Seisia

23^th  June 2013

Margaret Bay – Cape Grenville  11^o 57.225S 143^o 11.583E

A reasonable sail up here.  I stayed on the outside of the channel to avoid the commercial shipping so that I could finish a book. Then I started a new one.  Going around Cape Granville there are the Home Islands group.  These have houses on them.  The photo is of the community that lives on Hicks Island which is the closest to the cape.

 

The group of people on there are called

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Wait for it….

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A bunch of…

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…Hicks.

I was going to have a winge about the weather that I’ve had since Mackay but, the wind has been consistent and I don’t want to jinx it. I’ve actually been able to travel safely in the right direction which is the main thing.  However, I’m not superstitions, so…

I’m going to try to be kind and I’ve been to some beautiful places but, when I’ve got there it has usually been too overcast to enjoy it.  It has only been sunny enough to snorkel on two days out of the whole 14 weeks. Even allowing for half days it has been overcast more than 19 days out of every 20! 

Is this normal Queensland weather?  The locals I’ve talked all say that it is not. Or, is it a parochial attempt to hold up the sinking tourist industry?

I think I have finally figured out why they had to pay that girl on the advertisement so much to stand on that cay and say, “Where the bloody hell are you?” 

Is it because they had to wait three weeks to find a cloudless day to actually take the shot?

“Queensland - The sunshine state” number plates must have a sense of irony or, is it just wishful thinking? Did the marketing guru at the prison where they make these things have a room with windows?

“Queensland. Cloudy one day. Glum the next” - Just doesn’t have the same ring to it does it?

They should have buried Jo Bejlkie-Peterson face down. Perhaps the sun really did shine out of his…

I can smell a conspiracy…

 

There.

Rant over.            

I feel better now.

 

24^th  June 2013

Escape River  10^o 58.268S 142^o 40.314E

Well that will teach me…

I left Margaret Bay at 5:00am so that I would get here at low incoming tide. 

Red sky at night, sailors delight.

Red sky at dawn, sailors be warned.

Gold sky at dawn??? Expect it to be bloody windy…

I was calculating based on a leisurely sail at 5 knots average speed.  The wind just blew and blew faster all day and I had to slow the boat down or, I would have got here too early… And then it started to rain.

I was still running down wind on just about bare poles and still couldn’t get my speed down below 4 knots. I had the motor on just ticking over to keep water directed over the rudder to give steerage.  At about 2:00pm I was almost level with the river entrance so I ended up heading back into the channel and pulled out the cutter and hove too.

I was still doing 2 knots downwind but at least the boat was settled even though every now and then it would drop off a steep 3 meter bit of slosh.  I took a couple of videos but as usual they don’t do the conditions justice and I look a little bit pissed off so I won’t bother to upload them. Highest wind gust was 42.6 knots – a new record.

The bow spit took a bit of a hammering and that will give me something to do tomorrow while I let this blow over.  I’m only a day away from the top and want to see if I can actually go around the cape with some semblance of sunshine. (I don’t learn do I?)

Anyway, after “messing around in a boat” for three hours I finally got through the entrance.  Actually there was plenty of water under the keel and I could have come in at least an hour earlier.  As I came in the pearl farm gave me a call on the radio and suggested a safe place to anchor.

This is the only safe stop on this stretch of coast for yachts.  I am the only boat here. Should this tell me something?

Dinner has been two Charisma specials and some cashews. Who needs sleeping pills?

Stuff it…

Here is a beautiful, isolated, coral surrounded, tropical cay.  Notice something missing?

The sun!!!

Have I told you that the weather has been crap?

25^th  June 2013

Finally used my Cooktown drill bit and fixed the bow spit. I only lost one spanner in the drink.

It’s been drizzling most of the day but, I took Merv up the river for a troll and caught some bait.  I was sharing the banks with plenty of small crocks so I kept the throw net moving and didn’t hang around to do the Steve Irwin check for whether or not they were male or female.

26^th June 2013

A couple of other yachts came in last night. One of them had a weather report so I stayed today here today and we went to meet the people at the pearl farm.

Rusty in his office

Rusty and Bronwyn are a real couple of characters.  When the bottom dropped out of the market they bought the farm five years ago.  Just the two of them and their two dogs run the place.  They took the afternoon off and showed us around and even gave us a cuppa and some home baked biscuits.  While we there the dogs cornered a boar on the other side of the island and finally came back just as we were leaving with some tusk wounds.  “She’ll be right. Happens all the time.”

