We had 8 days in the marina which we welcomed at the beginning but could not wait to get back to sea. The 8 days enabled us to re provision and do some much needed maintenance to Billabong. The rig was checked, the oil changed, the water impeller was changed and a number of other little jobs completed including the boom brake. We had a great time at the Yorkey's Knob Boat Club. The meals were great, the service was great, the people were great and the ambience was superb. Saturdays they have Oysters $10 a dozen. Tamara and I had 3 dozen for $30!! Mon and Tuesday the meals are 2 for the price of one. Two rib fillets with mushroom sauce for $29!! That's good value. They also had Coral Trout Crab Cakes. Trout and mud crab done in a fish cake. Yum.We will definitely stop here again on the way back.
We left the marina at 9-30am for a short 28 nm sail to Low Islets. Unfortunatley there was no wind so we had to motor. We are fully laden and this is the heaviest Billabong has ever been!! It will be a minimum of 21 days before we get back to the shops, so we have to have everything on board.
We are carrying 30 days food, 500 litres of water, 250 litres of diesel, 55 litres of petrol, 5 cartons of beer, 18 bottles of red, 18 bottles of white, a cask of white, 2 casks of red and a cask of port, 5 bottles of rum, a bottle of gin, a bottle of butterscotch snaps, and bottle of Frangelica. Not to mention all the other soft drinks and juices etc.
So the boat was a bit slow under motor today.
We have joined a yacht rally to Lizard Island. There are 13 yachts partaking and it is good to go in company with others. 4 yachts left today and more will go tomorrow. The good thing about a rally is that there are no time frames. You just get there when you get there.
We arrived at Low Islets only to be greeted by sharks swimming around the yacht. This area is a marine park and is only 9 nm's from Port Douglas. There are many tourist boats which come to the island and the fish get a good feed. The sharks hang around for an easy feed to!!.(not the tourists) Lucky they are harmless black tipped reef sharks but we were still reluctant to swim off the back of the yacht, so we went into the shore for a swim.
The welcoming party at the Low Islets
It is a very pretty islet named by Capt Cook in 1770. There is a caretaker on the island who lives in the light house keepers house built in the early 1900's and a research station house. The island is so small it only takes 30 minutes to walk around it.
Low Islet at Sunset. A perfect Island.
There was little wind and this could be the calm before the storm. A strong wind warning has been issued for tomorrow - 30 knots. We are sailing to Cape Bedford which is a 70nm run so we will be leaving at 6am so we make it by 4pm. We will spend tomorrow night at Cape Bedford and then sail to Lizard Island on Sunday.
Monday the wind will be stronger so we want to be secure in Watson's Bay at Lizard Island.
10th September Low Islets to Cape Flattery (92nm)
The wind woke us up at 3.30am. It was a bit earlier than expected but not as strong initially. About 15 knots and the sea state was still calm. It would have been easy to go back to sleep however a large power catamaran anchored near us was almost on top of us. It anchored late in the afternoon yesterday and I watched it put its anchor down. It was a very small anchor for a large vessel and while it was far enough away in the light NE breeze it was nearly on top of us when the wind went through to the SE. I think the anchor dragged on the wind change before it reset. So I made a cup of tea and sat in the cockpit until dawn. It ended up being OK and we were able to get the anchor up with out having to ask him to shift.
At 6am Splash and Billabong were on the way, breakfast on the run.
The waves outside of the anchorage were bigger than expected which indicates the Low Islets is a very good anchorage in SE winds.
As soon as we cleared the no fishing exclusion the lines went out and bingo - a nice spotted mackerel in about 5 mins. I quickly filleted it before the sea state became too difficult to manage and pulled the lines in as it was getting rougher and we were starting to surf waves at 8-9 knots with just the no 3 jib out. The waves were larger than I expected for inside the reef and the current was against the wind which made them stand up a bit bigger.
At 9am the current turned to the north and the seas flattened a little, but the wind increased to 30 knots. It was going to be a long day and Tamara voiced her discomfort on more than a few occasions, saying why was she not back in Sydney with her daughter Marina and grandson Oliver. I have to ignore those comments from time to time.
Billabong settled into the task at hand with "George" the auto pilot doing most of the steering and working well. We grabbed hand to mouth snacks and made cups of tea and coffee to extinguish the hunger pangs as it was too rough for some one to stay in the cabin to make a sandwich. We were surfing at 10-11 knots now. We were going to have a good dinner anyway with fresh fish.
