Slave Of Destiny (15 page)

Geoff and Michael
were preparing as quickly as possible to leave Balgal Beach on Tuesday morning
and start their 1800 mile trek to Darwin. Today was provisioning day, because
the two of them weren’t sure how long it will take them to reach Darwin. If it
were possible to do the eighteen hundred miles in one passage they would be
there in about sixteen days, but since they would be negotiating their way
through the Great Barrier Reef long passages won’t possible. They will be doing
a number of overnight passages at the beginning of the journey and once they
reached the northern tip of the east coast of Australia, they would be doing
longer passages as they near Darwin. But for now the two of them would take one
day at a time.

Shopping was just
the beginning of provisioning a cruising boat. Once you get back to the boat
with all the food, you have to find space to store it away. In terms of
cruising boats, Michael had a lot of storage space on Taylor Maid, but much of
it wasn’t easily accessible; as Michael would like. So he began to worry about
where he was going to store the dry and tinned food, which was still in the
bags piled up on the settee in the main cabin. Michael had bought two of the
largest portable battery powered freezer and fridge combinations he could
afford, but the one he was using as a freezer was almost full. The bottom
section of the freezer currently contained six rump steaks, six pork chops, six
T-bone steaks, eight beef sausages, and twenty chicken thighs. The top layer
had three pounds of bacon, more sausages for barbecuing and a few loaves of
bread. The other one he was using as a refrigerator was almost bursting at
seams with fresh veggies, salads, cheese, eggs, fruit juice, soft drink and,
more importantly, beer.

Michael and Geoff
kept getting reports for impending 25 knot winds, but the actual winds seem to
be only 10 knot breezes from the south, so the two of them left anyway on the
high tide. They sailed north, just passing the exposed Pandora Reef, before
Geoff altered course slightly to the little island of Orpheus. They dropped the
anchor in Little Pioneer Bay on Orpheus just on dusk. The two of them knew they
needed to do some planning for tomorrow and listen to the weather on the radio.

Tomorrow they would
be sailing on to Hinchinbrook Island. It was only about twenty-two miles away
and the two of them could see it easily from here. In fact, as they sipped a
cold beer, they could see the lights along the sugar-jetty that protruded out
from Lucinda. It was the longest jetty in Australia and it was for loading
sugar onto ships. Tomorrow they should get a closer look as they sail to Cape
Richards, before heading onto the Family Islands. The weather report for
Wednesday, May 24 was partly cloudy in the morning, sunny afternoon, with winds
ESE 15-20 knots.

Taylor Maid
left Orpheus early
the next morning and they slowly worked their way up the Australian coast.
Hinchinbrook Island was veiled in clouds and it was one of Queensland’s
treasures. It sits just off the coast but remains one of the last untouched
tropical wilderness island left in Australia. There was one yacht-friendly
resort on the northern tip of the island, but that is it. There are no roads
and no one lives there except at the low-key resort. As the clouds began to
disperse, the beauty of Hinchinbrook became apparent. It had jagged peaks
draped in lush greenery and something that looked like a very big waterfall.
Taylor
Maid
sailed by Zoe Bay with its white sand beaches and sand dunes and then
by Little Ramsey Bay. The two of them could see Cape Richards at the top of the
island, but they intended to keep going on as far as they could. Geoff wanted
to sail forty miles further north to the little sugar cane port of Mourilyan.
The winds were predicted to be stronger tomorrow, so they might have a day or
two to wait for calmer ones.

Taylor Maid
entered the
Moresby River at Mourilyan Harbour under motor and Geoff lowered the anchor
onto the muddy bottom, just past the group of vessels tethered to the pylons.
This harbor exists to serve the sugar industry and there was a very long sugar
and molasses storage shed and a sugar loading wharf. The harbour is shallow
once you get out of the working basin, but luckily the two of them had been
here before and approached the entrance on the high tide. The crests of
Bellenden Ker and Bartle Frere in the distant coastal mountain range were
spectacular in the sunset.

