Overcast SE 15 – 20                   8 nautical miles

Bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast for a change as we had a square table conference on what to do for the day. the weather seemed reasonably calm but the forecast was for 15 – 20 knots picking up in the morning. We decided it would be a nasty slog into a headwind tomorrow to get back down to Port if we went north to the Daintree today. Ah well, we will have pikalets with jam and cream , then sail to Port Douglas instead.

 

We put a reef in the main and headed out into white water and swell.  The trip across to Port Douglas was exhilarating with the wind getting up to 30 knots at times and waves spraying over the bows.

We sat on 10 knots for quite a while ripping along. The screecher that hadn’t furled too well last time( as we were in a hurry to pull in  a fish) suddenly caught the wind in a small pocket which turned into a large flapping noisy problem. Its was all hands on the rolling deck as we lowered the screecher halyard and stuffed the whole lot into the sail locker to be dealt with in quieter moments and refurled

 

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived in Dickson inlet, the entrance to Port Douglas at 12:30 and negotiated the very shallow skinny channel up to the marina. we berthed in B 13 and 14 easily as the marina is well protected from the south easterlies. In fact you wouldn’t even know it was blowing outside.

Time to wander up the street, the boys going to the pub and us three girls ( the curly one too) getting a shopping fix. The shops were fantastic all selling very different and reasonably priced clothing and other nick nacks. On the way back Sandra and I stopped at the Irish pub for a drink and enjoyed the viewpoint from our table overlooking the street.

We caught up with the boys and had dinner at the yacht club , just up from the marina

which was very tasty but took an  hour for the meals to arrive as they were very busy.

Wind   NE 10 – 15   Sunny    Meg’s Birthday  23 nm

This morning the reef looked grey and unimpressive but as the sun rose higher the reef started to gain some colour.  We pulled the anchor at 9:30 and headed out and sailed a good angle on a course of 255° to the Low Isles which are just NE of Port Douglas.

Both the screecher and main were up when we had a fish on, so we had to turn downwind and furl the screecher while John pulled the fish in. Lucky we had a few more sailors on board to help. This time a 12 lb yellow finned tuna came onboard  so John bled it, cut it up and pickled some of it for sashimi for lunch.

Not long after a 7lb shark mackerel was hooked up and Doug reeled it in but we already had plenty of fish so we let it go.

Half an hour later another fish was on, it took a while for John to reel it in as we didn’t want to lose this one. It was a very decent sized Spanish Mackeral about 20 lbs, his second favourite fish. Looks like Mackeral for the next few meals.

The sail across was very pleasant  averaging 7 knts almost on a reach.

We reached the Low Isles about 1:00 and sat down to Tuna sashimi. John used the pickled onion juice, soy sauce, dill and some other secret ingredients to marinate the raw tuna resulting in very mouth watering pieces.

 

Several bat fish had greeted us on arrival and were milling round the transoms looking for scraps with quite a few remoras and several black tip reef sharks. Sandra  had fun feeding them fresh tuna scraps but she had to be careful of the sharks as they came right up next to the boat. We were hoping Morgan wouldn’t fall in as she was getting very excited.

 

After lunch, Sandra Doug and I climbed into the dinghy and went for an explore on the island.

The Low Isles are a group of three islands all very small with a lighthouse dominating the main island . They are classified Marine Park so Morgan wasn’t allowed ashore. We strolled along the short sandy track around the island which took all of 15 minutes and back out onto the beach.

The houses of the lighthouse keeper and his assistant have been well maintained over the years and now are used for accommodation by marine park staff.

The Low Isles are a popular tourist destination as they are only 8 nautical miles from Port Douglas so several large sailing charter boats had anchored in the lagoon and disgorged  their passengers  for a snorkelling trip. With noodles under their arms they listened patiently to their instructor on the finer arts of snorkelling.

 

 

 

 

 

Later in the afternoon Sandra Doug and I put the paddle board in and took trips to the other island The coral was uninteresting and there weren’t many fish to see. Sandra saw a few whiting in the shallows.

 

John cooked an excellent Thai fish curry from scratch ( or should I say from a mixture of ingredients) but it was too hot for my lips that seem to be permanently sore from the sun these days. What little I could eat tasty great.

Wind   NE 10 – 15  Sunny

We enjoyed a  lovely calm night behind the sand and reef although it was very noisy when you stood outside due to the masses of birds.

Mackeral for breakfast then we let go of the big yellow buoy and headed on the main and screecher in a NE direction to Opal Reef. We had been told it was better than Batt reef as Batt was treacherous and murky.

The sail was uneventful averaging 6 knts with a bit of a sideways swell coming across. We passed quite a lot of reefs with a charter boat anchored up close for snorkelers and a large Quicksilver pontoon out on Norman Reef.

We arrived at the bottom end of Opal Reef and sailed up the inside until we reached the fishing allowed zone, half of Opal reef is protected in a green zone.

We put the anchor down in a clear sandy patch about 2:30 and drifted back onto a darker patch in the hope of getting fish. John wanted to drop the anchor right near a bommie but we were all worried we would be too close.