We made great progress and had completed the 72nm to Cape Bedford by 3.30pm - a bit ahead of schedule. Our reference book says Cape Bedford can be quite a roly anchorage in strong SE winds. I called Peter from Splash and asked how he felt going on to Cape Flattery- another 21nm's. My thoughts were that we would not have a good sleep at Cape Bedford with the seas state and the wind bullets coming over the rise.
A change of plans were quickly agreed and it was onto Cape Flattery. We expected to get there by 6pm just as the sun was going down.
Tamara was making noises about how nice it would be to have sashimi for dinner. We were going a bit fast for trolling, but anything to keep the girl happy. The lines went out and just before we reached Low Wooded Island both lines hooked fish. I have an Alvey reel on the back of the stern rail and the fish on that line reeled out about 200 meters of line before I could put the breaks on. It was a big fish but sadly it let go after me trying to pull it in for 10 mins while Billabong was sailing at 8 plus knots. The other line had a good Mackerel Tuna which was brought aboard for processing.
Tamara was happy and I got a few kisses!! Her wish of sashimi was granted!!
We arrived at Cape Flattery in the setting sun. I asked Splash if they would like a couple of fillets of the Spotted Mackerel for dinner. Yes they would so we came a long side and threw a parcel of fish to them.
It was nice to tuck into a bay that was relatively flat calm after a long sail.
We covered 92 nm with the assistance of current in 12 hours. That is an average of 7.7knots.
The wind was still howling in the rigging above 25 knots but we were safe on anchor. The bottom is mud so we were not going anywhere.
After a hot shower, a cold beer, sashimi for entrée and mackerel for dinner we settled in for a good nights sleep.
11th September Cape Flattery to Lizard Island. (18.47nm)
We are only a short sail to our turn around destination, Lizard Island. This is our goal to spend at least 10 days at Lizard Island before hoping for favourable winds to take us back south.
Lizard Island is a marine park and fishing is mostly excluded except for trolling on the NE side of the island which can only be achieved in light winds as the prevailing SE winds virtually put a stop to any attempts at trolling.
I looked at the forecast on the internet and it is not good for the next 5 days at least. Winds 25-30 knots until Tuesday and 20 -25 knot SE after that until Saturday.
We will take the time to explore the island and climb Cook's Look where Captain Cook climbed up to look for a way out of the reef in 1770.
"Land Ahoy" There's Lizard Island
Cook named Lizard Island after seeing lots of Lizards when he climbed to the top to look for a passage to exit the Great Barrier Reef.
There are 21 yachts anchored in Watson's Bay with more of the yachts in the rally still to come. Could be quite crowded when they all arrive.
It is a beautiful anchorage with turquoise water and coral reefs very near with giant clams to snorkel over.
Watson's Bay. Billabong anchored in the middle.
Tamara is ecstatic. The beach is very fine sand and there are trees to settle under for shade and afternoon naps. It would be a perfect place if you were allowed to fish!!
We are going to enjoy this Island anyway with lots to do.
Before long we were told drinks on the beach at 5pm!!
After lunch and a nap we headed to the beach for drinks. At least 25 people.
I met up with some sailing friends from the RMYC at Broken bay.
Stuart and Anette from Truest Passion. We first met them in Lake Macquarie and then I met them on the Indonesian Rally in 2008. It was great to catch up with them and to hear of their travels. They have covered over 30,000nm now. Billabong has clocked 6000nm in comparison.
After drinks it was back to Splash for Pad Thai Noodles and an early night.
12th September Lizard Island
The wind still blows. No let up, just a constant howling in the rigging.
Today is Monday and the research station on the island conducts tours of their operations at 11am every Monday. All yachties in the bay are invited.
We had breakfast and tidied the yacht and left at 10am. There are two ways of getting there. One is by dinghy to a beach on the western side of the island except you will get wet getting there as you have to motor into a stiff south easter. We were told that we could walk, so we chose that method. Only trouble was Peter from Splash received the instructions but they were not clear. We ended up at Blue lagoon beach and missed the tour. But we found a magnificent beach.
Blue Lagoon Beach
It is a beautiful white fine sandy beach and one we would like to explore more on a sunny day.