Bronwyn showing us her pearly whites

Everyone from the yachts really appreciated having the day off.  There’s a Russian, Swiss, French and Australian boat here now so there were drinks on the sand bank with the crocks at sunset.

27^th  June 2013

Seisia  10^o 58.268S 142^o 40.314E

An interesting day.  As I was nearing Albany passage the furler jammed on the genoa.  Luckily it was fairly easy to furl it manually although it now has the spare halyard jamming at the top at the mast.  It looks like I’ll have to go up the mast tomorrow and sort it out.

While this was going on the autopilot decided it was time to recalibrate and had a little hissy fit.  So I tied the wheel off and ran backwards and forwards getting the furler sorted.  Did I mention that before this all went on I’d put the kettle on to make a thermos… and then a mackerel took the spoon lure and tangled both lines!!!

It was an interesting half an hour before I finally got everything sorted out.  I was so busy that I missed even looking up to see the entrance to the Albany channel.

I finally managed to take a few photos of the other boats who went past me as I crawled along with just the main.

Boats lined up for Albany pass

I rigged the cutter and halved the main and the boat was eventually balanced. I was still doing over seven knots with the help of the current so I headed towards the cape.

All the other boats headed around York Island but I went through the straight between Cape York and York Island.  It’s about 60 meters wide and passes the lookout at the point.

These tourists standing at the top of Australia were about to get a treat.

I’ll be in a few strangers’ photo albums now…

If you think I would drop my pants and do a brown eye at them as I went past you don’t know me that well…

Well?

And here is the money shot…

“I’m the king of the castle and you’re all dirty rascals…”

By taking my shortcut  I caught up with the other boats as we went past Possession Island. This is where in 1770 Captain Chef claimed Australia and then buggered off back to England. “Mine! All mine!”

The last wave of the spatula.

I finally limped into Seisia just after 2:00pm.

Jib and half main. Still doing 6knots though - with help from the current.

 

Three of the four boats are doing repairs tomorrow.  Two of us have to go up the mast and I’m going to have a look at the French boat who has blown a gearbox. I don’t have phone service here, but I do have internet which is very strange.  I went in and got a phone card from the servo and called in at the public telephone box that works!  There’s two of them and they both work! Next --- world peace.   The only trouble is that I bought the last two phone cards in town. So I can make $10 worth of calls before I have to hitch a lift inland to the Bamaga Post Office which may have some more.

When we got back to the beach two 7 year old Aboriginal kids had taken off with the Swiss dinghy for a joyride. They’d left it a couple of hundred meters up the beach.  I don’t leave the key in Merv and none of the others had even locked their boats up…

Tonight was drinks on the yacht “Footloose”.  The owner even answers to Kevin (Bacon) now after knowing me for a week.  A bottle of small batch and a half bottle of white rum in a coconut were passed around to finish the day.

By the way, there was even a sunset tonight and you can actually see some stars in the almost clear sky.

 

28th June 2013

I went up the mast this morning just as the sun was coming up.

The view from the top complete with hanging camera strap.- Felini I am not.

Mast climbing is contagious...

Everybody's doing it now

I spent the rest of the day changing the impella on the outboard and taking in three lots of washing into town. I think the last couple of weeks finally caught up with me.  Slept about 16 hours straight and basically missed an afternoon and a night...



Portland Roads

All right. Before we start here is the best picture I’ve been able to take of a bloody dolphin.  This smelly bastard was back near the cockpit but still wouldn’t jump when I pressed the shutter…

He was just coming up for air to expel his noxious fumes near my cockpit.  If he could speak he would’ve be saying “Pull my finger!”

17^th  June 2013

Lizard Island  14^o 39.493S 145^o 14.997E

Cooktown was cool.  It has a really relaxed feel.  Tourism and welfare support seem to be the two industries.  The historical buildings and the pubs are still there.  Most of them have Juvenille Justice and Centrelink offices in them but, it still has a great feel to it. There is also a busy motor trade fixing the tourists 4WD’s as they go up the cape.