 

The lines went in but  we only succedded in catching a grass sweetlip and a small GT( Giant Trevally). The sweetlip smelt strongly of iodine so it was his lucky day and he went back in the water. Sandra caught another Starry Triggerfish.

 

 

We took a troll in the dinghy around the closest bommie and Doug hooked another GT then a school mackerel which we kept.

 

 

 

 

 

 

John and Doug went back to the bommie to bait fish but didn’t bring anything back as they only caught small stuff and an edible long nose trevally which they threw back as we have plenty of fish onboard to eat. John is still looking for that elusive coral trout.

Green thai curry and rice for dinner and then a game of scrabble which Doug flogged us all with a score for one word he put down of 92.

Wind   NE 10 – 15  Sunny    4 nm

After a slightly swelly night John cooked a delicious breakfast of mackerel with bacon and mushrooms in a mornay sauce. The weather over Cairns looked overcast and drizzly but where we were was lovely and clear. Sandra fished and caught a Starry triggerfish

while Doug caught something we are still trying to identify in Grants Guide to fish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We departed Vlassof at 9:30 and sailed round to Michaelmas Cay and picked up a public mooring buoy. Michaelmass  Cay is a National Park and is a famous tern breeding ground that appeared to have thousands of the smelly squawking and chirping birds covering most of it. There are large signs on the beach which restrict you from going ashore between 3 pm and 7 am and most of the cay is fenced off for the birds.

Michaelmas is a popular charter boat destination from Cairns and three boats arrived during the day two with about 100 passengers on and one with 30. Still there was plenty of coral for all to snorkel over.

The mooring buoy had us sitting right over the coral so we donned our snorkelling gear and jumped in. John got last Christmas’s present out , a sea scooter which propelled him along underwater at a good speed. I think he thought he was James Bond. Everyone was very impressed with the new toy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The coral below us housed a lot of fish of all sorts, there were schools of fusileers, large sweetlip, trevally , bat fish and a couple of reef sharks cruising the bottom.

 

John inspected the hull and cleaned some of it while Doug and I snorkelled over to the shallower coral and watched several different varieties of colourful and interesting fish.

 

 

Sitting on the back transom we ate crab and fed the scraps to the bat fish which were milling around. All of a sudden a school of large Amberjack came in fighting for the scraps, they were almost leaping clear out of the water to be the one who got the tasty morsels. Mixed among these fish were the large sweetlips and other large fish we couldn’t identify from above, Morgan was whining and carrying on as the bat fish came right up to the back transom, she had her nose in the water touching the fish but she didn’t seem to want to grab them. It was fantastic to watch them all jostle for scraps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking at all the fish was too much for John and Doug so we pulled off the mooring buoy and sailed out of the green zone ( Marine Park Zone) to a spot where we could fish, The fishing was not as expected, we only caught small cod, trout, stripeys, trigger fish and all manor of colourful reef fish.

We motored back to our mooring buoy but unfortunately it had been picked up by another boat that had just arrived so we motored over and picked up the lines of a large yellow buoy that was vacant. It belonged to a large charter boat that wasn’t due back until 10:30 the next morning.

Roast Lamb and vegies for dinner with chocolate brownies and cream for dessert.

Wind   NE 10 – 15  Overcast early then Sunny

12 nm     Fathers day

 

Sandra and Doug were up early and walked the esplanade to the end and back before we all went to breakfast at Wharf One.

The Cairns yacht club had a racing day to Double island off Palm Cove and were all milling around the start line just off the cafe. Excellent breakfast entertainment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After grabbing the essentials, beer and milk, we departed the marina about 11:00 and sailed on a course of 320 ° heading towards Arlington reef.  The sky was overcast for some of the day but that didn’t stop the fish jumping on the line. We pulled in an 8 lb spotted mackerel before we got to Green island which John and Sandra filleted then saved the scraps for bait.

We sailed on the main and jib at 7 knots past Upulo Cay and a little further out to Vlassof Cay where we tied up to a mooring buoy.  We all hopped in the dinghy and went to the small deserted sand cay which we had to ourselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cay was pure white sand with shells scattered around its perimeter.  Morgan ran through the shallows hoping to catch fish.  I was glad the large stingray she chased was a lot faster than her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back on O’vive fishing began with earnest.  Sandra was first to catch a small stripey  followed with John catching a variety of small fish including tusk and parrot.

We all had a very large fish on but all of a sudden lost it and hauled in mangled small fish.  There must have been a large cod lurking below that kept taking our fish then when we got him halfway up to the surface he spat out the smaller fish.  We ended up with several fish for bait as a result of the cod.

None of us could seem to catch anything big enough to keep which didn’t matter as we had plenty of mackeral to eat.

Freshly caught mackerel, lightly fried with chat potatoes and salad ended the day, followed by a game of Black bitch and nominations.

 

 

Wind   NE  10 – 15   Sunny

Stocking up on supplies today after pancakes for breakfast along the boardwalk. John and I rode to Rusty’s market for vegies . The stalls were stacked high with very fresh and tasty looking fruit and vegies from local farms.

Next was grocery shopping for the last ;ot of items then back to Ovive for happy hour with Steve Ford and Andy.

