I am embarrassed to say that the weather here in Cairns has been absolutely wonderful! Each day has been sunny and bright with nary a cloud in the sky. While the night and morning temperatures are a bit cool for us (low 60’s) the daily lows and highs have been right on target with the month of June’s averages (low 60’s in the night to high 70’s during the day). Thus, there are no complaints from us. We can’t ask for more than that! The nasty weather of May in the Whitsunday’s is quickly fading from memory…

Poor Mary Margaret has been a bit under the “weather” today. Her tummy is just not behaving and she has not been able to eat much. This has been developing for the last few days but she had soldiered on. We hope that she will feel better tomorrow since we will be going shopping all over Cairns tomorrow. To make things a bit easier for her, I have rented a car so we can drive to the various places we wish to go to instead of walking and then taking a taxi back with all of the goodies.

We have also made a reservation today for a reef diving trip on Thursday. We will be going out to two of the outer reefs, where we are told the water clarity is better. I had looked into a trip to the neighboring reef at Green Island but when I asked, I was told that the visibility is 10 meters. That is just 30 feet, which is about what we had in the Whitsundays. That just does not cut it compared to all of the various reefs we have dived on in the Caribbean and the South Pacific. We are used to 30m plus visibility. I was told that the 10 meters is about the best it gets at Green Island by the captain of the vessel that ferries people to that island. Plus, he said the water temperature is just 22 degrees C, which is about 72 degrees F. Brrrrrrrrr. Thus, we will be taking our wet suits when we go.

One of the neat things about this drive is that we will be able to both SCUBA and snorkel. Plus they serve a BBQ breakfast on the way out, a nice buffet lunch once we get to the second reef and then wine and cheese on the way back. Man O Man, it just does not get better than that! The forecast is for sunny skies, winds in the 10 to 15 knot range and mild seas. Whew, I initially had visions of sea sickness bags being handed out after breakfast…

I talked to a rigger today by phone. I want him to adjust the tension on our cap shrouds before we attempt to cross the Gulf of Carpentaria once we sail around the Cape of York. The tidal current can run contrary to the trades on that 2 day crossing yielding short, steep swells making it a pounding passage. I just don’t want to put unneeded strain on the shrouds if I can avoid it. Mary Margaret has noticed that the starboard cap shroud was very loose when we were sailing at a close haul the other day. I have since tightened it but my Loos strain gauge does not fit the larger diameter cap shroud so I don’t know if I have tightened it too much, just right, or not enough. I have measured the verticalness of the mast and it is very straight so I think I am close but I want to make sure. The last thing I want to happen is lose our mast because of a shroud failure.

Unfortunately, the rigger cannot see us until Monday and he is up the coast a bit in Port Douglas. Thus, we have made reservations today at the marina there for Sunday and Monday. This will be a first for us. We have never gone marina hopping before. We have a strong preference to anchor instead of staying in a marina. However, the rigger needs the boat to be in a quiet marina to do his stuff so that is what we will be doing.