Back on the boat, still on the hard, Dick has so many jobs to do he doesn't know where to start. Provisions are piled on the floor in my cabin, having been removed from one of the two storage boxes which usually live under the floor next to my heads. The empty box is standing on its side in the shower room. It is unlikely that we will get more than one of the boxes back but this is not likely to cause any problems because I doubt that we will need to stock up to the level we had done when we left Spain last August. At that time, we were taking advantage of cheaper Spanish prices as well as trying to ensure we would have sufficient of those "can't live without" items.
The cockpit is stacked with the contents from the locker where the engineer is servicing the generator. It also contains lots of empty packaging which Dick is loath to throw away until he has checked that the contents have all been removed in their entirety. On the decking, in front of the entrance to the starboard engine room, plastic fuel cans cover the newly de-rusted and cleaned surfaces. I really need to check that all the rust spots have been eradicated but can't complete the job until we can clear the decks following completion of the engine service. I stick my head down a hole and try to pull through some cables while Dick is pushing from the other end. The gap is not wide enough and I suggest we move the operation 18 inches further from the bow. This makes the job more plausible until eventually we manage to get the cables through to the other side. My arms and hands are punctured with fiberglass splinters. There are just not enough hours in the day.
I need to get under the bed in the bow cabin to remove a sleeping bag or a duvet. It is cold here at night and we need more than a sheet and an empty duvet cover. We got by last night by using some towels on top of our bed coverings but I still felt cold so didn't sleep too well. During the day, out of the wind it is quite pleasant in the sunshine. Yesterday afternoon, Tuesday, the barometer alarm went off twice, presumably heralding the strong winds moving further south. Today, during the morning, from the deck of the boat, I can see lots of white horses on the water beyond the breakwater.
Moe and Bev returned Wednesday afternoon and brought the boat a gift of a pepper mill. We already had two on board but they do not work very well and have now been pensioned off. Thursday morning we were told that one of the suppliers wouldn't be finished on time so we have had to delay going back into the water until Saturday. Although this is a little irritating, we are used to living on the boat now and it does take a lot of pressure off Dick to complete his outstanding jobs. Friday we found out that the work for which we had delayed going back into the water, wouldn't be ready this side of the weekend, leaving us no time to get the work done elsewhere. Hopefully it can be sorted in Darwin. I spent all day repairing the cover before it was put back on a freshly cleaned rib.
We have spent a small fortune here. The cost of the normal average maintenance such as servicing engines, checking rigging, polishing boat etc, as well as having the parasailors repaired has cost four times what we would have paid elsewhere. The reduced value of the pound and the euro hasn't helped of course. We finally went back into the water around lunchtime on Saturday and immediately set sail for Goldsmith island where we spent the night anchored in a bay with 4 other catamarans. Only one was not a sail boat. Next morning, we prepared the boat and raised the mainsail before leaving the anchorage at 8.30, to make passage to Whitsunday island and the three mile long, white silica Whitehaven beach in time for lunch. En-route, I spotted a huge whale on its way back into the water so only half its body and its tail were still visible. Although I remained on deck for a while, there were no more sightings. The beach, backed by heavily wooded hills, is beautiful. The sea pale blue. About twenty boats were at anchor when we arrived. People were sunbathing and some were paddling and swimming close to the edge of the beach. Bev, paddling in very shallow water, was startled as a manta ray appeared close by. As you walk over the sand it crunches just like thick snow. When we woke on Tuesday morning the sky was cloudy and dark and the wind had moved from south to north.
Instead of moving on to Hook island and chilling for the day we decided that we would make passage for Hinchinbrook rather than loll around on the boat in what was not very enticing weather. We had wind on the nose, a close reach, a beam reach and a broadreach over the next 24 hours but eventually, when we reached Palm island, occupied by aborigines and from whence we had been advised to stay away, it became necessary to motorsail if we were to reach our anchorage during the hours of daylight. The sun had shone from mid morning until sunset, during the passage on the first day but it was cloudy with moderate visibility on the second day. With a wonderful sunny day and slight seas, we were able to see the blow from the whales easily, as we left the Whitsundays. The first sighting of a whale was when we had a magnificent view of the bottom half of its body and its flukes. The next sighting was only of the back of the whale's body, as it made its way through the water. Sighting number three was quite interesting. At first I thought I could see a boat in the distance but it turned out to be the entire body of the whale out of the water.
The final sighting was late afternoon when two whales, quite close together, were swimming quite close to the boat and their backs and flukes were in evidence for around ten minutes. We reached Hinchinbrook channel soon after 3pm but managed to get stuck on sandbanks twice as we made our way through the delta. At least we were on a rising tide. Eventually, we gave up any chance of finding our way through. The charts were inaccurate which is to be expected in a delta environment. The light was failing fast even though it wasn't much after 4.30 but the cloud and mist didn't help. Suddenly we spotted a small motor boat racing along the channel. We flagged it down and with the very welcome local knowledge, followed the other boat through the delta into the passage. They waved farewell and we motored up the Hinchinbrook passage, finally dropping the anchor behind Haycock island, just before 6pm. The scenery, despite the poor visibility was stunning, stark and swathed in boiling mist and cloud. We passed a couple of small dinghy-like fishing boats as we approached the anchorage where two large odd looking motor boats were already at anchor with a number of dinghy-type boats attached to them. The two boats appeared to be together and housed at least twenty men who seemed to be on a fishing trip. Being at anchor so close to mangroves we were visited by mosquitoes and were grateful for the insect blinds, not to mention the insect repellent, for those critters which flew in when the door was open and temporarily not protected by a blind. We didn't see any crocodiles although the environment was ideal for them.
During the night it poured with rain but there were still a lot of clouds in the sky during the morning. The visibility was better and we admired the heavily wooded islands and the mountainous, wooded slopes of Queensland. We found out later that Chessie had been sailing through the night, battling with the tropical downpour and 40knot winds for around 12 hours, resulting in a damaged mizzen. We left the anchorage soon after breakfast and made way along the passage, in the direction we had been traveling when we arrived yesterday. We had to motor-sail as there was insufficient wind for us to sail. Once out of the passage the wind blew strongly from between 5knots and 7 knots. We arrived at Port Douglas after a pretty hectic sail, just before 9am and tied up, stern to the pontoon, with lines to finger pontoons both port and starboard. Port Douglas is a popular, tourist town with trendy shops, bars and restaurants. Later that day, while at Mossman Gorge we saw a platypus, a bush turkey, huge, colourful unicorn butterflies and jungle perch. Later, picnicking at a beach we also saw a kookaburra.