* * *

Today was Friday,
May 26, and the weather was forecast to be mostly sunny with winds S to SW,
15-20 knots.
Taylor Maid
was safely out of Mourilyan Harbour by 5:30 am
and they had to motor sail for an hour, but then the winds filled in nicely and
they were able to sail all the way to the Low Isles. The two of them knew they
had to have an early start because they had more than seventy miles to sail
today, but
Taylor Maid
passed the channel leading into Cairns just after
2 pm in the afternoon.

Low Isles was a
little island and it was so tiny that anyone can walk around it in ten minutes,
but the reef was interesting and the two of them were hoping to walk on it at
low tide. Michael started the 36hp Yanmar diesel motor when the winds died down
at about four in the afternoon. He furled the Genoa, while Geoff lowered and
tidied the mainsail. They were only ten minutes off anchoring when suddenly, a
high-pitched sound emitted from the engine bay.

“That sounds like
the over-temperature engine alarm. I’ll go and take a look” Geoff suggested,
looking perplexed.

Sure enough, the
needle on the engine’s temperature gauge was pointing at the red section.

“Kill the motor,
Michael” he yelled out.

Michael pulled the
kill switch and the rumble of the diesel stuttered into an eerie silence.

“What’s the
problem?” Michael asked him when he poked his head through the companionway
hatch.

“The engine’s
overheated” Geoff replied, before adding. “We’ll have to sail the rest of the
way. Unfurl the Genoa and try sailing with just the one sail. I think the
slight breeze is directly behind us. I’ll try and find out what went wrong.”

“That’s all I need.
It’s only been serviced a few months ago” Michael mumbled as he returned to the
cockpit.

“It’s too bloody
hot to look at now, so I’ll wait for it to cool down” Geoff said when he joined
him. “I’ll raise the main.”

Even though the two
of them could see the beach on Hope Isles, it still took
Taylor Maid
two
hours to sail the last few miles.

“I’ll take a look
at the motor tomorrow. It could be a false alarm, but I don’t think so. The
motor is too bloody hot” he said.

As they approached
their anchorage spot Michael noticed another sailing boat anchored in the calm
water. Geoff lowered and tided the main and
Taylor Maid
ghosted into the
space, with the Genoa, keeping the other yacht sixty yards away on their
starboard side.

They stayed here
the next day, dividing their day between work and play.

“It looks like
we’ve sucked something into the sea water intake. I’ll have to take a look”
Geoff admitted.

Michael found him a
mask, snorkel and flippers as Geoff prepared to jump in. The two of them had
snorkeled on reefs for years, so it wasn’t a big deal to jump overboard in
shallow water. Geoff stepped off the boarding platform; emitting a cloud of
bubbles. With a quick kick he dived under the water like a dolphin. Within
seconds he located the one and three-quarter inch intakes grate and pulled at
the white item jammed half in half out of the pipe. It started to tear, so he
decided to resurface, before trying to remove again.

“He broke the
surface with a flurry if bubbles, before he removed his mask.

“Is it bad?”
Michael asked him.

“It looks like we
sucked in a plastic bag. Can you pass me the long nosed pliers out of the tool
kit?” he asked.

Michael left him
holding onto the boarding platform, went below and rummaged through the
toolbox. He located the pliers, went back on deck and out to the boarding
platform.

“Here they are, but
don’t drop them” he joked.

Geoff replaced his
mask and, once again, dived under the hull, but he returned a few seconds
later.

“I need something
thinner. Do you have any wire aboard?” he asked.

Michael disappeared
for a minute and came back with a small roll of tie-wire and some cutters.

“How long do you
want it?” Michael asked.

“About a foot long”
he replied.

Michael passed him
the cut piece of wire, so that he could bend it with a small hook on the end of
it. He passed him the pliers, then replaced his mask and dived under the hull
again. Fifty seconds later he had hooked all the plastic he could see and
collected it in his free hand, so he returned to the surface.

“That’s all of it”
he said passing Michael the plastic.

He threw the
plastic in the waste bin in the galley and returned to the cockpit.

“When I start the
motor, can you check to make sure water is spraying out of the return pipe?” he
asked.

