PORT CLINTON – Sept 2

We left Yeppoon Sept 1 and after a quick overnight at North Keppel we headed to Port Clinton. Travelling with a few other boats, (Wizard of the Wind, Kia Ora and Horizons) we caught a nice spotted mackerel and shared it with all the other boats.

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TOWNSEND ISLAND – SUPPLY BAY – AKA SMOKEY BAY – Sept 3

i was determined to try and go to other places than Noel and I stopped at last year. Kia Ora and ourselves decided to skip Island Head Creek and head to Townsend Island only to find there was back burning happening. This was causing the anchorage to be soooo smokey, but we had no other option but to tough it out for the night. The smoke and the grinding of the anchor chain on coral, was not the best but always an experience.

MIDDLE PERCY ISLAND – Sept 4

Wow!! What a great stop! We discovered the yacht club (shack set up by visiting yachties). Had a fab walk on the island to the homestead where the care takers had just commenced their stint on the island. The walk was so interesting with lots of wild life on route. A walk and stop that Dave and I both enjoyed.

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CURLEW ISLAND – Sept 5

A short 30 nm sail to Curlew and arrived to see our sistership Curlew Escape anchored. Went ashore and met Jo and John from Kirra Kirra which we planned to have sundowners with when we got to Mackay the next day. Kia Ora came for dinner that night and Dave excelled in his cooking skills (good to have crew who can cook).

MACKAY – Sept 6

Dodging some bad winds en-route we ducked into Mackay marina for 4 nights to wait for a good weather window. We were entertained nicely by a couple whales outside the harbour entrance. One whale kept waving at us 

Mackay marina was interesting, a little exposed to the SE trade winds, but a needed stop to figure out the mast light issue. Our nice neighbour, Matt of Just Jane went up the mast for me. Whoops! Turned out to be a fuse but he managed to take some great photos of the aerial that fell off the top of the mast. Ready for the permanent fix at Airlie Beach!  Went into Mackay on the bus, Dave needed a filling and the usual restock required.

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GOLDSMITH ISLAND – Sept 10

We left Mackay earlier than we probably should as it was blowing like snot out of the harbour but a good sail in all.  Kirra Kirra followed us out and we travelled together, albeit with us behind, (joys of mono versus catamaran).  Goldsmith was a great anchorage and again entertained by whales. Fished a little and caught dinner. Life’s good!!

LONG ISLAND – Sept 11th

Still blowing, so hung out for 3 nights. Wizard of the Wind caught up with us so went hiked the island, hung out on the beach and managed some really good sleeps in the anchorage, even though it constantly blew 15 – 20 knots.

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AIRLIE BEACH – Sept 14^th

Caught up on jobs, the aerial got fixed yeah!! We have VHF and AIS capabilities back to normal versus our Yeppoon jury rig aerial. The boat maintenance chore list just keeps getting bigger and bigger for every one we accomplish we add two more. I won’t bore you with the endless details, but we blew through the 5 days quickly!

Mike and Helen arrived for a weeks cruising the Whits, (Mike helped crew MAD from Sydney to Brisbane in July). We took them to Hayman Island, Bait Reef, Tongue Bay, Whitehaven Beach, CID Harbour and back to Airlie! It flew by so quickly! Check out some of the photos of fun…….

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NELLY BAY/GLOUCESTER PASSAGE/GLOUCESTER RESORT – Oct 1-5

We left Airlie and buddy boated with Cpt Whizz (Wizard of the Wind) to Nelly Bay for the night and through the Gloucester passage on a high tide the next day.  There were strong winds forecast so thought we would hide out for a few days and explore the resort area.  A nice beach walk on the first day and a relaxing dip in the pool at the resort was quite enjoyable.  As it turns out the mooring buoy charge of $25 is waived if you dine at the restaurant hence to say we frequented the restaurant every day. Met some great yachties, Deux Vine, Freedom, Sealanes and obviously our trusty Wizard of the Wind. All good things must come to an end. The wind eased and off North we went.

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CAPE UPSTART – Oct 5

Buddy boat was Sealanes to Cape Upstart. Good sailing day! Lots of wind coming round the point to anchor, but managed a good night and left at 0400 hrs for a 68 nm sail directly to Magnetic Island.  By 0700 hrs the clouds and squalls rolled in. We had a gust hit us that even with reefed sails both main and foresail sent us flying along a very fast speed! MAD handled it well! Good to know she can have her rails somewhere near the water and do fine cause “DAISY” (my new nickname) doesn’t usually sail her under too much wind pressure. I figure I am never in a hurry to get any where quickly……

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MAGNETIC ISLAND – Oct 6-7

Arrived at Maggie island marina for one night. Lots of friendly folks stopping by chatting with us. Headed to Horseshoe Bay the next morning for an island walk to see the rock wallabies and koalas. Great walk called the Forts walk which took us up to the lookout built in WWII and through the koalas sleeping in the trees. They started to stir at the end and were quite entertaining to watch.  A late finish to the walk saw a fish and chip take out and dash back to MAD before dark.

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ORPHEUS ISLAND – Oct 8

Travelled with a boat we met in Horseshoe Bay, Ikigai (we knew this boat in RQYS marina but has since changed owners) lovely couple. After a nights anchorage we headed off the next day to Dunk Island.

DUNK ISLAND – Oct 9-10

Weather was beautiful  (apart from the mooring buoy tapping on the hull keeping me awake) so we headed ashore to walk the trail eventually taking us up to the summit. Great walk and work out! Stayed a second night before heading to Mourilyan Harbour the next day.

MOURILYAN HARBOUR – Oct 11

We anchored about 3 times in the shallow limited space but finally managed a good spot for the night. Woke up to find 3 other boats also anchored.  Headed out 0600 hrs as it was Dave’s Birthday and wanted to get to Fitzroy island for a birthday dinner ashore.

FITZROY ISLAND – Oct 12

Made it around 1300 hrs. A great sail and we went ashore for a birthday dinner. We also scored a mooring buoy and yet again tap.. tap.. tap.. on the hull. Ended up stringing 4 fenders together and tying them to the bow. Did the trick phew!!

Ventured up the summit walk on Fitzroy, tough walk but a good hike (we really should be fit by now……).

BLUEWATER MARINA – YORKEYS KNOB – Oct 13

Ikigai had recommended this marina to us and as there were a few days of strong winds coming, we decided to duck in for a few days. What an eyeopener that marina entrance is. It is classified as a hurricane rated marina and it turned out that you have to navigate through mangroves to get there, not to mention the narrow buoy passage marker that we had to gun the engine through due the following swell! Anyway, made it into the tightest berth so far with no major mooring screw up. The shallow depth alarms were going off constantly. Headed up for the local hike to Earl Hill. Caught the bus into Cairns and the usual wash-down and clean up. We are ready to hit our final north destination, Port Douglas tomorrow.  After that south we go and lets hope the northerlies cooperate.