Cooktown 23rd - 29th August

The main street

A weather window opened for us to make the journey south from Lizard Island to Cooktown, 56nm distance and with SE winds 10-15kn . Cape Flattery and Cape Bedford gave us a chance to cut the trip short if the winds became less favourable on the way. We left Lizard Island at 6am and sailed hard on the wind for the first third of the way. Cape Flattery disappeared into the distance and Cape Bedford loomed ahead. We decided that if we could make it around this cape in reasonable time we would arrive in Cooktown in daylight. I didn't think we would ever get past Cape Bedford.
Adverse currents and wind now up to 20kns, had us tacking back and forth and wondering if we'd have to turn back and find shelter there for the night before continuing on to Cooktown the next day. South Cape Bedford finally slid behind us and as we turned south across the bay to Cooktown the wind did as well and with more tacking we arrived at the entrance to the Endeavour River just on dusk.

Hand steering to get around Cape Bedford

It is necessary to enter the Endeavour River anchorage in the top half of a rising tide as shallow sand banks abound and entry to the lagoon area requires crossing a bar. We found a quiet spot between two other yachts near the northern sand bank. We spent three nights there and then the spring tides had us moving to a deeper area as we realised we'd soon be touching the bottom. Numerous boats already occupied space reasonably close to the town, but we managed to find a place in 4.5m in the middle of the channel about 1nm up the river. Goodbye quiet, calm little place near the sandbanks! The currents out here were strong and particularly when the wind was against the tide, things got a little hectic. It always happens at 2am!! Rene managed to ride over the anchor warp and wrap it around the keel. We woke up to crunching, cracking sounds (we've heard that before!!) and a very strange motion of the boat. Up on deck it became obvious that things were going pear shaped. Poor Lily was going nuts tearing out to the end of her painter and charging back and head butting Rene and then taking off in the other direction. Water was literally rattling past the hull. The only plus in this situation was that the moon was full and we could at least see what was going on. Meanwhile Rene had dragged the anchor so it was necessary for us to reset it further upstream. Once all the drama was over Peter tied the tiller to one side and that eased the situation and allowed us to settle down for the rest of the night. Cooktown's anchorage is not without it's problems.




Cooktown Anchorage from Grassy Hill
(We are the little yacht near the sandbank in the centre of the picture next to the dark hulled yacht)

Cooktown is however a very interesting little town with a diverse history. In 1770 James Cook beached the Endeavour here to repair her after an argument with a reef further south. It was also the main outlet port for the Palmer River goldfields 100 years later, when the population reached 30,000. Of course there is a much older Aboriginal history here as well. The National Trust James Cook Museum is housed in an impressive building that was originally a convent school built in 1889. At least two hours is necessary to do justice to the displays. The panoramic view from the top floor of the building, over the Endeavour River is worth a look.

James Cook Museum

There are large monuments dedicated to the history of Cooktown throughout the town precinct and many plaques explaining historical events that happened at particular places. Mosaic and tile murals further highlight events, cultures and stories. The Milbi Wall tells the story of the first Aboriginal contact with the Europeans, from the Aboriginal perspective, in hand painted tiles. It's a very impressive art work that can be found in the park along the river front.

The Milbi Wall

Wednesday saw us taking the steep walk up Grassy Hill to see the lighthouse and take in the wonderful views across the wetland surrounding Cooktown and the Dividing Range in the distance. On the way up we noticed a walk branching off towards several bays to the south of Cooktown and also to the Botanic Garden. A rough, rocky walk down the hill brought us to the back of the Botanic Garden and although the walk was picturesque and bushy I was a bit concerned about slipping and doing myself an injury. The garden is in a superb valley setting. Huge paperbarks and gum trees grow thickly in places and provide lovely cool shade. Typical of a tropical garden, leaf shape and colour dominated rather than flowers. Attached to the information centre is the Charles Tanner Wildlife of Cape York exhibition which features snakes, crocodiles and other biting/stinging creatures and the Vera Scarth-Johnson botanic art gallery which are both worth a visit.



Taking a break on the way to the Botanic Garden



 

After all this sight seeing we thought we'd better stock up ready for our trip south again. The IGA in Cooktown is too far from the wharf area to transport our stores on foot so we organised with the store to deliver our purchases to us at the boat ramp. We have found that the IGA stores are generally very helpful and try to accommodate us boaties.

Niel and Doreen, who we met at Cape Flattery and spent the week at Lizard Island with, sailed into Cooktown the day after us. We decided to have dinner together at the RSL club and later in the week lunch at the café on the wharf. They base themselves at Cairns, but hopefully we will meet up on the water again one day.

R&R at one of the waterfront cafes