MV Dirona travel digest for Central Great Barrier Reef 2015


Show Central Great Barrier Reef 2015 travel log map Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise.

On the map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at //mvdirona.com/maps/LocationCurrent.html.


   

4/8/2015: HVAC maintenance
The pilot house HVAC system still was not draining properly, although fortunately we didn't soak the master stateroom again. Here we are pouring boiling water down the drain hose to clear any debris. A lot of debris came out, and we got the drain flowing well again. But when we plugged the bottom of the drain for a leak test and filled the drain base, we found water seeping under and discovered a crack in the base. On inspecting our other HVAC systems in the salon, and the master and guest staterooms, we found that all had a single small crack radiating out from where the drain hose barb was installed. We fixed them with 5-minute epoxy.
4/9/2015: Shaw Island
We're anchored at Shaw Island pretty much where we were last time here. We'd left the Gold Coast a little earlier than expected to take advantage of light winds before they picked up from the SE yesteday morning. We still have a list of boat projects to complete, including stowing the rest of the pallet of gear that we picked up in the Gold Coast. So we'll stay here for a few days and work them off.
4/9/2015: Snooze
Spitfire reports that we're back in tropical weather.
4/9/2015: Watermaker filter
We have a sand-filter ahead of the watermaker intake that catches much of the debris, so we only schedule a change of the 5-micron watermaker pre-filter every 12 months. We're not sure what got past the sand filter, but this one needed an early change and it smelled bad as well.
4/9/2015: Sunset
A beautiful sunset over the Conway Range on the Australian mainland.
4/11/2015: Billaroo
Fellow Seven Seas Cruising Association members Kerry and Sue Craig hoisting sail on Billaroo to return home to Mackay. They noticed our burgee and stopped by to chat for a bit yesterday.
4/12/2015: Woodwark Bay
We'll be working our way north over the next few weeks. We're not in any rush with cyclones active not far north from here. This is the view looking east from our current anchorage at Woodwark Bay.
4/12/2015: Floor scrub
About once a year we scrub down the floors in the engine room and lazarette.
4/12/2015: Nice and clean
After a good scrub, the engine room is looking almost like new again.
4/12/2015: Fishing
Spitfire subduing his catch--a small pipefish. His fishing technique is to wait on the swim platform until a fish lands in front of him, bring it into the cockpit to get the fight out of it, and then eat it whole. He continues to reinforce his lead over everyone else on Dirona for fishes caught.
4/15/2015: Dryander National Park
Ashore at Drynader National Park in our first test of the new micro-tender--it was just as easy to carry ashore as the smaller one. The park encompasses the shore on both sides of Woodwark Bay, and inland from Double Bay to our west. A small campsite is here at Woodwark Bay.
4/15/2015: Beach
Walking the soft-sand beach along the bay. We hadn't been ashore since the Gold Coast, so we particularly enjoyed the walk.
4/15/2015: Woodwark Bay
The view looking southwest from the grassy slope behind the beach. We were planning to walk the short distance across the isthmus to have lunch on the other side. We found a trail, but it ran through thigh-high grass. We weren't keen on the possibility of a poisonous snake encounter while wearing only sandals, so we kept the line moving.
4/15/2015: Lunch
We ran the micro-tender south to the head of the bay to see if we could enter the inlet there, but there wasn't enough water on a mid-tide to reach it. So we continued back north and found a great lunch spot with a view across the bay. Dirona is barely visible in the distance as a small speck in the center of the picture. (Click the image for a larger view.)
4/15/2015: Dusk
Looking northwest from the anchorage at dusk. We're still adjusting to the high daytime temperatures, but evenings on the back deck with a cool tropical breeze are wonderful.
4/16/2015: Saddleback Island
Approaching Saddleback Island, with hilly Gloucester Island in the distance. Shortly after we rounded Saddleback Island, a squall came through and all but the southern tip of Gloucester Island disappeared in the precipitation.
4/16/2015: Shag Island
Looking north from the anchorage across Shag Islet to Gloucester Island. Tiny Shag Islet is home to the Shag Islet Cruising Yacht Club, a virtual yacht club where a nominal fee gives a lifetime membership, and everyone is a Vice Commodore. Once a year, the club has a rendezvous at Shag Island. In 2013, they drew 180 boats and 1,400 attendees.
4/16/2015: Dusk
The view west across Edgecombe Bay towards Bowen at dusk. In the prevailing southeasterly winds, the anchorage is calm and sheltered.
4/17/2015: Oar Bistro
We had a great meal poolside, with a view to the beach and bay, at the Oar Bistro in the Cape Gloucester Beach Resort.
