Mackay Reef - YOUR IN MY ZONE.

 

Sens de la Vie - Mackay Reef

 

Mackay Reef -  YOU'RE IN MY ZONE.

After spending a few days at  Fitzroy Island, and a short stopover at Port Douglas, we started making passage to Lizard Island.  Initially we were going to stop into Cooktown on the way but weather and sea state were good conditions to go out on the reefs. 

Very excited Capt big fight to get this Wahoo on board

Capt Teza caught this Wahoo along the way, which put up an incredible fight for over 30 mins.  

I was not familiar with this fish, other than ordering at a restaurant. I was thankful for the calm seas as it took a while to process and to pin bone.

MACKAY REEF

 

Mackay Reef has an unvegetated coral sand cay to the lee side of the reef.  There are over 300 cays in the Great Barrier Reef which are formed over thousands of years  by reef rubble and sand via the action of storms, wave patterns and currents.  

These cays provide rest and breeding grounds for birds.  Bird droppings over thousands of years can produce a concretionary layer that helps stabilize the cay.  

Many cays go under at high tide or disappear with large storms or cyclones.  The bird droppings, feathers carrying seeds or seeds floating from the mainland can result in these cays forming into low wooded islands.  North of Cairns there are over 44 low wooded islands many with navigational beacons. The most well-known is Low Isles off Port Douglas.

We arrived late in the afternoon which negated me diving on to some deep water bommies and it was shark feeding time.

  We explored the little sandy cay and I snorkeled off the sand,  mainly to look at the action of the sand and currents.  The drop off from shore line was very steep on the lee side, shallowing out a distance on the windward side of cay.

I was delighted to be snorkeling in a large school of fish who seemed not at all scared of my presence,  circling me.  But then, in a big flash of silver they were gone.

Ever get that feeling that “you are no longer part of the party”, or “everyone knows something you don’t”, or “you did not get the memo?”, everyone has left the meeting, you're still writing notes and haven’t quiet caught up.

I turned around to see a large black tip reef shark. These are common sharks that cruise the reefs and are generally not interested in you.  But he was making a move and I just realised I was in the middle of his late afternoon snack. 

I am in swimming in the middle of the seafood buffet looking like a walrus in my wetsuit. Turning to face this shark was enough movement' and eye balling it caused it to change direction and for me to retreat without further curiosity or any interest by the shark.

My lookout Capt Teza was unaware

Pardon me I will leave now, sorry to have interrupted your feeding.  Reminding to be mindful that we are visitors to their underwater ZONE. 

You're in MY ZONE.

Living in a small space, travelling as a couple has many challenges, particularly on a boat. Catamarans have the advantage of more room and 2 hulls that a couple can easily make into My Zone and Your Zone.  Thankfully we have 2 Heads (toilets and showers), which helps with a little bit of privacy. 

When possible, visiting islands, or mainland' I will go alone walking or be by myself, just to get a little MY space and head space.  The Capt zones out with books.  He is known to read a book in an afternoon which results in no conversation and him completely in another world.

The main saloon and galley has created the zones of port side Capt Teza and starboard side my Zone.

The photos displayed are pre living on Board and taken awhile ago.  I can assure you at the moment it is very cluttered heap more new equipment and gear.  

Its "Gloriously Messy" ,to be honest I would be embarrassed to take updated photos at the moment  but will do when packing down the boat for Insurance purposes.  

The starboard has the galley main saloon table and all lockers on this side are provision lockers except for the watermaker and generator which are housed in the some of the under seating lockers.

The galley is “MY ZONE” and if Capt Teza comes into this zone whilst I am preparing food he gets a stern warning  “your in my zone”. If tools, oily rags or other foreign objects not pertaining to food preparation make their way onto the benches there is much cursing from the ship's cook.

 

The port side is essentially the Captain's ZONE.  Navigation table, settees, power control board, switches for all our systems, radio, AIS, EPIRB and so forth.

 It’s an unruly collection of bibs and bobs that he needs to get his hands on daily or in a hurry. Spare parts, small tools, maps, pens, keys, bits of paper, all manner of bloke stuff and boat bits complete with a cup of random screws and bolts, ships log, hat, glasses, hand compass, sextant, charts an so much more . 

