haul out photo's

on this bottom photo you can see the stainless steel shoes we had made.

Sunday 31 Oct.

Well it has FINALLY happened we splashed the boat today! It sure feels good to be floating again!! We're anchored in the river, and will head into the marlin Marina tomorrow for a few days to have a good clean up and a chill! I will post some photos soon.

Rain means no work

We got off the boat for a short walk. Walked out to the main road. We are far from town about 30 minute drive. The reason this place is so peaceful. We are in the middle of a mangrove swamp. The reason this place is so buggy. The land changes from mangrove to rain forest to Eucalyptus trees and then views into the surrounding hills. It is quite a pretty area!!!

up the river

Here are some of the photo's I took coming up the river to the slipway. We are thinking once we are finished in the yard we will go into the marina for a few days, and have a little rest. We want to hire a car and have a good look around.

We got a weather window!

We finally got a weather window, but couldn't go to far as we have food coming on the barge on Saturday. We decided we would go to Jewel Reef 18 nautical miles north of Lizard. Had a lovely sail there, as we had planned as the winds weren't due to settle and switch until late on Wed., and stay clam until Saturday. We arrived at jewel around 1:30, and had a look around. By the time we anchored it was too late for a snorkel. It was beautiful clear water.

caught a fish!

We decided we would go and try and catch a fish today. We took the dingy around to the area here where you are allowed to fish. We took our Mackrel reel, and Bruce fished while I drove the boat. It was quite rough, and I must admit I am usually a bit nervous in those conditions. We gave it a go for about an hour or so, and it was getting to the point where I was having trouble seeing because of the salt water in my eyes. We were coping a bit of water over the bow of the dingy. After saying 3 times this is the last loop around, we decided it was getting a bit more lumpy and I was thinking this is the last go and just as we were about to the end of our loop we got a strike. As Bruce was pulling it in I said oh no I think we caught a shark! What I was seeing was the shark following our fish in!! We had to work together to get the fish into the dingy. I drove to calmer water as Bruce pulled the fish closer to the dingy.
Back on the boat we had some visitors. This morning this seagull hung around and watched me making breakfast this morning. The shadow in the water is a shark, or should I say SHARKS! Interesting day for sure. Had the fish on the grill, and shared some with a few other boats in the anchorage.

pot Luck

We had a potluck dinner on the beach. It seemed like curry was the theme! We were all just enjoying the meal when a big squall came in blowing and raining. Everyone was lined up with their back against the wind behind the trees trying to get protection. In the end I just gave in to the rain, and had a play. I got my camera out to get a photo.

Check this out

www.traditioncharters.com once on the web site look under the menu (on the left of the page) you'll see links to utube videos of these boys in action.
This boat has been in and out of the anchorage for the last week. Last 2 nights it has anchored in front of us. There is a clip of what happens at the start of the tournament.
It looks like we will be here for the start of this years tournament! looking at the weather there aren't any signs of it letting up in the next week, so we have decided to stock up on the special barge coming in for the boats of the tournament. We've ordered food, booze, and propane as we are going to be on our last tank soon., and fuel. Pretty cool!
This means when we get a weather window we can take our time going down the reef, and we won't be in any hurry to get to port.
Here's a look at the super yachts we've had visiting the anchorage of late. Yesterday we had a cruise ship in and they were ferrying people back & forth to the beach all day. They brought in these kayaks for the guest to play with.

Marlin season

Looks like we will be here for a while longer as another week of strong winds are ahead of us. The anchorage is started to get a few of the sport fish boats in now, as they are gearing up for the marlin tournament happening in 2 weeks. ( We could still be here for that). Will be an exciting time to watch/listen for the tournament results. This is a tag and release event. The last night all those from the boats get together at the marlin bar on the resort beach, which will be fun if we are still here. If your interested in seeing some of the fish caught since the start of the season then google marlin tournament Cooktown and that will bring you to some blogs, and charter companies with photo and info on the fish caught.
We went for a walk to the research station today. Parts of the walk were a bit slow going through very thick soft sand/ dirt. My knees are feeling it now.
We are watching the weather now waiting for a break of a few days to make our way South. In the mean time we will enjoy this island as much as we can! There really isn't a better place to be on the Qld. coast in my eyes. This anchorage has walks, snorkeling, clear water, internet signal (no phones) and a barge fortnightly for supplies. :o)
Well that's all from us now.