It has been about 3 weeks since I posted our adventures up at Lizard Island … been a little busy! Picked up Shelley at Cairns airport and came back to Port Douglas to continue our journey south. The goal would be to get as close to Brisbane as we could while the winds were in our favour. We ended up doing a lot of sailing and managed to stop as often as we could, but never stayed long … poor Shelley. Only experiencing the sailing part and not so much of the Island exploring. We did stop a number of great places though!

First leg was Port Douglas to Double Island. Double Island lies across from Palm Cove and offers exclusive resort surroundings accessible only by boat or helicopter, well we had the former. We didn’t venture onto the island but we did head over to Palm Cove for a dinghy look around. Great little seaside tourist spot and somewhere to keep in mind for the future.

From Double Island we headed over to Fitzroy and anchored in some deep water. The girls went ashore for a beach day and lazy ass me went for a nap … Well worth it!

Fitzroy to Dunk Island: Unfortunately the weather was not great at Dunk, a little rain and winds were stronger. We had a mooring buoy but we knew it would be rocky on the second night. Did a water run at the camp site on Dunk and wanted to get to the inside of Hinchinbrook Island where we knew it would be calmer. Rough ride over and managed to find some calm water further down the channel that afforded a descent nights sleep. BUG CITY!! Lots of bugs. Hoping to spot a crocodile ended up with bugs. The channel exiting Hinchinbrook Island is treacherous like the Wide Mouth Bay Bar at Fraser Island. Have to catch it on the right tide. Overnight at Haycock Island close to the mouth of the channel so we can cross at high tide and then over to Orpheus Island. Next Day: Orpheus to Magnetic Island. Had a tour around Magnetic, Picnic Bay, HorseShoe Bay.

Next: First of the 4 overnights to Airlie Beach. Had a good time out at Sorrentos for dinner and next day in the marina at Abell Point. During the morning we experienced a huge wave upsetting the boat caused by a vessel coming into the marina too quickly. Popped our heads out the hatch to see what inconsiderate so and so would do that only to learn later of the shark attack victims out by Hook Passage. The boat was the tour operator getting the victims back to shore to be airlifted to the hospital. Not a good idea to swim in the water in the Whitsundays. Over to Long Island for a little hike around the island and next day to Hamilton. Great time at Hamilton with a hike to the Coral Cove beach area, a swim in the resort pool, drinks at the tavern with the Cockatoos who stole the chicken bones off the plate before we even left the table.

Next day had a stroll along the beach at Whitehaven and spent the night on a mooring buoy at Haselwood Island: Bright and early sailed off the mooring and destination was Island Head Creek. A distance of approx. 150 Nautical Miles. Decided to make a stop at Curlew for the night arriving there about 11:30 at night. Took off again at first light to Island Head arriving at a decent time of day for tide purposes. Very peaceful anchorage at Island Head but again no chance to go ashore, because there was yet another overnight passage the next day, first light, to Pancake Creek. Uneventful overnight and arrived outside of Pancake Creek to the onslaught of bugs and a stench from the pollen off the mangroves. Decided not to stay and turned for Lady Musgrave Island.

We weren’t lucky enough to get one of the mooring buoys this time. Had to avoid dropping the anchor on top of the coral. Went ashore for a wander on the island and met some great couples doing a lot of the same things we were doing. Great to see and meet the people from the other yachts. Always a story to share about the anchorages and passages.

By this time it is time to make a decision and it is the weather that determined what that decision was going to be. Winds were in our favour over the next 2 days so that we could make a dash for Brisbane and if we didn’t do that then the winds were going to build up too much for a comfortable ride and we may have to go through the inside passage. Something that we did not want to experience again. So … 2 overnights it was!! First night was easy as there was not much activity on the water, but the second night was different. We reached the top of the shipping channel at around 2 am and the freighters were all trying to converge to the same place as we were going. Had the unpleasant experience of a freighter coming out towards us and I guess he wanted to make sure that we avoided him, so he gave the 5 horn blast that said get the f… out of my way. No problem! I obliged!

Goal accomplished! We arrived in Brisbane in plenty of time. Weather has been great and the sailing fantastic!

Good mooring here at RQYS! Time for a shower and out to the Irish pub for a meal!

Fish Caught: TOO many Mack Tuna (back they go), One good size Big Eye Tuna and we had and are still having sushi, and …. oh… and one lone mackerel.

While we were at BCF in Airlie Beach Jacqui asked for a lure that would not catch tuna … no such thing! At least we fixed up the lures so we don’t lose another one.