4/18/2015: Collinsville Coal
This massive offshore loading facility serves the Collinsville Coal mine, about 55 miles inland from Bowen. The mine produces about 6 million tons of coal per year.
4/18/2015: The Bun
A fishing vessel working near The Bun--a small rock off Cape Upstart.
4/18/2015: Upstart Bay
Upstart Bay was much larger and more open than we were expecting, with shallows a long way off shore. We did find a decent anchorage about halfway in with protection from the swell and the prevailing southeast trade winds. This is the view looking east to Cape Upstart.
4/19/2015: Horseshoe Bay
Horseshoe Bay, at the north end of Magnetic Island, is quite scenic and we enjoyed our stay there.
4/19/2015: Fishing vessel
Several fishing vessels such as this anchored in the bay during the day, then left to go to work at night. They kept their gear in the water, likely to reduce boat motion. A fair bit of swell does reach the anchorage, so we eventually put out the flopper-stopper (passive at-rest roll stabilizer) too.
4/19/2015: Watermaker cleaning
The watermaker is just coming up on 1,000 hours after 5 1/2 years of fairly heavy use. The water quality still is well within usable bounds, but has slowly been degrading over time. So it's time to give the membranes a thorough clean and see if we can get another year or two out of them. The cleaning process involves circulating an alkaline solution for 30 minutes, flushing for 10 minutes, circulating an acid solution for 30 minutes, flushing for 10 minutes, and then bringing the system back online. This actually is a fairly involved process where we removed the outlet hose at the through-hull and plumbed it into the watermaker input, forming a loop. After adjusting the high pressure pump to 0, we removed the prefilter, replaced it with an alkaline treatment, and circulated the system with the high and low pressure pumps for 30 minutes. Then we restored the plumbing, flushed the system for 10 minutes, replumbed the loop and circulated again using an acid treatment for 30 minutes. After restoring the plumbing for a final time, we flushed for another 10 minutes and finally adjusted the high pressure back to its original setting. This process improved the water quality by 100 ppm and probably will extend the life of the membranes for another year. But there's no hiding from the fact that we're getting close to replacement time.
4/20/2015: Marlin Bar
Horseshoe Bay has a small main street with several restaurants. We had an enjoyable meal street-side at the Marlin Bar, overlooking the beach and the bay. The sky was clear when we left Dirona, but as we launched the micro-tender to return, a torrential downpour started. We waited it out for about a half-hour, but eventually gave up and headed back anyway. Visibility was terrible, but Dirona's deck lights make it easy to find in even a large anchorage field. We were drenched by the time we got back to the boat, but enjoyed the adventure.
4/21/2015: Port of Townsville
Narrow Platypus Channel leads to the Port of Townsville. Small craft are allowed to pass large ships under way in the channel, but not in the swing basin or entry channel. A light atop the control tower flashes red if these areas are closed to small craft while a ship is maneuvering there.
4/21/2015: Kungurri
The Smit Lamnalco tugs Kungurri and Herbert moored together in the port.
4/21/2015: Brett Irwin
The local police boat Brett Irwin.
4/21/2015: Ross Creek
Proceeding past the port along Ross Creek towards the Townsville Yacht Club. Downtown Townsville is just beyond on the right, below the striking Castle Hill.
4/21/2015: Townsville Yacht Club
Looking across Ross Creek to our berth at the Townsville Yacht Club. The restaurant and clubhouse is on the left. We weren't actually planning to stop in Townsville, but local Mick Malone encouraged us to visit and even arranged for this excellent berth. Mick is a longtime friend of Nordhavn 57 Speedbird owner David Fincham, who introduced us.
4/21/2015: Marine stingers
From the marina we walked through town and north along the Strand, a 1 1/2-mile beach-front promenade along the Townsville waterfront. Most of the beaches were closed--November through May is high season for marine stingers (jellyfish) on the Queensland coast. The box jellyfish is particularly hazardous--it is mostly found in shallow waters near the mainland shore and can deliver a fatal sting. Some beaches farther along the Strand had stinger nets, large net-enclosed areas where people can enjoy the water in relative safety.
4/21/2015: Longboard
We stopped for a great meal at the Longboard Bar and Grill, perched on a point with views west to Magnetic Island and south Platypus Channel and the Port of Townsville.
4/21/2015: Strand rock pool
The huge and beautiful rock pool at the northern end of the Strand.
4/21/2015: Fort Kissing Point
The headland north of the Strand has sweeping views of the area and was a military precinct from 1887 to 2006. The city of Townsville has since restored some of the fort and redeveloped the area as a beautiful park, with extensive artwork and interpretive displays detailing the area's history.
