5-14-00 Happy Mother's Day! We are thinking of our Mums today, and missing them both. Mother Nature has been looking over us, but not giving us the greatest weather. We left Bundy 10 days ago and we're day-sailing up the coast accompanied by cloudy skies with occasional showers and high wind warnings (20-30knots) daily. It's different than we expected, we pictured 15-20 knots with clear, blue skies. Oh well, Mother Nature has the last say in these things. At least the wind has been behind us, pushing us northward and we are in the tropics again, we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn at 23° S. We are anchored at a small offshore island called Thomas Island (Lat 20° 33'S/149° 05'E) in the Cumberland Island chain. The islands are only 20 miles off the coast and are Queensland's greatest concentration of islands and a beautiful cruising area, full of national parks and marine sanctuaries. We've day-sailed most of the 485 miles trip up the coast from Scarborough so far. We moved about 40 to 50 miles/day, stopping to anchor each afternoon. We did sail one overnight passage to Scawfell Island to get some miles under our keel. The Great Barrier Reef is only 30 miles east of us now, but the weather is not cooperating for us to sail out to any of the reef anchorage's yet. We hope to make it out there, either on SIMMER or maybe we'll have to take a trip on a dive boat. It should get easier as we get further north, since the reef is closer to the mainland there. We have seen some coral, but the water visibility has not been superb, due to all the wind and big seas. We have seen alot of sea turtles on our passages and in the harbors. We were a couple weeks late in the hatchling season to witness the baby turtles scurry down the beach to reach the water's edge. That would've been neat. We are headed for the Whitsunday Islands in the northern Cumberland chain. Some of the islands have resorts and are favorites for Aussie holidays. We'll spend a week or two there, then head back to the mainland again (Townsville) to reprovision fresh food, visit and internet cafe and Laundromat.
5-19-00 We're in Arlie Beach, Lat 20°15.8'S/Lon 148°43.3'E. Arlie is on the mainland and the nerve center of the Whitsunday tourist trade. We've spent the last few days enjoying a some partial sunshine and moderate winds, sailing around the Whitsunday islands - Shaw Island, Thomas Island, Cid Harbor on Whitsunday Island - then on to Arlie. We'll reprovision a few fresh things here before heading back out to see more of the Whitsundays. Arlie is full of tourist shops, backpacker lodges, internet cafes, pubs, booking offices and such. We'll email this update tomorrow. Sorry only one digital picture in the update (only us at the Bundy Rum Distillery), but the weather hasn't been the best for taking scenic pictures (or for keeping our digital camera dry!). We hope to get a chance to take some pictures before we leave the Whitsundays and head toward Townsville. It's such a shame we've had gray skies and no shortage of wind while we're here.
We had very sad news yesterday via our morning SSB radio Net. Friends we made in Scarborough Marina lost their boat on the reef at Lady Musgrave Island, just off Bundaberg. They are a young Norwegian couple with two small children onboard. Apparently they had engine failure while trying to enter the reef anchorage at night in high winds (30kts+). Thankfully all are ok, and they were rescued by an Australian ship. It's sad, they lost their boat (home), but they were very lucky and we are grateful that everyone is safe. Good on the Aussie's for being close-by to pick them up! Our thoughts and prayers are with them. Moments such as these remind us of our vulnerability, and serve to make us sail a bit more conservatively and carefully. (Not that we don't usually, Mom).
5-26-00 We're in Townsville, Lat 19° 13' S/Lon 146° 50' E, check an Australian map, you should be able to easily locate this city on the northeast coast. Although it is winter here it doesn't feel tropical - we woke up this morning and a cold front had settled in - it was 10°C (50°F) in the boat cabin. We are having a bit of a "freeze" as they call it. We had to dig out some socks to wear! But the sky is bright blue and crystal clear. We'll be in Townsville for a few days to provision up, make phone calls and visit with our friends from WINGS OF TIME - a LaFitte 44 with a young American couple, Laura & Jeff, onboard. We first met them in the Galapagos. They are staying in Townsville for the next few months, until their first baby is born in early Aug. They were part of our original FishNet gang that stayed in touch on the SSB radio all the way across the Pacific.
5-31-00 We're just north of Townsville, and off the coast in the Palm Islands. We've spent the last 3 days in the company of WINGS OF TIME - enjoying fishing, beachcombing, bird watching and hiking. Laura looks adorable 7 months pregnant and they are making modifications to their boat to welcome the baby. Laura's brother, Charles, flew in for a visit, and we've had alot of laughs. Last night was Laura's birthday and we had them over for dinner. Fresh fish on the grill, of course. SIMMER and WINGS OF TIME both caught Aussie mackerels while trolling. Colleen made a birthday cake, which didn't quite rise properly, and looked more like a birthday pancake. But the fish and company was terrific. We lit the candles and sang "Happy Birthday" serenaded by Pat on the guitar. We departed company this morning, since we have to continue north and they have to return to Townsville. We'll keep in touch on SSB and anxiously await Jeff's report when the baby is born!
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