Today we left Port Douglas and headed north to Hope Island. It is about 50 nm from Port Douglas. We left about 0815 and for the first hour or so, there was no wind. But then the winds came up and we had 10 to 15 knots from the SSE. We put up the sails and went wing and wing. We were making about 5.5 to 6.0 knots in about 10 knots of apparent wind.

As we approached noon, the wind kicked it up a notch or two and started blowing in the 15 to 22 knot range. The seas responded to the wind and we started getting 5 to 6 foot swells. The winds continued to build a bit and we peaked at 27 knots. Good Ol’ Leu Cat responded to the winds as she always does and soon we were going 8 to 10 knots with peaks of 12 to 13 knots surfing down the swells that were behind us. Wheeeeeee!

We arrived at Hope Island just before 1400 and by 1430 we were tied to a National Park mooring ball that John of S/V Sea Mist told us about in his blog. We were happy to take this mooring since the anchorage is choked full of coral just waiting to grab hold and gobble up anchors. Mary Margaret did a masterful job at the helm facing 25 knot winds while I snagged the mooring ball.

Sitting behind us are three fishing boats with large drag nets. Our guess is they will go out tonight and net either squid or prawns. Both love to come to the surface at night.

You know we have not had much wind since last year when the noise of 25 knots of wind sounds a bit foreign to us as we sit in this anchorage. It is howling and we usually welcome the noise since our wind generator is working and pumping mucho amps into the batteries. We are using a lot of amps right now since we have both refrigerators and the freezer going. We are stuffed to gills with fresh vegetables, fruits, meats, cheese, and the sailor’s elixir: beer.

As we get ready for dinner, I am using S/V Sea Mist’s trick of hoisting the WIFI dongle up the mast. Without doing so, we have no Internet. With it up, we have spotty Internet even through it is showing 4 bars. Maybe the Internet on shore is having some troubles. As soon as I am able, I will post this blog and some pictures that I took.

We are going to leave Hope Island tomorrow around 0900. We want the sun well up so we can see the reefs that are all around us here. This may prevent us from making Lizard Island tomorrow if the winds are moderate. The passage is about 65 nm. If that is the case, then we will either duck into an anchorage behind Cape Bedford or Cape Flattery. If we stop at Cape Flattery, we would have a very easy sail to Lizard Island the next day since that passage is only 18 nm.

We are anxious to get to Lizard Island because John and Cheryl of S/V Sea Mist arrived there a couple of days ago and confirmed that the water is warm and clear. The reef is right behind their boat so they just fall off their boat and swim over. This is the type of snorkeling we are so used to after spending a couple of years crossing the S. Pacific and we are sooo looking forward to it again!