Escaping winter

A busy port

Townsville is the largest city in northern Queensland and we spent a week there, at the Townsville Yacht Club Marina, restocking our supplies and getting a few minor repairs done. After ten days in Horseshoe Bay, with the small swell a constant, it was nice to spend some time in the serenity of a boat harbour! We took the opportunity to have dinner with Chris and to borrow his car, useful for organising repairs and restocking at shopping centres too far to walk or ride to. We also spent some time exploring the city sights on foot or bicycle, particularly enjoying the Sunday morning markets in the main street. By the following Monday all was well and we were ready to cruise the oceans again. As well as hosting the small marina, Ross Creek is the main port for Townsville. A "traffic light" operates when large ships are docking or departing and all boating traffic, including the Magnetic Island ferries, must wait in line! Fortunately as we cruised down the creek, no other ships or ferries were moving.

Along the Strand, Townsville

Market Day

Along the Strand, Townsville

Seagulls enjoying Horseshoe Bay

We enjoyed a couple of nights on anchor at Magnetic Island, taking strolls along the beach each day and enjoying sundowners at the Marlin Bar each afternoon. We bought a few seafood supplies at the general store in Horseshoe Bay; the prices and quality are really good and it’s nice to support the locals. Now that Queensland school holidays are over, crowd numbers have dwindled so the tourist offerings and restaurant hours are also reduced. There are still quite a few boats here, including fishing boats with crews resting by day and the boats disappearing at night to their fishing grounds further afield.

By Wednesday morning we were ready to move on, raising the anchor at first light and continuing northeast, past Palm Island and Fantome Island to Orpheus Island, cruising beside Yanks Jetty, the exclusive resort and the research station, picking up a mooring in Little Pioneer Bay, just near the reef. We enjoyed prawns we had purchased in Horseshoe Bay for lunch, then took the dinghy ashore to check out the camping facilities and see if we could find the walking track, reportedly overgrown since we last ventured there. A couple from a nearby boat were drawings watercolours of the bay, and they told us they had recently done the walk, so we are confident we can find it in the morning. A calm and pleasant night followed; while it is cool and clear outside, we enjoy dining “al fresco” when there is no chilly breeze!

Lucinda sugar jetty - 5.6km long

A slight breeze from the southeast was predicted overnight, from which our mooring was protected by the hills of the island - however, the wind strengthened and pushed around to the southwest, waking us soon after midnight with thumping waves rocking the hull. Our plans to stay here two nights were quickly changed! After breakfast and a few chores we got in the dinghy to go ashore and walk to the top of the island, however a dropping tide and shallow drafts over coral made us concerned about what we might face on our return, so we abandoned that plan too!

The beautiful Hinchinbrook channel

Later, we watched a fin circling around above the coral - remembering that last time we were here, we went snorkelling there, gave us quite a shiver! After an early lunch we raised the anchor and headed northwest, passing the 5.6 km long sugar conveyor on our way into the Lucinda channel, before turning north into the Hinchinbrook channel. The mystical high mountains rise on either side and we cruised along, dropping anchor beside Haycock Island just before 4pm. Tonight, no winds will disturb our sleep, however the temperature dropped considerably after the sun went down, and we retreated inside for dinner.

The silted up Marina - Cardwell

On Friday morning, after a peaceful night, we started the day with our exercises, then, after breakfast, we continued north up the Hinchinbrook channel. The water was still and conditions were perfect. At the northern end of the channel is Cardwell, right on the Bruce Highway. The marina complex has silted up after flooding rains from a cyclone - there are boats still there so the channel must be navigable at high tide, but when we passed even the channel markers were on the mud. Our plan was to take the dinghy to shore but the water shallows over mud quite a long way from the shore so we abandoned that idea! We returned to Manookatoo and had lunch in the calm waters before continuing north, arriving at Dunk Island and anchoring off Bammo Bay just after 4pm.

Coconut Beach, Dunk Island

Saturday morning we woke refreshed after a calm night on anchor, heading ashore soon after breakfast with a view to climbing to the summit of Mt Koolamatoo. We have walked this track before, it is nice and smooth but travels relentlessly uphill, so it is a pleasure to stop at the summit and enjoy the view! We had planned to continue down and back to the boat, however the day was so pleasant that the longer island circuit walk tempted us and we continued following the (not so smooth) track down the eastern side of the island and onto Coconut Beach, eventually returning to Manookatoo in time for lunch and feeling a great sense of achievement after our 11km trek! A well earned rest and a delicious three course dinner rounded out our Saturday.

Admiring Manookatoo from Fitzy's

Sundowners, Fitzroy Island

Sunday dawned smooth again and, just before 6:30am, we raised the anchor. Today was a full cruising day, with Fitzroy Island our destination. Conditions were very good, with just a slight swell on the starboard stern keeping us on our toes. We passed a couple of likely anchorages as we cruised along: Mourilan Harbour, where a large sugar terminal is surrounded by calm, smooth waters and the Frankland Islands, with courtesy moorings, camping grounds and a lovely looking lagoon for snorkelling over the reef. We may stop there on our way south. We arrived at Fitzroy Island just on 4pm, picking up a courtesy mooring on the western side of the ferry channel. Once we were satisfied with our position, we jumped in the dinghy for a drink at Fitzy's Bar, a favourite we remembered from our previous cruise. We feel a great sense of achievement to have reached the northern tropics and look forward to continuing on to new destinations in the coming weeks.

Captain's Log: Townsville to Cairns
Distance travelled: 189.1 nautical miles
Fuel consumption: 183 litres
Cruising hours: 30 hours 10 minutes