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Our first day in Watson’s Bay started out with a few showers but fined up by 9am.

The Research Station had radioed us the previous afternoon to say they had a package to pick up.  We upgraded our aerial and wireless device before we left Port Douglas and when we tried to connect it up at sea, we found the all important patch kit wasn’t included.  So we ordered it from Cairns by phone and it actually beat us to the island.

We organised to leave with  Brian and Jan from ‘Hooks’ in our tenders and go around to the resort beach where we would then walk to The Research Station via Blue Lagoon, pick up the package and stretch our legs at the same time.

The Resort offered a rubbish dump area for boaties to use with the hope of a coin donation to help pay for the service.  It was good to get rid of it as after a week it was starting to smell up the boat.

The management was very strict with rules regarding access to the resort and so we had to pass through a building called The Marlin Bar, an outpost to the main resort which did tolerate non resort guests but was presently not operating due to renovations taking place. 

During the Marlin Comp which takes place in September every year, The Marlin Bar would be in full swing catering for the competitors and any other day visitors.

We followed a track that led us past the airport and to The Blue Lagoon, a beach on the southern side of Lizard Island.  The tide was out and so we decide to make our way to The Research Station by way of wading through the various bays, that would eventually lead us to our destination.

The water was clear and refreshing as we waded through the various lagoons, the beaches deserted with ours the only footprints.  The main difference between Lizard Island and all the other islands we had visited was the vegetation.

This island was not lush with coconut palms and rainforest but rather sparsely treed with Casuarinas, Eucalypts and flowering  Beach Scaevola. The hills were piled up with granite boulders and left barren in places with the ever present SE gusts.

The location of the resort had been carefully chosen with nearly all year round protection offering a calm water bay frontage adding to its exclusiveness

After about 2 hours we arrived at the Research Station and collected the mail.  We then had another hours walk to get back to the tenders and so we continued on with the rock hopping around the various bays.

By the time we got back to Auspray and ate lunch, we were shattered, but we were too eager to enjoy the location and so spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach catching up with other fellow boaties. The kids renewed friendships with kids from other boats and we completed our first full day on Lizard Island with sundowners’ on the beach meeting everyone else in the bay.

After two wild stormy nights at Ribbon #5 the seas finally calmed down to 15-20knotts on the morning we decided to leave for Lizard Island.

We left early as we had about and 8 hour journey.  The journey was uneventful except for some beamy swell in-between the reef patches.  Had no luck with the trolling today, however Hooks managed to land another 2 mackerel during the day.

We left the shelter of the outer reef at Ribbon Reef #9 and made a gradual diagonal westerly course to the looming shape of Lizard Island in the distance.

Finally around 3pm, we rounded the last headland of Lizard Island and made our approach to Mrs’ Watson’s Bay passing a pod of dolphins heading in the same direction.

We dropped anchor at 4pm in 2-3m of water on the eastern end of the bay.  There were 14 other boats in the bay, some we recognised, and some we didn’t.  After a very long day and week, we didn’t even have the energy to go ashore. We settled for welcome drinks once again on ‘Hooks’, this time in a very calm and serene setting surrounded with consoling mountains embracing our presence.

The 3 boys jumped straight into the water to snorkel the surrounding reef, eager to rid themselves of the feelings of confinement after being  contained for 8 hours on board Auspray.

Meanwhile the rest of us kicked back on board ‘Hooks’ and recounted the last 6 days of the journey and how relieved we were to finally be here.

We treated ourselves to a bbq chicken dinner with all the trimmings and a movie after dinner.  It didn’t take much rocking to send us all off to sleep that night.  Our minds were full of thoughts about what the following day would bring.

The forecast was for increasing winds today and so we were anxious to get to our next planned stop at Ribbon Reef #5 where the anchorage would be safe from the deteriorating weather.

We managed to get away a bit earlier today and tried to do some school, but the rolling in between patches of reef got the better of us all in the cabin and we called it a day.  Not much school work getting done on this journey so far but we would have plenty of time on Lizard Island to catch up.

Around 12.30pm we dropped anchor at Ribbon #5.  It was a giant horseshoe shaped reef that was nearly 1km deep in parts, offering great protection from the conditions.  The winds were now gusting up to 40knotts and there were 2-3m waves breaking on the outer reef, easily visible.

The wind chill factor was too much of a deterrent for Mahnie and I and so we stayed aboard while Brett and the boys went spearing.

We were now opposite Cooktown on the mainland, but still 50km out to sea.  There was so much haze in the air from the salt spray coming from the breaking waves that we couldn’t see any land shapes in the distance, but we knew they were out there somewhere.

