WE FINALLY MADE IT TO CAPE YORK

After having made our way from Lizard Island over the past 6 days, we finally arrived at the most northerly tip of Australia---Cape York! We'd left Portland Roads at 3.00am, sailed all day under spinnaker & rounded the tip of Australia at 3.00pm, having covered just over 90 miles throughout the day. It was such a feeling of achievement to be at this point in our trip & we couldn't wait to celebrate!

Adding to the excitement of our arrival was the fact that Rees & I had led the flotilla of 7 yachts, all day & were anchored for 3/4 of an hour before "Kinetic Energy" finally rounded the "Tip" to join us. Our destination for the day had been the Escape River, 14 miles south of Cape York, but when we were abeam of there with plenty of daylight hours ahead of us, we'd radioed to say that we were heading on. We had everything going for us with a 15-20 knot SE breeze, time on our side as well as a favourable tide. The tide was important too, because it raced through Albany Pass at 5 knots & thankfully it flooded north just as we approached the passage.

All the other yachts decided to follow, so throughout the afternoon, with them arriving in staggered times, we waited to see who wanted to help us celebrate as both Maxine & I had champagne on ice just for the occasion. Needless to say, not everyone was interested in celebrating because it had been a very long day & after such an early start, most people were just too tired.

As I write this, another day has passed but with a walk to the "Tip" this morning for the photo shoot & a brief trip ashore at Seisia for supplies, we are ready once again for some long legs of sailing. We are leaving here tomorrow morning for a two day, non stop trip across the Gulf of Carpentaria to the Wessle Islands & although I'm not really looking forward to it, it'll be good to know that we will have mowed down another 350 miles of our trip to Darwin, leaving a mere 1,000 miles to go!!!!

LIZARD ISLAND

Well, we finally made it to Lizard Island where we had a great time, socialising with up to 30 other yachts who were all enjoying a leisurely time before setting off toward Cape York, then across the Gulf to Darwin. It was nearly compulsory to do "Happy Hour" on the beach every day at 5.00pm, because if you didn't, you felt as though you were missing out on something!

We spent a week there & although we were well & truely ready to leave, we had enjoyed everything that Lizard Island normally has to offer. There were numerous walks including the beautiful Blue Lagoon, which was on the other side of the island, Cook's Look, which is an extremely arduous walk to the top of the island, overlooking Watson's Bay where the yachts anchor, & yet another that takes you to the Marine Research Station. Besides walking, we swam in warm turquoise waters & snorkelled over clam gardens & protected reef that was absolutely teeming with fish.

"Happy Hour" was spent talking & getting to know fellow yachties who we would eventually be sailing to Indonesia with, & of course, everyone had something to contribute. The international yachties who have been sailing the seas for many years, were very interesting with their stories of beautiful anchorages around the world although most of them were envious of us Aussies who they say have such great cruising grounds here in our own back yard.

Of course there wasn't any diving for Rees whilst at Lizard because the weather was just too windy to get to the reef & out of the protected zones, but he found other ways to occupy himself which included minor repairs around the boat & on the tender. The tender had been a problem for a long time with a large crack in the floor that constantly leaked, but after taking the time to up-end it on the beach one day where he was able to glass a patch on it, the tender has been dry ever since! Yahoo!

When we left Lizard, where we'd been waiting out a strong wind warning, there was a mass exodus as everyone had itchy feet & were ready for the next leg. So since then, with many different islands, reefs & anchorages along the way, we've run into a few of the people we'd met, but not a lot of them as we've become spread out over a vast area. We're still in company with Brian & Maxine off "Kinetic Energy" & will probably follow them through to Darwin as they hope to be there around the same time as us before heading to the Kimberly. It's been great sailing with them as both Brian & Rees are very competitive & with having exactly the same designed boat, the "Race" is on every day that we're on the move! It makes it fun & so much more interesting!