Wind SE 10 – 15 Sunny
Well we were up and away early in time to get Steve and Leanne to Clump Point just north of Mission Beach to rendezvous with their lift. We dropped anchor not far from the boat ramp pontoon in three metres of water and took the very loaded dinghy ashore with luggage,bags, rubbish, passengers and Morgan. The pontoon was a handy drop off spot as no one had to get wet feet.
Mick Wild a friend who grew up on a farm in Biggara about 5 minutes from Steve and Leanne’s place arrived not long after and sad farewells took place . We had all had a wonderful time.
Before departing John and I poached a couple of eggs for breakfast then we hauked the jib and screecher and set off. The ocean was reasonably flat and we averaged 5 knots most of the way hoping to catch a fish , but no luck.
Over in the distance a large humpback whale was frolicking, slapping his tail and leaping clear out of the water. As we got closer he looked to be on a collision course with us but then he disappeared then reappeared on the other side of the boat paralleling us.
He must have gone under the boat. I’m glad his sonar is so good. We watched him or her ( although she had no calf with her so I thought it was probably a male) for about 40 minutes as he drifted along.
We arrived outside Mourilyan harbour at about 1:30 and entered the almost hidden entrance to the Moresby River. From the ocean until you are level with the entrance you wouldn’t know that there was a magnificent harbour concealed within the narrow ‘rock grit’ entrance bounded by a rainforest draped shoreline.
A large school of pelagic fish either Tuna or Mackeral chasing small fish greeted us in the entrance, its a pity we didn’t still have the rods out.
We dropped anchor just outside the swing basin close to a large yellow buoy and in between two other yachts and cooked up some venison chops for lunch.
The port of Mourilyan exports raw sugar and molasses from Innisfail , Tully and the Atherton tableland and also has a livestock export facility. At 220 metres long the wharf is reputed to be the longest in the world.We took Morgan ashore for a leg stretch, since we were here in 05 Qld ports have built a new boat ramp and put in a dinghy pontoon which makes getting ashore a lot easier. As it was a Saturday the ramp was quite busy.
Lamb ribs with all the trimmings for dinner with strawberries and cream for dessert, however John was disappointed as he couldn’t get the cricket on the TV.