Friday 26th September - Cairns Marlin Marina
We’re leaving Cairns today, for real! First stop will be the Low Isles which is about 35nm north of Cairns, or about 8nm NE of Port Douglas.
6am wake-up alarm, and by the time we got us and Lazuli ready we left the marina just after 7am.
Motored out of the channel until we could put the sails up.
With the sails up, Kristie took the helm while I worked.
I took over during break between meetings and kristie got in a quick nap
We were getting close to the islands, and with timing it looked like I would be in a meeting as we got there!
Decided to get the sails down a bit early and motor the rest of the way there.
I had to put myself on mute and turn off the video briefly as we had to pick up a mooring while I was still on the call.
The rain started just before we had finished getting ourselves settled.
I had one more work meeting, then it was my turn for an afternoon snooze.
As soon as we’d first picked up the mooring we’d had numerous bat fish swimming around, shortly followed by some reef sharks.
Kristina and I fed the bat fish some of our mouldy bread.
They had to compete with the Remora who’d turned up with the sharks; the reef sharks kept swimming around but obviously weren’t interested in bread!
Saturday 27th
Had breakfast, then headed in to walk around the island.
Checked out the lighthouse and museum. There’s the usual history and story of the island which was interesting.
You can’t get into nor up the lighthouse.
The only occupants these days is the pair Ospreys nesting on top of the lighthouse; they have their own custom build nesting platform that they’ve made good use of.
There are a couple of day boats that come out from Port Douglas, bringing loads of snorkelers out.
We put on our gear and swam out to where they all were.
Lots of dead coral :( Two years ago they had flooding and the freshwater line got out past these islands and as a result most of it died.
We did find a local turtle who needed a good scratch. It spent ages scratching up against the coral, but was also happy for us to give it a scratch; it’d come out and present it’s side and let us give its shell a good scratch.
Emma ended up getting a bit cold; Kristina (who’d been stubbornly refusing to get wet) finally put her togs on and came out for a snorkel.
There were still lots of other tourists out from Port Douglas.
We anchored the swimming mat out a bit and enjoyed some time playing on that.
Kristie and Kristina went for a walk to get a few more photos, and on the way back Kristina was swimming in the water and doing backflips and just splashing around.
One of the crew (lookouts / lifeguards?) from the commercial boats was worried Kristina was in trouble and went over to help her and herd her back to the main group of her passengers!
Kristie had to explain we weren’t with them. We’ve had this a few times, but good to know that they’re keeping a good lookout!
Back to Lazuli for a late lunch.
Lazy afternoon on devices; I enjoyed watching the AFL Grand Final, cracking game - GO THE LIONS!
However, 3/4 way through the game Starlink dropped out and we lost all 240V! The inverter was switching off as soon as I tried to enable the 240V circuit.
We still had enough reception to tether phone to watch the last quarter of the game!
Heavy rain just as the game was wrapping up, so put the sides up.
We were treated to a cool double rainbow when the rain cleared.
With the game over I could spend some time trying to see what was wrong.
Looking in the engine bay I discovered our coolant overflow bottle was empty, and its contents in the engine bay :(
Never a good sign :|
Without Starlink, the girls spent some time up top crafting some necklaces.
Too dark to do much more investigation - that’s a job for tomorrow.
Sunday 28th
We had planned to head off to the some of the local reefs today.
With no inverter/Starlink, and coolant in the engine bay we weren’t going anywhere.
Late last year our inverter had done the same thing, and we’d had an electrician out to fix it.
He had pulled out the 300AMP fuse from the inverter, cleaned it, and put it back end and it worked.
I figured I’d try the same.
I pulled the cover off the inverter and gave the fuse a bit of sand and tightened it back up.
Inverter now working! Starlink online: girls back to their happy place!
Now to sort out the engine. I topped the overflow up and had Kristie start the engine.
Wasn’t long before I could see the coolant coming out of the hose at the top of the engine.
I tried tightening the hose clamp, but after a few turns it became apparent that hose clamp was rusted and completely broken :|
Luckily I had a few spares so fitted one. Got it tight enough that it didn’t leak anymore.
Lunch, then fed the batfish some more.
