Here is Leu Cat anchored to the west of the village of Seisia. I took this shot from the deck of S/V Salamander.
|
Comments [0]
07/04/2012, Seisia, Cape York, AU
The winds were light when we awoke this morning but slowly built during the day. I am not sure if we ever hit 30 knots but certainly it got to a steady 20 knots with gusts to 25 knots. Once coffee was over I decided that with such light winds we would drop the dinghy from its davits, remount the engine and I would go into the "bustling" village of Seisia. With another 750 nm to go and our fuel tanks down to about 1/3 full each, I thought it would be prudent to fill a few of our jerry jugs that we carry. I have two jugs filled with 5 gallons of diesel but 6 are empty. I would like get the remaining 6 jugs filled while we are here just to be safe. I always like to have enough fuel to cover half of our passage and with a total of only 66 gallons on board that would only cover 330 nm if I had to run at full throttle, bucking wind and waves. By adding another 30 gallons, we will have more than enough so that I don't have to worry about what may be between us and Darwin. Just call me cautious.
On the way over to Seisia, I stopped by S/V Salamander to see what their plans were. Chris and Sue invited me on board and being English, offered me a nice hot cup of tea. My, what a nice way to start the morning!
We discussed the weather and shared notes and thoughts. Chris told me that as they were passing Seisia they voted to anchor here since the seas were so rough in Endeavour Strait. He then told me that once they anchored, they voted again to continue on in the morning. However, this morning, with the weather reports calling for more wind and seas, they voted again to stay put for at least another day. I teased him that there is no room for democracy on a boat and since he was captain, he should make those decisions. He teased back saying that with two ladies on board, he was wiser than that! I think I could learn a lot from him. I believe Mary Margaret would strongly agree with this philosophy. The British are so smart!
After saying good bye, I then continued on to Seisia. I had to dodge a couple of major sand bars but made it safely into the little harbor that sits in front of the village. With the dinghy wheels in place, I beached the dinghy and unloaded the 4 jerry jugs that I had brought with me. I hoofed down the road a short distance and found the BP petrol station without a hitch. Since we are almost out of AU dollars, I asked if they accepted credit cards. A big sign announced that they no longer accepted gas cards so I kept my fingers crossed as I waited for an answer. The answer was yes they did so I let out a big sigh of relief.
After filling the jugs and paying, Henry (one of the fellows working at the station) offered to drive me back to the beach. That saved me from having to schlep about 125 pounds of diesel. On the way back to the beach Henry told me about the big happenings going on tonight. At 6 PM they were having a hamburger and beer BBQ at the Fishing Club and then at 8 PM the big New South Wales vs. Queensland rugby match would be on their big screen TV! It seems to me that this is the 3rd match between these two teams since we started north from Bundaberg! The first time was when we were in Keppel Bay, the second time was when we in Whitsundays and now here in Seisia. I am beginning to believe these teams only play each other...
After loading up the dinghy I then walked over to where the pier was to see what everyone there was doing. I met about 15 people in small groups or alone fishing. I asked what kind of fish they were fishing for but no one could tell me. However, they were all having a good time. Except for a couple of aborigines that I met, most of the people there were on holiday and had driven all the way up here. You need to realize that the Cape York area is very, very remote. There are a few villages and lots of "God's Country" in between. However, it apparently is on every Aussie's "must go there" list. It must be like Mecca to the believers of Islam. You just have to go there once in your life.
There is campground next to the BP station and they were all camping there. One fellow and his wife said that they were here for 4.5 weeks. In the same breath he said they were in just their fifth day here and already they were trying to figure out how they could stay longer. I asked him what they were planning on doing during their stay here. His response was just one word: "fish"! Now that kind of dedication outdoes my brother Don's love for fishing. I asked how many fish he and his wife have caught so far. His reply was zero but they still have another 4 weeks to go. Go figure!!!! I left the pier scratching my head trying to understand the Aussie way of thinking. I guess there is just shear bliss in the act of fishing, not necessarily the actual catching the fish.
Next I walked down the beach a bit where I was told there would be a grocery store. Being so remote I was expecting a little one room shop with 5 or 6 shelves of random canned goods. Boy was I wrong! This was a nice sized store with all kinds of fresh fruit and veggies, ice cream, meats, fresh baked bread: the works! I will be taking Mary Margaret to this store tomorrow. She will go nuts!
After thoroughly enjoying an ice cream bar I returned to the dinghy and then motored back to Leu Cat. What a day!
|
One of the nice things about sailing in the shipping lanes going toward Cape York is that you don't have to worry about uncharted reefs or shoals. One of the bad things about sailing in the shipping lanes is that large cargo ships want to sail there also! Here is the Four Turnadot passing us about 1500 feet to our starboard. Boy, was she big and fast. She was making 20 knots and just look at the size of her bow wave...
|
As we pass by Cape York, we mark off another major milestone that we have made during our sailing adventure!
|
It is not often you sail in 5 knots of water. here is a picture of the chartplotter when we were passing through Albany Pass. You can see our Speed; which is speed through the water is only 5 .2 knots, while our Speed Over Ground (Sog) is 10 knots!
|
