June 11-16
Hi All,
We indeed made it to Yorkey’s Knob 5 miles north of Cairns around 8:30am on Saturday, June 11 just as planned. The overnight, 21 hour, 161nm run was actually quite pleasant. The winds indeed were 15-25kts ESE-SE and clocked from a little aft of beam to almost directly off the stern. And, as we went further north, the GBR started to completely block the outside ocean swell so all we had was wind waves. Nevertheless, the waves were in the 3-6′ range….soooooo glad it was all behind us…..all in all, a smooth ride…..sweet as!!!
And we had internet the whole time……so got in some good texting with some friends and family. Our youngest son is moving into their new house and they were in the middle of moving…..part of me felt guilty not being there to help…..but then my back spoke/screamed loudly that it was not missing the pain at all:))))…….sorry Dave and Dana:))))
Bella Vita was also along for the overnighter……long texting with Brett around 3am kept both of us wide awake…it did seem sort of surreal to be texting while passaging versus talking on the VHF……but so nice not to be talking on the party line:))))
The dark and stormy weather that forced us to leave Townsville stayed with us in Cairns the whole 3 days we were there. I’m not sure how much rain we got……maybe in the 3-4″ range……but it was a lot……good news, Mystic is completely salt free:))))))
We did get in our provisioning run……mainly fresh stuff and another supply of beer and wine. We are starting to stock up for the next 6+ months as we have been advised not much to find in Indonesia and the wine selection in Malaysia and Thailand might be lacking…..we shall see!! And, we did make it to several dive stores where Kathy bought a new BCD and I bought new fins and an instrument console. We like Oceanic gear and it just happened that the Australian rep was in the store so we got some excellent help on our selections. Kathy’s old BCD has to be >20 years old and my fins ~8 years old so we both felt they deserved to be retired gracefully!!!
We also had lunch with some of the other cruisers going on the Indonesia Rally….but most were going on the Rally leaving out of Cairns in a few weeks so they will not be on our Rally out of Darwin, but we think we will still see them on occasion.
We also spent a lot of time planning our route to Darwin over the next 3 weeks and then looking at some land travel while in Darwin. We still have 1250nm to go to Darwin……we have been 1475nm since Sydney. It is almost 500nm to Cape York and the Torres Strait. We will make that in about 8-10 days, then get some more fuel in Horn Island and stage to go across the Gulf of Carpentaria……a body of water that is very shallow and prone to huge, steep waves……we need to treat it with a lot of respect…..sort of like crossing the Gulf of Tehuantepec in Mexico….challenging for sure!!!
Today we will first go get fuel and then do an overnighter to Lizard Island…..a run of ~130nm, about 17 hours, and winds will be in the 15-25kt range…..again…..but again behind us so we are hoping for a smooth ride….we shall see. Lizard Island is one of the premier GBR islands. “The name Lizard Island was given to it by Captain Cook when he passed it on 12 August 1770. He commented, “The only land Animals we saw here were Lizards, and these seem’d to be pretty Plenty, which occasioned my naming the Island Lizard Island.” Cook climbed the peak on Lizard Island to chart a course out to sea through the maze of reefs which confronted him and the island’s summit has since been called ‘Cook’s Look’.”
We hope to do that same hike as well as do some diving. We have read reports that 80% of the reef has been destroyed by coral bleaching caused by the warming waters. There is a research station on the island and we hope to be able to discuss global warming with the scientists.
We are now entering the saltwater crocodile region so we have to be extra diligent. Lizard Island is ok, but the GBR gets close to the mainland as we go north so crocodiles are often seen out in the GBR…..gulp!!!! We are not too sure how much stopping we will do…..some boats just go straight to Cape York while others day hop….BUT, everyone is watching for the pesky crocodiles…….and we just read about the incident in Disney World…..holy crap Batman!!!!
Boat Stuff:
Engine Room Lights: Yea, I finally had time to install the new flat panel LED light so now the ER is back to being bright and shiny!!!
Sumps: Ever since we have left Sydney we have been having a bilge/sump smell down below. We flush fresh water and sometimes hydrogen peroxide and it goes away but then comes back especially if we do a lot of rocking. So, Kathy did a deep clean….spent 3-4 hours flushing the various hoses and wow……the crapola stuff she got out…..lot’s of mold et al…..yuck…..but she got it all and we are smelling good again!!!!
Kathy also did a lot of washing of bedspreads and blankets as we are just about to put away a lot that stuff as we head further north into the tropics. The humidity is now around 80%…..ugh!!!!
Hope all is well!!
John
Mystic Moon
GO MYSTIC GO!!!!
