Back to the Whitsundays
16/10/2019
Green Island
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.
17/10/ 2019
Russell Island
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.
18/10/2019
Dunk Island
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 11-12 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. 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 4 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 land 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.
19/10/2019
Cape Richards
We awoke to glassy seas and no wind this morning so we did not leave Dunk Island until mid-morning as we were only travelling 16 nautical miles to Goold Island at the top of Hinchinbrook Island. We are finally going to get the opportunity tomorrow to visit Zoe Bay, it has eluded us each time on our travels so far due to weather conditions but finally the weather gods are favourable for a visit. There was hardly any wind and a glassy sea so there was no sailing again. After 10 nautical miles the wind increased slightly and we were able to unfurl the screecher for some assistance. As we came into our anchorage we could see that a burn was in progress on the island and smoke was going to affect anchoring in a rather nice looking bay so it was another 2 nautical miles south to anchor at Cape Richards at the northern end of Hinchinbrook Island and not far to travel tomorrow. There is a small beach so we dropped the dinghy and went ashore to explore being careful as we are in croc country here. There is a camping site just off the beach that is fenced so the crocs can’t share your dinner and met some fishermen who have been camping for the past few days hoping to catch plenty of fish and crabs. We did the short walk and decided against a swim.
20/10/2019
Zoe Bay – Hinchinbrook Island
We finally ticked off another item on our bucket list visit finally getting to Zoe Bay today. It was worth the wait and the effort to get there. We departed Cape Richards early this morning and motored the 17 nautical miles along the island to Zoe Bay and dropped anchor. We dropped the dinghy and headed into shore and followed the track through the beautiful rainforest. Most of the walk was quite easy until we passed the lagoon and headed up the mountainside to the top of the falls that was challenging, even a bit of absailing included. Once we arrived, and took in the view the trek had been worth the effort and the rock pool with fresh running water was so inviting so of course we had a swim. As it has been a long time since there has been any rainfall the waterfall was not fast flowing but the fresh water tasted pretty good. We climbed down again and headed to the rock lagoon where you can see the waterfall flowing over the wall of rocks, so worth the effort to get there.
We headed back through the rainforest and back to Rhapsody for a 17 nautical miles trip across to Orpheus Island. The weather gods were in the captain’s favour at last, we had a nice 10 knot north east wind so the sails were up in no time and the engines were finally turned off. As we headed out the winds gradually increased to 15-16 knots and we were having a really good sail reaching speeds between 7-8 knots so the captain was very happy but too fast to snag a fish on the trolling line.
24/10/2019
Palm Island
After 3 days spent at Orpheus Island sitting out the strong southerly change that came through on Monday we finally dropped our mooring today and moved a little further south. It was nice to be moving again after 3 days of reading, watching movies and doing puzzles. We dropped our mooring at Hazard Bay, Orpheus Island and motored 2 nautical miles south to Juno Bay on Fantome Island hoping to drop anchor and head ashore to see the abandoned Leper Colony. As we headed into the bay the winds were still quite strong and there was a swell making the bay unsuitable to drop anchor and definitely not good conditions for the dinghy. We abandoned that idea and motored a further 5 nautical miles in rather swelly seas to Palm Island and dropped anchor at Casement Bay a very nice calm anchorage.
26/10/2019
Back to Townsville
The winds had finally eased slightly so we departed Casement Bay early on Friday morning and raised the mainsail hoping to sail. As we headed out of the bay the winds increased again to 16-17 knots and there was quite a swell. The winds were on the nose so a good sail was not looking good. We kept going deciding whether to stop at Horseshoe Bay or further on to Townsville. About half way across to Magnetic Island the winds moved more side on so the mainsail was finally giving some assistance. Then we heard some noise and looked up to see one of the cars on the sail had come adrift from the mast so the sail had to be dropped and motor to Townsville to sort out repairs. Breakwater Marina is such a great marina being situated on The Strand and close to town it is easy to get around. We booked for a week to do some maintenance before heading back to the Whitsundays.
Townsville always has something on and sure enough we were able to head into town last night for free entertainment and lots of street food on offer. Not a bad place to relax and wait for the wind to finally die down before the last leg of our journey.
3/11/2019
Back Home to the Whitsundays
After a really good week spent at Breakwater Marina, Townsville we have just arrived back in the Whitsundays today.
Townsville is such a great city to spend time in and the marina is in such a good location right alongside The Strand, and so easy to get around. We had plenty of time to enjoy those coffee shops and the Captain to get his ice-cream fix. We certainly did plenty of walking and enjoyed the Sunday Markets for fresh produce. There was even time to catch a bus to the shopping centre for some retail therapy. We had to do some repairs to Rhapsody and caught the bus out to the industrial area for parts so learnt where everything is and how easy it is to get around even if you don’t have a car.
We departed Townsville on Friday morning to head south. There was an east wind blowing so thought we would get a good sail but that was not to be. We were sailing but the currents were so strong that we were being pushed sideways at the same time so needed some engine horsepower to head in the right direction. We dropped anchor at Cape Bowling Green, not our favourite anchorage but we did have a good night there.
On Saturday we left Cape Bowling Green early and hoisted up the mainsail and unfurled the headsail hoping for a better day of sailing. The captain even had the trolling lines out ready for the next big catch. We had only gone a few miles when we heard a loud noise from above and saw the mainsail had dropped down. After further inspection we found that the block at the top of the sail had failed and shredded the sheet line so not good for sailing. From then on it was motor and headsail so we were happy to drop anchor at Cape Upstart an anchorage we rather like.
Today we left Cape Upstart early this morning and headed the last leg to Bona Bay, Gloucester Island. We were hoping to use the headsail to assist the engine but most of the way that was not going to work as the wind was not being helpful today. Finally as we passed Abbot Point the wind was more favourable and the headsail was unfurled to assist.
All the boats seem to have headed south now and we are the only boat anchored here which does not happen often. Bona Bay is such a nice anchorage it seems so long ago that we passed here on our way north.
We are planning to spend the next few months here in the Whitsundays an area we really enjoy, with plenty of places to visit whilst we are here along with some maintenance on Rhapsody.