Tiare Taporo III at Missionary Bay (northern end of the Hinchinbrook Channel) Lat. 18 degrees 13.5' S Long. 146 degrees 12.6' E

Since our blog last night, between 11 and midnight an onshore wind (SW) set up and started blowing quite hard. The bottom at Orpheous Is. must have been foul because the anchor chain started making alarming grinding noises which transmitted through the hull and which raised the spectre of the chain becoming fouled to the point perhaps of not being able to be raised. So, in the dark with other anchored boats around and reefs behind and beside us we managed to get the anchor up which took a while as we had 50 metres out. Then with implicit trust in the chartplotter we moved about 200 metres further out before dropping the anchor again. The chain still made a noise from time to time but seemed to be generally on a cleaner bottom. However, with all the adrenalin and concern we didn't get much more sleep - Jim dozed on the saloon settee while Gina lay awake in the bridal suite forrard worrying the whole night. All the time checking the GPS to make sure we weren't moving and the boat was pitching uncomfortably in the short chop which had arisen. What fun - it's at times like this that one questions one's motives for doing these things!! We weren't in such a good space when dawn at last came.
We resolved to leave as soon as we were properly awake and had had the obligatory cup of tea. Therefore at 0730 we weighed again and set off for Hinchinbrook (340 T). At least the wind was behind us but as usual almost dead astern so it made serious sailing difficult and we motorsailed with the main single reefed and prevented on port tack. As we came out of the lee of Orpheous the usual SE swell hit us with a nasty quartering sea and causing us to roll abominably although at least we weren't rolling the scuppers under as we did several times further south when Dennis was aboard.
We passed the Lucinda sugar loading facility at the southern entrance to the Hinchinbrook Channel. We could have entered the Channel there but at that stage the tide was falling and at low tide the depths are down to half a metre. We draw 2 metres so it was a no brainer. We continued north outside Hinchinbrook Is. and around 1200 rounded Cape Sandwich inside Eva Is. There is a nasty little cluster of rocks inside Eva as well (Channel Rock) but about a half mile gap between there and the cape so no worries!!
We were very thankful to be around the cape and somewhat out of the aforesaid nasty swell. Also we came round to port and so the wind came further on the port quarter instead of dead astern so was much more comfortable. Across Shepherd Bay and then around Cape Richard where there is what appeared to be another abandoned resort. These capes are nothing like the NZ version - usually quite low lying and with water depths of no more than 30'. We anchored under the lee of Cape Richard and fed ravenously on bacon and creamy mushrooms which were wonderful but there was a steady swell coming round the cape and we rolled uncomfortably. So, we consulted the cruising guide again and moved about 2 miles further up into Missionary Bay religiously following the chartplotter to avoid the really shallow patches.
No rolling here and we went to sleep for about 3 hours this afternoon before a delicious dinner of Chicken Kiev and steamed fresh veges. So good to be domestic and peaceful at last!!
Missionary Bay is a large shallow bay open to the north but providing good, if windswept shelter from any southerly quarter winds. The bay is surrounded by low lying land with many mangrove creeks, no doubt a habitat for crocodiles. Still haven't seen any but we're not swimming!! Jim is writing this and has just been on deck (not to water the horses!) and there is absolute silence apart from the sound of the sea breaking on the outside coast where we had passed earlier. Total solitude and it seems so bizarre to be listening to the ABC on the radio and also having tenuous internet access. As regards the latter, it's a matter of holding the Wifi device outside at arms length so that it picks up whatever signal is going. But it seems to work. Apart from that, just remembering where the boat has been in the last few years - the Northland coast, New Caledonia, and now the Australian East Coast from Bundaberg north. Particularly when the boat is our home all these memories become so much more poignant. Places that stand out are Paroa Bay in the BOI (NZ) where Jim learnt about boats from a very early age, Baie du Prony and Koumac in New Cal, and Bundaberg, Townsville and Magnetic Is. here in Australia. So much have we seen and so many memories - sometimes they almost seem to blur into one. Hence these blogs which hopefully will ensure the memories stay alive because at our age the memory needs all the help it can get!
That's enough rambling for now - it'll probably get worse as we get older!!
Cheers and love from us........

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