Darwin - arrived on Wednesday July 17
Port Essington, Berkeley Bay (Sunday, July 14 to Tuesday, July 16)
Rest at last! We needed to get Dennis to anchorage for some
R&R from the high seas, so we spent an extra day here before our final leg
to Darwin with the great company of
Mystic and Sir Swagman. They were both
very concerned and agreed to stay an extra day and follow us into Darwin. These cruisers are really wonderful people!
Rested up and spent time with
our friends and even cruised up the Caitman
River – beautiful mangroves and
bird life – sure that the croc’s were sleeping as we had no crocodile siting.
Passage from Guruwuru Island to Berkeley Bay, Port Essington (Friday, July 12 to
Sunday July 14)
Well Dennis’ lower back injury
and sciatic nerve did not get better but at least the winds let up a little to
20 to 25 knots. Unfortunately the seas
did not and it was a very uncomfortable passage for all of us, but mostly for
Dennis as he was in a lot of pain.
Randy (Mystic) offered to single
hand and to let Jenny accompany us to Port Essington. It was such a relief to have extra crew and a
wonderful friend help us – this really was the nicest thing that any cruiser
could do to help in a time of need! I
was pretty anxious about making this leg with Dennis in such pain. With Jenny on board, Dennis was able to get more
rest – too bad the seas were so lumpy.
Guruliya Bay, Guruwuru Island (Sunday, July 7 to Friday, July 12)
Perfect shelter in strong wind
conditions – extremely calm. We waited
here with Mystic (USA), Sir Swagman (Australia), Bonair (England), Elizabeth
Jane II (Australia), and Solstice (USA) for the gusty SE trade winds to calm
down from 30 knots to 25 knots– we cruisers sure know how to have fun while
waiting – beach barbecues, walks and bocce ball!
Hole in the Wall (Sunday, July 8)
We timed our passage just right
with the morning slack and proceeded through with a parade of yachts (Mystic,
Bonair, Sternchen, Solstice, Elizabeth Jane II) in this very remote
location. We cruised at 8 knots through this
awesome narrow passage between two islands with pre-historic rock formations on
either side of us. Turned left to
continue to Guruliya Bay,
Guruwuru Island.
Wigram Island, Northern Territory (Friday, July 6 and Saturday, July 7)
Great anchorage and very beautiful
but no swimming here as there were crocodiles on the beach! Nice to rest up after the passage.
Crossing the Gulf
of Carpenteria – 350 miles (Wed, July 4 to Friday, July 6)
We waited several days for the
winds to calm down before heading off to cross the gulf. This is a very shallow gulf so if winds are
strong it can get pretty nasty in these shallow waters. Our friends who shot off ahead of us got very
seasick!
Day 1: Light wind, roily conditions but tolerable.
Day 2 and 3: Light winds continued making the passage
pleasant. Too bad that the current was
against us most of the trip and caused us to arrive at night at Wigram
Island. Mystic was there and they aided us on our
night arrival. Passage time was 67
hours.
Seisha (Saturday, June 29 to Wednesday, July 3)
Seisha took its name from a
family of Saibai Islanders who settled here in 1947. Its name is derived from the first letter of
the names of six brothers. Seisha is a
very popular destination for 4WD traffic reaching the end of its trek up the Cape
York peninsula. There’s a
campground with showers, laundry and café open to cruisers. There’s also a grocery store and gas station
but the prices are high!
Seisha is also the last stop in Queensland
for cruisers enroute to Darwin. Lots of cruisers in the harbor waiting for a
weather window to cross the Gulf of Carpenteria
known for its choppy waters. The
anchorage is terrific – extremely calm and sheltered – we got our first good
night sleep in a very long time after so many roily anchorages along the east
coast of Australia.
Unfortunately, the local teenage
boys steal the dinghies for a joyride and to sniff gas fumes. Our dinghy along with 4 other cruisers had
theirs stolen; the good news was that Fredy on Micromegas chased after the boys
and retrieved our dinghy unharmed. So if
you go to Seisha, do not leave your dinghy unattended on the beach.
Mount Adolphus (Friday, (June 28)
Approximately 25 miles from Escape
River. 15-25 knots and choppy conditions. Hike along the shore and visited with friends
on Mystic.
Escape River (Thursday, June 27)
Be sure to anchor near pearl
farm company – we anchored at mouth of the river and it was very unpleasant due
to extreme tides. Oh well, we were off
early the next morning and skipped the pearl farm.
Macarthur Island (Wednesday, June 26)
Small pretty sand cay island
(national park). Anchored between reef
and cay – hard to pull anchor in the morning due to reef. Sternchen also anchored here overnight and
enjoyed a cuppa with us.
Cape Grenville, Margaret Bay (Tuesday, June 25, 2013)
This was one of my favorite
stops! Wished we could have stayed but
the forecast was very good so we continued on to take advantage of the weather
window. Anchorage
was very calm and lots of Aussie boats here.
We anchored overnight with Sir Swagman and Sternchen. Of note, we passed the resort located in Home
Islands - couldn’t believe that
there could be a resort so far away from civilization. 15-25 knots.
Portland Roads (Monday, June
24, 2013)
We set out for another long passage of 15 to 25 knots winds
– this time 56 miles
to Portland Roads. Getting up early and
long sailing days are starting to get tiring but worth doing the day hops
instead of night passages navigating through the Great Barrier Reef. Portland Roads has a restaurant, some homes,
a gravel road to an airstrip and provides some limited services for fishing
trawlers (and cruisers too) – nice to have some civilization but unfortunately
the cook was out on a shopping trip so we couldn’t have dinner at the
restaurant – just as well as we were too tired to get off the boat. Also, another roily anchorage.
