6 August 2010
We slipped away from Dunk Island at 4am, leaving Peter to sleep. A thin sliver of moon was just enough to create a path of light over the sea. Later he stood a watch so that David could catch a few more hours himself. The north Queensland coast is the prettiest of all Australia. Lush rainforests reach right down to the shores, the Atherton tablelands rising up steeply behind, with Mount Bartle Frere at 1657metres, Queensland's highest peak, as its crowning glory. David spoke to Wolfgang (Destiny) again this morning. There really are only three of us checking in on 4Bravo. Most of the fleet appear to be still down south although that is pure guesswork as we have seen only one other rally boat, Kalliope, since leaving Mackay Marina over a week ago. Destiny, Ariane and Lady Ev and Ciao are already in Cairns. Our ETA is sometime late this afternoon. Clever David had pre booked our berth, a good move for the marina is full. He had spent a whole day back in Mackay planning the entire passage to Thursday Island, quite an undertaking considering it covers a distance of 780nm. To begin with the winds of 15 to 20 knots did not materialise so we had to motor sail. We wanted to arrive there before nightfall, as the marina staff go off duty at 6pm. Besides, I reckoned it was about time I had a night off from galley duties. By lunchtime the wind had freshened to a force four/five. This is the sailing we remembered of four years ago, lovely steady south easterly trade winds and reasonably flat following seas. We glided past Cape Grafton and reminisced about our passage through the Grafton Passage in 2006. It is still amazing to me that you can sail along this coastline and see not even a speck of human habitation and then just around the corner from the cape the city of Cairns lies spread out in all its glory. We were now in familiar territory. But why did we have to get blasted with 30knots of wind "on the nose" as we entered the channel on the approaches to Cairns? The wind now was blowing 30knots. The channel is around 5nm long and dredged to a depth of 8metres and we ploughed into the choppy seas for the last hour. It was with great relief that we berthed. Within one hour of arriving in Marlin Marina, Srecko and Olga came to meet and greet us. We arranged to dine together that very evening before they head off into the outback for ten days in a hired camper van. Lady Ev VI were berthed opposite and we bumped into everyone on Destiny. It was just great to see them all. We had connected to our sea faring "families" once more.....
Susan Mackay