In my morning walk the council guys were cutting the verges and cleaning the horse crap off the roadway.  No hitching posts in front of the pubs though. I should’ve taken a picture of it on the way up to the hardware store because they had cleaned it up when I came back.  Definitely a blog photo opportunity squandered. 

I found the hardware store and paid $29 for a drill bit!  I asked the girl serving me which drill I got to go with it but, she gave me a blank look and pointed me to the hand tool section. I sighed resignedly and just left.

They love their memorials and statues to some bloke who came here.

 

They seem to put a new one up every generation or so.  This one is from the phallic era. 

 

Back on the boat and after a well deserved coffee at Cook’s Landing café.

 

The little power boat in front of the café is coming back from Darwin.  He has about 20 jerry cans that he carries in the boat and the dinghy which he tows.

“Cruising yachts don’t race unless there are two or more boats on the water at the same time.”  This saying has no affect me as you all know that I don’t have a competitive bone in my body.  I’ve never passed another boat until today!  The ketch who will remain unnamed tried everything. (You know who you are) Raising and lowering sails, jibing into the bays to get the clearer water and the winds off the hills but I just kept on coming.  They eventually gave up and settled in behind me realizing that I, for once, would be first at the anchorage at Cape Flattery. I was tempted to empty the holding tank as they were following me in but, I would never gloat.  Did I tell you that there is not a competitive bone in my body?

The red in the water is not the blood spilt in anguish but the coral spawning.  It is really thick in places.

Seriously a great sail here and I think I’ve got the boat finally worked out sailing downwind. The sea state was quite good today and easy to get the boat balanced which probably helped.  So much so that, as I was turning into Cape Flattery I checked my course and realized I was on a direct run to Lizard Island.  I worked out that I should arrive just after sunset. Even though it would be dark this is probably the most popular anchorage in this part of the coast.  I knew there would be some boats already at anchor to show me where to go and there was a dozen!  I’ve parked out the back of them and will go in tomorrow.

18^th June 2013

I apologize for all the children who are going to die as I write this post.

There is a hill (291m) here on Lizard Island that all cruisers have to climb.  Back in the 18^th century (1770 for those who can’t grasp the concept of zero), according to local folklore, Captain Chef was sailing his ship Endeavour up the coast trying to find a way out to the ocean through the Great Barrier reef.  I thought the Endeavour was a space shuttle so why he didn’t just thruster over I’ll never know…

Anyway, if you go into the beach you can follow his footsteps up to the top of the hill. It gives some spectacular views of Lizard Island.  The walk is a brisk climb that is well marked. On the way up this is the view back to Watson bay. 

Charisma is the yacht furthest out to the right.  It is a very popular spot

Once at the top of Captain Bake’s lookout I was finally able to place my rock from Cairns on the rock cairn at the top of the hill.

When I was in Cairns I kept asking the locals “Where are the cairns in Cairns?”  They didn’t get it but, must of thought I was a Kiwi who hadn’t heard of stubby bottles.(I did warn you!)

After the legalities of the stone placing I reenacted to famous moment when Captain Sauté  looked out from the hill and said…

While I was fooling around being silly some French cruisers came up and joined in the fun.  He was upset, in only that way that a Frenchman can be, that he hadn’t brought a rock for the cairn and went back down the hill to find one.  His wife donned the hat and the egg slice and took a couple of pics.

It’s amazing how much fun you can have with kitchen utensils on the top of a hill.  If we had bought a skillet anything could have happened.  When her hubby came back we had a bit of a catering ménage a trois…

Back to the history lesson…

It’s was really good that Captain Flambé found this gap as we could get rid of another wingeing  Pom.  The only trouble was that he was blown back in a couple of hundred kilometers further up the coast. So. I’ll have to sail through more references to Captain Short Order before I hit the gulf where the Dutch take over the historical references.

Back down the hill for a nana nap and I then took Merv for a walk around to the bay next door. 

Absolutely beautiful bay with two public moorings without another boat in sight.  Back around to the crowded Watsons Bay for a snorkel down the lagoon and Sundowners with the cruisers…

This last picture is of the western side on the island called ‘the lagoon’. I snorkeled with another cruiser along the three km back to here with the tide…

You could easily waste a week or two here with the right company.

19^th  June 2013

Bathurst Bay  14^o 12.702S 144^o 26.159E

Left just as the sun came up and the Coral Princess was anchoring.  Are they following me?

