Saturday 22nd
April 2017
Mission Beach
2XS anchored off
Clump Point
 |
| Yes it is very dark and stormy!! |
We left the anchorage outside Breakwater Marina
(Townsville) bright and early Thursday morning.
Well…not quite… We got up bright and early and with a stifled yawn and a
happy enough smile we went to raise the anchor.
45 minutes later…yes, it was up.
The anchor winch was grinding slow, protesting feebly all the way. I spent the 45 minutes hanging into the chain
locker to knock it down as it came up, at glacial speed. In the meantime Pete, cursing softly but
vehemently, wrestled with the chain and winch with one hand and the seawater
hose with the other. The entire chain
was coated with thick oozy stinky mud.
Normally I would wield the hose – one of my favourite jobs, getting ooze
off the chain. But this time I had to
stay hanging into the locker because it was more important to keep the chain
knocked down.
 |
| 2XS in the shelter of the jetty breakwater |
So EVENTUALLY off we set, with both sails up, sailing
steadily through Hinchinbrook Channel. The
island is much bigger than I remember, with majestic mountains and a fringe of
deep mangroves. We anchored up a wide waterway,
Gayundah Creek, in a patch of calm water.
Beautiful! I kept an eye out for crocodiles
– I am sure there were many, lurking in the mangroves. But not a croc, not a bird, not a sign of
life. Not until we had dropped anchor
and whammo! A thick cloud of midgies
descended, ferociously feeding off our poor soft Tasmanian flesh. We gave a few startled squawks and rushed to
find a tube of Repel. It didn’t really
repel them; we ae both covered in very itchy bites and welts and I have already
swallowed a frightening number of antihistamines. Ah, the tropics!!
Yesterday we sped from Hinchinbrook Island to Mission
Beach at a great rate of knots. Literally! The wind and the waves were with us and I
think we went 12 knots at times. That is
VERY fast for 2XS! Not entirely
comfortable… It was very stormy and Pete got totally drenched.
 |
| The very very long Lucinda sugar jetty |
So we were very glad to get around Clump Point to find
it was really quite calm and possible to anchor.
Pete Salmon, with Maddie and beautiful Baggins the labradoodle,
came to get us and we are cosily ensconced in their beautiful tropical house on
the side of a hill overlooking the bay.
Steve Mason (from Flinders Island) will join us later today.
 |
| Maddie and Baggins |
Meanwhile back in Tasmania
my brave 15 year old Angus is freedriving for crayfish!
 |
| From the Mercury |
No comments:
Post a Comment