Portland Roads to Mount Aldolphus Island

Sunday 29^th May: well the other yacht left before we even awoke and could not been seen on the horizon.

Upon leaving we caught sight of another catamaran on the horizon – it must have started very early in the morning as the nearest good anchorage south is Lockhart, or possibly sailed all night? Everyone else seems to be in a hurry.

15-20 knot winds, with occasional higher, provided pleasant sailing along Weymouth and Temple Bays. The crews of trawler boats must have a hard life but today we saw lone men in dinghies long, long distances away from the mother fishing boat in quite rough conditions, which no doubt can get worst than today – you would have to love fishing and getting wet and sunburnt for that job!

Enormous cargo ships are appearing more frequently – silent giants that seem quite surreal in appearance as they glide into vision and pop up from behind islands and reefs.

After lunch I decided a lay down would help the nausea I was starting to feel. Tony woke me at 1430 as we approached the Home Island Group.  The largest of these is Hicks and 3 very large modern houses are situated here. The islands are all flat, with low vegetation, some beaches and extensive reefs.  We had already passed Haggerstone Island, which has a resort. This is very remote living. The cost of building would be astronomical and access from the mainland is by plane – the weather does not provide easy or quick water access and there are no major roads on the nearby mainland.

Beach walking Margaret Bay-photo by Jon Glaudemans

From here we rounded Cape Grenville and anchored in Margaret Bay in time to re-plenish the biscuit supply.

The other yacht came in soon after – we crossed paths a few times during the day; they are a more modern and bigger catamaran but as they avoided the shallower reef areas, we kept ahead.

Monday 30^th May: our nicest day to date. Meet Jennifer and Jon Glaudemans on ‘ile de Grace’ (Isle of Grace), who are from Maryland USA, currently about half way through a 3 year trip circumnavigating the world. They had arrived in Cairns from Vanuatu after crossing the Pacific just prior to Cyclone Season, and during the wet visited Thailand and New Zealand by plane. Jennifer and Jon had left Bathurst Bay last Saturday and sailed non-stop till yesterday afternoon. In one week they had travelled what had taken us four, but they are not sight seeing. They need to get north quickly to have the right timing to travel west to Irian Jaya and then across the Indian Ocean to round South Africa (increased pirate activity from Somali has cancelled their plans to go via the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean).  From what they told us they had seen and done in the Pacific, Qld would not compare anyway. http://sv-grace.blogspot.com is their very informative travel record.

Photo by Jon Glaudemans 

We have both been told by different sources that Indian Bay across the headland was great for beachcombing, but Jennifer and Jon were not confident to go alone with the possibility of crocodiles and snakes. So the 4 of us packed a picnic lunch and trekked for an hour through long grass, slushy muddy lowlands, bush and mangroves. There is a rough path marked by mainly blue items of flotsam (eg. bits of rope, thongs, toys, plastic construction helmets). Of course, there were plenty of green ants. Both beaches are totally submerged at high tide, with long expanses of flat white sand at low. The floating ‘lost treasures’ are found behind the fringing mangroves. I was disappointed in the beachcombing though – plenty of buoys, driftwood and helmets, but otherwise just broken rubbish, particularly plastic bottles. I had been expecting similar to the beach north of Cooktown where we and others found in good condition: hats, cushions, cameras, wet suits – basically anything that could fall off a boat. The only other flotsam on Indian Bay was masses of blue bottle jellyfish. But the company and conversation was excellent. Zowie arrived back covered in mud requiring her first bath on the boat.

Red Beech en route to Indian Bay. Photo by Jon Glaudemans

We then had dinner on ‘ile de Grace’, a 44ft Fountaine Pajot – built in France and sailed back to America by Jennifer and a delivery crew. The great back deck alone is bigger than our saloon. Freshly caught tuna was a treat for Tony.

Tuesday 31^st May: A monohull was anchored on our return to Margaret Bay yesterday but had left before we awoke this morning. One fact we all bemoaned at last night’s dinner was how hard it is to maintain fitness on a boat. When we commenced this trip I found my exercise program quite easy as the weights were much less than I would use at a gym. By this morning these same light weights are becoming hard going, so it is already a concern.

Photo by Jon Glaudemans

After lunch we dinghied to the beach closer to Cape Grenville which I call Stingray Bay due to the number of stingrays!  Mangroves enclosed the beach and the sand was separated by sections of slippery mud, so not as nice as Margaret Bay.

‘ile de Grace’ left at 3pm planning to sail non-stop and arrive at Horn Island tomorrow afternoon. After organising some things there, Jon and Jennifer will exit Australia from there. Another catamaran and 2 monohulls arrived during the next 2 hours, all ‘fast-tracking’ to the Top as well. We plan to meander for a few more days.