This Zone is messy but it is the Captain's ZONE and he knows where everything is…………………………..well kinda.  He does asks a lot where is such and such, as he is rummaging about looking……………………my no response works as within a few minutes he will exclaim “here it is! You must have moved it” . The lockers in this area store much of the maintenance supplies electrical, tapes, glues, nuts, bolts and some small tools.

The shared cosy ZONE.

Dressing we take turns, as there is not enough room in the main cabin for both us to be scrambling in the lockers for clothes, balancing to get undies and clothes on, putting sunscreen on and daily grooming.  The few times we have tried this has resulted in me getting hit in the face as Teza puts his arms through his shirt sleeves and Teza getting my bum in his face getting my shorts on.  The cabin does provide a chill out space for Teza to read and completely stretch out in his favored “star position” by himself on the bed.  Our Main Cabin is the cosy ZONE we share happily.

The aft cabin is a storage zone at the moment, but we are going to do a cull of a lot of stuff we brought onto the boat that we thought that we would need.

What we do need going forward in passages planned is to have an aft berth available for overnight passages.  Currently on top of the berth is all manner of gear, Teza’s skate board, extra linen, (too much spare linen), CD’s and Videos, some reference books are going to go but will be replaced by others…………………………..Yes I can hear you all saying, books in the cloud, online or download all good when you have internet, and not always possible to get out a computer (power usage or uncomfortable when rocking).  Besides, I like the tactile experience of opening a book and some of the field pocket guides have been most useful when walking on islands.

We have printer, food vacuum machine, electronic gear, medical and safety gear, lots of water sports gear and sailing wet gear all of which requires a revised storage plan of lockers and ZONES.

 BAR ZONE seems to be increasing in stock selection rather than decreasing.

And the Naughty Locker ZONE - Wine rack, chocolate, lollies, chips, nuts, chocolate and more chocolate did I mention wine.

Liveaboards carry a lot of personal stuff as it is not like “Oh that’s at home”,  this is our home.

 

What is working and what is not working is being identified slowly in this lifestyle transition.  

Many conversations with other liveaboard cruising couples have given us some great ideas………….everyone has different needs and we are learning ours "living in a small space on a big open space at sea".

Everyday we laugh and learn this new way of living and being in the ZONE.

LESS IS MORE.

What is our Purpose? Mourilyan Harbour - Australian Border Force

 

Mourilyan Harbour Oct 2020

 Port of Mourilyan which  has an entry that is 

almost unseen from out to sea.

Unfortunately I did not get to take any pictures coming into the  port as  I was processing a large Frigate Tuna that the Capt Teza caught.

Very Happy Capt Teza

Learning the antimony of the fish species

Processing large pelagic fish is a challenge when the yacht is heaving but thankfully the waters were calm on this occasion. 

I am loving renewing my skills in butchery, I did 6 months of butchery as an apprentice and indentured Chef.  These days they just give out a CD, do a demo and you have ticked a box in your trade qualification. Rarely commercial kitchens butcher anymore which is sad for lost skills.  Much like prefabrication in building industry. Learning again is my favorite subject: FOOD and Produce.

I was fortunate that TAFE trade courses in the late 70's and 80's had lots of skills and practice using real produce and materials. TAFE could afford us all to be butchering carcasses, everything we butchered  went to prison or government institution Kitchens.

 

Entrance

So difficult to identify from the sea Capt James Cook missed it on his travels and it was only discovered in 1872 after Capt Moresby of a steam ship carrier who'd been searching for survivors of a shipwreck. These were gold prospecting passengers. They were heading to PNG on a passenger ship named Maria, which sank on a reef off Hinchinbrook Island. The story tells that the Capt and crew of Maria launched the life boats and left the passengers on the sinking boat. 

The passengers were hardened men and very resourceful. They set about making rafts from the ever disintegrating steam ship breaking up on the reef, and they manged to landed just north of the harbour. They were cared for by the local indigenous tribe who wept when they were rescued, according to Capt Moresby's ships log.  

Australia has a fascinating maritime history and I make an effort, particularly in these waters and the top end, to do a little research on those men and women that travelled this coast line by sea vessels.  Even today it is still rugged, remote and extremely beautiful with the mountains touching the sea. 

 I have visions that this little almost secret harbour had scoundrels, pirates and all manner of seafaring   mischief…………………………or so I was told by our  seafaring friend Linus Bagley.

