The Great White Hunter Returns

Rob and Henma on Easy Rider

Wayne and Barbara on Casper

We finally left Seisia on 11 Nov on a small good weather window.  Casper, Easy Rider and 2 others left the day before to get a couple of hours start from Cape York.  






















We sailed day and night and caught up with them the following evening at Shelbourne Bay.

The following morning we left for Portland Roads at 3 a.m.  Not good sailing that day.  We tacked 24 times into head winds, and covered 82nm to do 45nm.  We made it into Portland Roads 18 hours later and amazingly, all four yachts made it within minutes of each other.

Bougainvillea

Portland Roads is a small settlement of shacks and homes with a permanent population of 8.  It has no shops or facilities except for a small restaurant which caters for the tourist trade during the dry season.  We all had a delicious meal there which was as good as any you could hope for in any city. Rob and Henma shared their beer and wine with the rest of us who had all ran out. 

Thanks Rob and Henma!

Hibiscus

Flowers grew in abundance creating cascades of colour.


We spent almost a week there waiting for the next favourable weather window.  Once again, we waited behind for another day after the others had set sail which was just as well.  The toilet decided to block that day.  I'll spare you the details of the unblocking. . .  you don't want to know :(

The weather had turned for the better and we had a great sail to Morris Is, then to Cape Melville where we met up with Easy Rider again.

Cape Melville

The coast was spectacular with boulder cloaked mountains, multicoloured foothills, brilliant green mangroves and golden beaches.


At first light  it was off again as we continued to take advantage of the weather window.




We set off on glorious calm seas, tinted with the rosy glow of early morning sunrise.


Crazily balanced rocks formed small islands off the end of the cape.





















Fish, dolphins and birds were all gorging themselves on the schools of bait fish passing through.  I had a happy morning with my camera and made the most of the calm conditions and early morning light.

The Great White Hunter made the most of the conditions and set the rod.   

I made a short movie.

This movie uses 27.7mb and goes for 1:41s.  

Next stop was at Cape Bedford where we had anchored on our way up.  We had an electrical storm that night which continued till early the next morning. Winkali got a much needed fresh water wash.

I was looking forward to the next stop which was Hope Isles.  We arrived there early in the afternoon and unlike the stop on the way up, the seas were friendly and sparkly.  

We launched the dinghy for the short trip to the island. On the way up from Cairns we had been moored off the island for 4 days and only ventured there once because of the windy conditions.  Since then, we have had anchorages which have been over a mile from the shore, due to shallow waters, and had to cross in all sorts of winds.  Now when we looked at the ridiculously short distance to the island, we couldn't believe that we hadn't gone over more often on the first stay.


The tide was high so I didn't get the variety of birds which feed on the sand reefs at low tide but I was rewarded with Terns feeding over a reef close by.

"You dive in and grab a fish like this, junior"

 I managed to capture this sequence of photos of a Crested Tern (the one with the fish) teaching its offspring to fish.

"now I hope you are watching"

"Because now I'll drop it so you can get it yourself"

Along comes a pesky seagull, in for a free feed as they do.

Tern jumps in to rescue the meal before seagull gets it. Junior observes.

Tern and seagull fight.  Junior observes.

Fish gets away while Tern and seagull fight.  Junior observes.

Seagull starts to fight dirty.  Junior is watching and learning.

Junior comes in for a closer look as Seagull takes a chomp at Tern's wi

The weather held up once again and the following morning we left on our final leg to Port Douglas.

This is the final chapter of this Winkali trip.

We didn't do the voyage we set out to do.  No we don't regret that.  We were running out of time for the west coast and even if we had continued, we would have been too rushed to have enjoyed the experience.  

We have met some great people on our return trip who have been mentioned in this blog and we hope to stay in touch and maybe sail along side them again in future travels.

We will now try to find some work as we spent a lot more money than we expected to and there are a few repairs that need doing to Winkali before we set off again . . . . like locating and repairing a couple of leaks which dampened our enthusiasm on more than one occasion.