We also came across various sized bamboos stuck in the exposed roots of a tree with various slits and holes cut in them. They are the whistling bamboos. They were playing a tune as the wind varied in strength and direction around them. Some body obviously created it and it was very beautiful to come across this surprise.
We fossiked on the beach in the high tide line and Tamara found some interesting pieced of drift wood to take home. No idea where we are going to store the shells, the coral and the drift wood collected on our travels for the trip home.
Crew of Splash and Billabong at Blue Lagoon
We walked back down the island airstrip and witnessed a plane land with resort tourists paying up to $2000 per day. Amazingly the resort is full and can take 80 guests.
We grotty yachties are not welcome at the resort of course, except they have a beach bar called the Marlin Bar and we are allowed to drink there from Wednesday to Sunday from 5pm. They also cook pizzas and burgers so if we run out of food we can drink and eat once a day at the Marlin bar!!!.
We went back to the yacht for a swim and lunch and an afternoon nap.
At 5pm it was drinks on the beach although the numbers were down because of the increase in wind.
It was our turn to cook for Splash and we had green curry of left over tuna and some prawns.
We were in bed early and went to sleep with the wind still roaring in the rigging.
13th September Lizard Island
Still the wind blows. I eagerly get out of bed and fire up the internet to get the 7 day forecast wind charts from the Bureau of Meteorology - hoping for a favourable forecast!! No. The next 7 days are still 20 knots plus today and tomorrow up around the 30 knots. The best days look like Sunday and Monday. I think many of the yachts here will take this opportunity to go South. I am undecided what to do as I would like to experience Lizard Island in all its sunny glory with a little less wind. Only trouble is we could be here for another 2 weeks if we do not get favourable winds.
I can only be patient and wait and see tomorrows 7 day wind forecast.
We did not do much for the day except go for a walk on the Island. We did the Pandanus Track which was only a short walk. The Pandanus area is the sacred site of the aboriginal tribe Dingaal who frequented the area. When Captain James Cook discovered Lizard Island they found traces of camp sites and middens of shells that indicated Aboriginals had been there, most likely from the mainland.
Valley of Pandanus Trees
The Pandanus thrive here amongst grasses as they have a permanent freshwater supply. I stepped off the track on to the grass only to drop into thick black mud and lose my thong. I had to find a stick and pull it out much to the laughter of the rest of the crew. The mud is very rich black and moist which shows why the Pandanus trees and the grass grow so well there.
One black foot one white foot
We walked back along the track to find the fresh water well and pump so I could wash myself.
The well has been here for many years and is a primitive hand pump. The boaties have been quite ingenious over the years rigging up a funnel and a shower in the tree.
The well. Note shower in tree hanging behind me.
We found the Treasure Cove with Pandora's Chest in the barrel and signed the visitors book.
Pandora's box at treasure trove
Also we found the camp site with gas cooker, so we decided then and there we will have BBQ sausages on the beach tomorrow.
It was very windy and the sand on the beach was sand blasting our legs so we went back to the yacht for a swim and an afternoon nap and to continue reading the book "Batavia".
I took some Spanish Mackerel out of the freezer for dinner and we had a quiet night on our own. Except for the wind of course!!
14th September Lizard Island.
It was not a great sleep with the yacht yawing across the wind. I had let out another 10 meters of chain to be safe as one yacht dragged its anchor during the day when the crew were not on it. The extra chain meant the yacht could sail from side to side further in the wind. That is what we have to put up with when you go cruising. At least the sun shone through on occasions.
I looked again at the 7 day wind maps. Still not much better news except that it will slowly drop to 20 knots from the South East. That is better than 30 knots!! Sunday, Monday and Tuesday looking better, perhaps 15 to 20 knots.
I dropped Tamara at the beach so she could have a swim and wash some things at the well and I went to the clam garden for a snorkel. The water was crystal clear and when the sun shone through the clouds it was brilliant. Huge giant clams grow on the reef and the fish life was abundant with many Perch, Parrot Fish, Coral Trout, Emperors, Sweet Lips, big Cod and Maori Wrasse. And a reef shark!! Not sure who scared who first. It is a marine park and the fish and sharks are quite friendly and you can take a close up look at them.
At 12 noon I gathered up the sausages and condiments (Beer and Champagne) and joined the crew of Splash, Chalkies Chariot and Tropical Dream at the camp site for a BBQ.