The anchorage at Lizard will be crowded now…

A really horrible sail here today.  The wind was just about right but the sea state was just terrible.  Short waves that came from every direction making the boat lurch about. It was swinging up to 40 degrees either way of the course and just wouldn’t settle down.  At midday the laptop launched itself off the navigation table as the boat rounded up in a gully.  The first time it has ever done that. Luckily it landed on the bean bag before sliding to the floor.

I just gave up trying to find the right point of sail for the conditions and kept the motor running at low revs to keep water flowing over the rudder.  It seemed to help point me in the right general direction. At least the sun was out for most of the day so it was just like a little roller coaster ride… for 6 hours. I’m glad I didn’t break out the second bottle of rum at the sundowner last night.

Just after 1:00pm I was past the Howick Group and was able to jibe onto a port reach which made the conditions much more tolerable.  This trawler was the only boat I saw all day and was having a hard time coming back the other way from Cape Melville.

Not exactly deadliest catch but still punching a breeze.

A few firsts today in spite of the sea state. I travelled 72nm at an average speed of 6 knots.  I also recorded the highest wind gust to date whilst underway – 37.2 knots. No wonder there was spray coming over the boat.  Charisma is nice and clean now after his bath.

Around Cape Melville in 30knots of wind and the geology has changed…

I guess I’m not in Kansas anymore…

Post script: I had a visitor just as was going to bed. A fisherman came out from the shore to make sure I was ok.  He thought I was in too close and hadn’t seen a yacht park this close before.  We discussed tide changes and draft and we both agreed I would be ok.  He left with my thanks for his concern.  I must be into that that area where people look out for each other. You know, away from ‘civilization’….

20^th  June 2013

Hannah Island 13^o 51.562S 143^o 42.757E

Today was a contrast from yesterday.  The strongest wind gust was 15knots so I ended up turning on the motor at noon to get to here before sunset.  I started cruising through the flinders group.

My view of Flinders Island.

Going through the channel I had a radio hail from the customs vessel Storm Bay that took my details and wished me a pleasant sail.  They got me up and motivated so I finally worked how to rig the boat wing and wing.  This has the two sails out at opposite sides and lets you sail directly down wind.  It was very pleasant in the light conditions today.

 Topless and wing on wing at last.

(The camera angle has luckily saved you the man-boob action)

Hannah Island is just a flat mangrove sandy cay that is pretty typical in this area.  There is nowhere really suitable to stop on the coast in this section so you just anchor downwind of one of these unless you want to sail overnight.  There are cays everywhere and they all have light towers on them.  Like this…

To give you a better perspective of how small it is I took a climb up it to get you a photo of the boat at anchor and the cay.  When I had finally got past the locked ground access and onto the first platform, I looked down and saw that Merv had disappeared!

“Golly, Gee” were the words I think I used.

A quick scramble back down and I found him.  His painter(Ask GK, he’ll know what this rope is. ) was caught around a mangrove stopping him from drifting any further but, it still required a swim to retrieve him. There was only the one small crock trail on the bank anyway…

Bad Merv

So… no photo.  At sunset literally thousands of finches flew the 30k’s across from the mainland to roost in the mangroves and to probably feast on the insects attracted to the light.  I’m sure The Mustang would confirm that they were the “Blue Breasted Mangrove Finch” species.

21^th  June 2013

Night Island  13^o 10.364S 143^o 34.271E

This is another Mangrove cay. Lucas’s guide book says there is a grave on the island so I went for a search.  I couldn’t find the diver’s grave as the island is overrun with wild passion fruit vine and ‘wait-a-bit’ trees. I did however find a grave of a different type on the seaward side.  There was tons of driftwood caught in a spring tide flood area and the amount of plastic bottles, foam, floats and other rubbish was quite depressing.  Someone had obviously spent more time on the island than is warranted recently and put some of the floats together to make…

Bouy Wonder!

Final pic of the day is of the small/youngest cay I could find so far.  It is still just a heap of dead coral waiting to be broken down into sand and for a floating coconut to find it. Give it a couple of millennium…

A little cay.

22^th  June 2013

Portland Roads  12^o 35.579S 143^o 24.354E

I am finally anchored behind a headland rather than a cay.  Great sailing day and even had the pick down before 2:00pm.   On the way here I picked up another tuna that will feed me for the week.

