Another ninety miles or so found us at Flinders Island. The sail north was fantastic, as usual. The winds have been strong, in the 18-25 knot range, and reliably come from directly behind us. Even better is the fact that we are inside the Great Barrier Reef, so that despite the big winds, we have very small seas. As a sailor, you come to realize just how rare this combination is.

Flat seas are perfect for hitchhikers.

Wedge Rocks Reef. It’s hard to tell, but some of these boulders were at least 50 feet tall and looked like they had tumbled down from high atop a mountain. It was a unique break in the landscape as we rounded the corner to head for Flinders Island.

As we rounded the point the winds piped up to thirty knots and we were flying along with a triple-reefed main and just a hank of jib.

The fairly narrow pass on the north side of Flinders Island. There was an easier way in around the south end, but I’m a Point A to Point B sailor. Fortunately, this time, the tides were with us. The seas can stand up and be pretty nasty through here at the wrong time of day.

This is the kind of place you try not to spend any time in or near the water’s edge. Saltwater crocs are around, according to friends who had just passed through, but we didn’t see any. One exciting croc sighting turned out to be, we think, a Dugong.

The HMS Dart landed here while surveying the area back in 1899. Have to hand it to their graffiti artist for his exceptional detail. Modern graffiti artists in the area haven’t been nearly as impressive.

We dinghied across to Stanley Island a couple miles away, where aboriginals lived for nearly 3,000 years, ending back around WWII when they were removed because the Australians feared they’d help out an invading Japanese force.

They had likely seen European ships on the horizon in the past, but the only ship known to have called in here for sure was the HMS Dart in 1899.

Saltwater crocodiles, spotted eagle rays, crayfish, snakes, and more adorned the walls.

The last piece of art ever painted on the walls, about sixty years ago, was this dugong.

We were pinned down on Flinders for a few days as the winds howled offshore. It’s not a very big island, but we managed to make a number of different hikes out of it, and all were very different from each other.

Meanwhile, Ali was back in the States hanging out with Grammy.

Dinner time usually went okay. I’ve not had a ton of experience making dinner if it’s not on a grill, but we managed. Ouest handled all the prep work for me. Things didn’t really get bad until we had run out of meat and fresh veg. Whipping up a vegetarian meal with no fresh vegetables proved well beyond my abilities.