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Smoke and Roses - The City Lights of Cairns



August 11 – 12, 114 Nautical Miles, 15 Hours Sailing 7 Hours Motoring

August 20 – 21 139, Nautical Miles, 20 Hours Sailing 1 Hour Motoring

August 22 – 28, 1060 Nautical Miles, 88.5 Hours Sailing 54.5 Hours Motoring

August 11 – 28

Cairns to Darwin

Cruising North through the Great Barrier Reef Coast our next stop is Cairns. This is the last port where a broad range of marine services can be found until Darwin, 1200 nautical miles further. Cairns came into being when gold was found on the Hodgkinson River that needed a coastal outlet. Entering Cairns through Trinity Inlet we docked at Marlin Marina at the city’s doorstep off the pier shopping center. After a few nights at the marina we moved a couple miles up Trinity Inlet to the coconut slipway for repairs. Our first day in Cairns, we walked through the city center with the “Mischief” crew and found a club for drinks with a televised rugby game. In addition to the shopping center the waterfront area was built up with hotels, parks and the Cairns Esplanade Lagoon. It was beautifully landscaped with large banyan and palm trees that were lit up with different colored lights.  There were more people in Cairns than any other place we’ve been in Australia. On one of our last nights in Cairns we had a nice dinner in town with Hal and Marcia from “Cayuse”, it was good to catch up with them. We made plans to leave together Monday morning. The wind was blowing 25 to 30 knots so we took our time leaving and had a fast overnight sail to Lizard Island.

Just 15 miles off the nearest part of the mainland, Lizard Island is a National Park is and a favorite anchorage. Mrs. Watsons Bay is outlined with sand and partly fringed with rock and coral. Lizard Island has a resort, research station and numerous walking tracks. Several ARC boats had been at Lizard Island for a few days and were preparing to leave. “Aurora Polaris” recommended some favorite things to do including the track to Cook’s Lookout on top of the mountain, the lagoon on the south side of the island for snorkeling with turtles and the great snorkeling g on the reef in Mrs. Watsons Bay. They were doing pest management on the island and planning a controlled burn, so the track to Cook’s Lookout was closed. We did Watsons Walk instead; it was a sandy track through a paperback swamp that joined the Pandanus track to the airstrip. From the airstrip we took a track to the picturesque Blue Lagoon and the Research Station. It would be nice to explore more of Lizard Island but we are some of the last boats heading for Darwin, so we plan to leave at 6:00 am.

Navigationally, reefs become more challenging from here north as they get closer to the mainland, narrowing the inner route considerably. There is a route to follow with navigation aids keeping it safe and manageable, similar to a road. It is quite different than most passages where the route is based on the best point of sail; here we adjust the sails according to the route. It took two days to reach Cape York from Lizard Island. Cape York is Australia’s northern most point, this is where the Coral Sea and Arafura Sea meet, and the Great Barrier Reef terminates northeast of the Cape. Rounding the Cape the route between reefs was narrow and there was 2.5 knot current against us. Staying north of the Gulf of Carpentaria we sailed west through the Arafura Sea offshore Australia’s northern coast, toward Darwin. There has been some interesting wildlife; a green, orange and yellow bird landed on our genoa sheet and two mornings some small brownish colored dolphin swam in our bow wake. One afternoon a pod of small whales came along one side of the boat and then the other side; they swam to the bow and around to the back again. They swam with us off and on for nearly an hour, these were small whales but huge compared to dolphin. The Australian Border Force has checked on us several times, once they came along side in a rib and asked for our official information, including how many people on board, if we had any pets and if we noticed anything unusual. The next time they buzzed us when they flew low overhead. Once they heard our name they said “Oh, Smoke and Roses, we already have you”. A third time the Border Force called, they saw us on radar from a cutter. It is comforting to know they keep watch on what vessels are out here. We are one of the last boats getting to Darwin, “Cayuse”, and “Aranui” and “Adrienne” are several miles ahead.

Agnes Long


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