Cooking facilities at the Camp Site
It was a pleasant get together and a friendly Lizard was looking for a free feed.
A Lizard on Lizard island
BBQ Lunch at Treasure Trove
In the afternoon it was book reading time but I don't think I managed to finish one page of Batavia before I was pushing out ZZZZ's
We had a very light dinner of Miso Soup and a salad of red kidney beans and onions and settled into reading Batavia with the wind still howling in the rigging.
I am hoping tomorrow will be less wind and more sunshine.
15th September Lizard Island.
It is not a good day. The wind does not let up and the sun does not shine except for small breaks in the clouds and the showers which are not real rain, just spitting on occasions.
Not much to do except go ashore and walk in the wind. We walked across to Blue Lagoon but did not stay long as it was too windy.
A picnic lunch was taken ashore and we found a table out of the wind at the camp site to eat the lunch.
It felt like a day for reading and we went back to Billabong for the afternoon where I managed to consume a large part of Batavia.
Dinner was on board Splash and we made plans for Peter and I to climb to Cook's Look.in the morning.
We managed to return without getting wet from the spray off the waves as we had to go back up wind to get to our boat.
16th September Lizard Island
Again the wind blows. No respite.
We have breakfast and make our way to the beach where we leave the girls on the beach for a swim.
Rob from Chalkies Chariot joins Peter and I for the climb. It is a 3 hour return journey. It is a tough climb over rocks but the path is well marked and well worn. It is very hot once you get on the ridge and out of the wind. We sweat out the previous days alcohol consumption before we get to the top. But it is worth it. We stood in the same spot as Captain Cook did on 12th August 1770 and we could see the exit he chose through the Great Barrier Reef now known as Cook's Passage. Simply a magnificent view all around.
Cooks Lookout
Blue Lagoon
Watson's Bay from the top.
We scale back down with care as the legs feel like jelly from the climb up and we are unsteady on our feet. Peter has a slide and cuts his leg in a couple of places.
We see another big Lizard and quite a fat one at that.
Big Fat Lizard
Watson's Bay with the Lizard Island Resort in the next bay.
We got back to the beach and bathed in the crystal cool waters of Watson's Bay before returning to the yacht for lunch and a rest. I managed to finish the book "Batavia" that afternoon. It is a gruesome account of what happened to the mighty Dutch ship and its survivors off the West Australian Coast. But well worth the read.
At 5pm we had drinks on the beach and then took the dinghy's to the Marlin Bar at Lizard Island Resort for a beer and a Pizza.
Sundowners on the beach.
17th September Lizard Island
We woke again to the howling wind and the yacht sheering from side to side. This is starting to get to us. It would be so nice to wake up to calm conditions. But such is life on Lizard Island. It looks like we got here at the wrong time of the month!!
But it is not that bad once you get started on the chores and decision what to do. It could be worse it could be raining!!
Peter from Splash comes over and we look up the 7 day weather forecast and have a discussion and make tentative plans. It looks like Monday will be our best opportunity to leave or we have to wait for the next one which could be weeks. It is sad as I would like to stay longer and experience the calmer conditions so we can get around to Mermaid Cove and do other things that the yachties say are good but not in windy conditions.
It is sunny and we decide on going to the beach for another sausage BBQ. We can get out of the wind in the camping area and it is pleasant.
The others had a swim on the beach while I went for another snorkel on the eastern side of the bay. Lots of fish and giant clams.
Then it was back to the yacht to read a book and then to the beach at 5 for sundowners and meet more yachties that came in to day.
Dinner, reading, sleep and that was another great day on Lizard Island, despite the wind.
Tomorrow the wind is predicted to fall below 26 knots!! Hope they are right.
18th September Lizard Island
Yes the wind is still there and it is under 25 knots. It could be our last day on Lizard Island.
The forecast shows the wind easing Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday so we must take this opportunity to go South. People warn us you can get stuck here for 4 weeks.
I feel I have not had the opportunity to explore as much as I would like but that is the way it is.
We had breakfast and I took Tamara to the beach. I took the dinghy to the research station beach where there is a reef they say is the best snorkel reef on the island. I was there for an hour and they are right. Just magnificent fish life, soft and hard corals.
I got back to the beach in time for lunch. Peter and Christine from Splash took their smoker to shore. I had 3 frozen reef fish from Orpheus and some Spanish Mackerel. We smoked them and Christine made a delightful bok choy in a soy,ginger and sesame mix. It was a delightful lunch with champagne.