We once again had sundowners of ‘Hooks’ and made the precarious journey back to auspray just on dark. 

That night the wind howled, storms hit us from all angles and we rocked from side to side on the anchor.  You could hear the waves crashing on the reef sometimes above the roar of the wind in the stays. Not much sleep was had by anyone in either of the vessels that night.

In the morning another boat had anchored with us.  Don’t know where he came from and he didn’t hang around long in the morning. 

We stayed another day here as the conditions were too dangerous to venture out into the unprotected waters.

Managed to get some school work done today.  Jan and Bran dropped for a cuppa on their way for a snorkel.  We joined them and had the most amazing reef experience to date.

We nick named the spot the “Aquarium”, which was an understatement of what we saw beneath the surface.  We could see our anchor chain on Auspray which was 30-40m away.  The colours of the coral and fish life exploding in our faces.

Took the underwater camera with us this time and we clicked away madly in all directions as there was so many things to take photos of.  There were Maori Wrasse darting in and around the coral, a very large Footballer Trout that seemed territorial and kept its eye on us all the time,  thousands of tiny fish of all colours and sizes, too many to name.

We didn’t want to get out but the weather was deteriorating even more and the current was roaring across the reef.  We were worried about one of us getting swept off the reef and so reluctantly we returned in the tender to Auspray.

Brian and Jan were planning to leave us tomorrow and head for Hope Island to the west and so we had one last session on ‘Hook’ as the sun was setting.

That night there were wind gusts up to 40knotts, storms broke out around us and we were tossed around on the anchor. Not much sleep was had by any of us.

The next morning, great news Jan and Brian from ‘Hooks’ had decided to continue on with us which we were thrilled about.  After a few hours at sea we all made the decision to go all the way to Lizard Island and get to an anchorage where we could stretch our legs on land after being at sea for about 6 days now.

Tried for an earlier start today just to get the travel over with and so we could have more time snorkeling and fishing.  It was only blowing 10-15knots and was a reasonably comfortable trip.  We had no green zones to contend with today and so had both rods out rigged up to hopefully catch a Mackerel. 

About half hour before the end of the journey one reel started screaming.  I t was Toby’s turn on the rod and he quickly jumped into action and fought a big 20kg Mackerel all the way to the boat.  He just didn’t have enough energy for the final landing and so Brett took over the rod and brought it aboard.  I manned the wheel and tried to keep Auspray steady into the wind during the chaos.  The fish was so big we had to leave it where it was until we anchored.

After about 4hrs travel we dropped anchor in a sandy patch of 6m sheltered by the reef.  After lunch and filleting of the Mackerel, we took the tender over to the shallows for some snorkelling.  Brian and Jan from “Hooks” joined us. 

We were now about 50km out to sea off the east coast of Queensland on the Great Barrier Reef.  Adjacent on mainland Australiathe nearest civilization would be an aboriginal community called Wujul Wuju.  So the remoteness of our location started to sink in.  The boys were desperate for a dive but because of the conditions and remoteness, I decided it would be better to leave it for more suitable conditions.

The visibility was still an incredible 20m but the reef and marine life not as prolific which seemed strange as although we were not in a protected green zone, it wasn’t an easy place to get to for anyone venturing from the shore.

Brett and Bj went back to do some spearing and came back with 2 nice coral trout.  The sharks were attracted to the injured fish and started to make their presence felt in the area where Brett and Bj were.  So with enough fish to feed the family, they called it quits.

We later sat on the back deck of “Hooks” for sundowners with Jan and Brian and swapped the stories of the day.  They had success with the trolling too and landed a Mackerel and Tuna.

We made our way back in the tender to Auspray just on dark and had a calm and comfortable night at Ruby Reef.

The boys had the fishing fever now and were up early with their rods looking for more action.

We left around 9.30am heading further north east towards Agincourt Reef.  The journey took about 3 hours and was reasonably comfortable. There were a few whale sightings coming in on the radio, but unfortunately we had passed that area and would not have the opportunity to see them.

Initially we thought we would anchor near the Quicksilver pontoon for where the fish life would be extreme.  However, there was too much activity going on with helicopters, semi submersibles, divers and about 100 snorkelers in the water.

We continued about another 3km past the pontoon to Agincourt#4 reef and found a calm little lagoon and anchored in 14m. Here we had a lunch stop of fresh bbq fish and salad.

After lunch had settled we grabbed our snorkeling gear and took the tender into the shallows.  We weren’t prepared for what we were about to see.  The coral and marine life was abundant and stunning with about 20m visibility.  The were sandy patches enclosed with coral heads there almost went to the surface. We were all hyped up after a fabulous snorkel and being a green zone there would be no fishing or spearing here. 

