13 August 2010
I am deeply superstitious and with the events of the last couple of days still fresh in my mind I was a little nervous about setting out on the next part of our journey. We were leaving on a Friday and the thirteen of the month no less. However my fears were proved quite groundless, for yesterday went without a glitch and was the most perfect day from several aspects. The wind had continued to blow hard overnight but by 6am when the alarm went off we found it had dropped off a notch to a force five occasionally gusting six. Destiny were of exactly the same mind as us as they were also lifting their anchor. It is good to have their company in this great waste of Australian coastline. Ariane and Lady Ev VI are two days ahead of us, Eowyn and ThorVI, one day. Our destination today is Bathhurst Bay past Cape Melville 70nm away, but if we can keep up a good speed we may be lucky enough to make the Flinders group, 17nm further on. The skies today are a beautiful blue, the water a wonderful aquamarine colour. We are sailing in perfect trade wind conditions under reefed genoa and mizzen averaging between 7 and 8 knots. Negotiating our way north we are sandwiched between the shipping lanes and the numerous islets and coral reefs but shipping is so few and far between it does not cause any concern. By one o'clock in the afternoon we passed our first ship in 90nm. In huge letters on the side was LIVESTOCK EXPRESS! Poor beasts. The seas were a little lumpy. I do hope they have their sea legs.... Shortly after, our customs aircraft flew right overhead to check us out again. They are certainly being very vigilant looking for illegal immigrants and drug smuggling. Four years ago we were only hailed once and that wasn't until we had rounded the top of Australia and into the Gulf of Carpentaria. Well, we promised Peter fast exciting downwind sailing and my goodness we have had all of that today. David announced that if we made Cape Melville by three o'clock in the afternoon we could continue to the anchorage in the Flinders Group. We arrived at the Cape with half an hour to spare having covered the 70nm in eight and a half hours. Destiny were enjoying the sailing conditions so much they called up to say they were continuing on overnight to Night Island, 70nm further north. Perhaps we may catch up with them in Margaret Bay in two days time. The cliffs on the north side of the Cape had a purple hue in the afternoon sunlight and looked magnificent. We surfed into Owen Channel which separates Stanley Island form Flinders Island. Although on a much smaller scale to the Hinchinbrook Channel, this waterway was as breathtakingly beautiful, more so than I had remembered from our previous visit. The islands, now a national park were discovered and named by Englishman Matthew Flinders, the first person to circumnavigate Australia. Even Peter was impressed. He lives in British Columbia and has travelled as far north as Alaska and therefore is quite used to seeing some fairly dramatic scenery. We fetched up behind the familiar sand spit on Flinders Island itself, which provided the perfect trade wind shelter we needed, and in plenty of time to watch the sun go down. As we turned in for the night the sky was velvety soft with the moon, now a growing sliver beside the planet Venus. I watched as they set together in unison. A perfect end to a perfect day......
Susan Mackay