Sushi and a bad shirt day

The best lures seem to be the old spoons with the single hook.  I don’t even bother with the mackerel any more and keep throwing them back but, they have been going through my spoon lures.  Cheapest and the best!  Just like me!

Portland Roads is a little place at the end of the road.  It has a couple of holiday houses for rent, a bin for my rubbish, a café that wasn’t open, a telephone box that wasn’t working, a public toilet and a fishing charter business that advertises “I owe the bank nothing so,,, if the weathers favourable, the tides right and I’m in the mood…I’ll take you fishin.”

And for the Navigator…If you walk up the road a bit you will find a plaque to:

Actually Portland Roads is a pretty cool little getaway.  The were some people who had driven over from from Lockhart mission fishing with spears that I talked to. The young guys had speared two barramundi each about 700mm long. Pretty impressive.

There has been no Telstra service the whole way from Cooktown.  I was actually expecting to at least be able to make a call from here.  It looks like I’ll have to invest in a sat phone for the Kimberley next year…

Well that has been week 14.  A lot of sailing fitted in and my track says that I have travelled about 700km.

Cooktown

Following Ryan’s suggestion you can now log on to Skipr net at…

http://skipr.net

…and find where I currently am and the track I’ve been following.  You will need to search for the vessel Charisma.  Looking at the track, If you take out the lumpy bits I’m about half way to Darwin!  But, the lumpy bits are the most fun aren’t they?

Only had cabin fever for a couple of days while we were stuck in Cairns.  We got out most days. 

The Mustang tried to hitch a ride with Octopus.  This is not a cruise liner. It is the private “yacht” of Paul Allen.  He was Bill Gates partner in Microsoft.  It has a crew of 60 with two helicopters and a submarine!  It couldn’t get into the town berth so it blocked the main jetty.  Passengers for the reef cruisers were bussed out the 20 kilometres to Yorkies where we are to board their tour boat.  I doesn’t look like he’s going to be as philanthropic as Bill…

We even went out as a couple for dinner. 

The reality… we both took our kindles out to dinner 

 

Cairns was a really good place to be holed up. The locals are a relaxed mob with a few eccentric characters thrown in.  The guy who owns the local chandlery walked past and pointed out that while the split pins where still in the locks for the stays they need to be opened up a bit more.  After a bit of a look around with a screwdriver it should be all good.  This one had just about worked its’ way all the way out…

I’ll find it hard to recommend the guy who did the rig survey.  When the Navigator joins the boat and we are anchored somewhere calm I’ll go up the mast and check there.

We took Merv out for a run and while the crabs were crawling into the pot we went around to Trinity beach.  This is basically a tourist beach north of Cairns where you can swim between the flags with just the usual worries.

 

  …Yes that is a swim flag you can see on the right of the sign.  It’s about 500m from the creek where we took this picture....

This croc was about 12’ long. The Mustang almost ran it over with Merv and scared it off the bank so we didn’t get a better picture.

It’s no wonder that it’s always the tourists that end up having interactions with the native fauna. There is even a resort there specifically for Inuit tourists...

 Queensland igloos???

Oh, more importantly, we actually had a small barra take a lure while trolling in the creek.  We must be getting nearer to the warmer water…

The Mustang has flown back and the last supplies put onto the boat including the all important mainland rock...

 The rock from Cairns. More on this later…

15^th  June 2013

Low Isles  16^o 22.747S 145^o 33.568E

I topped up the tank this morning and had a late start getting away after saying “see ya round like a pineapple donut” to all the characters at Yorkies.  Good sail up here and the wind looks like it has settled down to the 15 to 20 knot trade winds.

This is a very pretty pair of islands just off Port Douglas. 

Beach - check

Coconut trees - check

Reef for snorkeling - check

A stereotype...

 

There are a lot of day trip boats that come out here so I wont even bother going ashore as the couple of hundred tourists who were here when I pulled up have just left.  The anchorage is crowded and all the public moorings are taken but,  the sun is out and I even caught a fish.  Just a mackerel but it was with one of my new lures.

