Graptolite - North to the Torres Strait
Graptolite's Sailing Log
Martyn Pickup & Heike Richter
Tue 19 Aug 2008 10:10
Barrier Reef
There is something up with my engine. It seems to know when there is a
situation where it is indispensable and then stops working until it has had
a bit of attention. It always works at other times but twice recently on
entering narrow channels under sail it has let us down. Duncan and Tom have
got good at sorting it out before we pile up on rocks. I said I would
'mention you in dispatches' Duncan, so here it is. An extra ration of grog
for the men, huzzah!
This Cape York coastline is bleak. I don't remember seeing anything quite
like it. There is no sign of human activity for hundreds of miles. It seems
worse somehow than being thousands of miles from anywhere in the middle of
an ocean. And it's windy with 20 to 30 knots of SE Trade Winds all day,
everyday. We have been anchoring by night in the shelter of little islands
and reefs but it's been spilling our sundowners.
We caught a big yellowfin tuna today (in a Light Blue Zone - for any
officials reading this). Sashimi prepared minutes after landing is very good
although unexpectedly warm from the fish's exertions. Later we were buzzed
by an Australian Customs plane that was probably checking up on any illegal
use of wasabi and soy sauce.
M