“No problem”
Michael replied.

Sure enough the
return pipe was spraying out the heated water.

“It’s ok” he yelled
out.

“Kill the motor”
Geoff called back, indicating the cooling system was back to normal.

Later that morning
Michael did laundry and Geoff repaired the two winches, which just didn’t seem
to want to work anymore. Michael managed to buy five kilos of frozen prawns
from a newly arrived prawn trawler, so they thawed some out for dinner. There
was one other attraction here worth mentioning. There was a young couple from
Cairns, who anchored next to them, and they preferred not to wear any clothes.
Michael and Geoff had a great view from where they were anchored.

“Nice view!”
Michael mentioned as he sipped another cold beer.

“Yes. It’s too bad
we have to leave tomorrow” he added as Geoff opened the top of his bottle.

“You’ve been quiet
for most of the trip” Michael said.

“You’re doing
something I always wished to do and I feel like going with you all the way” he
said.

“I’ve said you can come
with me as far as I’m going” he replied.

“That’s what I’m
thinking about” he said.

It was overcast
Morning, but the forecast advised it would be a sunny afternoon with SSE, 18-20
winds.
Taylor Maid
arrived in the Hope Isles at low tide in
mid-afternoon and, although Michael was worried about maneuvering around the
reefs to get in here, it was worth it. There are two islands here, both
uninhabited. West Hope Island is the larger of the two and the closest to the
mainland. East Hope is a tiny little sand cay with lush jungle-like greenery in
its middle and a little sandy beach encircling it. But at low tide, you can see
the reef stretching in nearly every direction. They entered between the two
islands and then went a little north of East Hope and then headed south to anchor
on her west side where Lucas’s book had marked it a good anchorage
.
Once they reached their destination Michael
launched the dinghy and they both headed to shore. They could see from the
anchorage that island was home to hundreds of birds, so Michael was anxious to
get to shore and have a good look around. Both of them had never sailed this
far north before.

As the two of them
walked around West Hope Island they noticed all the birds coming in to roost
for the night. Michael had been reading where this island is an important
nesting site for pied imperial-pigeons and they did see two different varieties
of pigeons flying in to roost. Tomorrow they were sailing on to Cooktown to
purchase some more supplies, but for now they were happy just to keep their
feet on some solid ground.

* * *

Taylor Maid
arrived on the
high tide and followed the channel into the Endeavour River, before anchoring
near several other yachts. There had been a fair bit of time wasted with the overnight
stops and they needed to catch up, but basically, they visited the James Cook
Museum, did their grocery shopping and brought those things back to the boat.
The two of them enjoyed lunch in town and then walked to the cemetery for an hour-long
guided tour, before they walked all the way back to town and ate an early
dinner.
During the guided
tour, Michael and Geoff met two Australian couples that were headed to Darwin for
the Sail Indonesia Rally.  Another boat that Geoff overheard chatting on the
VHF radio mentioned that they were also headed to Darwin for the Rally.
However, all of these people mentioned about stopping at Lizard Island for
about a week before traveling on.

“I’d like to stop
at Lizard Island as well, but not for a week” Geoff mentioned that night when
they returned to
Tailor Maid
.

“The island isn’t
that far away, so we could stop there for a day or two” Michael added. “We
still need to get some fuel tomorrow morning before we leave on the high tide.
It’s important that we leave here tomorrow, about 1pm.”

* * *

The weather was
predicted to be sunny day with SE 25-30 knot winds.
Taylor Maid
made it
safely out of the Endeavor River by following another sailboat with a deeper
keel than theirs which left around noon. Michael followed right behind them,
because he knew they had less water under the keel than they did coming in, but
they always maintained forty feet of clearance behind them. In addition to
having to worry about the shallow depths, they had 30 knots of wind on the beam
to contend with as
Taylor Maid
exited the channel. From here to Darwin,
it is more usual than not to have 25 to 30 knot winds, so the two of them might
as well get used to the breeze and look forward to a fast trip north to their
next anchorage at Cape Bedford.
Taylor Maid
seems to do some of her best
sailing in these conditions, so once again Michael and Geoff were so happy to
be back sailing again.