The four of us went to dinner at Bushfires Flame Grill, a Brazilian inspired Australian style BBQ. We splurged and ordered the have everything meal whre yo get whatever you like and eat as much as you can for $49.95. The waiter comes round with a sword of large chunks of meat and carves you off slices cooked to your choice, rare at the top and well done at the bottom. We dined on pork, beef, lamb. Chicken, spiced sausage and some seafood. It was delicious and a unique way to dine, we were even served some Brazilian vegies to complement the meal.

Sandra and Doug arrived just as we got back to the boat and w strolled up the esplanade to Rattle and Hum for some beer and pizza as Sandra was thirsty and hungry.

Wind   NE  10 – 15   Sunny

Even though the forecast today was for 1 0 – 15 the wind picked up and was blowing 20 at times. Even willy weather had no readings that high, I wonder if it was blowing as hard outside as the winds tends to funnel up the inlet here.

John bypassed the thermostat in the cool box again as ever since we installed the new thermostat in Airlie it doesn’t get cold enough. The pipes and fans on the cooling mechanism just freeze up then it short cycles.

We gave the outside of the boat a good wash then met Adrian Cass at Rattle and Hum for a couple of beers.  Kay is still in hospital , now with a pin up the leg and a plated ankle in a boot rather than a cast.

John and I ordered a pizza as we hadn’t had lunch and surprise, surprise, it was quite nice. Looks like beer and pizza are the only things worth ordering there.

Dave and Sue Simpson who were passing through Cairns rang to catch up with us so they stopped and had coffee and caught up on news. It was a mini Upper Murray get together.

The fire that has been burning over on Yarrabah to the South East of us for the past week intensified with the stronger winds and just on dusk dropped black ash and burnt leaves onto our clean boat.

Andy Hallinan dropped in for happy hour and we sat round till dark and yarned. Sunrise here is 6:20 and sunset 6:10 with some twilight creating  very pleasant evenings.

No crabs worth keeping today, all jennies.

Wind   NE  10 – 15   Sunny

Another  two blue swimmers in the trap this morning so we cooked last nights up as well. We spent the day preparing for our guests, John familiarised  himself with the sea scooter and checked and cleaned the power dive and I cleaned the dinghy and barbecue.  We needed a new AGM battery for the power dive so we pedaled to a battery shop in town to purchase one.

We parted ways and I went to the post office and the supermarket while John pedaled back to the boat with his 12 kg battery in his back pack weighing him down. Although he was riding on the footpath two pushbike mounted policeman pulled him up and told him he should have a helmet on but didn’t fine him.

In the early evening we strolled along the esplanade  to Rattle n’ Hum,  a busy wood lined bar and grill, for dinner. We both agreed it was the worst meal we had eaten in a very long time. Prices were nothing to rave about either.John had a steak that was as tough as old boots and full of gristle and I had the seafood plate with the cremated crumbed prawns, dried up mackerel and a piece of barramundi that was as hard as cardboard. Lucky I’d had Spanish mackerel previously when we had caught it otherwise I would never eaten it again after tonight..

Wind   NE  10 – 15   Sunny

Rather a boring  day today. The day disappeared catching up on paperwork, paying bills, talking to Telstra ( that always takes forever) and answering emails.

After returning the car and grabbing more bait and tackle, John, Morgan and I rode along the boardwalk to Wharf One Cafe. The cafe is dog friendly and overlooks Trinity Inlet. Breakfast was very tasty with a great view. We watched the naval ship HMAS Melville being towed into its berth up the inlet. I guess all the forty six sailors that normally operate it were on leave.  Melville is 71 metres long and gathers high quality hydrographic information.

There were a couple more crabs in the pot to add to our collection which we cooked and gorged ourselves on for lunch. Nothing better than fresh blue swimmer, the shell on their claws and legs are so easy to crush compared to mud crab shell.

Wind   NE  10 – 15   Sunny

Only one crab worth keeping today, so we put it in the cool box until we caught more. We rode with Morgan to Sheriden St up behind the hospital to pick up a hire car for the day. Not a bad price $79 all up which includes insurance with only a $300 excess. John left his bike there while Morgs and I rode back to the marina to get a few things.

We drove up the Kennedy highway to Kuranda and along the range to Herberton. The countryside was dry and crusty between Kuranda and Atherton and a vast difference from the rainforested slopes below.

Sue who visited Ovive on Saturday lives on her property just outside Herberton where she has a small herd of gentle droughtmasters and a fantastic orchard.

She gave us a tour of the place which we  looked at all the improvements she has made since our last visit in 2007. We enjoyed a peaceful lunch on the verandah with Morgan playing with her three dogs.

 

After gathering armfuls of freshly picked lemons, grapefruits, custard apples and a bowl of mulberries we departed and headed back down the range. Not far from Sues a cassowary dived across the road in front of us. It was my first cassowary sighting so I was very excited. He stopped in the trees beside the road so we were able to back up and get a reasonable photo of him.

Back in Cairns we stocked up at Dan Murphys for the all essential alcohol and grabbed Chinese for dinner.