A lugger much like Linus's Yacht

Indeed,  Linus's hilarious pirate story of his sailing days with a larrikin mate who happened to have one eye and a pirate patch, landing their sailing lugger into port, greeted by the harbour master with a please explain conversation that almost put Linus and his mate into the watch house, captured the imagination of Capt Teza to go visit Mourilyan Harbour.  

Obviously, its no secret harbour any more and has a large sugar terminal , the Sugar Storage facility is one of the largest of its type in the world.

The entry was widened with explosives in 1960.

It is also a call in station for the Australian Border Force, who promptly escorted us into the harbour,  watched us anchor and came about along side to ask a lot of official questions to identify us and our purpose…………..PURPOSE................"Sens de La Vie" translated means the "Meaning of Life"

Now is not the time to be funny and witty, Capt Teza………………thankfully because Capt was finding it difficult to hear with Border Force boat motors running along side, I was up deck having just dropped the anchor was able to answer the series of check box questions politely………………………………..

Seriously “What is your Purpose?”………………………..a million things went through my head in a flash……………………one of which, " I am not a drug smuggler."………………which thank goodness I did not say out aloud. For if I was a drug smuggler then I would probably say that I am not a drug smuggler and they would think that I am. 

I did hesitate on the question, “where do you live?”

Asking my self the same question “where do I live?” out aloud!!! That resulted in a raised eyebrow.

Having satisfied the ABF Officers in answers and both of our appearances leaving little doubt.  

I smelt of fish guts and I am sure some of it was in my hair, Capt Teza was just smiling because he had caught a fish and could not wait to ring Linus and say that he also had to "please explain"

Our ages and candid conversation were befitting of two old loves going out for an adventure.

I am sure when they left they were taking bets on 'how long do you think they will travel and last on the sea?'.

It's a comfort to know that the maritime borders are being carefully monitored, drug trafficking by sea has increased since COVID as the other means of transporting drugs into Australia has been restricted.  

I imagine that when they log in the official Border Protection log book which is shared to all patrols along the whole of Australian Coast Border Protection units and the ADF would go something like this:

Patrol Report 29th October 2020

Mourilyan Harbor 17.6022 Degrees S 146.1041 Degrees E

Cassowary Coast  FNQ

Monohull 

SV Sens de la Vie 

Sierra, Echo, November, Sierra - Delta, Echo - Lima Alpha Victor, India, Echo

White Top Deck and hull

44ft Beneteau

2 POB

No Threat other to themselves.

Older couple sailing, if they make it to the Gulf  the Gove patrol should congratulate them.

 

Exploring Far North Queensland October 2020

 

Orpheus, Hinchinbrook and Dunk Islands October 2020

We left Magnetic Island on a beautiful day with perfect sailing conditions.  Our best so far on this passage.

We have had uneventful sailing in terms of no major mishaps, mayhem or chaos on this leg FNQ, so my blogs don’t have my usual candid embellished stories of the calamities of Capt Teza and his crew…………………………………….but I am fairly positive that a story will be told in future blogs.

The seasonal cruising Pod who were fortunate to be able to sail the Queensland Coast and Islands in 2020 season are mostly heading south now catching the northerly winds.  This is the  seasonal turnaround for most yachties.  

We have always found October to be a great month to sail, with low rainfall.  We have yet to experience the North in November and December but fellow yachties have all made positive reports on conditions in previous year sailing logs. 

The bonus is that anchorages are less busy the downside is that there are less opportunities to meet fellow members of WWSA(women for sail Australia)  and the flotilla of Cruising Queensland FB members.

Our destination is an overnight stop at Orpheus Island to check out the giant clams, unfortunately the  planned visit to the James Cook University Research Center was cancelled due to Covid 19 restrictions. I was hoping that we would be able to see the giant clams in the spring tides when they are not submerged. Timing of tides and time resulted in us just viewing from above ………………….but I am sure I will get to hug a clam as we explore further north.  

Some clam bleaching has occurred in waters between Townsville and Magnetic Island,  thankfully,  I saw no beaching at Orpheus.  Clams are amazing creatures, they usually live on flat coral beds or broken coral. The mantle tissue of the shell displays many different patterns and colours.  Orpheus Island  offers great snorkeling, there are 350 coral species on the Great Barrier Reef, 340 of thesecoral species can be found in the fringing reefs of Orpheus Island. This is my 3^rd visit to this island and every time weather, timing and sea state has not given me to opportunity to explore the reefs.  Hopeful that my exploring further North on The Great Barrier Reef will present more opportunities.