We've gained experience and learnt a lot, not only about sailing either.  

I've learnt how to do a blog! It's taken many hours, usually in trying to make the text and photos go where I want them - they do have a mind of their own.

See you soon.

Cape York - "The Tip"

Wed 31 Oct.  We hired a "Limo" for  our trip to the tip.  It was a Toyota Landcruiser troopy. None of that looking around the car for scratches and minor dents that you don't want to be blamed for later on.  We would have been there a week listing them all.

After using a crow bar to adjust the door so we could close it, we were off.  There were 8 of us in all and we could all fit in this vehicle and apart from hoping that it would make the distance, that was all that mattered.

I made this movie clip of our trip.  It takes 4 mins 16 secs.  I've resized it to email quality - 46.6mb

As usual, the main topic of conversation between us and the other yachties was the weather, especially wind speed and direction.  Bob and Cheryl had to get back to Cairns for work commitments and left the 2 Nov, bad winds and all.  The rest of us stayed put - no point in punishing ourselves and our boats if we didn't have to.  As it turned out, Bob and Cheryl haven't had too much of a rough trip so far, but they have sheltered for a couple of days at Portland Roads for the worst.

Ian had been busy fishing and I have lost sleep over it.  

• Ian gets up early
• I can't focus and go back to sleep
• Flippity flippity flap flap flap
• What the ? ? ? ?
• The world comes into focus for me
• IANNNN are you fishing?

He is catching sardines for bait for bigger fish which he catches but they are too big and break the line before he can bring them in.  

We do a fair bit of walking to get ourselves fit again.  The jetty is always a hive of activity as the locals manage to supplement their food supplies there very well.

Locals catch fish by the bucket load from the jetty.

Wayne gets some tips from the kids on the finer art using a cast net.

Barbara in front of a termite mound.

Barbara and I do a long walk.  Our waistlines are steadily approaching the dimensions of our boat's waterlines from too much food and too little exercise.

We go bush for a while so I can go looking for birds while Barbara looks for new plants - she has a background in horticulture and is a wealth of information when I need to know what a particular plant is that I've never seen before.

Proiphys Lily

This beautiful scented lily emerges after the first rains of the wet season.  Few people get to see this lily as most visitors have left the Cape at this time of the year.






I spot a Red-backed Fairywren, in all his feisty glory.  He is fiercely protective of the grasshopper he has just caught and dares me to try and take it from him.

Red-backed Fairywren

Native Spider Lily

This eye-catching Native Spider Lily is another flower which emerges at the onset of the wet season.  The bulb can be dug up, ground and boiled and then applied as a "painkiller, disinfectant and insect repellent all in one".






The next day, a few more people join us in a walk to Red Island which is just a stone's throw from Seisia.  Ian and I attempted to visit this island not long after we arrived here but we chickened out when a crocodile jumped into the water from the beach we were about to land on.  

We decided there was safety in numbers and ventured forth.

Bees visiting a Scarlet Flowered Bloodroot 

We found this attractive little plant growing across the island.  Once again, it heralds the wet season - nature is telling us something!

After consulting John Beasley's 'Plants of Cape York' once again we find that it is a Scarlet Flowered Bloodroot.  Named for the red sap of the bulb which is used as dye by Aboriginal people for baskets and bags. 






On a less happy note, Ian finds a discarded fishing line lying in a tangle, complete with a bird skeleton.  It must have been a slow and cruel demise for the unfortunate bird that met with the careless action of a fisherman.

once was a bird

A pigeon pair

On a happier note - a pair of Pied Imperial Pigeons also known as Torres Strait Pigeons.  These beautiful birds migrate to the north of our continent from New Guinea each year to breed.

There are enough yachties here now for a game of cricket with the arrival of a couple more yachts.  Ian finds a splintered plank on the beach and fashions it into a cricket bat.  A lot of insulation tape applied over the lot to prevent splinters and it's ready to go.  Wayne and Barbara had a cricket (tennis) ball and we used jerry cans as wickets.  A concrete path running parallel with the beach proved to be a great pitch.