We’d seen one of the commercial snorkeling boats take their passengers out to the western side for a snorkel, so we figured we’d go and check that out.
The coral there was in even worse condition than the main area on the eastern side
We gave up pretty quickly and went back to the main area for another snorkel.
There were new two private boats from Port Douglas with a bunch of kids playing in the water (the adults were up having a bbq/drinks).
Our girls enjoyed bringing out all the toys (mermaid tails, buckets/spades, beach ball) from the tender to play with them!
They had fun snorkeling and playing on their SUP.
I had a good chat with the adults (one of them happily dropping the F-bomb every 2nd word around the kids!).
Kristie was still out snorkeling and saw a few bigger reef sharks, whilst we had a few baby sharks swim in the shallows past the kids.
Kristie also found a few turtles out snorkeling, whilst we had a few swim past us in the shallows.
Back on Lazuli for Sip’s ‘n dips.
Monday 29th
Dropped the mooring line at 7am and motored to Opal Reef. One of our dive club members (Dave) now works for one of the dive boats operating out of Port Douglas, and had recommend visiting Opal Reef.
It would be about 25nm to get there. I got in some work while Kristie skippered.
Had the lure out, and hooked a Mackerel. I wasn’t prepared and took too long to get ready and it flicked itself off the gaff hook and lure :(
Anchored at Opal. Easy enough approach in the middle of the day in good conditions (less than 10knts wind).
Dropped anchor in about 7m on sand, and put out 50m of chain and ended up sitting in 11m.
Kristie had a nap while I did more work.
There are two commercial operators that come out here. One of them has a few mooring and their two boats rotate between them.
We waited until they had left, then Kristie and I geared up and took the tender over and went for a dive together.
I think they call the site “Rayban”. It was an easy dive, 5.5m max depth! Quite a lot to see and great coral.
Ended the dive hanging out with a massive cuttle fish. It swam away to the sand to start with, then came back and was happy to let us get closer while it was feeding.
It was pretty cool to see it stick its tentacles into the coral to grab its food.
With the dive done it was time for Kristie to fill tanks while I did a bit more work.
Sip’s ‘n dips.
A few game fishing boats had come in late in the afternoon to shelter for the night.
Tuesday 30th
Early start to get in the water before the commercial boats turn up.
Back to “Rayban”, and by 8am Kristie was in the water with Emma.
She had a good dive (about 13min). Previously Kristina has gone first, and Emma and I swim along with Emma diving down.
This usually means she gets cold pretty quickly when it’s her turn to dive. We switched it up so Kristina could stay warm on the tender while Emma was diving.
With Emma done, Kristina jumped in and had her turn.
Fantastic spot for them to dive: no current, shallow, great visibility, and lots to see!
They both loved the “Midgen Berry” (dog-faced puffer fish) and a also found a “clam family” (two big clams, and two littler clams all huddled together!)
No snorkeling, so back to the Lazuli. Kristie swapped to a new tank and I took her out to do a solo dive on a large bommie out the back.
She saw plenty of fish, some good structure; overall a good enjoyable easy dive.
Back to the boat just in time for a client meeting (swapped my rash shirt for work shirt!).
Traci and Matt off Vellamo turned up in their tender to say hi (they’d just dropped anchor near us and were off for a snorkel).
Kristie had been messaging Traci on FB, and we’d waved to them as we left the Low Isles as they’d only turned up late the afternoon before we left.
They invited us over to their boat (a Catalina 470) for Sundowners later this afternoon.
The girls and I got ready to go for a snorkel, and Kristie geared up for a dive.
Took the tender across to the “North of South Opal” spot where the commercial operators go. About the same distance north as “Rayban” is south of where were are anchored.
The girls and I enjoyed a 54min snorkel, while Kristie had a solo dive.
We followed along with her to start with, the girls enjoyed diving down to wave at her.
Turned around to swim back towards the tender. This is one of our favourite snorkeling spots.
There was a lot of good coral, and some cool structures that had some “swim-throughs” that both girls enjoyed.
Emma spotted a very cool anemone bowl at the start of our snorkel, but by that time Kristie had swum past it.
With Kristie on the way back, I sent Emma off to bring Kristie over to it (it was only in about 2m deep).
We all took turns swimming down to check them out and take photos.
