Cairns (Yorkeys Knob) at last Lat. 16 degrees 48.1' S Long. 145 degrees 43.0' E

We arrived at the Half Moon Bay Marina, Yorkeys Knob this morning at 0730. We left Mission Bay with no regrets at 0500 in order to get to the marina with still enough water to get in. There is a dredged channel which is very narrow and of minimal depth. Still, we got in with no mishaps.
But to regress. Mourilyan Harbour was a very snug anchorage and absolutely still - an unusual situation on this coast. On our last night (Mon. night) a bulk sugar carrier came in and berthed alongside the sugar loader. An impressive act of seamanship given the extremely narrow entrance, especially in the dark.
We left on Tuesday morning -lumpy sea in the entrance but things settled down once we were underway. Very overcast with a light drizzle which eventually cleared as we approached the end of today's passage. We went head to wind to raise the single reefed mainsail and then carried on motorsailing again!! Less than 10 knots of wind from the SW and the forecast had been SE! 90 degrees different! Surprise surprise. We had the pole rigged for SE but as the wind increased a bit we set the genoa conventionally on port tack. Soon we were doing over 7 knots with the engine ticking over at about 800 rpm. Once again we would have preferred to stop the engine but had just over 50 miles to cover before dark so maintaining speed was the priority. And of course we filled the watertanks and generated power.
This is especially gratifying as we have been having showers most nights and using the internet etc so seeing the water overflowing when the tanks were full is very satisfying, given the previous experience with the Opua cowboys. It does also seem bizarre sitting in remote anchorages and reading the NZ Herald on-line! Especially having a say on current issues published in editorials and particularly on the subject of the economically treasonous asset sales. Enough said on that subject - for now!! "Tiare Taporo, Queensland" is our pseudonym.
Anyway, we made quick progress up the coast and were soon approaching Fitzroy Is. just south of Cape Grafton. As we carried on the wind came more from the south but never SE; however, we managed to pole the genoa out for a time. But then we had to alter course to port otherwise we would have T-boned Fitzroy! So got rid of the pole and furled the genoa until we came between the island and Cape Grafton on course for Mission Bay 12 miles short of Cairns. Mission Bay is an Aboriginal settlement and is a wide, shallow and very windswept bay. We crept in cautiously watching the depth sounder and anchored. However, there was a nasty swell coming across the bay causing an uncomfortable roll so we moved closer into the lee of Cape Grafton where the swell seemed less but still annoying. Some dinner and a good sleep were both indicated but we were both awake again at 0300 this morning all keyed up for our dark passage across to Yorkeys (12 miles). Porridge at 4 and Gina feeding Jim prunes as he lay back in bed psyching himself up for the trip in the dark!! Thank goodness for the chartplotter as it was as black as your hat when we left Mission Bay. We detoured slightly to pass outside the markers for the ship channel into Cairns and also to safely pass a bulk carrier at anchor waiting to come into the port. The weather was shocking with a persistent light drizzle which reduced visibility almost to zero at times. We were only half a mile off before we could see the channel markers for Yorkeys even though it was daylight by then. Once again the chartplotter was marvellous and lead us in unerringly. You can't make mistakes around here because the water depths are shallow - for instance all the way across from Mission Bay we never had more than 35' of water for 12 miles and all the way up the coast yesterday it was mainly around 50' - occasionally up to 70'. And coming into the marina we were down to 10'.
Berthing was easy this morning as there was no wind or current but unfortunately Gina fell badly when getting off the boat to attach our bow line and badly scraped the front of one leg. We couldn't do much about it at the time because had to finish tying up the mooring lines but as soon as that was done we got busy with bathing it and Gina using her nursing skills made a much better job of bandaging than Jim could ever have done. The injuries aren't serious but will take a while to heal and it did shake her up. We did the washing in the marina laundry but that was enough for Gina and she has been resting the rest of the day - as much as she ever does rest!! Jim has had to exert his authority as captain to ensure that some R&R was taken!!
It rained much of the day but has more or less cleared up now and much warmer than when we were at Townsville. There was a cruise ship anchored off and all the passengers came ashore at the marina which cluttered up the place something terrible with loud and mostly large Australians. Same as used to happen at Airlie Beach.
Heading into Cairns tomorrow to explore.......
Cheers and love from us
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com

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