16^th  June 2013

Cooktown  15^o 27.457S 145^o 14.911E

 

Had good day with 15 to 20 knots of wind all the way.  It was overcast when I got to the cay I was going to stay at and I could see the sun shining near Cooktown over the horizon so why not? 

The light into Cooktown - Play choral chord now...

Caught a couple of fish.  This mackerel needs about another foot added to it... 

You have to get them in the boat before the sharks get to them.

This one is for Ryan.  Please note that I still have the 30cm long novelty lighter...

  Actually I filleted this one for another yacht “Largo” who stood by while I had a bit of drama today. 

The boom traveller came away when I got a gust of 25 knots.  The boat rounded up and there was the boom and block swinging wildly away.  Luckily I was down in the cabin when it broke.  It could have given me a nasty whack if I was sitting in the normal watch position.

Largo was behind me and saw it go to pieces.  They headed over and stood by while I got it back under control and called me to make sure I was ok before heading on. So I owe them a fish.

Well that was week 13.  Off to Lizard Island.  I’ve got my rock and I’ll pick up a newspaper tomorrow when I’ve had a look at Cooktown.

I am not likely to have much coverage as I head around the cape.  I’ll post positions on the skipr.net thingy with the not so smart phone when I get signal.

Cairns

8^th  June 2013

Cairns 16^o 47.104S 145^o 42.987E

I am in Yorkie’s Knob marina which is about 18k out of town.  Cairns is pretty urbanized and most things can be obtained via the bus unless you leave your wallet on one… but that's another story.
Here is the light pole I hit coming in ...

As you can see, I didn't have to let the spit swing far to hit it.  And the damage...

Superglue repairs

 

Went up the creek next to the marina and met my first smiling local.

10' smiling handbag

Caught up with cuz Jules for a day and had a walk around town getting orientated and fed green stuff that the cows won’t graze. She wanted to show off her dress and shoes and handbag to show how the locals how to be elegant.  Unfortunately it wasn’t the dress code for the Grand hotel even with the Golum inviting us in..

Had a hire car for a few days and managed to get up to the hinterland.  I don’t think the hire car was supposed go where I took it.  When I got through the dirt roads to Goldsworthy National Park a bloke in a 4WD gave me a disbelieving look.  Nothing a wash wont fix…

Goldsworthy National Park AKA Ivanhoe crossing.  The water wasn’t even a foot deep.

I took another drive up to Port Douglas to have a look at a boat for Capt Pugwash.  Port Douglas is awfully pretentious, with the emphasis on awful.  Resorts and coffee bars.  It is well set up for the fly in tourists and the drive up from Cairns along the coast road is beautiful but not my kind of place.  Here is the view from the only lookout in town. 

You will notice that some prat is building a house in front of the lookout.

The Mustang turned up still suffering the affects of pneumonia.  She was told not to travel by the Dr but it’s like talking to a brick wall I suppose…

She made up a recovery position which she thinks she will be able to keep watch from.  We now have a bean bag.

It's lucky we have so much cultural action out here at Yorkie’s Knob to keep us occupied while she recuperates.  

Yes… a festival of the knob

We caught up with one of the Mustang’s old mates from Broome.  Amelia is learning to fly so went up to the hinterland for a drive while she did a lesson. 

Ms Earhart and her plane.

While we still had the hire car we went up to Kuranda up the hill behind Cairns. It is has some really culturally significant things to see...

like dino poo...

... and a pub  

 

The Mustang getting into the spirit... 

Check out the bemused locals in the background.  It’s true.  We have no shame.  By the way, she hasn’t been here a week and has already started telling dad jokes.  It must be contagious.

Plenty to do for a day in Kuranda

Pre mantis sculpture with a view

Old coot with a view.

And as usual we were suitably attired for walking the rainforest tracks.

Shorts, tee shirt and Double pluggers all round

You all know who this is by now 

But did you know that he was a eunuch?  

The Mustang took Merv up the creek to put out the nets.  Her nervous smile is because of a 10foot local on the bank. 

You need to be quick putting your hand in the water to grab the crab net ropes.

The boat has been scrubbed and filled with provisions to get to Darwin. I've even cleaned out the bilge - a job I've been putting off.  We should be heading off Sunday morning after topping up the diesel tank and heading for a short stop at Low Isles. The weather has been a bit fickle lately so we will do most sailing early in the mornings until it makes up it mind what it is going to do.