Alison Stocker | Photo: Dwarf spinner dolphins frolicking in Tregoning’s bow wave
Waiting for improved wind conditions and reduced waves, we postponed our departure from Port Clinton from Thursday to Friday for the overnight passage to Fitzroy Reef. From there we would visit Lady Musgrave Island and then go outside Fraser Island on a straight two-night run to Moreton Bay. I had originally hoped that we could stop at some other reefs, such as North West Island, but unless we were inside a lagoon, as at Fitzroy and Lady Musgrave, these other reefs were not likely to be comfortable for sitting-out strong southeasterly winds.
Waiting for favorable tides at both Port Clinton and on arrival at Fitzroy Reef, we did not leave the South Arm anchorage until 9 am on Friday (24th September). Once we were well-clear of the harbor's mouth, we started sailing and turned off the engine. Although pinched into the wind as closely as possible, we were going more southerly than we needed. However, the wind was forecast to back so that our course would gradually become more easterly. Sadly, this did not occur as soon as predicted, so in a repetition of our grand hour of sailing towards the Hay Point coal-loading jetty after leaving Mackay, we spent just an hour sailing from Port Clinton until we had to turn away from Cape Manifold. With the wind slackening, we reluctantly decided to furl the jib and motor-sail southeast towards Fitzroy Reef.
Thankfully, by 8 pm the wind had backed to the north-northeast and had strengthened, so out came the jib again and off went the engine. Finally, we were able to sail for over six hours...woohoo! As forecast, this did not last until dawn, so we had to motor-sail for the last part of the trip. However, we had made such good speed under sail that we were able to keep the engine rpms very low, and finished the passage at around 3 knots. Surprisingly, this was still fast enough to attract a handful of dwarf spinner dolphins to cavort in Tregoning's bow wave. Four of them remained with us for more than 20 minutes as we approached Fitzroy Reef, during which time Randall and I stood on the bow marveling at their athleticism and, in my case, apologizing for the utter mess that humans are making of the planet and oceans.
This delaying tactic meant that we went through the narrow pass into the lagoon at Fitzroy Reef at 10 am, just before high tide. I had expected that there would be many trailer-boats in the lagoon since it was a weekend with light winds. Instead, there were just sailboats on two of the public moorings, conveniently leaving the third one for us. As Randall noted, the smaller local boats were all out fishing, and by nightfall we were joined by a dozen sport-fishing boats.
Tregoning in the gloriously turquoise lagoon at Fitzroy Reef
Saturday was a spectacularly sunny day, so we were quick to launch the dinghy in preparation for snorkeling. While doing so, our neighbor, Rod on the catamaran "Duo" came over in his dinghy "Uno" to chat. He was in his wetsuit having just returned from spear-fishing inside the lagoon, so he did not come aboard but he wanted to let us know that he had recently seen a 3-m (10-foot) tiger shark inside the lagoon. Even though we had heard this before, it was kind of him to make sure that we were aware of it. I am never particularly thrilled to have shark discussions just before we are going snorkeling, but our first destination was going to be relatively shallow so an unlikely haunt for such a big shark. Rod also remembered that he had seen us at Lady Musgrave in early June when we sold (at cost) 15 gallons (57 L) of diesel to another boat that had run short due to engine problems. The backpacker couple on the boat had been the ones to come over to get, and return, our jerry cans while Rod, who was trying to help them get up the coast, had stayed aboard their boat. It is a small cruising world.
A blue-barred parrotfish (to 62 cm or 24 inches) against a brain coral
Once we had launched the dinghy and organized our snorkeling equipment, we headed south in the lagoon to try an area just north of the "secret spot" that Lynne on SV Mischief had told us about in June. We again found some lovely shallow corals but the water was not quite as clear as we had hoped. Part of this was because a pair of Australian cow-tailed stingrays were moving around each other on the bottom, stirring-up the sand. Still, we saw a couple of turtles and I recorded just over 70 fish species in 65 minutes, making it a very worthwhile and enjoyable return to the Great Barrier Reef. By the time we got back to Tregoning, rinsed our gear, and ate lunch, we were both very tired after the overnight passage, so we slept for most of the afternoon.