Kristie enjoyed her dive; she saw a school or razor-fish, a few eels, and had a baby Remora stick with her the whole dive.
When we met back up it tried to attach itself to Emma (she didn’t enjoy that one little bit!) and then it liked the look of my black fins!
Back onboard and Kristie started filling tanks. We had another o-ring blow out - lucky we have a bag of spares.
Sip’s and dips on Vellamo, left the girls back onboard with their iPads. They have a lovely yacht, lots of room for just the two of them.
Even though we were out at the reef with no land, we had a few birds think they could roost on the front railings.
Kristie shooed them off before she went to bed, but they came back and made a bit of a mess on the front deck :|
Wednesday 1st
Quick breakfast, then a family snorkel back at “North of South Opal”. Saw two turtles, went back to the anemone bowl which had since flattened out. The clown fish were still there though.
Spent some time diving down to that and the giant clams nearby. Emma’s ears started to get sore, so wasn’t a long snorkel this time.
Back to Lazuli and got ready to leave.
Had a good sail up to Mackay Cay while I got in some work. Just about everyone we met who had sailed north before highly recommend this spot.
Lure out. Work meeting. 5minutes after the meeting finished we hooked (and successfully landed) a long-fin (Albacore) Tuna, probably 60cm or so.
Processed the tuna while underway.
Picked up one of the two moorings, and quickly got ready to go and get dinner; jumped in the tender with Kristie and my spear gun.
Kristie finally managed to spot a decent sized Coral Trout that I got.
It’s not really sporting; they just sit there looking at you.
Not long after getting the trout in the boat, a large reef shark encouraged Kristie to get out of the water.
Coral Trout and chips for dinner. Yum.
Thursday 2nd
Got in a bit of work early in the morning.
Took Kristie for a dive on the bommies (we’ll call them the ‘Stepping Stones’) just out the back of the mooring.
There was good coral up on top in the shallow sections, but not much below the 10m mark.
Easy dive with good visibility.
Once back on the boat, the girls and I cooked up some banana muffins.
With plenty of fresh tuna, it was time to make sushi.
Emma helped Kristie make the rolls, and had them and sashimi for lunch. So tasty.
(I had cooked up some honey soy chicken for Kristina as she isn’t a fan of tuna).
Kristie and Emma produced a delicious platter of sushi that we all enjoyed.
Went into the cay for a play. There were a few other boats with some kids, so they all enjoyed some time on the swim mat and playing with the ball.
Emma and I flew the kites briefly, it’s been a while since we had them up.
The four of us went for a snorkel. There was a nice warm layer of water on top coming across from the reef (at times the water was too warm!).
We saw numerous Clown Fish, plenty of clams, a nudi and lots of Christmas tree worms.
The girls love swimming down and making them collapse down. One rock had over a dozen Emma got in one go!
Got back to Lazuli and I grabbed a scrubbing brush to give her a bit of a clean at/below the waterline. Kristina enjoyed jumping off the boat and swimming around.
We were in about 12m of water and could clearly see the bottom!
Headed back to the cay at about 5:30 to have sip’s ‘n dips on the cay by ourselves.
Saw some crabs, and a few turtles and a ray in the shallows.
Just as we were finishing up the cheese and drinks, a fishing boat turned up with a young couple and their dog who were going to sleep the night on the cay.
We went back to Lazuli and had tuna steaks for dinner.
Friday 3rd
With strong wind coming on on the weekend, we needed somewhere sheltered. Mackay Reef wouldn’t be any good in 20+kts.
Our options were either Port Douglas (not keen as it’s pretty shallow), or Hope Island (or even further north to Cape Bedford).
Mel off Rhythm had mentioned to us how good Hope Islands had been for them when they had to find shelter in 30kts.
We left just after 8am, and sailed for a few hours. The wind was WSW so first part of the track was fine and made reasonable speed for the given wind.
We saw some dolphins but no interest in us (we miss the pods that we had in NSW that would come checkout your boat!).
Eventually wind dropped and swung to dead behind us, so had to motor the last 15nm up to Hope Island as we couldn’t do better than 4kts.
The previous evening we’d spent some time all talking about this region and the experience Captain Cook had up here.
