The Tip to Lizard

 

At the Tip we did the pilgrimage to the sign at the top of Australia, as you do.  A group of motorbikes arrived and ignored the sign “No Vehicles Beyond This Point” and parked in a neat row along the beach.

Catching the tide to get around Cape York, we decided to keep sailing to avoid the forecast SE winds and 3 days later arrived at Lizard Island, the last 8 hours were the hardest sail we have attempted: into the SE winds and through eddies and strong currents but we had to get in before the forecast 25 knots.

There are some things you just can’t capture in a photo: the full moon rising red through clouds on the horizon with sheet lightning flashing through the build-up clouds and a sunset through big towering clouds resembling a scene from Maralinga nuclear tests.

Off Bathurst Heads I saw a log in the water and was about to veer off when it turned into a pair of green turtles mating.  By the time our bow was near them they looked up, flipped over and swam away.  Hope they have another go at making baby turtles, away from passing boats.

We already knew half of the boats anchored in Watson’s Bay so it was party time again.  The Marlin (staff) Bar was open Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays so we joined the Sunday session for dinner.

On the beach was the usual silver gull, a common sandpiper, a few whimbrels, a lone beach stone-curlew and red-capped plovers. 

The walk to Cook's Look has improved with gravel on parts of the path and a few added steps in the slippery areas.  The view as always is amazing.

The kapok trees are always fascinating and we managed to see all phases at once:  from flowers to green fruit to seed pods and exploding pods sending fluffy seeds out to grow again.

Return to Cape York

Long sail from Gove Harbour to Seisia, Cape York:  71 hours and 359 nm with only 20 hours of total sailing time.  Apart from our sailing buddies, Nomad Davina, the only sights to see were 2 ships from Weipa, a few terns, brown boobies and a pod of dolphins feeding.  

An immature little tern hitched a ride with us, it was very hot our there!

By the third day the gulf was a glassout with barely a zephyr of breeze.  

At the Seisia anchorage we joined the other cats Exhale, Mad Fish, Slow Motion and Nomad Davina and mono Upstart.

A family of white-breasted woodswallows were determined to build on our real estate, bringing nesting material over to check out a fold in our mainsail.  While they are very cute we had to discourage them and move them on, so they began checking out all the other boats in our flotilla.

Seisia's name comes from one of the first families of Sabai Islanders who came here after WW2, Mr Mugai Elu, who used the first initial of his father and childrens' names:  Sagaukaz, Elu, Isua, Sunai, Ibuai and Aken. 

Seisia Ferry Jetty is popular with locals for fishing with masses of bait fish under the wharf and some deft hands with a cast net collecting them.

Return from Darwin

Cullen Bay Marina has limited facilities, charges extra for power, which is metered, but is surrounded by wonderful restaurants and a grassy beach to watch the spectacular sunsets.  It was great to be able to kayak around the loch and leave our kayaks tied to the jetty, but by the time we hauled them back on board they had lots of barnacles and green growth.

It was a stormy early start after a rolly night at Fannie Bay and as we neared Cape Don the rain began, almost horizontal so the boat was well rinsed. 

Our first overnight sail of 32 hours to Valentia Island with Nomad Davina went calmly, the water temperature stayed at 29 degrees C.  Through the night we hot-bedded on the couch taking 1 or 2 hours each and swapping back to the helm.  It’s still tiring especially if you have lots of sail changes, but smooth seas help.

A 6 am start from Valentia Island and another overnight sail of 33 hours to Galiwinku, where we anchored in the channel.  Because of Covid we weren't allowed ashore, the rollout of vaccines has been painfully slow in remote communities.

A juvenile crested tern decided to hitchhike on our solar panel while the parents circled around and kept an eye on their kid.

Ghost nets from trawlers are still a big hazard around these islands, sadly entangling lots of marine life.

A day sail through the eddies of the Bromby Islands and we were back in Nhulunbuy with 5 other cats who we had met along the way, some from Qld, some from WA and Tassie.  And now we have sailed across 6 seas:  Tasman Sea, Pacific Ocean, Coral Sea, Arafura Sea, Timor Sea and Indian Ocean.  PHEW!!