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| From the anchorage at Vlasoff Reef |
The weather forecast indicated that a calm period of a few days was upon us and Ric and Val suggested we spend a night out at the reef. Vlasoff Reef was our chosen destination and we set off from the Low Isles at 6.30am heading around the eastern side on a SE course in early morning sunshine. We motor sailed the whole way skirting Batt Reef, Michaelmas Reef and various other patches of shallow water. In between Michaelmas Reef and Vlasoff Reef we spotted a mother and baby whale happily relaxing seemingly oblivious to all the boating going on around them. We picked our way towards Vlasoff Reef and anchored in a clear patch near Arkaydes and Sengo. The water was so clear that we could see the ripples and holes in the sand at 6m. Rene looked as though she was floating in the air.
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| Rene at Vlasoff Reef Anchorage |
After lunch we went over to the cay with Ric and Val to do a bit of snorkelling. Close to the cay the coral was mainly broken and rather uninteresting, but further out the coral bombies were much better and sported multitudes of different types of fish. Later in the day we took drinks and nibbles ashore and watched the sun set with Andrew, Trish (Sengo) and Ric and Val. This really was the most perfect day. In fact it was probably the most beautiful weather we have experienced this year.
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| Ric, Val and Liz Vlasoff Cay |
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| Sunrise at Vlasoff Reef. Arkaydes and Sengo |
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A Perfect Day in Paradise
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Next morning we all decided to go for a swim before leaving for Fitzroy Island. Again we picked our way through the coral bombies and SW towards a marked channel between Arlington and Upolu Reefs. The channel is clearly marked, but as the water is so clear it looks quite shallow in places. At one stage the depth sounder showed 2.8m over a coral lump - quite shallow enough thanks! This route took us close to Green Island so we had a good look at it through the binoculars.
On arrival at Fitzroy Island we found that the anchorage was full of stink boats that were taking part in a fishing competition. Even worse than that a NW wind was blowing into the bay and that put us on a lee shore with lumpy water. After an hour with no change Ric rang and suggested we go on to Mourilyan. At 4.30pm we pulled the anchor and set off under sail for Mourilyan Harbour. Luckily the entry is clearly marked so going in at midnight didn't cause any concern. We had a lovely, quiet sail with light northerly winds and a current helping us along the way. In fact for most of the journey we sat on 6 - 6.5kns. A straight line sail with a following light breeze saw us dropping the anchor in Mourilyan at 11pm. We spent another day there as the wind piped up from the SE the next day. We went for a wander up the road and around the port and filled in the rest of the day reading and watching a small ship like vessel grading the bottom of the harbour. Apparently it had a blade that was scraping away at the sand lumps on the bottom of the swing basin.
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| Toasting Arkaydes on the way to Mourilyan |
Dunk Island
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| The Sandspit at Dunk Island |
Getting out of bed early seems to be becoming a habit of ours lately. The forecast had the SE winds light for the early part of the day and building to 15-20kns later. The early start worked and we anchored in Brammo Bay before lunch. The kiosk was open so we went ashore and bought fish and chips and a burger for lunch.
The following day Peter and I decided to walk the island circuit which is 10km and takes in a slog up Mt Kootaloo. The view was magic on a clear, sunny day. We met Pat and Mark from Katmandu and they joined us on the circuit walk. We chatted the whole way and they asked us to sundowners that evening on their boat. During the walk we saw three snakes, same variety that bit Peter on Magnetic Island last year, an echidna and a large tortoise sunning itself on a log in a fresh water creek.
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| Circuit Walk Dunk Island |
A BBQ was organised for the following day at the gas BBQs in the council camping area. We joined about 20 other boaties swapping boat yarns for most of the afternoon. Of particular interest to us was meeting a couple from Victoria who told us about the Gippsland Lakes and gave us some invaluable information about dropping in there on the way back home. The lakes sound very interesting and a great place to explore. There are no sailing guides for Victoria so information from the locals is invaluable. The day was beautiful, the company excellent and this is one of the best parts of the cruising life.
Tomorrow morning we are going to head south again to Garden Island, just north of Hinchinbrook Island, to stop there with some of the others for lunch on the beach. From there we will chose a spot to anchor for the night - maybe Macushla, Cape Richards or even down the Hinchinbrook Channel. It depends on the wind.
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| Spot the tortoise |
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