REES & SOME OF THE SPEARED FISH

Rees is always in his element when he's diving & will stay in the water for hours, regardless of whether or not he's spearing something or not. Thankfully, Brian loves to snorkel around with him so if I'm not there, Rees always has company which is great.
When we first began diving on Cairns Reef, the first thing I saw when I jumped into the water, was a reef shark & although it initially didn't bother me, I didn't like the fact that it circled us a few times before disappearing from our outer vision. I think he wanted an easy feed with what Rees had just speared but because we always tow the tender along behind us, the coral trout was quickly thrown into that so it was out of the water.

After 4 wonderful days at the reef & with a forecasted change in the weather, we are now at Cooktown. We hadn't really planned for a stopover in Cooktown, but after days of motoring we decided that it'd be a good idea to top up the fuel tanks before getting into more isolated areas. From here, we're heading to Cape Bedford, a hop, step & jump along the mainland to where we know we can gather black-lipped oysters, another favourite of Rees's. Then we'll head to Lizard Island, where we've heard that many of the rally's yachts are at anchor, resting up before the big trip across the top to Darwin. Lizard, here we come!

"WINDY SPIRIT AT CAIRNS REEF

After having been at Batt Reef, then St Crispins Reef, we motored, through lack of wind, to Cairns Reef, only 20 miles from Cooktown. Fortunately, the weather forecast had rung true with variable winds for the 3 days at the reef, so we lapped it up while we could as the opportunity doesn't present itself very often. The sky was cloudless, it was warm at 30 degrees & the water was like a lake! What more could you ask for?! Well, I guess we could've been greedy & asked for crays because that was the only thing missing. Rees had speared enough fish for us all, which was shared & eaten at every meal but he'd only spotted one cray, which was missed.

At high tide, the water was better for snorkelling as it was clearer, so during the mornings we did our diving & at low tide, with the reef exposed, we did our walking. There was so much to see with shells, hermit crabs, starfish & sea creatures of every description, hiding under coral & weed in the shallows. It was just fascinating, as well as being a welcome relief from being either IN the water or ON the boat.

REES DIVING

The sights were amazing & as we snorkelled through coral crevices & underwater caves, it felt as though we were in an aquarium with fish of brilliant colours, flashing by us as we disturbed their territory. Of course, Rees was suited up in his usual dive gear to "hunt" & was able to stay in the water for many hours while I was out after 1 & 1/2 hours to thaw out. Although I'd been shivering & shaking with the cold for more than an hour, I was enjoying myself far too much to leave the water in case I missed out on something special. The water was like a mill pond & although it could've been clearer, I could still watch Rees from the tender as he dived the depths in search of coral trout & crayfish.

Although there were many varieties of fish that could've been speared, coral trout is one of our favourites & was targeted on the day. However, they must've been wise to the fact & became harder & harder to find so that after a few hours in the water, Rees was only able to spear 4 of them which were shared, then promptly cooked & eaten. Ohhh, it was just delicious, especially after not having eaten fish for over 6 weeks or so but it seemed that the crayfish would have to wait as there were none to be seen. Oh well, maybe at the next reef!

LINDA THE DIVER

After leaving Cairns, we had an amazing weather window of 3 days of variable winds, so we finally had the opportunity to get to the reef. Low Isles was our first stop over & with it being a mere 25 mile trip from Cairns, it was an easy day of sailing. "Kinetic Energy" & "Bach n Byte" left a couple of hours before us so we weren't involved in their "race" but I believe that "Bach n Byte" was the winner of the day under spinnaker conditions. We'd arrived by late afternoon & joined the many other yachts at anchor who all enjoyed the calm conditions as we watched a magical sunset over the mountainous terrain of the mainland.

Batt Reef was only two hours away, so the following morning, we followed each other to the reef hoping for pristine waters but it wasn't to be. Unfortunately, we were still too close to the mainland & were influenced by the tidal flow from the many river systems along the coast. However, although the water was milky, it was extremely calm so I tagged along with Rees & Brian to have a snorkel. Rees had bought me a stinger suit at Airlie Beach to protect me from all the sea lice & biting things that always seem to attack me, so suited up, I felt safe & comfortable.

VIEW OF CAIRNS FROM THE DECK

With "Kinetic Energy" arriving in Cairns the day after us, we were in company again with Brian & Maxine but were still awaiting the arrival of "Bach & Byte", a Fastback 43, with Jim & his two crew members onboard. Apparently, after making a very quick dash up the coast to catch up with us, they were only 24 hours behind us when we left Townsville, so we expected them within no time.

