Hinchinbrook to Townsville

Restocked with supplies we were back on our way down the Hinchinbrook channel (a narrow channel between the mainland and the tall peaks of Hinchinbrook Island) noted as the most spectacular channel on the east coast of Australia. And it delivered with amazing tall cloud-swirled peaks directly above us, large old growth mangrove forests, pelicans in v-formations and fun sailing conditions.
We stopped to visit an ancient aboriginal fish trap site along the channel shores, to get ashore we waded through thick sticky mud (Rob was unhappy at getting his feet dirty). The traps were made when the sea level was lower (about 10,000 years ago) and are quite impressive in both size ingenuity. We then meandered down the channel trying to be as engineless as possible. At one point going backwards for a while (was it really a mile!) due to lack of wind and a strong current and almost hitting a starboard marker we passed a couple of hours before.
After spending four nights in the Hinchinbrook Channel we headed out in 25 knots of breeze to the Palm Isles. We finally made it past the wharf at Lucinda which is a staggering 5.76kms long. Conditions were quite rough heading out and we practised with the safety lines and inflatable life jackets.

All was going well until (yet again) we got becalmed and had to pack all of the safety gear away. We spotted a cool leopard shark swimming in the water and also an adventurous mud crab a few miles from land. We finally made it out to spectacular Orpheus Island, where sparkling blue waters greeted us. We anchored off the reef outside the marine research station in the protected shelter of Pioneer bay while waiting out 4 days of strong wind warnings.
We did some volunteer work at the research station organising all the equipment in their dry lab. It was a treat to have a movie and pizza night ashore with some of the staff.
Anna got bumped while paddling on a surf ski by a curious manta ray which was feeding out by the boat. We also had a resident Giant (and I mean GIANT) trevally hiding under our boat (I think it must have enjoyed the whole potato which Rob accidently dropped overboard). We also got to snorkel on the colourful reef and swim amongst a Giant clam garden which was part of an old research project.
After carefully passing though spider alley, known for the giant Golden Orb Spiders, we made our way through to the exposed side of Orpheus to participate in our new favourite activity, beachcombing. With no snakes spotted this time! We came across what we have now seen too many times, a terrible amount of plastic and junk that is washed up on the beaches. At least we found some things we could put to use on the boat (although Rob does have strict regulations on what I, a chronic collector, can bring back on board).
We had a good sail, through schools of jumping tuna, around to Fantome Island for lunch and another snorkel and then on to Great Palm Island for the night. Much to Robs surprise I diligently did all of the washing and hung it out to dry from the side stays.
Renowned for beautiful sunsets, we weren’t disappointed with a bright orange glow sinking down below the horizon amongst the black silhouette of the islands. Great Palm Island is a rugged Island, managed by a small aboriginal community. As the anchorage was near the small airport we marvelled at how many flights there were, we counted at least 15 in just a couple of hours in the afternoon and tried to think of reasons why this could be......
Up at 4.30 the next morning, we left before daybreak for our next leg to Magnetic Island. It was quite exciting sailing through the darkness with our navigation lights glowing from the mast. Rob actually mistakenly set the mainsail the best it has ever looked due to not being able to see what he was doing in the darkness! Although he is still claiming otherwise..
We had to confirm over the radio that no live bombing was going to take place in the area. Near Townsville is a major army base and the surrounding waters are used for regular bombing practise. Turned out they were, but the day after we arrived. Thankfully the wind held all the way, and we avoided the countless number of low flying Jets and bomber planes we saw over the next few days. We had a great 30 mile sail in 15-20 knots of wind spotting a number of marine creatures along the way including dolphins and rogue sea snakes.
Early afternoon we arrived at the paradise of Horseshoe Bay. A big curved bay filled with white sand and surrounding rocky peaks. And to top it off, surprise! Surprise! There were already three other Wharram catamarans anchored, one was even a Tiki 26, like our (apparently they are quite rare in Aussie waters). Another, Mata Rani, a bigger, newer Wharram, belonged to Steve and his two energetic kids. We had a strong wind warning for the next week so we explored bush walking tracks all over the island. We scrambled over the jumbles of balancing rocks chasing the agile rock wallabies which appear to leap up sheer cliffs. Rob even tried to convince himself there was surf on the seaward side (was only small and 1 foot! Arghh!). We enjoyed the company of our Wharram neighbours over the next week having lots of fun and adventures, being able to witness the Lunar eclipse and as well, celebrating the winter solstice with a party on the shore. ‘Bushy’, the owner of the other Tiki 26 cooked us his famous apple pie for the occasion in his camp oven, a technique perfected after decades of cooking over a campfire while he surfed the perfect waves of Western Australia.
It was great meeting other people on similar boats and everyone was very supportive and encouraging of our journey, especially sharing their knowledge of the coastline and some special locations of good anchorages for boats with small drafts such as ours (all of the boat books are written for deep keeled monohulls).
Coincidently, Melissa and Andrew, friends of Annas’ from school in NZ, happened to be holidaying on the Island at the same time. So it was good to hear some friendly Kiwi voices over dinner, and catch up on world news and travelling stories.
Moving on from Magnetic Island we left our now good Wharram friends, to move south in our short weather window before another strong wind pattern develops. We have a day in Townsville (today) to get some fresh goods for the next few weeks before sailing south towards the Whitsunday Islands! We have 3 capes to get past (no not the ones at the bottom of the world Allen) and a few long days ahead of us with the headwinds.

