Start Loc: Low Island (16o 22.90'S, 145o 33.82'E)
Narrative: A couple of the crew had a bit of a sleep in this morning. After breakfast we went for another snorkel, despite the light drizzle, and again swam with a turtle. When we got back to the boat, I tried to see past all the bat fish, ramoras etc off the back of the boat, as I wanted to get some footage of the black tip reef sharks that have been swimming around.
At 11:06am we dropped the mooring buoy and set sail for the safe water mark near the mouth of the Daintree River. The winds were ESE at 15-20kts with seas and swell of 1.5-2m. We ran on a WNW heading of 300 degrees magnetic under full main, making 4.5-5kts through the water and 5.5-6kts over ground. As we neared the safe water mark we dropped sail and motored in.
We approached the bar right on high tide (12:50pm, 2.17m). We had no dramas motoring from the safe water mark to the starboard lateral, and once we rounded it we made direct for the port lateral. After a few hundred metres the depth dropped from 3m pretty quickly and we bumped the bottom. We probed around a bit but couldn't find deep water leading to the port lateral. As we motored around looking for deep water, the wind and waves pushed us further in and we bumped the bottom fairly violently as we came into the troughs between waves. That was enough and we decided to abort. We had some trouble getting out and came down harder on the keel than I would have liked several times more than I would have liked, but we made it back to deep water.
At 1:15pm, having decided against crossing the bar into the Daintree River, we decided the only real option was to head back to Low Isles for the night and come up with a new plan from there. We started motoring straight into wind and waves, but at 1:30pm decided we would rather take 2 hours to sail than 1.5 hours to motor, so we tacked our way close hauled back to Low Isles. We dropped sail and started the motor as we got close, and Heather helmed us up to the mooring buoy while Haydee and I did the business at the bow. By 3:32pm we were secured to a public mooring buoy just north of the one we had last night.
As a priority we checked the keel bolts and surrounds for any signs of stress cracks, but there was nothing to alarm us. I then donned fins and goggles, took a torch and inspected all around the keel and hull join, but again there was nothing alarming. We emptied the bilge and will monitor it just in case.
The sand bar around the entrance to the Daintree River may have moved since the buoys were last repositioned, so we will see if we can get any updated advice on the best way in to the river. Spring tides on 25th and 26th November will give us 2.86m of tide at 9:00am and 9:50am respectively. We may be back this way by then, and if the weather is a bit calmer and the waves are less than 2m, we may give it another crack. In the meantime, with 15-20kts SE forecast for the next few days, we will do a 40nm run tomorrow up to Hope Islands which is the next spot to provide good SE protection. We will have to leave early to get in around mid-afternoon so we can still see the coral as we come to anchor.
End Loc: Low Island (16o 22.86'S, 145o 33.83'E)
Distance run: 22nm (cumulative: 1714nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 16 min (cumulative: 11 hr, 08 min)