Lizard Island to Townsville (19th September - 1st October)

Research Centre at Lizard Island

Getting south from Lizard Island is never easy!  According to the statistics the wind blows from the SE for 91% of the time in September so the chances to get south can be slim.  We had a small window of opportunity in the weather to head south on the 19th so figure we better take it as you are never sure what you are going to get.  The forecast is for around 15-20knts from the SE for the next three days and our course to Low Isles is around 160^o so it is going to be 'on the nose' all the way.

Crown of Thorns

It is up early on the 19^th and we are off and aiming to make it to Cape Bedford for the night.  As the course for today is a little kinder (180^o) we were able to make it quite comfortably in to the anchorage at 13:00H although it was a pretty bumpy sail.  The next day wasn’t quite as kind as the wind swung more to the SSE which meant it was a true beat all the way to Hope Islands in around 20-25knots of wind.  We ended up with 2 reefs in the main and our very lovely #4 headsail up which gave us the best angle to the wind possible however, it was still a very long day as we didn’t arrive at Hope until 16:30H and we covered 55NM but only made 30NM in a forward direction – not much fun at all.    We are kind of figuring that unless something improves in the weather overnight we will be spending a few days in at East Hope Island until the next weather window presents itself.

The BOM is very good at forecasting the weather these days and true to form there is no let-up in the weather on Sunday so it looks like it is Hope Island for the next few days.  We have plenty of company for our stay as a bunch of fisho’s are camping on the island for a few days and there is a regular procession of people stopping in on their way north - strangely there don't seem to be many people arriving that are also heading south!

Over the last few weeks our house batteries have being showing signs of ageing and we have been having to charge twice per day just to avoid going under volt.  This was even more noticeable during our sailing days when we have been using plenty of electrons on all the nav. gear and auto helm.  Luckily we have enough internet and mobile coverage to do some research and during our stop have arranged for a couple of batteries to be delivered to the marina once we arrive in Townsville. 

Hope Island - Not TOO tough!

We didn’t waste our time in Hope Island – it is a very pretty spot so we went for plenty of walks around the island (both clockwise and anti-clockwise) and also went for a snorkel most days and were pleasantly surprised with the diversity and good condition of the coral even though the water is not as clear as what we have become accustomed to. 

On Thursday (25^th September) the weather has started to settle down and we have a more comfortable 10-15knt SE wind blowing so we figure it is time to get moving again.  We left the anchorage early and had a go at motor sailing and did much better than expected for the day.  The original plan was to make it in to Low Isles for the night however progress was so good that we were able to make it into Port Douglas in time to meet the fuel truck which was a bonus as we were keen to top up the tanks before we do the overnight trip to Townsville.  It was a real treat to be in marina world again where we could have long showers and even enjoyed a meal off the boat. 

Friday and again we were up early for the trip down to Townsville which is around 190NM.  The winds were very light and we motored, with and without some sail, all day and night which was very comfortable.  At dawn on Saturday we did the math and figured that we still had a chance to make it into the Breakwater Marina by 14:00H when we still had enough water under the keel (there is only 0.5mts at LAT tide in the entrance channel which can make it a bit tricky).  So it is back up with the main so that we can achieve the 6.2Knot average that we have to maintain to make it.  Luckily the winds played fair and we had a light NE wind start to make its presence felt and before we knew it we were roaring along with time to spare.  

The first job at Townsville was to replenish our hydrocarbons so we are now full to the brim with diesel and LPG.  As usual there are 'boat jobs' to be done.  Mark serviced the gen-set which didn't go quite as well as expected.  Before he started work the impeller went which was a bit annoying and then after changing the oil and fuel filter found that the motor wouldn't run for more than 60seconds which was very annoying.  We have had a bit of a feeling that there has been a small air leak in the fuel system for some time as the gen-set hasn't been running quite as well as it used to and after much fiddling and tightening of hose clamps etc. it looks like it is all running at 100% again which was at least a good outcome.  While this was going on I was keeping myself busy on deck polishing the stainless steel.  If you haven't noticed there is a lot of SS on Sally!

Late on Monday the new batteries turned up.  They are even bigger and heavier than the ones that we have which is all well and good but installing something that weighs around 75kgs under the floor of the boat was always going to be a bit of a challenge.  Ryan from Alco Batteries was great and delivered the batteries down to the boat and even helped to bring them on board.  Tuesday was battery day so we managed to lift out the current batteries and slowly but surely get them onto the wharf.  With some careful planning Mark installed some fixtures to secure the new batteries and we managed to get them into position without wrecking our backs so all good.  So far they seem to be working great.   As a bit of a treat we went and did a few laps at the Tobruk Pool and then went out for dinner at the Yacht Club with Graciella and Oscar from Zenitude who we first met in Lord Howe in 2013. 

Their are a number of boats in here that we know including Windana and Osiris so sure there will be plenty of catch up sundowner's during our stay.  At this point it is looking like we will be here until Saturday when we will head over to Horseshoe Bay on Magnetic Island to wait for a weather window to get down to the Whitsunday's which we are hoping will turn up sometime early next week.