The water was a cool 26 deg and so after about an hour we made our way back to Auspray with chattering teeth.  A hot shower and a hot cup of tea soon warmed us up. We finished off the day with sundowners on “Hooks” with Jan and Brian and swapped stories about the day and the amazing underwater scenery.

The day has finally arrived…  We planned a 4 week stay in Port Douglas to restock the boat, get any maintenance done and pick up a bit of work to replenish the bank account.

All was going well until the washing machine called it a day, the gear box got a small oil leak, the rocker cover gasket need replacing and the dive compressor blew up.  We set about repairing and replacing all of the above and after a two week delay we were back on the water.

The extra time allowed us to get everything well and truly sorted and put the 12 year old boys, Toby and Dylan through their Open Water Dive course.

After a 4 ½ hour trip north east of Port Douglas, we arrived at Undine Cay, a little sand cay surrounded by reef with plenty of safe anchorage.  We now have company as well, Jan and Brian in “Hooks” are with us for our trip to Lizard Island.

After a few sundowners on Hooks we made our way back to Auspray where the boys had their first session of reef fishing for some months now.  There was plenty of action with Bj and Dylan landing a nice size Tricky Snapper each and Toby hooked a large squid.

Everyone fell into an exhausted sleep with thoughts about what the next day would bring….

Finally on Friday 25th there was a small break in the weather pattern and so we were off.

Leaving just after 9am we made the journey back to Port Douglas where we had started nearly 6 months earlier.

It took about 6 hours and the most welcoming sight for a long time was the leads at the entrance to Dickson Inlet. Here we would spend the next month getting organised for the final leg of this journey which would take us to Lizard Island and the Ribbon Reefs.

Signing off from this blog for now but will continue in August when set sails again, weather permitting….

Daylight brought us what we were dreading.  The strong winds have arrived and the sea around us was whipped up into a foaming pot of waves.  There were whirlwinds of spray off the waves spinning everywhere and the ocean had turned from an aqua blue to a dirty grey green.

One by one the boats were leaving, some had been foolish enough to come out from Cairns in a dinghy. We decided to make a break for it around 10am, when the tide was with us, so we didn’t have that force to deal with as well.

We secured everything, lock the hatches, put our life jackets on and set off into the wild looking weather.  Luckily we only had about two hours to travel if all went well.

Rounding the first point near Turtle Bay, we had 40knot bullets behind us, throwing Auspray sideways down a 2m swell.  There was nothing we could do but go with it and hand on tight.

Luckily after about an hour of white knuckles, we rounded the second point near Yarrabah and the bullets left us and the intensity if the winds dropped to around 30knots.

Brett was able to keep control Auspray in a more civilised manner and finally we made our way into the leads at Cairns and the protection of a relatively calm harbour for the durations of the strong wind warning.

We spent 5 days sitting in the Cairns Inlet in appalling weather, filling in the days as best we could. 

Once again we left at dawn to get the journey behind us as soon as possible.  We could either go straight to Cairns which would take about 6 hours or stop at Fitzroy which would only take 4hrs.

We decided on Fitzroy as we felt we had one more day of good weather before the strong wind warning came in.  “Impression” and “White Man Dreaming” were also making the journey from Russell Island, but the first yacht went on to Cairns and the second went on to Turtle Bay, near Yarrabah.

The conditions were perfect on Fitzroy and we had a great day relaxing, swimming in the clear waters surrounding the resort.  The boys paddled around in the kayak and jumped on the water trampoline, just like they had done nearly 6mths earlier, when we first started this journey.

“Dream Seeker” with the O’Sulivan family on board pulled in that afternoon and so we caught up on the beach.  We both decided it was wise to leave the following morning as we were only just ahead of the forecast 35knt SE on their way.

That night the winds whipped up and we spent a very worried night as Auspray and all the other boats around us skated around on their mooring, sometimes not missing each other by much.

As much as we would have liked to stay a few days at Dunk, we had to push on to get to a safe anchorage.  There was a strong wind warning on its way which was forecast to be around for a few weeks.  Where ever we made it to in the next couple of days, we would be stuck, so it was important to be somewhere civilised.

We left at dawn for the next leg which would be Russell Island in the Frankland Island Group.  This took about 4 hours and we also had “Impression”, White Man Dreaming” along on the way for company.

There were 3 moorings available which made anchorage easy.  The lagoon and fringing reef surrounding Russell Island was clear and inviting, so everyone had an afternoon swim.  There were even a few waves to body surf on the eastern side of the island.

It would make a good site for an evening fire and so the three yachty groups collected  enough wood to make a roaring fire for that evening.  We reheated left-over’s wrapped in foil in the hot coals and talked the night away.