Misty Brampton

Position, position, position.

Saturday, 2^nd August: Joined at anchor this morning by Tony and Nola on Follow the Sun. An Alfred’s Cruise to Horseshoe Bay rather than Hallets Beach for us this weekend. Today, Carr and I caught a local bus around to Nelly Bay where the ferries come in from Townsville. Oh dear. What a shame such unsympathetic development has been permitted here as a pretty little bay has been thoroughly spoiled. However, the bakery is very good with the best bacon and egg rolls we have ever eaten.

Sunday, 3^rd August. A layback day then sundowners and a bbq ashore with Evening Star and Follow the Sun where we are joined by Rob from Brisbane who is on his way to the Louisiades in his Hanse 42 Imagin. Rob has heard that the elders who run the islands have declared August an alcohol free month after some recent problems there. Sounds like a fun place at the moment. We were then joined by a number of curlews with their distinctive call which sounds like they are being murdered.

Monday, 4^th: Woken by the jackhammers at 7 am so decided to take a bus tour around the island to get away from them. A small island but full of beautiful little bays and thick vegetation, a mix of eucalypt on the hills and tropical in the gullies. We hear about the 25 kms of walking tracks in and around the island including the Forts Walk and decide to do it tomorrow morning.

Tuesday, 5^th: A steep 7 km walk to a now abandoned defence post built during WW2 to protect Townsville in the event of a Japanese invasion from the northeast. The stiff climb up to the old gun emplacements and observation tower were well worth the effort with stunning views out over the Coral Sea and back over to Townsville. The bus driver had told us about the large numbers of whales to be seen from the various vantage points on the track but there were none about today. We should have been there yesterday!

Magic Maggie

Friday, 1^st August: Magic Maggie averages 320 days of sunshine per year and today can certainly be counted as one of them. Temperature about 25º.

The dinghy trip ashore was through a belt of dark seaweed called sargassum, a bit offputting as I am not a dugong, and ashore we were greeted by the sounds of jackhammering and other assorted machinery noises. A block of apartments is being erected along the waterfront and the racket is not welcoming so we walked away from Marine Drive (a tourist trap if ever I saw one) and inland about 1 km to a koala sanctuary attached to a backpacker establishment. Our tour guides were two charming young ladies who certainly knew how to handle their animals including crocodiles, cockatoos, assorted lizards, a baby echidna and koalas. One of the crocodiles apparently is starting to display some alarming habits, so has been renamed Britney and is off to crocodile rehab. We then were taken on a walk through Butterfly Valley – enchanting. By the time we return, the construction workers thankfully have gone home.

Back on Breakaway, we received a call from Simon and Julie on Evening Star. They were en route from Dunk Island and expected to be in Horseshoe Bay by late afternoon so sundowners and an Alfred’s First Friday on Breakaway was the programme for the night. Evening Star has been as far as Cairns and is now heading for Mooloolaba for some r & m.

Thursday 31^st. 0548 start for an even longer day today, 78 nautical miles to Magnetic Island. Wind from the SSE but variable between 5 kts and 0 kts. Motoring only today. By 11 am Breakaway is abeam Cape Bowling Green, a long, low, shrubby, sandy spit with one tree standing at the end of it. With the aquamarine water, cloudless sky and the sun shining bright and warm at 24º, it looks good enough for a holiday brochure. And then I see dolphins. Perfect.

Cape Cleveland at 2 pm and now Townsville and Magnetic Island are in sight. The sea has been dead calm so while the engine is running I have used the microwave as a convection oven and cooked diner for tonight. Stuffed aubergines in the Turkish style. Yum.

1600: Anchored in Horseshoe Bay on the northern side of Magnetic Island. A palm fringed bay with sand the colour of Sydney’s northern beaches and a few houses amongst the trees, a wee bit rolly but so beautiful we will stay here for a few days. A popular anchorage I would say by the number of boats here.

A whale

Wednesday, 30^th. 0605.

Anchor up and a longish day of 52 nautical miles to Upstart Bay, bypassing Bowen as the wind is cold and we want to make the most of some sailing with the wind coming from the SSE but forecast to ease off later in the day. It does. At Abbot Point we see a conveyer belt of 1.6 miles along a jetty taking coal out to a loading tower so we head further out to sea and watch a whale lazily drifting along with the current. We wave as s/he passes by and get a wave in reply!! Down to 5 kts of wind, cloudless sky, aquamarine sea flat, we motor the rest of the way into Upstart Bay. The land here is very steep, very rocky and rugged but no ragged rascals running round them. Surprisingly, there are dozens of houses built along the eastern shore, no roads that we can see but lots of small runabouts. Fishing is probably good around here as there is constant tinnie traffic. We anchor off Nobbies Inlet surrounded by mangroves and midgies so we midgie-proof Breakaway and spend a peaceful night.

Gloucester passage

Tuesday 29^th, 0626:

Finally the marina is left behind. Heading north, we wave to Double Bay East as we pass by and keep on for Gloucester Passage. Tide OK when we arrive so we make it through and around the point to anchor off the new Eco Resort. Lovely beaches behind all the rocks and a good place to stretch the legs as the water is too cold for swimming. Very peaceful night with campfires on the beach providing a very pretty view along the shore.

Chris, another new friend

Monday 28^th.

After persuading an electrician to come and look at the hydraulics (now please?) it was a simple job of replacing a fuse and a switch. Just time to go back along the boardwalk to Cannonvale to replace the prawns I had fed to the fusiliers of Double Bay East and to BUY some fish for dinner – coral trout, magnificent eating, even better than barramundi.

Hello Airlie - again

Saturday 26^th.

6 am departure planned, but now we have no hydraulics. This means we can motor but not sail. No fun. Weekends mean no workmen available so we must wait in Double Bay East until Sunday afternoon before we can turn back to the marina at Abel Point. No fish wanting to be caught today either but it passes the time. At the rate I am going my books will run out before the cruise so I give them a rest and clean Breakaway inside. At least the outside was done by all the heavy rain.

Leaving Airlie

Friday, 25 July

Departed from the marina at last and heading for Double Bay East, sailing in sunny weather and winds SSE at 15 kts. Heaven. A peaceful anchorage, plenty of fusiliers around but too canny for me to catch. All I did was give them a good feed of prawns. The fish were meant to be dinner with the prawns as the standby so bacon and eggs will have to suffice. Even the baked beans are gone – they were used to check the toilets were working. No Narelle – we tipped them in straight from the can!!!

Gale warning

Friday, 25 July

At last we were ready to continue north but the weather had other ideas. All was set for a 6 am departure but a gale warning was then issued for the region so we turned the alarm clock off and stayed put. For the next two days a wild storm ensued with hammering rain and wind gusts up to 37 kts, and that was in the marina! We heard that outside it was more like 65 kts. The 24^th was sunny and warm so we spent it on the boardwalk constructed along the shoreline between Airlie Beach and Cannonvale and waited for the seas to calm down.