Heading South, Port Douglas to Dunk Island.
Back to Double Island
14/10/2019 After a really relaxing weekend in Port Douglas we departed the marina this morning after refuelling and headed south. There was virtually no wind, only gusting between 4-5 knots and a flat sea so sailing was definitely out of the question today. So it was a very nice cruise down the coast for 20 nautical miles to Double Island. All was going well until 5 nautical miles from our destination when the captain spotted he had a fish on one of his trolling lines. He was hauling in a rather large Spanish Mackerel and quite excited until the unthinkable happened, just as he almost had the fish on board, you guessed it the darn thing escaped not a happy Captain. Worse was to come, with 10 minutes there was another Spanish Mackerel on the line and the same thing happened so the Captain not a happy Captain second time round. We have incredibly light winds at the moment so heading out to the reef for a few days from here, looking forward to that.
Michaelmas Cay
15/10/2019 We departed Double Island early this morning and headed 20 miles north east to Michaelmas Cay on the Barrier Reef not that far from Cairns. There was virtually no wind so it was a lovely cruise the entire way. OMG what a stunning place! We arrived mid-morning and picked up a mooring. What an absolutely stunning place to visit. The water is crystal clear and was like glass so you could see to the bottom. We snorkelled some of the reef this afternoon, really good snorkelling with plenty of coral and a big variety of fish with turtles trying to hide from us. The sand cay is a bird sanctuary and I have never seen so many birds there were thousands of them squawking and buzzing around. Many were nesting in the sand some on eggs and many with young underneath. There were day charters here with plenty of tourists enjoying the amazing weather and very impressive part of the reef. So glad we made the effort to visit and could not have picked a better day.
Green Island
16/10/2019 After our amazing day yesterday we departed Michaelmas Cay this morning and picked our way through the reef 4 nautical miles to Vlahoff Reef and picked up a mooring. The winds had turned northerly so it was not going to be the best anchorage. We dropped the dinghy down and went across the reef to the sand cay but the swell across the reef was direct onto the beach. It was not going to be the best place to stop in the conditions so we dropped the mooring and headed 9 nautical miles further south picking our way through the reef and down a channel to Green Island where we picked up a mooring. The wind was still in the wrong direction to enjoy snorkelling the reef so we dropped the dinghy and headed into the island to explore. There is a resort on the island and many ferries bringing visitors daily from Cairns so it was quite busy with tourists enjoying the great sunny day. There were plenty of water activities on offer and a really nice rainforest walk through the island, not a bad place to spend the night.
Russell Island
17/10/2019 We awoke this morning to a beautiful day, bright sun, no wind and water like glass no good for sailing. We dropped our mooring at Green Island early this morning and picked our way through the coral bommies and headed south east 21 nautical miles to Sudbury Reef. What a picture post card location, clear blue water and a sand cay with scattered reef. It must be good fishing as there were boats anchored everywhere including a couple of fishing trawlers. We dropped the dinghy down and went exploring cruising around the coral reef and going ashore on the sand cay. After a couple of hours enjoying the reef we headed another 17 nautical miles south, picking up a mooring at Russell Island a very pretty island with a sandy beach and plenty of coral surrounding the island, certainly a nice place to sit back and watch the sun go down over the mainland.
Dunk Island – October Visit
18/10/2019 After a 42 nautical mile south today we have arrived back at Dunk Island. We departed Russell Island early this morning with winds of 3-4 knots and flat seas, perfect conditions for a very relaxing cruise for the crew but the captain was disappointed as the sails were not coming out. As we passed Mourilyn Harbour the northerly sea breeze came in and winds picked up to 7 to 11 knots and the screecher was unfurled to assist the engine and increased the speed and make the captain a little happier. Alas we did not catch a Mackerel along the way only 2 large Barracuda, not advised to eat them so back in the water and Steak from the freezer for dinner. We dropped the anchor mid-afternoon and took the dinghy ashore for a walk along the beach. Our timing could not have been better as we were informed that there is an International Skydiving event at Mission Beach and 5 plane loads of skydivers were due to land on the sand spit at Dunk Island before they head out to a sand cay tomorrow for another event. What a spectacular sight, each plane dropped about 12 skydivers with colourful parachutes dropping from the sky and landing one by one on the sand spit. It is hard to believe that it was a month earlier that we arrived at Dunk Island on our trip north. What a month it has been. We have travelled and seen some fantastic parts of the Queensland coast and realise we have only scratched the surface with so much more to see.
By Margie