We'd had a few problems of our own along the way, but Jim had many & needed time in Cairns to get everything ship shape again. He'd torn his spinnaker along the way but after having that repaired at Airlie Beach, he was still left with a GPS that didn't work properly, an anchor winch that had given up & electrical problems with his whole system. Luckily for Jim, with Brian being an electrician, most of his problems were sorted out the day after his arrival. It was great catching up with Jim, Fiona the doctor, & Malcom the carpenter, as we all plan to sail to Darwin together. Now we'll have 3 boats going in the same direction so I can imagine that we'll have lots of fun races along the way & many hours socializing together.

We've had amazingly beautiful weather since being in Cairns & with the next two days being forecast at 5-10 knots, we're all heading out toward the reef. Actually, as I write this, we're underway with the spinnaker flying & a lure dragging behind us, although with our luck of fishing lately, I won't hold my breath about snagging a mackerel on the lure! We've dragged two lures from Airlie Beach to Cairns & haven't got a touch so we'll have to rely on Rees to spear us some nice coral trout once we arrive at the reef. None of us have had fish to eat for weeks so we're really looking forward to that, as well as a few crays if that can be arranged! I'll have to report back on that one!

At this stage, we're not planning to go into Port Douglas or Cooktown, so this will be the last opportunity to update the blog for quite some time. Besides stopping at islands & reefs along the way, our next major destination will be Lizard Island where we'll probably stop for at least a week before heading up to "The Top" & over to Seisa. This is where our journey becomes really exciting as we'll be sailing into unknown territory, having never been further north than Lizard Island before. Crocodiles & isolation will be focal points of my stories from there on, I guess, so stay tuned.

CAIRNS

We have now been in Cairns for four days & once again, have been able to catch up on all the little things that need attention once you have the mainland at your disposal. Cairns is a beautiful, layed back city attracting throngs of tourists & backpackers from around the world so every convenience is at hand & very accessible , especially for the visiting yachtie. Although we've had our push bikes to get around on, most of the shops we've needed have been within easy walking distance & with the densely vegetated gardens, the walking, as well as being much needed exercise, has been very pleasant.

We've been anchored outside the break wall of the Marlin Marina, an extremely busy place where all the tour boats depart for their various reef trips. However, even if you don't take a berth at the marina, they've made it user friendly by providing half a finger just for dinghy tie-up, so that when we do go ashore, we have easy access without the worries of where we're going to safely store the tender.

We had a fantastic sail from Mourilyn Harbour to Cairns but unfortunately, with "Kinetic Energy" taking a detour into Innisfail, we didn't have anyone to race. However, once we'd left the harbour & spotted a yacht in the far distance with another about 20 minutes behind us, it gave us the incentive to get "Windy Spirit" up & sailing to the best of her ability. We had light SE winds of 10-15 knots apparent, ideal conditions for the spinnaker, so it didn't take us long to have that huge sail billowing in front of us where we were then able to virtually do wind speed. With the sun shining we sat back & relaxed, letting the autopilot & wind do all the work, mowing down the miles very quickly with constant boat speeds of 9-11 knots. It wasn't until we hit 13.5 knots that we realised that the wind had increased & that we should probably get the spinnaker down while we still could, but by that time, we'd passed that distant yacht & the one behind us was nothing more than a pimple on the horizon! Yes!!! What a great sail it'd been!!!

PETER & JOAN'S BEAUTIFUL QUEENSLANDER

PETER & JOAN IN TOWNSVILLE

Today is Sunday 10th May & it's Mother's Day, so after having had phone calls from our three children & talked with our mothers, it was time to visit Peter & Joan, who had invited us to their home for lunch. We've stayed in touch with Peter & Joan since we bought our first yacht, " Liahona" from them in 2002 & every time we're in Townsville, we make a point of catching up. Since selling "Liahona" to us, they've been without a yacht but they own a beautiful Queenslander home & Joan is the perfect entertainer, so we've had a fantastic time with them, catching up on news of our travels & our families.

Since being here in Townsville the weather has been overcast & cool & although we'd much prefer to see sunshine, the cooler days have been a reprieve with temperatures of around the 25 degree mark instead of 30 degrees. We know that we'll have our fair share of hot weather as we go across the Top toward Darwin so we'll take the cooler days when we can get them!