Common lionfish (to 38 cm or 15 inches) - native to Australia but a terrible invasive species in the Caribbean Sea
Sunday morning was calmer and the trailer boats quickly dispersed to go fishing then return to the mainland. Rod and the other boat on the public moorings left, so for a while we were all alone in the lagoon. A New Zealand catamaran "Foxy Kitty" soon joined us and we had a brief chat with Deb and Tom while we were in our dinghy, on our way out of the lagoon. They had recently arrived in Australia and had spent their two weeks in hotel quarantine in Southport. It was interesting to know that such movements of private boats were being allowed, although we did not ask them if they had to pledge to spend any particular amount of money as was the case if we wanted to go to New Zealand (NZ$50,000).
High density and diversity of low corals on the "lawn" outside Fitzroy Reef
Riding the dinghy out of the pass, we were thrilled to find fabulously clear water. Using the handheld GPS, we found the area west of the pass where I had snorkeled in August 2020. Towards the reef was an amazing density and diversity of low corals, and ocean-ward there was a steep drop-off into deeper water which provided a good variety of fish. During our snorkel we found a single crown-of-thorns starfish making it ghostly way across a shallow part of the reef. This native species is a relatively benign part of the reef community in such low densities but in the shockingly high densities that occasionally erupt, their consumption of the coral has devastating effects on whole reefs.
A crown-of-thorns starfish, about the size of a dinner plate, leaving a trail of white, dead coral skeleton from which the polyps have been digested
Recording 90 fish species in 80 minutes, these included: whiteband damsels, which we had not seen since American Samoa, many Bleeker's parrotfish, which we had not seen since New Caledonia, and at least a dozen clown coris, which we only usually see one at a time. Randall was able to tow the dinghy in a gentle current parallel to the reef's edge, which allowed us to cover a long section of the reef ending not far from the pass.
A whiteband damsel (to 10 cm or 4 inches)
The reason for our long snorkels in water that was around 73°F (23°C) was that we were wearing hoodie-vests that we had bought in Cairns on the recommendation of Rachel and Adam (SV Lady Annabelle). These vests made a big difference in keeping us warm, especially for Randall whose separate hoodie had been thinner than mine. Increasing the protection over our chests and reducing the flow of water around the neck made a big difference. The downside was that we both needed help to get these garments off over our heads as they have no zippers. Mine was made of "shark-skin" fabric to match my full-body suit, which is neutrally buoyant. Although not quite as warm as Randall's neoprene wetsuit, I prefer not having to wear weights to be able to dive down. His secondhand wetsuit was no longer very buoyant, so the neoprene hoodie-vest made the top half of his body quite a bit more buoyant than before. We will have to devise a suitable system to overcome this, like a weighted bra, if he wants to do much deep diving!
Bleeker's parrotfish - left: terminal phase (to 48 cm or 19 inches), right: immature phase (to 39 cm or 15 inches)
The conditions and habitat of our snorkel outside the reef would be hard to improve upon, so when the wind kicked-up that night, we were not too disappointed to spend all of Monday onboard without going snorkeling. As the wind was increasing on Sunday evening, we watched as a couple of boats sailed towards Fitzroy Reef from the south. They did not reach the pass until after the sun had set and the second boat entered in quite dark conditions. It was not something we would have liked to have attempted. Perhaps they had been to this reef many times before and were confident about the safe route through the pass, but we would have probably just sailed on by.
With the wind easing slightly on Tuesday, the other boats left, leaving us with the whole lagoon to ourselves again. We snorkeled just south of Lynne's favorite section of reef, recording an even greater diversity of fish than three days earlier, 84 species in 61 minutes. We were briefly joined by a couple of green turtles and two or three white-tip reef sharks. It made it much easier for me to remain focused on the fish survey knowing that Randall was keeping a good watch on the sharks as they cruised past several times. Not that there is much to fear from such white-tips, but it is hard for me not to watch them if I am on my own. Shark-watcher is one of Randall's many snorkeling skills for which I am most grateful...especially in a lagoon known to contain a tiger shark.