We sailed across to the entrance of Hinchinbrook island inland channel, at Lucinda Sugar Wharf which stretches 6 kilometres into the coral sea.  The leads (Light Markers) to take us in the channel are fixed on the Jetty and bring us very close alongside the wharf . 

These stock photos give a better view of this jetty and the entrance.

This is our 3^rd passage in this channel ,  each time despite our best planning, its always with some blow up of wind or a squall that challenges our passage over this shallow bar. 

We only had a meter under our keel at the lowest point.  I get very anxious as I sound off the depths to Capt Teza so he can focused staying on the lead marker lights in the washing machine waters.

Once behind the Hinchinbrook Island, calm waters and the majestic rainforest covered  mountain  with its many visible waterfalls, has a calming effect on your spirit .  You have entered into an ancient land and waterway that looks like something out of “Jurassic Park” Movie. 

This area certainly takes your breath away.

I made contact with a fellow well known, WWSA member Lyn and Kurt her partner.  They were up the top end of the Hinchinbrook channel and we met the next day.  Wonderful to meet this couple who have traveled the world by Motorbike, Truck and now Sailing. Very Adventurous Couple.

Lively conversations,  as it turns out Kurt Lived and went to school at Lower Beechmont in the 60s which meant that he knows many of our local lads in from their teenage years that we call friends today. 

Way too much rum was consumed by the Capt.  I observe that he misses “bloke conversation” one on one.  

Terry retired on the eve of the Covid  Pandemic.  Leaving a large workforce, predominately male,  in the construction industry for over 40 years,  to "Just me" at home in isolation due to another serious virus. 

Not saying that we have any difficulty in keeping each other amused , entertained and checked. How else would this partnership work for over 40 years?  

But there is a void when you stop work, and it takes awhile to adjust your stride, interests and priorities. Indeed, for Terry being a Project Manager for many years he needs a project....................and I am not it!  

I do need his care as I became very sick and still recovering. 

I could not experience this sailing adventure without his love, his physical attributes (pretty good for 65), seamanship and his mental capabilities. That keep us safe and the shipshape.

 We have good couples conversations, debating various subjects and laugh our way through most of our mishaps and mayhem. 

Normal in retirement you would have some celebration, time to catch up with some work colleges,   old friends , visit family and relax into your transition of no paid employment.  

 DUNK ISLAND

As I was desperate to get into the water and at least have a swim, we made passage to Dunk Island and anchored in Coconut Bay . 

 This Bay is not favored by yachties with big keels as there are many bommies, as we discovered on a lower than normal tide, gently grazing a rocky shelf.

Capt Teza going back to Yacht to give me some alone time

Postcard Anchorage

Opposite side to the old resort and the main anchoring area but just perfect for us to relax watch the wildlife including a turtle that greeted me every morning for coffee. 

Capt Teza Relaxing and on watch as I paddle in the water

Don’t ask me for a photo of wildlife.  I am the “worlds worst Wildlife “ photographer, which is very disheartening when I majored in photography at Art College. 

"No Arse" Photos Capt Teza

But I get so excited to witness this nature so close, I just get caught up in the moment.  I have previously gone to grab a camera to take a footage of turtles, whales, dugongs, dolphins, rays and all manner of fish and I have missed the moment.  So now I just embrace the moment, if I have a camera ready sometimes I will make an effort to capture and share this moment with you. 

   

What Photos don’t capture.

The salty air, a warm breeze carrying the sweet smell of the rainforest and the saltiness of the ocean, warmth of the sun on your skin,  ever present sounds, of birds, fish, some weird shrimp things that make noises under your hull,  a puff of breath from a turtle, the waves lapping on shore over coral rubble, rocks and sand, trees as they sway in the breeze.

 It’s a sensory overload of the natural world that I am very grateful to experience and explore a small part of this living planet.

Next Blog  Port of Mourilyan which has a secret entry almost unseen from out to sea.

So difficult to identify from sea that Capt James Cook missed it on his travels and it was only discovered in 1872,  a secret little harbor  filled with mystery and maybe treasure.