Morris Island (Sunday, June 23, 2013)
Very light winds for about half of the trip, we even read “00” knots of wind so we gave in and
turned on the iron wind. We were
reluctant to use the motor as there are not many places to fuel up between Cairns
and Darwin. Also, we were starting to
get worried about arriving at dark but the wind picked up rather quickly and
suddenly – at times it peaked to 25 knots and Lardo was flying at over 8
knots! We were so happy for this wind
and we completed our 60 mile
passage before dark! Jenny and Randy
were waiting for us at the anchorage with homemade bread and homemade pumpkin
soup – YUMMY!
Pretty little island mostly sand and two palm trees; also
very roily at high tide.
Stokes Bay, Stanley Island, Flinders Group (Friday, June 22 – Sunday,
June 23, 2013)
We anchored at Stokes
Bay with another bevy of boats
working their way up to Darwin. Generally on most of the islands that we stop
at there are usually shrimpers and fishing trawlers that anchor for the day to
sleep. While anchored here, the mother
ship arrived - these ships work up and down the coast servicing the fishing
fleet and providing them with water, fuel and other supplies; they also pick up
the “catch” while making these stops.
Dennis thought that it might be a good idea to see if they
have any prawns for sale so he contacted the mother ship who said to come on by
after they anchored. The crew of the
mother ship was delighted to see us – mostly Aussies and one Torres Strait
Islander. They sold us 9 kilos for $70
(or about $6 per person). We had a
“prawn” feast on Swiss boat Micromegas along with Sir Swagman (Australian),
Pichon (French), Jackster (English) and Footloose (Australian) – prawns and
company were excellent.
Next day, most of the sailboats left but we stayed along
with Sir Swagman to explore the island.
We searched for the cultural trail that led to Aboriginal art but had no
luck – we found out that it was on the other side of the island (Owen
Channel). All in all, just a fun kick
back day plus we were pleasantly surprised when Mystic (USA) and Sternchen
(Manuela and George from Germany)
appeared!
Ninian Bay, Thursday, June 21, 2013
Ninian Bay
is a comfortable day sail from Lizard – we departed early and arrived about 3:00 p.m.
Good protection but pretty roily in this bay due to shallow depths. We survived and somehow managed to get some
sleep.
Lizard Island (Tuesday, June 18 – Thursday,
June 20, 2013)
We absolutely loved Lizard
Island for its beauty, snorkeling
and nice walking trails. The island is
home to a marine research center and a resort.
Liam Zarri (Henry’s grandson) did an internship a year ago and we
arrived the weekend that he graduated from UCSC in marine biology. We talked to the research center and passed
along his good wishes to them. This
island is also a favorite amongst the cruising community – must have been at
least a dozen sailboats along with a tour ship.
Lizard Island
has an interesting history. Captain Cook
named this island – upon arrival, he immediately climbed to the top of the
island, only to see miles and miles of reef; he thought initially that he was
trapped and that he would have to sail back to Botany Bay
(Sydney). Fortunately, for all of us, he preserved and
found his way through this maze of reefs.
A hundred years later, Lizard
Island was settled by hardy
folks. Of particular interest is the
story of Mrs. Mary Watson who was stalked by Aborigines living on the
island. One her servants mysteriously
disappeared and then another was speared.
Mary along with her wounded servant and another servant escaped from the
island in a large tub. The winds and
currents carried them to a nearby island.
Unfortunately the three perished from thirst and were discovered by an
Aboriginal member of a passing schooner.
They were interred in Cooktown and Mary’s diary was sent to the Brisbane
Museum.
Cape Flattery (Monday, June 17, 2013)
Quick stopover at Cape Flattery on
the way to Lizard Island
– anchorage was very comfortable. Wished
we could have stayed longer for a hike as the beaches and coastal area looked
quite interesting. There were several
homes, possibly abandoned in the bay that we anchored and on either side of the
cape were jetties for the silica sand operation.
Hope Island (Sunday, June 16, 2013)
We departed Low at 7:15 a.m.
with sails raised for a 39 mile
jaunt to Hope Islands. Early in the day we had very light wind from
the east/southeast and we sailed wing to wing with an average speed ranging
from 4.5 knots up to 6.5 knots. Then the
trades picked up later in the morning (about 15 to 22 knots) and we flew the
rest of the way to Hope Islands
with our boat speed topping 8 knots.
We were pooped by the time that we got to Hope Island, just
as well as it was blowing 26 knots – too rough to go to shore (and I think
that’s what the other boats anchored thought as well). In the anchorage there were two fishing
trawlers, two sailboats and a power boat.
S/V Sir Swagman is also working his way up to Darwin
to catch a rally up to SE Asia.
Most of these anchorages are national parks with a few
mooring balls – very sturdy but we never seem to get in early enough to grab
one.
Low Islets (Saturday, June 15, 2013)
Jeff Herbert came down to help us with our docklines at our
slip and catch them at the fueling dock.
We fueled up in Cairns
because there will not be too many more opportunities to get fuel between Cairns
and Darwin. We left a little after 10 a.m.
and arrived at Low around 5 p.m.;
approximately 40 miles. We had a terrific sailing day with about 10
to 15 knots of wind from the southeast!
We only spent one night here and were off to Hope
Island early the next morning. Of interest was a quaint lighthouse built in
November 1878 with cottages for the light house keepers.