Hinchinbrook Island

After our relaxing few days at Dunk Island, we decided it was time to move on. From here we made our way 20 miles to the Worlds’ Largest Island National Park, the famous Hinchinbrook Island via a picturesque lunch anchorage on a tropical sand-spit at Garden Island. Hinchinbrook is renowned for its intricate mangrove forests, mountainous landscapes and a diverse array of marine creatures including the ancient saltwater crocodile.

Our first night in a mangrove creek was amazing, we had the perfect sunset, calm conditions and wildlife was everywhere, fish were jumping, noises were all around us, and a pair of red eyes (yes, a croc) was casually cruising by before it participated in some wild thrashing as we tried to relax safely onboard! Here we also had our first encounter with the legendary sandflies, that are repelled by nothing and attack at any chance. For the first night they seemed to mainly focus on Anna. After scolding Anna to stop itching her bites, “it will only make them worse”, a few days later, I am now a contortionist scratcher, reaching everywhere to satisfy my scratching needs! Needless to say, Anna has no sympathy towards me...

We spent 4 nights around Hinchinbrook, trying different creeks and anchorages, while we fished, relaxed and did some more serious beachcombing! A particularly good forage on a secluded little beach turned up a mint lifejacket, a paddle, fishing reel and some fishing lures! It almost turned disastrous however when I took the lead (eager to find more treasures), only to almost find a very poisonous and very deadly, aptly named Death Adder close to my unprotected right foot. After a manly scream and a step back from the snake, I cautiously took a few photos (to identify later) and left him in peace. Oh how I love the Australian wildlife, only a close encounter with a shark to go... (although we did watch a shark for a few minutes successfully chase and capture a leaping stringray right next to us!)

As for our sailing, its getting better, we have been able to sail up and down the creeks (without relying on our trusty motor, “Mr Johnson”) and have even successfully sailed onto and off our anchor a few times! Hinchinbrook is an incredible place, that we could spend a lot of time exploring and marvelling at. We saw heaps of wildlife including pods of dolphins, feeding turtles, (the count stands at Rob 7, Anna 5) a pair of Osprey and hopefully a Dugong to come as we next head down the channel towards Lucinda, and our next group of islands the Palm Islands.

Flying Fish Point to Dunk Island

With all the decks scrubbed (thanks Anna), safety gear organised, enough fruit to fight off the scurvy until the next port of call, and a testing of ‘Volantes’ and ‘Joys’ carrying capacity with a celebratory boat warming ( It was great to have a visit from all the kiwis and adventure racers who were in Cairns to compete in the XPD Adventure race), We were ready for our maiden voyage the next morning.

We had a pleasant cruise down Johnstone river from our journeys starting base at Innisfail, and were then confronted by an onshore wind and outgoing tide over a sand bar that was only ever getting shallower! After a wee bit of panic with a few good waves over the bow, and our minds wondering (what are we doing!!), we got out into the blue! We had an easy 6 miles of sailing to see how she went in a nice 10-15knots of perfect trade-wind breeze. Sailing fully reefed to begin with... (we didn’t want to get ahead of ourselves just yet). After being passed by more than a few butterflies we decided to take to shake out the reefs and with huge grins on our faces found that ‘Volante’ was a dream to sail (this is what its about!!).

Heading along the coast with white beaches, a mountain-drop background and a few curious seabirds, we were able to make our first anchorage at Mourilyan Harbour. Getting up at dawn, and seeing other yachts already leaving, we got a bit jealous (severe FOMO), and quickly headed out under sail while the sun was still dawning. A perfect day of sailing ensued (thanks to Rob, Anna barely got up from her place of rest!), we sailed past our first few Islands with rainforest fringing sand spits. After a long tack offshore (to make use of a wind shift that was supposed to come, but didn’t!) we sailed into a headwind all the way down to our first island anchorage at the popular Dunk Island. Seeing a large cluster of million dollar boats and being the cautious new sailors that we were, we decided to give ourselves a bit of anchoring room (see picture below)...

We spent the next four days exploring Dunk Island, walking in the rainforest, beachcombing, turtle spotting (Rob 2, Anna 0) and a celebration of Anna’s birthday with cocktails at the resort bar.