To Mourilyan Harbour
Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Sat 18 Jun 2016 22:57
To Mourilyan Harbour It was smashing to come out this morning to find the sun
shining. Time to go, WT were going to stay
for a couple of days, we have two more stops and then once in Cairns the job
list begins in earnest. First, is to get a new aerial and wire up the mast for
the VHF radio, we now know our radio messages are breaking up as well as what we
hear at a short distance. Mmmm. Hearing our anchor going up, Gin and
Michael appeared to wave us off – no idea I was taking pictures of this
smashing couple. I called over to get them to pose......... .............that went well........never work with children,
animals or sailors........ We set off at ten past nine and could actually see a little colour on the mainland. At half past twelve we were approaching the North Barnard Islands. The biggest of the Barnards is Kent
– where I spent from 1965-1990. Some cheeky little rocks
nearby. Kent is one of the five North Barnard Islands. They are
different because they are high continental islands which rise from the sea
floor. The waters around here were inhabited by the Mamu people. The lighthouse was built in 1897.
Kent Island is protected by the Department of Environment and
Resource Management because migratory birds rest there. Now for our strangest entrance yet, from
here we could see no harbour at all. As we got closer we could see the low
point between the hills but Mourilyan Harbour itself, just on my chartplotter. It has become mine since Bear has taken to
his IPad Navionics. A-Ha there it
is. Over to our left a sad sight. We wondered if
the skipper had turned
left too soon as the headland to the right
looks very similar to the one we are heading for. Now we can see the chum wharf, hard
to believe big girls go in here. This remarkable bowl-shape harbour is the mouth
of the Moresby River which flows out between the thickly vegetated headlands.
Originally there was a fifteen foot deep entrance, just one hundred and fifty
feet wide, the bottom being solid rock. Over the years by drilling, blasting and
removing the entrance has been opened to double the original dimensions and can
handle chums to twelve thousand tons which load sugar. The harbour is occupied
by bulk sugar handling and the only houses are staff
dwellings. For the first time in Australian waters my chartplotter let me
down and showed us heading overland...........
Clearly, looking out of the window this wasn’t the
case. Creepy Boy’s IPad was spot on.
Growwwwwwwwllll. Markers each side to help us
in. Beyond the green, the wharf with two
working girls at the ready. We could now see round the corner
and waved to a couple of chaps enjoying fishing in the sunshine. Yellow buoys mark the turning circle for the
chums. Further in we could see the two rows of
moorings piles, we would pass through the middle and anchor just off the
end to the right. Looking back at this incredible
entrance and to the sugar
loader. The working girls - Giru
on the left and Woona on the
right. Steamship Kuranda moored
at the wharf in 1914. As we moved between the piles we could see a girl tucked up in the mangroves, a little closer we could
see another boat too. Friends parked along the
left. A one careful owner and mate, we
parked nearby and found a chap working hard on this little lady, hopefully she
will ship shape and Bristol fashion very soon. Bear had asked for a metre below us and I found just that.
After I pulled Beez back on the anchor I called forward 0.8, Oh that’s fine we’re at low tide right now. Mmmm,
within a few minutes we had 0.1 below us as we swung over a shallow bit. Soon
enough it began to get deeper. After our twenty three mile journey I had a good
look at my chartplotter, oops, maybe something like this happened to the girl we saw laying down
on the rocks earlier. Later, deep joy after a five three win at
backgammon but I thought I was in for a trouncing at Mexican train until Bear
held hands with his nemesis in the final round (fours to zeros) when he scored
more than two hundred in the fours and threes. Huh and
thrice Huh I say and with that I need a drink. A gentle sunset in
this rather pretty spot. Time for supper and an early night - a longer journey
tomorrow. ALL IN ALL SO GOOD TO FEEL THE HOT
SUN
A NICE CALM MOTORSAIL
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