The second leg of our circumnavigation has been quite different in many ways to the first part. In January 2020 we sailed from Melbourne up the East Coast, arriving in Cairns at the start of December. The sailing caper was still pretty new to us then, and we were constantly learning new skills, discovering new things about our yacht and refining our techniques and procedures. As our experience and confidence grew, so too did our faith in our own abilities. Our comfort zone has expanded considerably and conditions that would have terrified me in the past are now par for the course.
This second leg, from Cairns to Darwin, is turning out to be quite a different experience. Last year we day hopped up to Cairns, pulling into pretty much every little town we could, and staying in marinas every so often. We’d spend at least a few days in each new place, seeing all that we could, occasionally eating out at restaurants and provisioning at supermarkets and bottle shops.
The pace of our trip in this leg is very different. In the two weeks since we’ve left Cairns, we’ve only stayed at two anchorages for more than one night. We’ve covered approximately 600 nautical miles in sixteen days and we haven’t spent a penny in any shops. The two cafes we’d hoped we might be able to stop at were both closed, so we haven’t eaten out either.
It is very remote and isolated up here, with very few towns and few, if any, places to provision. There aren’t many other people about, nor many other boats. After leaving Lizard Island, apart from chatting to Alistair from Never Die Wondering on the VHF radio, we didn’t see or speak to any other boats for four more days.
But we have been having a blast! The trade winds have most assuredly kicked in, bringing consistently strong winds from the south east. With the wind from behind, usually just off our back corner, and following seas (waves heading in the same direction as the yacht), we have been sailing along very comfortably. Champagne sailing, you could call it! The strong winds have often seen us averaging 7 to 8 knots over a passage, so we’re covering some good distances each day.
Although the conditions are perfect for sailing, they aren’t great for being out in unprotected areas, such as reefs and coral cays. Consequently we have had to abandon our hopes of being able to explore the outer and more remote reefs of the Great Barrier Reef, such as the Ribbon Reefs. You just can’t have everything!
After leaving Lizard Island we had a long day sailing back over to the mainland near Cape Melville. As we came around the cape, the winds accelerated to 30 knots and we absolutely flew with two reefs in the main. Hanging on for dear life, I watched a speed of 10.4 knots flash up. Holy moly!!! We pulled into Bathurst Bay and dropped anchor where the wind continued to howl all night. It was a bit rocky on the boat, but we slept ok.
Our next anchorage was Stokes Bay on Stanley Island, just a short hop away in the Flinders Group of islands. Arriving in the blessedly calm bay around midday allowed us to put our tender in the water and head to the beach for a walk. It was also calm enough to get the drone out. Much less nerve wracking operating it from land and not from the bow of the yacht!!
We had a leisurely afternoon relaxing in the cockpit and enjoying the scenery. Since the tinny was still floating off the back of the boat, Matt decided to go for a spin and troll a lure. Well, lo and behold, I glanced up from my book to see a huge fish jumping in and out of the water not far from Matt in the tinny. I started to point and shout out before it clicked, he’d actually hooked the monster fish and was reeling it in. It was quite a sight and I raced down to get Matt’s good camera to see if I could get a shot. The camera was on some weird manual setting so I missed the shot, but picture this…..
Beautiful still silvery water, fluffy clouds in the sky that are starting to pinken with the setting sun, a silver tinny silhouetted against the horizon with a massive fish leaping out of the water behind it. It would have been a magical shot…..
Anyway, Matt managed to land the huge queenfish into the tinny and motor back to the yacht. Matt was proud as punch and I took some photos before he released the queenie back into the bay.
On our way to Morris Island the following day, the wind died off completely and so on went our engine. Without any breeze it was oppressively hot on the boat. With not a single other boat in sight all day, I stripped down to my undies to try to get some relief. We were however, buzzed by the Australian Border Force plane, who came down low, before calling us on the radio to ask their routine questions.
We were also trolling a lure and after landing an undersized mackerel, plus completely losing one lure, Matt pulled in this little shark. He put up quite a fight and scratched up our flooring. Not exactly what you’d call a successful day of fishing!
Arriving at Morris Island only an hour or so before sunset, we immediately set to lowering our tender so we could go ashore to explore. A tiny, very pretty little island, it apparently housed a grave for an unknown sailor as well as a resident crocodile. We found the grave, marked by the palm trees standing tall over it, and we found the croc. Well, we found his tracks, anyway!!
We walked right around the circumference of the island, keeping a good lookout all around us and I found some beautiful shells to add to my collection. On high alert, we pushed the tinny off the beach and quickly climbed in. I rowed us back to the yacht with Matt keeping a lookout but we never did see the croc.
Leaving Morris Island, lightish winds of 10-15 knots saw us sailing slowly up the coast at about 4.5 knots. Enjoying the leisurely sail, we trolled a lure and after catching a few undersized fish, we finally landed a good sized mackarel. This one was a keeper and he became our dinner. We passed Chapman Island which was disappointingly quite non-descript and wholly unremarkable. Anchoring just off Lloyd Island in Lloyd Bay, Matt’s phone finally got some reception and we made a few phone calls.
