We piled into a rental van with our friends and headed down the road a bit to Litchfield National Park. We’d come here 20 years ago with Ali’s sister, Katy, when she visited. It was a great day out then, and a great day out now. Everything seems so dry … Read More
Fannie Bay
The anchorage in Fannie Bay isn’t the world’s most convenient. The huge tides (~30′) necessitate anchoring far from shore, and once ashore you are required to calculate how long you will be gone and where the tide might be when you return. It’s also a bit out of town. With … Read More
Darwin Reunion
The next couple of days were nice sailing as we made our way towards the Dundas Strait north of Darwin. We thought we’d have to anchor outside the strait to wait for a favorable tide, but good sailing weather got us there earlier than expected and we zipped right through … Read More
Wessel Islands
After a lively two night passage with virtually no sleep, we arrived in the Wessel Islands, anchored in the dark with no depth finder, in what we hoped was a safe spot, and went straight to bed. We woke in the morning to find we were well positioned, far from … Read More
Thursday Island
The kids and I sailed into Thursday Island, tired and hungry. Actually, We sailed into Horn Island because that’s the island with protection from the prevailing winds, while the anchorage on Thursday Island, a mile away, is wide open. While Thursday is a little more interesting, a calm anchorage wins … Read More
Rounding Cape York
Our 3-person odyssey continued north with another overnight sail, but sometime in the middle of the night instead of sailing north around Australia we turned to head west around Australia. We rounded Cape York in the middle of the night, with flashing buoys all around us marking shallow reefs and … Read More
Up the East Coast
From Flinders it was an overnight sail up the east coast to a tiny place called Portland Sands. There was nothing there but a handful of homes tucked back off the beach and looking for all the world like a place that people go to hide from the government. Meanwhile, … Read More
Flinders Island
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 … Read More
Lizard Island
It was a short sail up to Lizard Island, a place Ali and I had been 19 years earlier, to the day. Unfortunately, she was back in the States helping Grammy, instead of slogging up the hill with me again. Spot the cuttlefish, because I sure didn’t. Only saw it … Read More
Cooktown Goodbye
Cooktown harbour is a pleasant place. A well protected river surrounded by low hills, with a nice clean waterfront park, and a short walk to town. The grocery store is well stocked, and the gas station has slushy machines, so we were pretty well taken care of here. Power on … Read More
Cooktown Teen
With a birthday on the way, and a dwindling fresh food supply, we set out to meet our friends in Cooktown. Whales, whales, everywhere. We anchored in the Endeavour River, near where Cook beached his boat for repairs after running up on Endeavour Reef. These were both named after the … Read More
Northbound with the Whales
Twenty years ago when Ali and I sailed north from Sydney up along the coast of Australia every single person we talked to told us how perfect the winds blow when you’re sailing north. So, no surprise, it felt as if we never had good winds. All I remember of … Read More