It was a fast
six-hour sail from Cape Bedford to Lizard Island with 25 to 30 knot winds and
two-metre seas. Cape Bedford was not a calm anchorage last night, so the two of
them were looking forward to spending a day of rest at their next stop. It
should have been a downwind run, but the winds were actually coming a little
more from the east so
Taylor Maid
was on a beam reach most of the day.
They sailed with a double-reefed headsail and the partly-reefed Genoa, but
Taylor
Maid
was steady in the heavy winds and the yacht made great time. They actually
anchored at Lizard Island well before one o’clock. This was a small island with
one very exclusive resort and a research station run by the Australian Museum.
No one lives here other than those running the resort and the research station.
But it is famous as a great anchorage even though it was always windy here.
Wind gusts can rage through the anchorage, but the bay at Lizard Island should
remain absolutely flat even with the gusts of wind. There were twelve other
yachts anchored in Mrs. Watson’s Bay, but this island is a little slice of
paradise with its blue lagoon and giant clams.

When the two of
them got up for the 7:30 am weather report, they discovered that the anchorage
had been basically abandoned. Seven boats had left early that morning to take
advantage of the calmer weather and that left just a few yachts at anchor.
The weather was forecasted to be partly cloudy
with isolated showers and the winds, ESE 20-25 knots. Michael and Geoff walked
across the island
and
went snorkeling, once in the morning in the blue lagoon and
again in the afternoon.

* * *

The two of them
woke up a number of times last night with strong winds howling through the
rigging and heavy rain. Just before 6 am, a 40 plus knot gust had
Tailor
Maid
heeled over and they expressed doubts about leaving that morning. They
both agreed that they would wait until the weather report at 7:30 am and make a
decision then, but the howling winds and rain continued and the two of them
decided to stay here another day if the weather didn’t clear up. The forecast
was quite good, so they decided to prepare for sailing in case the sun poked
its head out of the clouds.

The clouds
dissipated around 9am, so Geoff raised the anchor and they left their island
paradise. They had sunshine and good winds until around noon, but then the rain
squalls started coming through. Tomorrow the weather was predicted to be sunny
with winds SE at 25 knots with Gusts to 40 knots; not perfect, but they could
sail with a double reefed main. Geoff decided to sail with just the Genoa if the
wind became too strong, so one of them could furl it quickly if the yacht got
into trouble.

That night they
anchored on the west coast of Flinders Island; not far from the mainland. The
sailing was brisk and at first, the winds were the typical 20 to 30 knots from
behind them, but as
Taylor Maid
neared Cape Melville they experienced
stronger gusts to 40 knots, This island was dryer than the previous ones with
eucalyptus trees, native grasses and mangrove lined beaches.

“We’re going to
have to sail only during the day, because I don’t know the area, the charts are
probably not accurate and there are a lot of sand cays and exposed reefs around
here” Geoff explained to Michael.

“That’s only true
from here to the tip of Australia, but after we clear Thursday Island we could
probably sail non-stop to Darwin” Michael suggested.

* * *

The next day was
cloudy with slight SE winds to 8 knots in the morning, but it picked up to 20-25
knots in the afternoon.
Taylor Maid
arrived at Morris Island after
sailing 59 nautical miles and they stayed there that night.
Taylor Maid
continued on the next day under a sky filled with clouds, but the winds had
eased to15-20 knots from the SSE. They arrived at Lloyd Bay near Lockhart River
and they were stuck there for two days, because it was rainy, windy and miserable.
Two days later
Taylor Maid
left Lloyd Bay in overcast conditions and
sailed onto Margaret Bay. It was a beautiful little semi-circular bay with a
white sand beach all around, but there must have been a whole fleet of fishing
boats who anchored there during the day. Starting yesterday, the yacht was now
traveling closer to due north so they were sailing between downwind and a broad
reach. The wind was on the aft quarter and the seas sometimes hit them
broadsided. The winds varied from 15 to 30 all day long, never staying at any
one speed for very long, so it made for interesting sailing conditions. Most
times they started with a double-reefed mainsail and a full Genoa, but
generally they found they had out a little too much sail so they had to partly
reef the Genoa.
Taylor Maid
continued onto the Escape River, before
sailing onto Cape York. They had been sailing under a mix of sunshine and
clouds with the winds varying between 20 and 35 knots.

