2005 - Day 246 - Thomas Island to Brampton Island

Stayed windy overnight and was a little rocky. I had a bad stomach ache and had to take something for it and didn’t get to sleep till after 2am. I ate some dried fruit last night, Paw Paw and Mango and think I might be allergic to it as the same thing happened to me in Cairns so I will have to watch it. We left Thomas Island for Brampton Island at 0715. Low Profile called us up on the radio and they are also on the way to Brampton. Then we got a call from Sarah on Baybird who was on route to Goldsmith Island. Geoff asked after Boatswain, their German Shepherd, and found he had had a stroke and had to be put down the day Sarah and David arrived in the UK. That would have put a dampener on their trip. So sad!  Also spoke with ‘Legless Emu’ who were on their way to St Bees. We motor sailed mostly as the batteries were down again. Why? We found that the freezer knob had been knocked and that the freezer was –23°. No wonder the power was down. I slept for most of the trip after having to hand over for a bit. It certainly wasn’t sea sickness but, luckily, the trip was only short at 4 hours. We anchored at Dinghy Bay, Brampton Island at 1230 hours. Nice here, quite windy.  Low Profile is here to. I continued to sleep the rest of the afternoon away and Geoff went ashore for a walk. We are debating whether to stay here tomorrow or keep heading south whilst the northerlies are with us for the next day. After tea we went over to visit Brenda and Rick on ‘Low Profile’ to play 500s. (card game).  S20° 49.250 E149° 16.866

Thursday 27th October 2005 - Day 247 - Brampton Island to Digby Island

Up at 0530 and leave anchorage at 0545. Hoped to sail but the wind was mostly too light so it is sail a bit and motor a bit, but motor more. Caught a Mackerel Tuna which we kept for bait. Not good eating. So a long, uneventful day and not much to report. Got into the anchorage at Digby Island around 1810 hours. It’s a little rocky at present. Tummy still a bit off so no tea. S21° 29.623 E149° 54.781

Friday 28th October 2005 - Day 248 - Digby Island

A reasonably quiet night although the wind blew a fair bit. It looks like it is going to be a nice day. Geoff has jus told me that when he went swimming at Brampton Island he saw at least three square type jellyfish in the water. It’s hard to identify what sort they were so he didn’t hang around. We decided that we would stay here for the day and Geoff went in and measured the depth of the water with a lead line from the hull from where he had installed the transducer for the fish finder. It was 4.3 metres and the fish finder said 4.4 metres. Not bad which means he only has to adjust the fish finder by 10 cm. He then cleaned one hull completely and said it was pretty good and I could do the waterline later. He will do the other hull another time. He then went off in the tender to do some fishing. Whilst he was away I did a bit more painting. Unfortunately, he came back empty handed although he did catch a Parrot fish that he put back. There is another sloop here with us called ‘Katherina’ and another cat called ‘Two to Go’. It looks quite weird as it is definitely a sailing cat but, at present, it has no mast. Apparently, they bought it from an insurance company as it had overturned in a race and was sitting somewhere upside down. Geoff thinks the paid something like $4500 for it. The engines alone would be worth more than that. They have put a new top on it and intend to put in a new mast. Way to go, a bargain but a lot of work. Later in the day we went back in the water and I cleaned the waterline of both hulls whilst Geoff cleaned below the waterline. I complained that I thought something was biting me and Geoff then tells me that there are quite a few small jellyfish in the water. Oh thanks! I wouldn’t have gone in if I had known or I would have worn my stinger suit. He says the weren’t stingers or Irikangi but how would he know. Now I will wait 20 minutes and see what happens. If this is the last entry in the journal you, at least, will know. That was at 1700 hours and it is now 1900 hours so you can see we are still here. It’s been a nice relaxing day and to finish it off we watched a Jack Nicholson film called ‘About Schmidt’ a strange and slightly dark film. We enjoyed it but are glad we didn’t pay to see it. S21° 29.625 E149° 54.781

Saturday 29th October 2005 - Day 249 - Digby Island

Bit blowy and a little rocky as we came up to high tide but ok. Looks like another nice day.  Four day forecast is for SE winds 15 /20 knots so looks like we may be here for a few days before we can sail south again. A Securitay Alert has jus come over radio stating the Water Police have an EPIRB Alert from the Cape Palmerston area (near us) and asking all ships to check if any of their EPIRBS have been accidentally activated. We checked our three and it’s not us. Then there was a “Hello” and we received a visit from Hank and Heather from ‘Katherina’ a 31’ East Coast sloop. They stayed for a couple of hours and regaled us with heaps of croc stories. We have been invited over there tomorrow. Two hours later and the water police are still asking for ships to check their EPIRBS and the VMR stated a rescue boat had been sent to the location. We will have to see if we here any follow up on it. We both did a few chores and then relaxed for the rest of the day.

Sunday 30th October 2005 - Day 250 - Digby Island

Bouncy a couple of times during the night but not bad. Woke up with a stiff neck as I always have my hatch open a bit and it must have been the draught. Bacon and eggs of course, it’s Sunday. Heard on the radio from Telstra Seaphone that daylight saving starts tomorrow but not here of course. Glad they told us as we had not even thought about it. We will have to remember when we call people, especially at night. Geoff has installed a hinged panel into the flyscreen in the saloon so now we can close the hatch without having to take down the flyscreen. He has also made a flyscreen for the top hatch in the galley. I did some more work on the back sun screen but I am no seamstress or designer and am having to enlist Geoff's help on this one. I then went and had a long salt water shower and shampoo on the front deck. You can shampoo your hair in salt water but definitely have to shampoo twice and then do a final rise in fresh. I thought it would be cold but it was actually warm. You have to let the first bit of salt water flow through as it smells terrible. Apparently, the water left in the hose goes through a chemical reaction causing a bad egg smell, and does it pong. After lunch we went we went over to ‘Katherina’ to visit Hank and Heather and got back at 4.30m. Heather and Hank have been together for 11 years and started off as ‘sort of’ pen pals. Geoff went back over to put the new C map on his laptop.

Monday 31st October 2005 - Day 251 - Digby Island

Up at 0545 hours to try to catch the forecasted easterly to Middle Percy Island. ‘Katherina’ had already left but just as we were about to leave we saw then coming back so we waited to have a chat with them to see why they are back. Ok—well I is 20 knots out there almost dead on the nose and hard to make any headway so it would be worse for us so we will stay . There is another high coming in after this one so it might be a long wait—a touch of the Lizard Island again. We will have a look at it day by day. I could have stayed in bed. Finished another book and then we put some heavy duty press studs and tags on the shade cloth for the cockpit area but it still needs some alterations. After lunch, Heather and Hank came over for about three hours and we chatted on merrily. They have actually heard of Acropora but haven’t met Sally and Martin. Two more sloops have come in and I think they look like Beneteau’s. One is called ‘The Dickens’ and the other ‘Super Tramp’ plus a motor cruiser but I can’t see a name. Getting crowded, no only kidding. We were going to go ashore for a walk but, somehow, the day got away from us. So far we haven’t got bored yet when we have been stuck somewhere as you can always find something to do. It may be a different story if you were in the anchorage on your own with torrential rain all the time.  Will finish the second book on my journal today. Played Scrabble and got trounced by Geoff, makes a change. Had the genny on for about four hours to bring the batteries back up to full.