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June 27 – July 13

Arrived in Cairns and spent the first couple days doing work on the boat. Had to put all the sails back on as they had been taken off to have repairs done. Also are having a new Autopilot system installed.

It turns out that several people I know will be in Cairns while we’re here. Friday night we had drinks on board with Scott and his family. Scott used to work at Landmark and he and his wife and teenage kids are here on holiday. We had a nice dinner at a local restaurant. Saturday, we met up with Jim and his wife and daughter from Winchester, VA. Jim was in Sydney on a business trip and was here in Cairns on a tour. We had a great dinner at Trinity Beach.

We are invited to a wedding on Monday. A couple on board a boat at the marina is getting married on board their boat. She’s American and he’s Canadian, so they had invited us because we are an American flagged vessel even though we had never met. We met them when we arrived on Thursday and had them over for drinks.

Sunday we hiked with a group of people up to Kuranda. Kuranda is a popular destination in Cairns but is usually reached by way of the Skyrail (cable car) or railway. It’s much more fun to walk up! We went with some running buddies (hashers) that Ron and Bradley had met previously. It was a great hike (3 ½ hours) followed by a nice lunch at the top and a bus ride down.

Sunday night, we stayed in and ordered pizza. The World Cup Final was on at 9:00pm but we were too tired to watch it so we taped it and watched it in the morning. A great win for Brazil!

Monday morning our friends Kim and his daughter Marya (pronounced Maya) arrived. They will be with us for six days of sailing, snorkeling, and diving. Monday was also the day of the wedding. It was cloudy and threatening rain in the morning but turned out to be a fine day. About 25 people gathered at Mango Tango, a Deerfield 58 sailboat where Terry and Patrice tied the knot. It was a very nice ceremony followed by a reception at the Yacht Club.

July 2 – July 6

Tuesday morning we went out to test and calibrate the new autopilot system. It works! Then we headed a few miles away to a nice anchorage at Double Island. We went ashore for an adventure on the island – we climbed to the top of the peak. Discovered a water tower near the top. We headed down the other side of the hill and came across some old construction sites. Kept going and – surprise – came across what looked like a resort! We heard a couple radios but couldn’t find any people. We thought maybe all the guests had been murdered and the killer was on the loose. Finally we came to a dock and soon a boat pulled up with the caretaker on board. He told us it is a private island and the resort is only used occasionally. We decided to try to get back to our dinghy by going around the beach which quickly turned to rocks which turned into bigger rocks. We finally decided to send Ron to fetch the dinghy while the rest of us returned to the dock to wait for a ride. Even Ron couldn’t conquer the rocks – he ended up swimming the last leg to get to the dinghy. After returning to the boat to change into dry clothes he came and picked us up and we headed across the inlet to Palm Cove, a cute place with 400 year old Melaleuca trees.

The plan for Wednesday – head out immediately after breakfast for a nearby reef. But this is a sailboat and plans sometimes go awry. We tried to run the generator in the morning but it wouldn’t fire up. Similar to a problem we had several months ago. A couple hours later, the generator was running and we think the problem may be the batteries. It still remains to be seen. Before leaving we had to run the reefing lines in the mainsail (since we have just put the mainsail back on). A simple job, except that the foot of the sail had come loose and we had to get it back in place – adding an extra hour to the job. So we were finally away at noon and arrived at Michaelmas Reef by 2:30, in time for a quick snorkel. There is a small island that is home to thousands of birds. You can smell them when the wind is right (or wrong!) and they never shut up – they were squawking all night long!

On Thursday morning we went ashore to play a game of Pitonk on the bird island. Bradley and Kim defeated Marya and me in a close game.

We then went for a short snorkel. But soon the tourist boats began to arrive – 4 or 5 of them came at once, each with dozens of people on board. Time to go! As we boarded the dinghy we noticed a large sailboat VERY close to Shear Madness. What was he doing? Turns out he had run up onto a reef and was stuck. Definitely time to move – he was way too close to us for comfort. So we quickly returned to the boat, raised anchor and moved on to Vlasoff Reef where we won’t have squawking birds or tourists! Had a wonderful snorkel in the afternoon and a very peaceful night.

Friday July 5 –Saturday July 6, 2002

 There is a tiny little sand island at Vlasoff Reef so we went ashore in the morning for a Pitonk rematch. Unfortunately it was the same result with the guys winning handily. Then we headed back to Cairns and arrived there by early afternoon. We took the dinghy up the small creek off the harbor to look for crocodiles and were rewarded with two sightings. Nice size fellas – 2-3 meters in length.

We went into town for a couple hours of shopping – mostly looking but good fun. Some great art and jewelry to contemplate. Had a nice dinner out at a Chinese seafood restaurant.

Saturday morning Kim and Marya had to depart early for the airport. After seeing them off we headed to the farmers market to stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables for the next week. Ron’s friend Gail accompanied us. After the market we stopped in at the Pier (shopping mall) to watch the Zimbabwe Brothers, an African acrobatic troupe. They were good fun.

We then set off for a short but lovely sail to Green Island. From there we will go out to some reefs for a few days. We planned to barbecue for dinner but it was a little windy and the grill doesn’t like wind. Not to be deterred, Captain Bradley devised a solution involving an umbrella, a cooler and several bungy cords which worked quite well and enabled us to enjoy a perfectly grilled pork dinner!

Sunday July 7 – Saturday July 13

Unfortunately the weather has other plans. Winds are expected to be in the 25 knot range, so going to the outer reefs doesn’t seem like a good idea. We decide to head back into Cairns and hang out there for a few more days. Anchored at Trinity Inlet.

On Monday night we ran with the local Hash House Harriers. It was a fun run with some typical interesting characters.  Tuesday we met a British guy and French woman sailing a 75 foot boat. Went aboard for some drinks and backgammon. Saw a good British movie called Bend It Like Beckham about an Indian girl in England who plays soccer. Had some good Indian food.

Wednesday we headed back to Yorkey’s Knob. Bradley’s daughter Margy is arriving at noon. She’s bringing our new computer for the boat (for the gory details of our computer installation see "The Computer Saga"). 

It's Thursday and my niece Wendy, who lives in Guam, is arriving tonight. She’s visiting Australia on a college trip and she will be spending two nights in Cairns. So we’ve invited her to spend those nights on the boat. It will be good to see her. We make reservations for her and Margy to take the Skyrail to Kuranda tomorrow and to visit a koala farm and butterfly sanctuary. Wendy arrives at 11:10pm and we’re back on the boat by midnight. 

On Friday, Margy and Wendy go off on their adventure. Bradley and I spend the day dealing with the monitor for our computer - without getting a final solution. Since Margy is only here for a short time, we want to get her out to the reefs for some fun and sune. So  we’ll do without a computer for the time being and navigate the old fashioned way using paper charts.

Saturday we get up early and drop Wendy at the train station while Ron and I go to the farmers market and Bradley goes to the marine store to try to order a new monitor for the computer.

Then it’s off for some last minute food shopping and back to the marina to head out. We do a short sail to Double Island where we anchor for the night. There are two shrimp boats anchored nearby and Bradley and Margy head off with a six pack of beer to try to trade for some shrimp. No luck  - their shrimp are already frozen and our only option would be to buy 12 KG (25+ pounds). Seems like its better to catch them in the morning when they are just coming in from their nights work to sleep before they have packaged the night’s catch.

We go ashore to Palm Cove and spend a while walking around, getting ice cream and window shopping. Then it’s back to the boat for dinner and a final night before heading out to the reefs in the morning.