Taylor Maid
began crossing the
Gulf of Carpentaria from East to West. It was a beautiful day for the start of the
three-day passage across the Gulf of Carpentaria to the outpost of Gove. The
first six hours were spent making their way through the very shallow Endeavor
Straits and the remainder of the three days would be spent traveling across a
gulf whose depths remain shallow most of the way. Michael knew they had 161
nautical miles to go, but if the yacht continued sailing at the current speed
of about 6.5 knots, they would reach Gove after dark tomorrow night, so Michael
decided to motor sail for a while. It seems crazy to be running a motor when
you have 25 knot winds, but motoring could keep them from spending another
night out on the water as they sailed in shifts.

Taylor Maid
made it easily
into Gove that afternoon. They had an unbelievably fast sail across the Gulf of
Carpentaria and although they had a rough period during the first night and
into yesterday, the rest of the ride was great.
Taylor Maid
moved faster
than she has ever moved, an average of 6.6 knots per hour, and they arrived
safely. Geoff and Michael stayed there for two days recuperating, but the days
were beautiful and the winds light south-easterlies.

* * *

Taylor Maid
left Gove Harbour for
Wigram Island and their sail there was delightful.
Taylor Maid
was part
of a convoy of about seven boats that left the harbour that morning heading
west. The winds were light so most of the boats in front of them put up their
spinnakers, so Geoff followed suit and they had a short but great spinnaker
run. Then the winds came in strong and that’s when he had to take down the
spinnaker and unfurl the headsail. They planned to start a 200 nautical mile
overnight passage across the top end of the Northern Territory to a peninsula
that was 200 miles from Darwin. Once they reached the Coburg Peninsula they
will day-sail for a couple of days and then make the last 100 mile run into Darwin
in an overnight passage. Michael was going to arrive in Darwin later than he
had hoped, but still in plenty of time to get themselves ready for their sail
to Indonesia.

The highlight of
the day was a pod of dolphins that played in their bow wake for more than half
an hour.

They sailed via
Raragala Island, then to Malay Bay on the western side of the Arafura Sea,
before sailing onto Valencia Island. The winds had been comfortable for their overnight
passage; being 15-20 knots from the south east.
Taylor Maid
then left
Valencia Island and sailed onto Port Essington, before heading onto Alcaro Bay,
Cape Don. Their next stop was going to be Fanning Bay at Darwin.

Taylor Maid’s
average speed for
the last day of sailing was 6.8 knots, but unfortunately, in order to keep
those speeds going they had to motor sail the whole way. Michael’s trusty
Yanmar diesel engine rattled away all day and the yacht made the 100 mile trip
from Cape Dom to Darwin in 14 hours. There are three main bays where yachts can
anchor; Fannie Bay, Cullen Bay, and Francis Bay. Fannie Bay is further away from
the main part of the city than they would have liked, but Geoff knew the yacht
would be welcome there.

The next morning
the two of them spent their time shopping for Yanmar fan belts, a new water
pump and light bulbs for the navigation lights, new sheets for the sails plus
Michael’s Indonesian visas. They couldn’t find everything, so they decided to
have an early lunch. In a nearby restaurant they both had the crab soup
followed by a seafood basket of battered fish, calamari, fresh prawns, and
chips. The two of them then spent the afternoon riding on buses to find the other
supplies Michael needed. Some items were found out toward the airport, while
they found the other supplies near the marina. All the items were taken back to
the yacht, but the two of them returned to the Darwin Sailing Club for dinner.

Taylor Maid
had taken four
weeks to sail to Darwin, but Geoff had decided not to continue on sailing with
Michael. He helped him with the repairs , servicing the engine and the supplies
before he left on the plane flight back to Townsville.