4/22/2015: Rowers
Rowers frequent Ross Creak in the mornings and evenings.
4/22/2015: Sunrise
The morning sun lighting up Castle Hill to our north, with part of downtown Townsville visible in front along the water. We're really enjoying being here in Townsville.
4/22/2015: Castle Hill
From the moment Jennifer sighted Castle Hill yesterday, she's wanted to get to the top. So this morning we took the Goat Track up.
4/22/2015: View
The spectacular panoramic view from Castle Hill. Fort Kissing Point, where we were yesterday, is at the right end of Rowes Bay, the U-shaped bay at the left of the photo. Magnetic Island is in the distance beyond Kissing Point. The Port of Townsville and the Townsville Yacht Club are slightly to the right of center, and Cape Bowling Green is in the distance on the right. (Click image to view larger). We were lucky to get such a clear day--Townsville only has 320 sunny days per year. :)
4/22/2015: Port of Townsville
We took the Cudtheringa Track back down from Castle Hill and stopped again at Longboard for lunch, then continue back through town and out to the port. At the new Quayside Terminal, we found a good vantage to watch a ship taking on containers via crane.
4/23/2015: Maritime Museum
We visited the Maritime Museum of Townsville today. Featured displays include northern Queensland's involvement in World War II, and the wreck of the SS Yongala. The Yongala sank about 48 miles south of Townsville during a 1911 cyclone and now is one of the top wreck dives in the world. We plan to dive it in a couple of days so were particularly interested in learning more about the vessel's history.
4/23/2015: Alarm
We've almost completed the installation of an external alarm and warning light. A few days ago we ran a wire from the pilot house to the base of the stack. Today we ran the wire up the stack, along the upper support arm, and down through the marineboard shield that prevents the steaming light from illuminating the foredeck. In this photo, the light/alarm is wired in and we just need to mount it permanently under the marineboard shield.
4/24/2015: SL Herbert
Mick Malone invited us to tour the tug SL Herbert today, and to ride along while he escorted the cement bulker Alcem Lugait into the Port of Townsville. Read more.
4/25/2015: SS Yongala
The SS Yongala is a world-renowned wreck dive about 48 miles south of Townsville. Boats must have a permit to visit the site, so we booked a day trip there with Adrenalin Dive. The diving was fantastic--the hundred-year-old wreck is encrusted with corals and surrounded by huge schools of small and large fish. It was a memorable trip, so we'll blog pictures and video this week.
4/26/2015: Emergency start
Once a year we charge and test all of our backup batteries. The dinghy emergency start system has failed, showing only seven cold-cranking amps.
4/26/2015: Backup battery
Rather than replace the battery in the emergency start system, we instead grafted its switch and cables onto a spare dinghy battery that we carry on-board Dirona. This will give double the emergency backup battery capacity and is one less type of battery we have to carry. We'll keep this one in the dingy and get a third to carry as a spare.
4/26/2015: Aquarium
The Great Barrier Reef Aquarium features a 2.5 million liter saltwater aquarium teeming with life and a walk-through tunnel. We were impressed at the health of the coral and the wide range of fish, including several kinds of sharks.
4/26/2015: Museum of Tropical Queensland
The novel and various film adaptations of Mutiny on the Bounty made famous the story of Captain Bligh, who was set adrift by mutineers on his ship the HMS Bounty. Captain Bligh survived and returned to England to report the crime, and the British Admiralty dispatched the HMS Pandora to hunt down the mutineers. En route back to England with some of the captured mutineers, the Pandora struck a reef off northern Queensland and sank. The Museum of Tropical Queensland has an excellent and extensive display on the HMS Pandora including numerous articles salvaged from the wreck.
4/26/2015: Shamrock
Cold drinks street-side at the Shamrock, one of Townsville's several Irish pubs.
4/27/2015: Engine oil
Mick Malone dropped off two 20-liter pails of Caltex Delo 400LE. We now are back to having a full oil supply, where we can change the main engine oil three times and the generator twice.
4/27/2015: Fueling
We took on 3233 liters of diesel fuel at the Trawler Dock in Townsville's new marine precinct. Typical of fueling facilities for larger commercial vessels, you're up against large piles and the dock is a long way up. The attendant was so far above us that Jennifer paid by handing a credit card up from the boat deck.
4/27/2015: Magnetic Island
Back to Magnetic Island, this time to Nelly Bay where the Townsville ferry lands.