I am becoming concerned about crossing the Gulf of Carpentaria as it requires 2 nights of non –stop travelling: for us this is a major problem - I can’t sail and Tony can’t stay awake for 3 days.

Photo by Jon Glaudemans

Wednesday 1^st June: awoke to 2 of the other boats already on the horizon. We motor sailed 2 hours to Shelburne Bay, primarily to reduce the long day needed tomorrow to reach the next good anchorage, and because Tony wanted to see it. The terrain has progressively flattened since leaving Portland Roads and Shelburne is very flat with occasional hillocks. We passed a red bauxite cliff face flanked by white sand dunes, but overall Shelburne is not as scenic as we expected. As at Indian and Margaret, high tide reaches the mangroves with low tide exposing a long, though not as wide, beach.

During the day 2 dugongs were briefly sighted but by mid afternoon, when the tide was right to visit the beach, I was not feeling inclined. 20-25 knot winds buffeted us all day and I am feeling tired of the whole thing, so getting to the beach just seemed too much effort. However every beach is upliftingly different and I have renamed Shelburne Starfish Beach.

Photo by Jon Glaudemans

The sand was literally covered with the imprints of starfish – have not seen this anywhere else. The beach was also potholed with various size pools still filled with water. In each was at least 1 live starfish, while I counted 40 in one pool approximately 1 metre across. They also moved a lot faster than I have seen starfish do previously.

In one drying puddle we found 2 small silver fish flailing and gasping – with the aid of Zowie’s drink bowl I moved them to a nearby deeper pool, where they swam quite contentedly – hopefully the tide will have returned in time.
Indian, Margaret and Shelburne have all been sparse of shells but in one possibly permanent pool I found hermit crabs and a shell actually with an inhabitant mollusc moving along the bottom of the pool. Even diving I have never seen a shell with its mollusc evident. Further along I found another shell with mollusc on drying sand – I moved it to a nearby pond and hoped it would be okay.

Photo by Jon Glaudemans

A number of years ago a kayaker was attacked by a crocodile in this Bay and help was obtained when a passing plane saw writing in the sand – considering the writing would only have been possible at low tide and with little non-mangrove land  present at high, he was very lucky to be rescued. It would have been terrifying.

Thursday 2^nd June: left at 5am and it was pitch black. The stars were magnificent but we could not even see the water. Tony was confident using compass bearing, GPS and radar to know where we, and everything else, was. I, however, felt extremely unsure and anxious. This area is not even fully surveyed so I was expecting to hit a reef, and not being able to see the size of the waves before they hit is daunting. To sail all night I would need the benefit of a full moon, which is not always possible, and I would still expect the worst!

I did feel better with the rising sun but the wind and waves were messy and rough all day, requiring us to motor sail to maintain the 7 knots needed to get to our next anchorage before dark. The thought of having to do days and nights like this is claustrophobic and sickening. The longest stint ‘ile de Grace’ did across the Pacific was 21 days – I realise all long distance sailors do this (and why Jessica Watson, Jesse Martin and others do it for months is unimaginable), but I am now even finding the thought of 3 days across the gulf impossible.  I have had enough; I am not a sailor; I do not enjoy being continually frightened; I would like to sell Nysa and go home, but as we have to wait months for the wind to change direction, that is not going to happen, so I just feel a failure!

The coastline continued as beaches, low vegetated sand dunes and cliff faces. We crossed the sand bar into Escape River at 4.30pm – even though low tide this was fine. The difficulty with this river is the Pearl Farm, which has pearl rafts literally everywhere in the first 2kms. The buoys from which the rafts suspend are mostly black and it would be impossible to transverse the river in the dark and not run into a raft.  Even in the daylight, a lookout is needed as you weave around them. By 5.30pm we eventually found a space large enough to anchor. At least it was calm and the sunset pretty.

Friday 3^rd June: one monohull from Margaret Bay was in the river when we arrived yesterday but left early this morning. We are having a rest day after yesterday plus we need to work out the tides and currents to leave on to facilitate arrival at the next anchorage. What we are actually visualising with the tides in the river is not corresponding to the GPS tide chart? By 9.30am it is blowing 25 knots, so would not be pleasant outside – hopefully will be better tomorrow, but we can’t rely on the weather reports that are not predicting what we are getting, so we will just have to take what we get. Tony insists I have to see it all as a challenge.

 Just as we were preparing to take the dinghy out after lunch, the owner of the Pearl Farm arrived and asked us to afternoon tea. Rusty Tully used to own the Pearl Shop on Thursday Island (TI) but sold that and bought the farm 2.5 years ago. He married Bronwyn 12 months ago, and caretakers Lindsay and Hazel arrived a few weeks back.

Escape River is the second oldest pearl farm in Australia and the largest in Qld. Torres Strait has had a pearling industry since 1868, with the first cultured pearl farm commencing in 1957. Rusty and Bronwyn’s first harvest will be in a few months – it takes 2 years to grow a cultured pearl and the area produces a pink pearl as well as the more usual colours.

