01.30hrs We rolled out the headsail again, at least we were getting a little breeze, shortly after, the wind was abeam on our port side, and blowing 16 knots. Beautiful sailing on a beautiful night, on flat water.
05.15hrs We were outside Cairns, actually at cape Grafton, about 6 miles SE of Cairns. The entrance channel into Cairns was about 5 miles long, very well marked with flashing lights on both sides and looked more like a runway for aircraft. The channel was only about 1/4 mile wide the whole way into the marina..
06.45hrs We arrived at "Marlin Marina" and tied up at the marina on the southern side next to Wild Tigris. Later, Joe from the marina dept gave us directions to our berth, E 20, there were still a few WARC boats here. We moved to our permanent berth, and after a few minutes of securing the boat, we scrambled up the marina and into the town for a hearty, cholesterol filled breakfast, (2 fried eggs, a mountain of bacon, 2 sausages, 2 slices of toast, 2 tomatoes, 2 big helping of baked beans, and a coffee) the equivalent of 7 euros each.
Skipper returned to the boat, washed her down, and strolled over to Super Sandy at the Marina office. She had been on the radio to us a few times on our way to Cairns. At the office, we filled out all the paperwork and guess what! the big Boss, his name was Micheal Barnett. However, he was not around to ask him if his relations came from Schull. The others went off about the town, Cairns is very compact, and the marina is only a few minutes walk from the center of town. The place has a lot to offer, which we discovered later, it was a beautiful day for good measure. Skipper joined them later and did some more exploring. Yeah, we could fall in love with this place!
17.00hrs Skipper met one of our neighbors on the marina called Richard Chapman. Originally Welsh, lives in Oxford now, and has a business with mini Submarines called "Nautil Oz Submarines" in Cairns. We invited him for a drink later, which he enjoyed very much, so stayed for dinner. Mary cooked a super lasagna. We munched it down with lots of fine wine and had a great night. We spent a couple of hours listening to how he got involved in the business, fascinating stuff, and a nice guy.
We went ashore later for a night cap, did a bit of the town again, and just soaked up the place. The activity was great, the place was buzzing with people, and the park close to the marina was being cordoned off for a rock concert tomorrow night... buzzzz, buzzzzz...
We also booked a trip to Kuranda tomorrow morning, so not too late a night.
That's it for today.
Signed :- Stephen Hyde (Skipper)