We are still sailing with Brian & Maxine on "Kinetic Energy" & intend sailing from Townsville tomorrow for Orpheus Island, off Hinchenbrook, where we'll do a tour of the research station before heading further north. Unforunately the weather forecast doesn't look favourable for the reef, where Rees & Brian were hoping to dive, so we'll play that by ear & will probably just keep heading north with our next major destination being Cairns.

LOOMING WEATHER

The sky was very heavy & threatening all day with our last leg to Townsville. Fortunately there weren't too many squalls & surprisingly, not much rain although when we had the tide against us, it made for quite a rough trip.

"KINETIC ENERGY"

This is "Kinetic Energy", Brian & Maxine's beautiful Chincogan 40. We've proved over the past couple of days that our two boats perform as well as each other, except for the fact that Brian & Maxine have the edge because of their past racing backgrounds. Fortunately though, Brian has shared some of his knowledge, so before too long, Rees might gain the upper hand.

ARRIVED IN TOWNSVILLE

At the moment, as I write, we're sitting in the "duck pond", just outside the marina in Townsville. We left Airlie Beach finally, on Tuesday 5th May, after having spent nearly 3 weeks sitting around there getting small jobs done, but most importantly, letting Rees recouperate from his bike accident.

Brian & Maxine, on "Kinetic Energy", were keen to leave as well, so after a few last minute jobs around Airlie, we were all ready by 11.00am. Our intention was to sail to George's Point, 14 miles further north, so the guys could do some diving. The weather wasn't the best with squally showers & strong winds forecast but there was no stopping us as we all looked forward to a change of scenery.

With two boats heading the same direction, it's always a RACE but with two boats of the same length & design, it was definately a RACE although neither of us was prepared to put too much sail out because of the strong winds. So with Rees hobbling around the cockpit on his crook knee, the headsail was set & besides a bit of tweeking here & there, nothing else was done. We were finally
on the way & it sure felt good.
Our boats were neck & neck the whole way & because we had the tide & wind with us, as well as calm waters, it was a very pleasant sail. We virtually dropped anchor at the same time but with the water being very milky & no visibility, the guys forgot about the diving & elected to stay onboard for the afternoon. We had a big day the following day to get to Cape Upstart, 50 miles further north, so we chose to have an early night with a day break departure.

The wind had howled all night & the rain had bucketed down so we didn't know what the sea conditions would be like the following day, but we were soon to find out. We left the anchorage at 6.00am & once out into the open waters, we soon realised that we'd have a long & trying day ahead of us. The seas weren't huge at 2 metres, but with the tide against us, we had washing machine conditions which weren't very pleasant & had me racing for the Travacalm before it was too late. The sky was grey & heavy, threatening rain at any moment & with squalls on the way, we decided to only run with our headsails once again. That was enough sail with 25-30 knot S.E winds!

After 7 & 1/2 hours & having covered 55 miles, we eventually dropped anchor at Cape Upstart, within minutes of each other, but with "Kinetic Energy" having the advantage. Then it was time to go ashore to give our weary sea legs some time on solid ground for awhile. Although Rees's knee had been holding up OK, it still proved too tender to be walking around on it, so while he sat, Maxine, Brian & I explored a little of the area, before heading back to "Windy Spirit" for happy hour.

We intended covering 73 miles to reach Townsville the following day so it was agreed that we have an early night & a very early morning with a 4.00am departure, ready for a big day. We'd had a reasonably calm anchorage at Cape upstart & on waking, the wind strength didn't feel too bad but with it still being so dark, we elected to only run with the headsail once again until daylight. But with daylight, came the realisation that we had heavy, grey skies again & with the possibility of strong squalls throughout the day, the headsail remained our choice of sail. Brian, on the other hand, tried the main with the headsail, then the spinnaker before dropping all that in favour of just the headsail to be on the safe side.

It wasn't a very nice day to be at sea really as the wind was fickle & the weather was threatening so we were all pleased when we finally rounded Cape Cleveland, where the waters calmed, giving us a couple of hours of easy sailing across the bay toward the "duckpond". I'd slept on & off due to my sea-sickness medication but Rees was really tired by the time we'd dropped anchor at 4.00PM. It'd taken us exactly 12 hours to do the 75 miles & once again, there was nothing between the two boats, so mini keels versus dagger boards proved to be much the same.