4/27/2015: Nordhavn 57s
We're the third Nordhavn in Nelly Bay. Already here are Nordhavn 57s Time 2 and Myrtle. We keep in touch with Time 2 owners Mike Drinkrow & Lynn v/d Hoven, but surprisingly haven't seen them since Namena marine reserve in Fiji. Unfortunately we won't see them here, as they are on a trip home to South Africa.
4/27/2015: Boardwalk
We had an exceptional lunch at the Boardwalk Cafe, overlooking the ferry dock, Time 2 and Myrtle.
4/27/2015: Rock Wallaby
Two of several Rock Wallaby along the harbour breakwater.
4/27/2015: Nelly Bay
Mick Malone has continued to spoil us by offering us use of the berth they share in Nelly Bay. It's a lovely, peaceful spot with great views north to the hills on Magnetic Island and great walking tracks nearby.
4/28/2015: Dawn
Dawn looking southeast from our berth.
4/28/2015: Morning sun
The morning sun lighting the boats across the waterway from us.
4/28/2015: Track
We set off this morning on a 4-mile walk to The Forts, a World War II military base in the hills at the northeast corner of Magnetic Island. This is the start of the track at the end of Mandalay Avenue.
4/28/2015: Horseshoe Bay
The track is easy walking, but did climb steadily upward. The reward for that exertion is a clear view to Horseshoe Bay where we'd anchored over a week ago.
4/28/2015: Intersection
From this point we can continue south to Arcadia or north towards Horseshoe Bay and our destination, The Forts.
4/28/2015: The Forts track
We've seen all kinds of interesting wildlife signs in Australia. This one at the start of The Forts track indicates dogs are not allowed, hikers are ok, and that wild koalas live in the area.
4/28/2015: Arthur Bay Lookout
The view to Arthur Bay from the road to The Forts.
4/28/2015: Gun emplacement
One of two 155mm gun emplacements in the complex.
4/28/2015: Lunch
We stopped for lunch on the bluffs below one of the gun emplacements. The tip of Cape Cleveland on the mainland south of Townsville is just visible at the right of the photo.
4/28/2015: Command post
The Command Post has as amazing 360-degree view. Horseshoe Bay is at the left of this panorama, Florence Bay is right of center, and Cape Cleveland on the mainland is visible in the distance.
4/28/2015: Gabul Way
From The Forts we walked into Arcadia and followed the beautiful new Gabul Way track along the coast and back into Nelly Bay. This is the view looking east towards the mainland.
4/30/2015: Juno Bay
At anchor in Juno Bay. We were expecting some swell to reach the anchorage, but Great Palm Island blocked most of it as soon as we were through Steamer Pass. Juno bay was dead calm and a very enjoyable stop
4/30/2015: Orpheus Island National Park
Most of the island is undeveloped National Park.
4/30/2015: Yanks Jetty
We'd intended to land on Yanks Jetty and go ashore, but a vital piece was missing. It appears we'd arrived a little early for the new dock to be completed. So we landed on some large rocks and used the Anchor Buddy, effectively a bungee-cord attached to an anchor, to keep the tender in deeper water.
4/30/2015: Hazard Bay
Our guidebook indicated that the island had good walking tracks, but we couldn't find any information on-line, nor could we find anything around the campsite south of Yanks Jetty. So we satisfied ourselves with the view north into Hazard Bay from a rocky bluff south of the jetty.
4/30/2015: Resort
The luxury resort at Hazard Bay apparently doesn't welcome boaters, so we followed the marked channel to their jetty to have a look but didn't go ashore.
4/30/2015: Dusk
Sundown drinks in the cockpit, looking east from the anchorage in Juno Bay.
5/1/2015: Hinchinbrook Island
We left Juno Bay before light so that could arrive at Lucinda Bar at high tide. On a 9.2 ft high tide at Townsville, we saw a minimum depth of 12.5 ft crossing the bar. We followed the leading lines part of the way across, and then changed course to deeper waters. This is the view to mountainous Hinchinbrook Island as we approach the bar.
5/1/2015: Lucinda
The channel is rather narrow off the old molasses Jetty at Lucinda.
5/1/2015: Heron
Heron working the shallows off the mangroves in a mainland channel. We're in crocodile country now, and will be for the next few months.
5/1/2015: Dinghy maintenance
We replaced the dinghy trim tab struts and resealed the drain and the hull-to-trim tab mount point. The new trim tabs apparently have seen some design changes, so the new struts don't match the old mounts. We adapted the mounting plates to achieve a fit.
5/2/2015: Morning calm
Hinchinbrook Channel is quite scenic, with mountains on both sides. We likely would have stayed another day, but with several days of calm weather forecast, we left early to head to the reefs.
