Across the Gulf at last

Courtship flight of Sea Eagles at Gove Harbour.

We finally left Gove Harbour on 17th Oct. 

'Easy Rider' with Rob and Henma and 'Casper' with Barbara and Wayne left before us.  We decided to leave after we enviously watched them motoring out of the harbour.  A quick look at the BOM (Bureau of Meteorology) site on the computer showed a better weather prediction than they had the day before.  We had to return  our amenities key and retrieve our $100 deposit so after our last shower for the next 4 or 5 days, we returned the key, removed the squid which had jumped onto our deck through the night, upped our anchor and were away.

Early morning before lights out at the refinery

When we came across the gulf from east to west it took 3 days and 2 nights.  We had good winds in our favour then so we knew it would take 1 to 2 days longer going into the wind and swell. 

We were hoping to get to Seisia but would go to Weipa depending on how the wind played.  It was Seisia for the first 2 days till the weather turned on us on the last night.

Ian had just managed to fall asleep at 2 in the morning.  Scotty the auto-pilot had broken a belt so I was at the helm.  A few spots of rain had started falling so I was ready to race in, close the hatches and grab a raincoat should it get any heavier. 

For the next half hour, it remained the same with the wind picking up to 15kn but nothing to get alarmed about

until. . . . .

a mighty whoosh!

Rain bucketed down and the wind speed jumped to 25kn.

I was alarmed! ! !

I leapt out from behind the helm to grab that raincoat (even though I was instantly wet) and close the hatches without waking Ian. As I did so I slipped and bumped the throttle.

The motor screamed, I screamed and Ian woke up.

After Ian got everything under control, we headed to Weipa which was closer at that stage.  

I made a radio call to 'Casper' and was rewarded with a response.  We had  radio contact with them and 'Easy Rider' on the first day and apart from a relayed message through the Customs Aeroplane, hadn't been in touch since.

'Casper' had just anchored at Weipa and we found out later that 'Easy Rider' had found an anchorage just south of Weipa at Boyde Point.

It was good to know that we were all across.  The other 2 boats wanting to make the crossing from Gove Harbour, were both still waiting for parts to repair their motors.

Yikes! Those pointy things hurt!

Brown Boobies were once again guarding their channel markers as we entered Weipa.  It's good to know that some of our tax dollars are put to good use, by putting Booby-proof spikes around the lights on the channel markers.  However, Terns are immune to them :) and there is usually a Tern on the top of each marker.


Weipa is a modern town and has all the services you could need.  We needed a replacement belt for 'Scotty' so Ian called 'Raymarine' to see if we could get one in the near future.  Yes, they sent one express and it arrived the next day.  Not bad considering we were in a remote area.

Lesser Frigate-bird

 We were fascinated each evening by thousands of Frigate Birds which congregated and spiralled overhead.  The air was thick with them soaring on the thermal air currents which must have formed the same time each day.  During the day there may have been the odd one or two about but I suspect they were off following one of the many trawlers for an easy feed.


These birds continued to fascinate us when we arrived in Seisia on 26th Oct.

There we were able to see them display their kleptoparasitic behaviour.  They will harass another bird which has caught a fish until they drop it.  From observation at Seisia, the dropped fish is often missed by the Frigate-bird and nobody gets it.

Although they sometimes steal fish from other birds, mostly they catch their own.  Their main diet is flying fish and squid.  They are excellent flyers and they have the largest wingspan to body ratio of any bird.  The drawback is that, like the Albatross, they are not very good at moving on land, nor can they take off from a flat surface such as water.  Therefore, they can't dive into the water but can scoop their prey up with their long hooked beaks.

Like so.

Ian and I were kept happily busy recording the antics of the Frigate-birds versus the Terns near the Seisia jetty which is the home to millions of sardines.

Tern dives in to catch his fish.

Tern happily takes off with fish.

"I say, that looks like a nice fish you've got there".

Tern drops fish into water.

"I'll have that thank you very much"

The fish got away.

  

I mentioned that there are literally millions of sardines around the wharf at Seisia.  

The water is thick with them.

The great white hunter and his trusty assistant went fishing - with little mini hooks and tiny little lures.

It was fun. The locals catch these little fish to use as bait for much bigger fish. 

The trusty assistant wondered if they were any good to eat and set about to find out.

There was about one small forkful each side, full of tiny little hair-like bones.  I didn't bother to cook any more of these.

Action at the Seisia wharf

Taken from under the wharf - Winkali on the left, Casper on the right.

Casper frames the setting sun.

We'll be at Seisia for another couple of days waiting for favourable winds.  Rob and Henma with 'Easy Rider' were here when we got here so it's been a small reunion.  Another couple, Cheryl and Bob with their yacht 'Bittersweet' who we know from Cairns are also here.

Its interesting to note, Casper, Bittersweet and Winkali are all mono-hulls designed by Joe Adams.

Easy Rider is a Lightwave catamaran.

We will be hiring a 4WD for the 8 of us and venturing to "the tip" while we're waiting for the wind change.  By the time we get to Cairns, there should be a whole Armada.