29 March 2015 | 10 13'N:95 05'E, Bay of Bengal
27 May 2014 | Pangkor Marina, Malaysia
26 September 2013 | 07 20'S:114 29'E, Enroute from Bali to Kumai, Kelimantan
30 August 2013 | 08 22'S:120 0'E, Gili Bodo, Komodo, Nusa Tengarra, Indonesia
14 August 2013 | 08 30'S:123 13'E, Kawula Island
14 August 2013 | 10 52'S:122 49'E, Nemberala Village, SE Rote
14 August 2013 | 10 09'S:123 34'E, Teddy's Bar, Kupang, East Nusa Tengarra, Indonesia
28 July 2013 | 11 06'S:125 40'E, Sahul Banks
27 July 2013 | 12 15'S:130 23'E, Offshore Darwin, Australia
26 June 2013 | 12 25'S:130 49'E, Fannie Bay, Darwin Sailing Club, Darwin, NT
26 June 2013 | 11 12'S:131 48'E, Alcaro Bay, Cape Don, NT
26 June 2013 | 11 01'S:132 33'E, Croker Island, Arnhem Land, NT, AUS
26 June 2013 | 11 33'S:133 23'E, North Goulburn Island, Arnhem Land, NT
26 June 2013 | 11 56'S:134 44'E, Cape Stewart, Arnhem Land, NT, AUS
26 June 2013 | 11 56'S:135 40'E, Elcho Island
14 June 2013 | 11 33'S:136 20'E, Gugari Rip, (Hole in the Wall), Wessel Islands, Northern Territory, AUS
14 June 2013 | 10 40'S:142 31'E, Cape York, Queensland
08 June 2013 | 11 57'S:143 12'E, Margaret Bay, Far North Queensland
03 June 2013 | 14 39'S:145 27'E, Lizard Island, Queensland, Australia
30 May 2013 | 15 27'S:145 14'E, Cooktown, Queensland, Australia
Winds and Bullets and Sharks
03 June 2013 | 14 39'S:145 27'E, Lizard Island, Queensland, Australia
We are now sitting offshore Mrs Watson's Bay on Lizard Island, 54 NM north of Cooktown. The super windy achorage at Cooktown was surely an interesting experience, with gusts (or better yet, bullets as the locals yachties call them) well over 35 knots. After provisioning and cleaning Sea Child, we set sail around 9am for Lizard Island and once we arrived, we were excited to have finally found such a beautiful island, just like the brochure pictures. White sand beach, blue blue clear water, warm tropical skies. While sailing to Lizard, we caught a small tuna, and decided to wait until we anchored to clean it. At the achorage, while Eric cleaned and filleted the fish, a large school of black tip sharks (over 6 that were counted!) swam around the port swim step as Eric worked away. At one point, as he was cleaning the cutting board, a shark came up and bumped his hand, giving him quite a startle! It was a crazy sight, and given that swimming near Sea Child was our goal, we took the fish guts in a bucket well away and around the anchorage point to dispose in the water. The blood of the tuna in the fish locker had dripped out the locker drains, and this is what we believe attracted the sharks!
Lizard Island is just beautiful, though the winds have picked up again during the night with wind gusts up to 30 knots. There is a hike here that Captain Cook took up 358 meters to see if there was a passage out of the nearby barrier reef. The island is charming and scenic, and though the winds have the 15 or so anchored yachts sailing around their chains, the beauty of this island is mesmerizing. We expect to set sail for Cape York in the next 3 days or so, as the grib files show that the winds will back off a little by week's end.