The top of the country
With the mainsail up with a single reef and full jib, we continued the sail up the far north Queensland coast, bathed in sunshine and surround by deep blue water. The SE winds continued to dream run of down wind sailing day after day.
Navigating reefs and rocks
Checking latest Predict Wind forecast
As the Great Barrier Reef came to an end, it closed in to within a few miles of the coast and as the sun set on another day at sea, Cape York became visible in the distance. With the wind sitting between 20-25 knots, we were all hanging out for the promise of a calm anchorge and uninterrupted nights sleep.
The sun sets on another warm day on the ocean
Ken and Freya served up slow cooked roast lamb, with some of the best gravy I’ve ever tasted. This was followed with a fruit flan and ice cream. It was perfected times, with anchorage just 4nm away.
As darkness set in, the silhouette of Mount Adolphus Island appeared on the bow, with the gusts peaking at 26 knots, the next challenge was to get far enough behind the island, for the sea and winds to ease before dropping sails. The wind was wrapping around the corner from the south by now and although the seas started to flatten, the breeze was still 20 knots plus.
Anchored at Mount Adolphus Island
Anchored at the top of Australia
We eventually furled away the jib, started the engine and rounded Silver Fern up into the breeze. With Ken at the mast, Jo on the halyard and Sharon bravely climbing up into the boom, we got the mainsail down and under control. The next challenge was to navigate round the sand bar that lay across the entrance to the bay and find a spot on the other side close to the southern end, so we could get some relief from the weather.
Sharon’s always in happy mode
Lena & Michael on watch duties
We got a little close to the sand bar on the way in and held out breaths as the depth under the keel dropped below 4m. Within seconds it started to increase again, back to 8 plus metres. We found a spot where the wind had dropped to 13 knots and dropped 60m of chain in 10m of water. There were congratulations amongst the crew, on sailing past the northernmost tip of the mainland. We settled down to a celebration drink followed by a great nights sleep.
The Navionics view of our anchorage
A “Top of Australia” celebration drink