can we help
+44(0)1983 296060
+1 757-788-8872
tell me moreJoin a rally

Menu

American Spirit II - Day 220; A Quick Run from Cairns to Port Douglas; Wednesday, August 13, 2014



Up at 7:00 AM. Breakfast of scrambled eggs, chilled fruit cocktail and raisin bread.

I ran into one of the crew from a Rally boat who had gone scuba diving yesterday and he said that the trip was 'disappointing.' We were considering going snorkeling/diving but thought that due to the high winds the previous days that the water clarity might not be good. Apparently that was the case; as well as the condition of the reef was not 'pristine.' A lot of dead coral. Too bad.

Ghost, Chicka-lu, Saphir, NDS Darwin, Free & BrEasy and maybe one other Rally boat were still in Cairns. Ghost and Saphir were leaving for Lizard Island Saturday, waiting for the rainy and windy weather to pass thru. Lizard Island was also one of our target destinations. Its considered the northern terminus for a lot of cruisers who stay in that area until the summer and then sail south and home again. Many of the Rally boats are aiming for Lizard Island.

At 8:50 AM we departed the Cairns Marlin Marina for Port Douglas. As we headed out the entire charter fleet of scuba, snorkeling, sightseeing and whale watching boats left also. All of these boats were large catamaran's, some holding over 200 passengers. Easily over a thousand paying customers on these boats.

The wind was blowing at 13 knots and we were motoring. At 9:37 AM we put the mainsail out and picked up a half knot. At 9:50 AM we put the jib out, but only for a while as the wind was behind us and we couldn't keep the jib full. Because we were racing the clock, tide wise, we couldn't just sail to Port Douglas. We were told that at low tide, which occurred at 4:26 PM in Port Douglas, we might have trouble getting into a slip in the Reef Marina. So we motor sailed at 8+ knots.

We jibed to starboard at 11:20 AM. The wind was 17/19 knots. I increased the RPM from 1,600 to 2,200 to move along faster.

With the wind in the high teens and low 20's,jibing is always fraught with risk. Our process of doing so is to slacken the preventer while I crank in the mainsail; then turn the boat, forcing the mainsail to jibe; then easing the traveler down to the new 'low side'; letting the mainsail back out again; and then switching the preventer to the opposite side. The preventer does what its name implies, it prevents an accidental jibe that can damage the boat in serious ways. An uncontrolled jibe can also be very dangerous for the crew. We had one (uncontrolled jibe) on the Galapagos to Hiva Oa leg and ended up blowing up our mainsheet traveler car, which meant we lost the ability of using our mainsail for 5 days. When the car blew to pieces, the boom then kept traveling and slammed into the starboard shrouds. The wind was in the low 20's when this happened, and the seas were running at 12 feet. Not fun.

At noon our position was 16 degrees, 28 minutes South; 145 degrees, 26 minutes East.

Joel went down to nap an noon; followed by Jeanine. The wind was 19 knots and our boat speed 8.6 knots.

I woke Joel at 1:15 PM so we could jibe over onto port tack and head for the entrance to the Port Douglas channel.

We entered the channel to Port Douglas at around 1:40 PM and were in slip A 23 in the marina by 2:04 PM. There was plenty of water in the marina, meaning we had used the motor to get here for no reason. Even at low tide we could have gotten into the marina and our slip. Better safe than sorry. Like the marina in Cairns, the Reef Marina had floating docks. This is because the tidal range it too great not to have floating docks.

Russ and Laurie from Nexus showed up at our slip after we tied up. They had an obligation for dinner so we'll have dinner with Brian and Lauren from Nexus tonight.

Before plugging the boat into shore power; and before I headed to the marina office to check in; the obligatory Captain Morgan celebration occurred first.

From 4:15 PM to 5:15 PM we walked the marina dock. There were dozens of small booths set up selling jewelry, books, fishing lures, art works, etc. Apparently this happens every Wednesday from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM. Because a cruise ship is unloading passengers tomorrow, these booths will return then.

A lot of scuba and snorkeling catamaran's returned from their day charters at 5:00 PM. Some of these boats were gigantic - over 100 feet in length. As these boats were discharging their passengers, others were loading up and going out for a sunset cruise. Though the marina was much smaller than the one we were at in Cairns (1/5 to 1/4 the size), it was very, very busy with charter boats.

As the tide went out, some boats anchored near the channel went aground; and derelicts were visible that had been covered with water before the tide dropped, perhaps left from the cyclone that had hit the area a year or two earlier. (A cyclone in the southern hemisphere is the equivalent of our hurricane in the northern hemisphere).

While Joel showered, Jeanine and I took a short 'power' nap from 5:15 PM to 6:00 PM. I was actually sound asleep when I was awakened to knocking on the hull at 6:00 PM.

Brian and Lauren showed up at the boat at 6:00 PM and we walked to the Inlet Restaurant for dinner. We were lucky to get a table without a reservation. Dinner was very good. I had a curry Spanish Mackerel dish. First Spanish Mackerel I've had since leaving Florida. Very good. Two of the most favored fish in Australia it seems are Spanish Mackerel and Barramundi. Barramundi is a white fish with a soft texture and non-fishy taste. They can get quite big, big enough to even pose a threat to salt water crocodile hatchlings in rivers.

After dinner we watched a movie on the boat, 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,' staring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock. Very good movie. Surprised I never heard of it before watching it. It was recommended by Brian from Nexus. About 911 and the aftermath dealing with one family who had a boy who had asberger's disease. (Spelling's wrong and spell check can't figure it out).

Joel went right to bed after the movie (11:25 PM); Jeanine went to take a shower on the dock and ended up visiting with Russ and Laurie after that (they were on the dock outside of a restaurant trying to get internet); and I caught up on log typing and emails. Jeanine took so long to get back to the boat that I was getting a 'search and rescue' mission organized to go find her when she showed up. (I thought maybe she had forgotten her magnetic access card and might be stuck at the end of our dock waiting for someone to give her access).

The big rain and wind storm that was supposed to hit tonight hasn't shown up yet. The rain chance is 90% Thursday and Friday.

Brian Fox



Previous | Next