Portland Roads was our next stop, a mere 20 nautical miles up the coast. I was hoping the little café here might be open but we had no such luck. Still, it was a very picturesque little place and we enjoyed wandering around the lush tropical gardens. That afternoon Sens de la Vie and Sealeaf arrived into the anchorage, as well as Dave and Michelle on Luna Sea who we hadn’t met yet. Sandra and Brian invited us all for sundowners on the big veranda of their gorgeous motor yacht and it was lovely to catch up and chat after almost five days on our own.
The next day we all set off in procession for Margaret Bay, Cape Grenville, where we spent two nights. With a forecast predicting some strong winds coming, we all decided a rest day was in order. After a bit of a sleep in we had a morning of housekeeping. Matt ran the watermaker to fill our tanks, and good samaritan that he is, filled the tanks of another boat Bullenschaukel who was running low on fresh water and planning to cross the Gulf without much fresh water. I did my least favourite job, hand washing, uuugh!!
Terry and Leonie kindly picked us up in their tender and took us to shore, to save us having to get our tinny off in the strong winds. We wandered around for a while and fossicked for oysters and coconuts. Along with the two spotted cod that Dave had caught and given us we returned to our yachts with quite a haul! A chilled out afternoon and evening on Sens de la Vie followed. Leonie made Bloody Mary oyster shooters and served us some delicious sushi. After a couple of bottles of red as well, Terry dropped us back home. Lucky we weren’t driving!
The procession of boats headed off again, this time just after first light as it was a long 75 mile sail up to our next anchorage at Escape River. It was overcast and grey for much of the day and I wore a light jumper. We sailed with our headsail only, averaging 7 to 8 knots in the 25 knot winds. Although we had some big waves at times and I occasionally felt queasy, we were very happy with our sailing.
It was a relief to finally enter the protection of Escape River, drop anchor and finally relax. Then we heard Brian and Sandra calling us all on the radio, they’d found a sea snake in Sealeaf’s windlass when hauling anchor at Margaret Bay, and just now had found another sea snake in their BBQ, who must have travelled the entire 75 miles with them. What the!! Crazy, huh?! Sandra wanted us all to check our lockers and any nooks and crannies. Matt had a bit of a poke around, but thankfully no other sea snakes emerged anywhere.
(Photo courtesy of Brian and Sandra Dorling)
We had a quiet morning on the boat, waiting for midday to come around. This was the time we had calculated that we needed to leave in order to reach the Albany Passage when the tide would be in our favour to push us through. Shortly after that we would reach ‘The Tip.’ It was an exciting thought and a big milestone of our trip; rounding the northernmost point of the mainland and finally heading west.
So, we were both a bit restless as we waited, and when Terry and Leonie radioed to tell us that they’d just passed through and that there was hardly any current, we jumped up immediately. They had left early that morning planning on going around Albany Island, instead of through the passage, but on arrival had found very little flow so went through instead.
I was on the helm as we motored out of the calm shelter of Escape River. We were met with strong winds coming from around the point and big seas rolling through the river entrance. On went our life jackets, and then with the boat pointed directly into the waves, we crashed our way through. Up and down went Cool Change, the big seas slapping her bow back down heavily on the water. There was nothing to do but hold her steady and wait until we had pushed through. Both completely drenched, we cleared the bar, turned to the north and let out our headsail. Now we had the wind and seas from behind and it was a nice, fast sail up to Cape York.
We looked at each other as we approached the entrance to the passage. In the past, we had pretty much always motored through any channels or passages, just to be safe. But with our newfound confidence, and the conditions ok, we decided to sail through. ‘Let’s do this!’ After some slight confusion, we jibed right before the entrance and set ourselves up perfectly. Through we glided into the calm waters of Albany Passage.
It was incredibly beautiful and although the boat had picked up speed, and was now actually speeding along at 8 knots, it felt really smooth. With another jibe in the middle of the passage to remain on course, we were jumping around pinching ourselves, soaking it all in and taking photos and videos. We were in awe of where we were and what we were doing. We were really proud of ourselves and how far we had come, both geographically and in terms of our sailing ability. It was very special!
From here we sailed out and around Cape York, the northernmost point on the Australian mainland. The conditions were pretty rough out there, so we couldn’t get very close and had to just look from afar. We had all planned on anchoring just off Cape York and having a ‘Tip’ party, however, the anchorage was extremely rough and unsafe so we continued on to the calmer waters near Possession Island. Although we were a little disappointed that we didn’t actually get to stand on the very tip, we were still pretty pumped and celebrated with a bottle of bubbles that evening. As we had finally gotten some phone reception after weeks with none, we rang our Mums to let them know where we were.
And so now, the next big challenge before us is the Gulf of Carpentaria. Crossing the Gulf will take several days and we will be far from anyone and anything. We plan to spend the next few days exploring the Torres Strait while we wait for a weather window to cross. The adventure continues!!
Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.
Neale Donald Walsch
Cool Change 