Start Loc: Lizard Island (14o 39.79'S, 145o 27.08'E)
Narrative: Our time at Lizard Island over the last few days was magnificent. The place is amazing. On Tuesday Haydee, Cameron and I walked to Cook's Look. Heather dropped us at the beach and we headed off at 8:50am. It took us 70 minutes to walk up, including stopping at the signs and outlooks on the way, plus a couple of rest stops (it was already 30 degrees when we stepped off). We signed the visitors book at the top, took a photo of the kids in front of the cairn, and snapped a few photos of the view. After 20 minutes at the top it took us 45 minutes to walk back down. The track was well marked and easy in most places, and the kids agreed the two and a quarter hours was worth the experience.
The rest of Tuesday was spent with the kids doing their schoolwork, some lazy reading, swimming and snorkeling. Late afternoon we took the dinghy around to have a look at Turtle Beach and Mermaid Cove, and decided we would come back to Turtle Beach for a swim. We then joined a smaller group than yesterday on the beach for sundowners. We chatted with Colin and Ally from Indigo who told us their day trip to the outer ribbon reefs was not very enjoyable as they hit the reef and took 90 minutes to float off. They put some decent scratches on one skeg (Indigo is a Seawind 1000) and some pretty bad damage to one rudder, which also knocked the steering cables off that quadrant, so sailed back with one rudder. The quadrant is in a small area that Colin can't get to properly, so Cameron and Haydee offered their assistance. We ran the engine for 1 hour on Tuesday.
On Wednesday we took the dinghy around to the Australian Museum's Lizard Island Research Station (LIRS). It is staffed permanently by four people; two directors (both academics) and a maintenance couple. (The maintenance job is six months on, six months off and the couple that do the summer months October to March are retiring in March 2012. They will advertise for for replacements around March next year. Hmmmmm...) We watched a DVD in the library that told us all about what happens at the station, and then had a look around. One of the researchers grabbed us and asked if we would like to see some baby coral. We went into a lab and he told us a bit about his research. It was all very interesting. After LIRS we took the dinghy a bit further around the island and had a quick look at Blue Lagoon before heading back to the boat for lunch.
After lunch we went and helped Colin. Cam couldn't quite get the cables back on the steering quadrant, so I squeezed in and finished it off. That done, the kids and I went ashore. I showed them the treasure chest and visitors book, we had a look at the bore water pump, and then walked around to have a look at some ruins referred to as Mrs Watson's House but some evidence suggests it is not. The kids then showed me the cubby house they inherited from the kids that left on Tuesday on Footprints. After a quick snorkel, we headed back to the boat and got ready to go to the Marlin Bar near the resort for a drink. We finished a long day with dinner back on the boat. We also turned the freezer off on Wednesday. It had been running more and more to maintain -10 degrees, and in the last couple of days was not able to maintain that temperature. Rather than waste power we turned it off and will get it looked at in Cairns. I suspect it is a gas issue, but it is only six months old so there shouldn't be a problem.
Thursday was my birthday. The kids went ashore and hid some presents, then took me ashore and gave me a treasure map to find them. Indigo beached herself on the ebb tide and Colin put two screws through the rudder to help hold it together until he gets back to Port Douglas and can have her hauled out and repaired. After lunch we took the dinghy and had a swim and a snorkel at Turtle Beach and Mermaid Cove. We ran the engine for 34 minutes to warm up water for showers (and to put some charge in the batteries). We again finished the day swapping stories with other yachties at the Marlin Bar.
After a bit of a sleep in for most this morning, we had breakfast and prepared the boat to depart Lizard Island and commence our trip south. We raised the anchor at 9:04am, motored out of Watson's Bay and down the east side of the island. At the south east corner of the island we raised sail and set a course for Cape Bedford.
The wind was mainly ESE at around 15kts. Our southerly heading had us sailing mainly on a close reach. We started with two reefs in the main and 110% head sail, but I soon shook one reef out of the main, and later went to full head sail. Once we were abeam Cape Flattery and clear of the green zone around Lizard Island, we put a lure out the back. Within 15 minutes we had a hook up but it resulted in a snap off soon after, losing fish, lure, and trace. I rigged the line again and put another lure out. It soon had two strikes, but no hook up. It went quiet for a bit until we were south of Low Wooded Island and then we got another hook up. The line was rapidly running off the reel, so I didn't finish heaving to before I gave the helm to Heather and went for the reel. I got to it just before it ran out of line; there was a half second pause and then the line snapped with a twang. This time I lost the fish, lure, trace and all my line. The way it ran suggests something big, but we will never know...
We generally made 4.5-6kts through the water, and 5.5-7kts over ground, averaging 6.2kts over ground for the trip. Cape Bedford is normally visible "in average conditions" from 25nm. There was a heavy haze today and we could not make out the cape until we were 5nm away. We kept a constant watch for ships to make sure one could not sneak up on us from out of the haze. We anchored in the lee of Cape Bedford in 2.8m of water at 3:25pm. Overall, it was not a bad sail for our first day heading south.
End Loc: Cape Bedford (15o 13.90'S, 145o 19.48'E)
Distance run: 39nm (cumulative: 1874nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 22 min (cumulative: 22 hr, 54 min)