5/2/2015: Beaver Reef
With winds forecast to blow less than 10 knots for the next few days, we're back out on the reefs--our first time since Circular Cay off the Whitsunday area last October. The small sand island to our east is the only land visible for miles. We love it out here--it's great to be back.
5/2/2015: Going ashore
We anchored the tender by the stern with the Anchor Buddy and pulled a bow line ashore with a grapple.
5/2/2015: Lunch
Lunch ashore on our own private island. The tide is reasonably low right now--at high tide the islet almost disappeared.
5/2/2015: Swim
Jennifer having a swim off the stern of the boat, wearing a lycra skin for protection from marine stingers (jellyfish). The current was strong enough that she could hold position while swimming against it.
5/2/2015: Dusk
Enjoying the sunset and evening breeze from the flybridge.
5/3/2015: Dawn
We hardly need the reef for protection in these calm seas.
5/3/2015: Mine warning
This warning on our chart reads: "FORMER MINED AREA: All passages from seaward through the Great Barrier Reef between 11°40'S and 19°07'S have been swept and are open to surface navigation only. They are not safe for anchoring, trawling, bottoming by submarines or seabed activities." I wonder how much unexploded ordinance is down there?
5/3/2015: McCulloch Reef
The entry to McCulloch Reef was a little tricky, but we found a nice anchorage off the inner reef and ran the tender back to dive a large bommie near the entrance. The coral and fish life were decent, with several steep drop-offs.
5/4/2015: Dolphins
Dolphins chasing our bow as we travel from McCulloch Reef to Flynn Reef.
5/4/2015: Busy area
We saw no boats around McCulloch Reef, but now that we're getting close to Cairns we're seeing lots of large tourist boats moored off the reefs. These two are at Milln Reef to our southwest.
5/4/2015: Tracey's Bommie
Tracey's Bommie at Flynn Reef was a fantastic dive--perhaps the best that we've done so far in the Great Barrier Reef area. The visibility was excellent and the fish, and particularly the coral life, was incredibly healthy and diverse. In the video https://youtu.be/2DfzRZ5labU (1:38) you also can see one of the giant clams the area is known for. The clam is about three feet long and is about one-minute in, where the camera tilts down.
5/5/2015: You don't want a Booby
We anchored off Flynn Reef over sand in about 100' with the flopper-stopper out, as swell protection wasn't as good as at the last two anchorages. Two other boats overnighted with us: a large commercial dive boat and a sailboat on the one public mooring here. We unfortunately also shared the anchorage with a Booby. who left us this present on the bow.
5/5/2015: Mooring
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has installed moorings throughout the Great Barrier Reef to allow boats to anchor close to the coral without damaging it. We typically anchor off in deeper water over sand, but decided to pickup a mooring for the first time here at Michaelmas Cay to be closer to the cay and the reef. The moorings are color-coded for the boat size they are designed for. The blue-banded mooring we took can support monohulls up to 25m in a maximum of 35 knots of wind.
5/5/2015: Breaking Patches
Several private moorings marked an excellent dive site at the Breaking Patches just north of Michaelmas Reef. The dive was on par with yesterday's at Flynn Reef: excellent visibility and diverse, abundant and healthy coral life. The underwater topography was impressive too: the video https://youtu.be/suRdH-Hz9iI (0:22) shows a swim through the narrow channel between two coral-encrusted bommies.
5/5/2015: Passions of Paradise
Michaelmas Cay is close to Cairns and a popular day trip. Passions of Paradise is the second large tour boat here since we arrived.
5/5/2015: Michaelmas Reef
We investigated around the several private mooring on the southwest side of the reef for drop-offs or walls, but couldn't find any so did a second dive near another private mooring on the northwest side. Visibility here wasn't quite as good as the Breaking Patches dive, but the sea life and underwater formations were equally impressive. The video https://youtu.be/sj4zp4SfbSs (1:15) shows some highlights.
5/5/2015: Ternado
Michaelmas Cay is a national park and a seabird conservation area. With over 20,000 nesting seabird pairs nesting here year-round, it's one of the most important seabird breeding grounds in the entire Great Barrier Reef. Most of the birds are sooty terns and lesser crested terns who constantly wheel and cry above the cay, as you can see in the video https://youtu.be/gXw8gWcWmi8 (0:25). We were reminded very much of the "Ternados" we'd seen on Palmyra.
5/6/2015: Sunrise
Sunrise at Michaelmas Cay.
5/6/2015: Boobied again!
Besides the terns, Michaelmas Cay also has a large booby population who left a large mess on our stack, flybridge and boat deck. Sigh--boobied again.