After a couple of dismal bowls from our participants, we accosted an innocent passer-by. 
 "Can you bowl?", we asked the hapless stranger.
It turned out he had played cricket for Townsville and Brisbane and was quickly enlisted in our game.  

All went well for a while till someone spotted a crocodile cruising close to the beach.  The cricket rules suddenly had a new one. If you hit the ball into the water, you had to go and get it yourself.

We are itching to get going as usual.  The weather patterns are unusual and we can't seem to find a good break.  Seisia is a good place to be as everything (shops, water, fuel, showers and washing machines) are in walking distance and it is only a short distance by dinghy to the shore. There are good beaches and bush walks to go on as well. 

On a longer walk, you can get to Bamaga which is about 3/4 of an hour by foot.  On the way to Bamaga there are sewerage ponds.  I bet that excites all my readers!  Well, we noticed a lot of ducks there the other day and I'm hoping to 'spot' some Spotted Whistling Ducks.  I suppose that would make them 'double spotted'.

There are also pockets of monsoonal rainforest in which reside Magnificent Riflebirds (one of Australia's 4 Birds of Paradise).  I heard them the other day as we were walking past.

Ian hasn't seen any more Palm Cockatoos and is now appreciating the sighting earlier in our trip.  If we have to wait at Seisia for much longer, the Beach Almonds which grow near the jetty, should ripen.  Palm Cockatoos love them.

Well, it's off to the showers for now.  Amusing signs on the amenities ensures that Ian and I go into the right ones.

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.

                                                                                                             

  

                                                         

Baking Bread

We headed out for Seisia optimistically on 5th Oct.  I sent Krista (my daughter) a happy birthday message for the following day as I would be out of range for phone calls by then.

We motored out of the bay, past the bauxite refinery loading wharf where we were greeted by the eerie spectacle of a ship engulfed in steam.

 I would tell you what they were doing if I knew.

After passing the last channel buoy, the sails went up.  We needed to go east but as the wind was coming from that direction, we had to settle for north-east.  After a while we tacked to south-east and so it went that day, zig-zagging our way eastwards.

As the day went on, the oncoming swell got bigger and the wind got stronger.  

Ian said, "this is ridiculous".

I agreed.

It was 2 o'clock in the afternoon, we had been sailing for over 7 hours and had only progressed about 25nm.

Dalywoi Bay at Cape Arnhem seemed like a protected anchorage when you looked at it on the map, so our new heading was south. 

Tuna and Terns compete for the the schools of bait fish which whip the waters into a frenzy.

 We arrived at Dalywoi Bay about 5 o'clock to find that it wasn't as sheltered in reality as it was in theory.  Well, too late now, it was going to be a rock and roly night. 

Swell turns into surf as it meets land at Dalywoi Bay

About 8 o'clock that night we see another boat anchor further up the bay.  I thought it might have been Rob and Henma who had left for Seisia on their catamaran "Easy Rider" the day before us.  Ian didn't think so.

As we left the next morning, the VHF radio sprang to life. 

"Is that you sneaking off Winkali?"

It was Easy Rider!

They had had enough of the rough seas also and it was back to Gove for both of us.

"That's funny", say the Brown Boobies sitting on their  channel marker, "didn't we see you guys leaving yesterday?"

That evening we had 'sundowners' with Rob and Henma and discussed options for weather breaks to get to Seisia. 

It is now a week later and the wind is gusting up to 20kn in our sheltered harbour.

Sundowners have been on Easy Rider every other night - there are advantages to having a roomy catamaran.

We have stocked up on books and movies and there are now 5 boats waiting to go east.

I have been honing my skills at bread making.  I started on Foccacia  and Naan bread.  Then bravely tried making bread rolls.  It takes time but it's getting better.  I bought a loaf tin and some Lauke Bread Improver from town.

Take a look