The usual drinks at 5 on the beach were accompanied by 2 guitarists who sang songs while the sun set and we drank our beverages.
Most of the discussion was about who was leaving and was not.
We made our decision we would leave if the wind was under 20 knots but we were not going to leave at first light. We had to get the dinghy's on board in the morning once we made the decision to go.
19th September Lizard Island to Cape Bedford 39 nm
We woke at 5.30am and I checked the weather on the internet. The 7 day wind forecast confirmed today was the day to leave even though the wind was still just above 20 knots. We had to take this opportunity to get to Cape Bedford and then Tuesday would be a long 70nm leg to Low Isles in hopefully less than 15 knot SE and then Wednesday into Cairns in same conditions.
After getting the dinghy stowed and the yacht ship shape for the sea we headed off at 9am. The seas were lumpy and the wind was above 20 knots from SSE. The wind had a lot of south in it so it made the trip difficult motor sailing with 2 reefs in the main. I put 2 fishing lines out to occupy myself to try and give some excitement for the boredom that was setting in. With in 10 minutes we landed a Frigate Mackerel and 2 Spanish Mackerel. I let one of the Spaniards go and pulled the lines back in. We had caught entree and dinner.
A number of the other yachts that left Lizard at 6am were at Cape Bedford when we arrived sheltering from the wind and sea conditions including Chalkies Chariot. They were going to go non stop to Cairns but it was too tough and they took refuge.
The wind is expected to ease overnight and we will head off at 4am and try and make Low Islands by 6pm tomorrow.
We had an early dinner and into bed with the wind still blowing.
20th September Cape Bedford to Low Isles 82nm
The alarm went off at 3.30am and we had a coffee and raised the anchor. The wind had eased a bi,but to be safe we had 2 reefs in the main. The seas had flattened a bit so it was more comfortable. We motor sailed with the main only until dawn and the wind was a bit further east so we rolled out the jib but continued to motor sail.
The distance between Cape Bedford and low Isles as the crow flies is 71nm. However with the wind against us and the current against us and the waves against us we will have to travel a lot further.
We battled on through the day and the further south we went the wind eased but did not go further east as expected. We had to tack all the way inside the reef and the mainland.
By the afternoon the wind was down to 11 knots true so it was very comfortable. I was bored after lunch so when we past the no fishing zone I decided to experiment with lures as we did not need any more fish. The freezer is full of Spanish Mackerel.
I lost my best Spanish Mackerel lure on something very big. Possibly a marlin or bill fish of some sort. I did not get a chance to even get to the100kg line before it snapped.
Later I caught a good spotted mackerel which I kept to give to the crew of Dauntless who lost their auto pilot before Cape Bedford and were hand steering so could not catch any fish.
Then on another of my favourite lures I caught a big dog tooth tuna. It was about 15kg. I let it go after great difficulty in getting the hooks out of its mouth with pliers. It had a good set of choppers a dentist would be proud of.
The experimental lures did not work. I have a lot of lures I have bought over the years. I now know which work and which don't so I can narrow down my purchases from now on.
They say that it costs $67 per kilo of fish caught by amateur fisherman in purchase of gear and bait. It is no wonder so many people just go to the fish market. I am definitely in front of that on this trip, but not sure on the lifetime. Spanish mackerel retails for $32 per kg in Cairns.
We arrived at Low Isles at 5.30pm after covering 82nm. It was a long day. We gave the Mackerel to Dauntless and we had drinks and fish and salad for dinner.
The lights were out at 9pm.
21st September Low Isles to Yorkey's Knob 27nm
That was a great nights sleep. Woke at 8am and had a quick dip of the back of the yacht. Careful not to attract the attention of the sharks - even though they are friendly. There is always apprehension when you are in the same water as a shark.
After a lazy breakfast we headed out into a light SE breeze. Not enough wind to get the sails out, we motored in absolute idyllic conditions.
We had lunch on the way and entered Yorkey's Knob at 3pm.
We had dinner of smoked mackerel and bok choy with Russian potatoes on Splash with the crew of Dauntless also joining us. What a magnificent meal.
We will be here at Yorkeys Knob for 7 days while we sight see, provision and do little maintenance chores.
We intend to hire a car and visit cape Tribulation and Port Douglas.
No comments:
Post a Comment