They had hit Endeavour Reef just before midnight on 11 June 1770. The ship began filling with water, and they couldn’t pump it out quicker than it was coming in.
See: https://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/endeavour-voyage/endeavour-reef
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endeavour_Reef
We were headed to Hope Islands
The Hope islands were named by Lt James Cook on 13 June 1770, after his ship HMS Endeavour narrowly escaped sinking after running aground on the eastern part of Endeavour Reef at 11pm on 11 June.
Cook writes of taking a risk and sailing from the reef on the morning of 13 June in favourable conditions but the three operational bilge pumps could not keep up with the flow of water.
Cook wrote “we were always in hopes of being able to reach these Islands”.
Cook speaks of he and the crew thinking the situation so dire that the best scenario would be to ground the boat on the reef surrounding the islands if the mainland could not be reached.
They aimed to build a vessel from the wreck to make it back to the East Indies.
However, some crew members were able to “fother” the leak using a sail so that the water could be cleared easily using one bilge pump.
Endeavour was able to be sailed safely to what is now Cooktown so that repairs could be undertaken.
I had my morning standup. At one point the lure hooked onto something, but whatever it was didn’t stay attached.
No fish for dinner :(
Picked up a mooring. There are four here, and only one was free at the time.
Lunch, then Kristie and I went into the island for a walk.
It’s not big, about 500m circumference.
Checked out the camping area, which didn’t look that appealing!
Saw a bunch of birds: a pair of Osprey (I think), Pelicans, a Kingfisher, Pied imperial pigeons, Bridled terns, a little Sandpiper.
Will take my SLR and zoom lens back to the beach next time we’re in there!
One of the boats that was on the island must have dumped their bait before they left as there was a bunch of squid bait in the shallows, and a few reef sharks swimming around.
We walked 50m back up and sat in the water for an hour to cool off.
One of the cats was swapping moorings. Went back to Lazuli stopping off to have a chat with him.
Steve on “Sharkbite”, a Fusion 40. He was here by himself and going to do a bit of kite surfing over the reef.
Put the green light out, but nothing big and no squid.
Saturday 4th
Wind was up a bit today. Late start to the day. We had plans to go walk around the reef flats at low tide.
I wanted to have another go with the spear guns. Water was pretty murky due to the 20knts wind coming over the reef!
Ended up with a pair of sweetlips.
Back on Lazuli and got the fished cleaned up and in the fridge.
Super quick lunch to get into land while the tide was down.
Didn’t see too much; not as much to see as Musgrave Island.
Emma dropped half her banana muffin in the water on the way back to shore :(
Quick walk back around the island
Enjoyed another swim/sit in the water.
Baked Sweetlip for dinner.
Sunday 5th
Windy today. More than yesterday. Too windy to do anything on the island.
Watched the NRL Grand Final after dinner. Great game - GO the BRONCOS!!
Emma watch the last half with me.
Monday 6th
Woke up this morning and the wind was down a bit from yesterday.
Had breakfast and spent some time looking at the weather, and then we made the decision to sail to Lizard.
We’d have reasonable protection from the reef along the way, so even with the forecast 15-20 it should be ok.
Took a bit of time to get Lazuli ready to go.
The washing up still needed putting away, the generator was still on the front deck, and I wanted to take the engine off the tender and lift it up to the pushpit.
We got going just before 8:30am, and had over 60nm to go. Estimate was an arrival between 4 and 5pm.
Had the main up with #2 reef, and the small headsail out.
Most of the trip was pretty good, swell between 0.5m - 1m, or even less when behind the reefs.
The wind picked up the last 2hours, and we lost a bit of protection from the reef. Ended up surfing down waves at 10-11kts.
Furled the jib once we got behind the island, and then dropped the main once we got to Watson Bay.
Dropped anchor in about 4m or water, and put out 40m chain.
Around 20 other boats on this side of the island, mostly fishing or mega yachts.
Cheese and Whisky, and then bacon and eggs for dinner.
We finally made it!! Lizard Island has always been our end goal, our final destination.
This is as far north as we’ll take Lazuli. We’ll stay here until we get some reef days, then it’s time to turn around and head south.
Until then, we’ll enjoy island life on Lizard Island.