Howick Island Lat 14 degrees 29.7' S Long 144 degrees 57.5' E 21/05/13

We left Lizard with few regrets at 0800 this morning after some indecision as regards likely weather. All night the wind was never below 15 knots and fairly often above 20. With the wind power generator howling like a banshee it makes it sound worse than it really is.
Anyway, we are getting ahead of ourselves. Nearly all day Sunday it poured with rain and the wind howled. In spite of that Jean managed to do the washing including one sheet and get it all dry! Later in the afternoon it cleared somewhat and 2 optimistic crews decided to go around to the Marlin Bar as they had heard it was going to be open - Sunday only. But lo and behold, when they got there it was shut (fermee just like New Caledonia!!!) so we were glad we didn't go. The next day (Monday) there had been mention of a tour of the Barrier Reef Research Centre on the other side of the island and, as the rain had lessened by then, we decided to go. It was well worthwhile. Firstly a dinghy ride around into the next bay and then a 2 kilometre walk along a sandy vehicle trail - mostly flat but a little up and down in places. Went past the end of the airstrip and then about half an hour later we arrived at the research station. We numbered 10 from "2XS", "Settlement", "Backchat", "Kickin' Bak", and us. We were met by one of the directors who originally comes from Minnesota in the US. The station is run under the aegis of the Australian University in Sydney but depends for its funding largely on private benefactors such as the Proud Family of Proud's Jewellers fame. He gave us a wonderful detailed explanation of their work and at one stage showed us a real live Crown of Thorns starfish which is the real enemy of the reef. It is a grotesque looking creature with extremely poisonous thorns. The only method of control at present is hand injection with poison but unless the injection is made in the correct place, only part of the starfish dies and the rest regenerates to continue on its destructive path. With millions of starfish spread over many square miles it is an immense task. There is another population explosion occurring right now so it is not a good outlook unless they can come up with a much better method of control. Apparently there is nothing on the horizon for now. We walked back again after a most fascinating time and were very glad to have a swim to cool down.
Today we sailed the 30 miles to Howick. Wind up to 24 knots but mostly around 18-20 on our port quarter. Started off with a double reefed main and staysail expecting the worst and motorsailed for the 1st. 2 hours making power and water. Then shook one reef out and changed to the genoa. We averaged 5.5 - 6 knots all the way (the usual "rolling down the trades"!) and anchored in 10 meters of water - murky water. Reputed to hide coral heads so our approach was very circumspect. "Settlement" and "2XS" (both cats) had arrived ahead of us so we anchored beside them. Howick is lacking in any redeeming feature except for providing reasonable shelter from the ever present S Easterlies. It is a flat mangrove infested island 17 miles off the coast with no landing spot - not that you'd want to because where there are mangroves there are crocodiles. It has a muddy rockbound coastline and is definitely not a tourist destination! However, it serves our purpose. It's now 2000 and time for a shower and bed. Tomorrow we have 56 miles to cover to the Flinders Group so that means an early start. The wind is supposed to be dropping over the next few days - hopefully not too much so that our daily passages can be a little more comfortable for a while.
We'll let you know how it goes.
Love from us........
Jean and Jim

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