What a great start to a day of sailing.
We had 58 nautical miles to do and we had 8 - 10 knots of wind from the sth east to push us gently north. Well, we did until we didn't. You just can't pick it. Trade winds from the south east blow continuously 20-25 knots this time of year. Until they don't. 1 knot of wind by midday and we wallowed. Iron sail went on and motor sail we did. By 2pm we had 25 knots up and gusts to 31 knots. What a contrary wind we had to deal with.
Coming around Morris Island to the anchorage gave us an awesome view of this amazing coral cay island. The only tall trees on it were the half dozen coconut palms. There used to be just one lonely palm tree and for many years that was used as the navigation point for the island. Exploring this island didn't take long but was very interesting. There is an unnamed grave of a dead pearl diver from days gone by that is marked by several old buoys at the base of a palm tree. We found fresh crocodile tracks leading into the low bush but couldn't sight him, though we did find a croc of a different sort.
Morris Island
unnamed grave of a Pearl diver
crocodile tracks
crocs of a different sort
We meandered around the whole island in about 30mins, came across some huge chunks of driftwood and finished on a sand spit that extended for about another 2 miles at low tide. Morris Island is very flat and offers little protection from the strong winds that just kept blowing since they picked up the afternoon before. After a bit of a rough night we beat the sun up and sailed off to the next location.
The dawn treated us to a stunning sunrise as we sailed fast on those same strong winds. I took a turn on the helm and wouldn't you know it? A huge wave came over the boat and drenched me from head to toe. Hubby just happened to be downstairs, missed the action and came up to find me dripping sea water.
such a beautiful sunrise
Portland Road was our destination, an anchorage on Cape York that has about 5 houses and a little cafe. And 3 or 4 crocs, according to the locals. We spied one swimming close to shore that looked about 8 foot long. Yikes! We ventured on shore keeping a watchful eye out for any of the resident crocs. Sadly, the cafe happened to not be open for dinner just this one night that we were there. Looks like I'm cooking again.
Until next time, Watusi Woman - saltwater soaked sailor, out.