Navigational light on Hannibal Islats

There is clearance through the pearl rafts (as legally the river cannot be closed to traffic), and as we found this afternoon when exploring, there is plenty of anchorage in calmer water further along the river, past the rafts. The buoys are black for UV protection, but better markings are planned once new configurations for the rafts are finalised – current configurations are the last owners. Interestingly people do come into the river at night, and usually do run into the rafts, causing a lot of damage.  Bronwyn has contacted Alan Lucas, the author of the book used by most yachties for this area, to try and update his information. They are also considering writing an article for the yachtie magazines about the changes to the Farm, and best anchorages in the river. An alternative website was suggested for better tidal information: www.willyweather.com.au .

The Farm buildings are actually on Turtle Head Island at the river mouth. They have a small airfield for charter planes, but go by dinghy via Jacky Jacky creek to Bamaga, the nearest Aboriginal community, to pick up mail and groceries fortnightly. There is a Pearl shop at the Farm but it grew close to sunset before we had a chance to look, and I was not returning to Nysa in the dark!

It was fascinating hearing about life on TI and the Farm, and Lindsay and Hazel’s experiences as ‘farm sitters’. Rusty well remembers selling a pearl pendant to Sexual Health’s Director a number of years ago when our service was conducting education on TI. We really enjoyed our visit and regret it went so quickly, and that I didn’t get a chance to shop. The Farm’s very interesting website is www.torrespearls.com and jewellery can be purchased!

We spotted our first crocodile on a nearby sandbank as we left to go to the Pearl Farm. At about 2 metres, the area around the sandbank is his territory – around the Pearl Farm itself is a 4 metre. It was seen eating a turtle on the sandbank adjacent to the buildings recently. There are also snub nose dolphins in the river, which are uncommon.

Saturday 4^th June: all night I wished we had moved further down the river yesterday as wind and swell lashed us, but that would have meant a longer trip to the Pearl Farm in the dinghy in yesterday’s choppy conditions.

As we raised the anchor at sunrise, a dolphin glided past the front of Nysa. Winds were 25 knots as we reached the ocean, but once we crossed the sandbar and could head north, the waves were behind us and more comfortable. The bauxite cliff faces glowed in the sunlight and a plastic chair drifted past.

Most people time current and tide to travel through the Albany Pass, between the mainland at the old settlement of Somerset and Albany Island, as it is the quickest route to the Cape.

We however chose to travel via the north side of the Albany Island, passing through the strong current of Mai Islet to Pioneer Bay, arriving 11am.

The island is very pretty, with a long pleasant beach lined with casuarinas to walk, but very swelly. We had great difficulty reboarding Nysa as the movement of  boats and waves did not facilitate easy reconnection.

We had thought to walk across the island tomorrow to the Pass but timing the tides and surviving the swell changed our minds.

Sunday 5^th June: there is no point listening to the weatherman up here. Today a calm 10-15 knots was forecasted and we had a continual 25 knots with waves 1-2 metres as we motor sailed to Mount Aldophus Island, about an hour north of Pioneer Bay. I will be really worried when the forecast is for more than 20!

On the way we passed near Quetta Rock, which in 1890 caused the sinking of the British India steamer Quetta in 3 minutes. 133 people died. The survivors managed to get to the settlement of Somerset in the Albany Passage, from where the world was notified via the Overland Telegraph. Somerset is now a ruin. The Quetta is in about 20 metres of water, and can be dived but requires extremely calm conditions on the turn of the tide to reduce the current, and to have no fear of crocodiles – today we had neither of these.

We anchored in Blackwood Bay about 10.30am. The water is aqua coloured and clear; the island’s rocky hills vegetated. We managed a short walk on the small beach as the high tide turned – as there is a fringing rock reef one has to be quick not to run out of water. At the highest tidal line are pumice pebbles and behind that flowering grevilleas with birds. Numerous fishing nets are stranded on the foreshore here and at Pioneer Bay, so I expect there are more floating as hazards in the waterways. Turtles and stingrays swam close to the dinghy, appearing to have no fear.

2 monohulls arrived in the bay but soon left – we expect they found the swell too uncomfortable. For us the swell is much better than Pioneer Bay, but monohulls are affected more than catamarans, and they were definitely rocking. We are surprised by the number of dinghies seen considering how rough the water is, but I guess if the wind is always blowing, you would get used to wet and wild conditions?

We can see the tip of Cape York south of us, so we have made it to the Top. After 5 weeks of travel, Tony’s hair is greyer, he is thinner and his face gaunt. I however have put on weight and notice daily the worsening sun damage to my skin – I perceive that we are aging at an accelerated rate.

Old fishing nets were found on most beaches.

Pioneer Bay on Albany Island