Cooktown
Vega
Hugh and Annie
Mon 8 Jul 2019 23:32
Three hours after leaving Hope Island we came across the channel buoy markers for the entrance into Cooktown. We felt a bit like Cook who was overjoyed to find this sheltered spot after grounding the Endeavour on, you guessed it, Endeavour Reef. The channel was pretty easy to follow in, aided by the lit buoys and two leading lights on the shore. When we arrived the lights of the shoreside facilities meant we could see well. Apart from the dredged channel that leads into the harbour and alongside the jetty facilities the rest of the harbour is pretty shallow and much of it is drying sand at low tide (brilliant for Cook needing to careen his boat for repair). The only water deep enough for us amongst all the other yachts and local boats was along the edge of the dredged channel and we were concerned about encroaching as we swung at anchor. On one of the shoreside workboats there was bit of a party going on that included one of the yachties. He came out in his dinghy and showed us a couple of spots he thought would be ok but we were still worried about the depth. We opted to anchor on the edge of the channel and to move the following morning if necessary. One of the locals on the workboat thought this would be fine. After anchoring we noticed that the two leading lights we had followed into the harbour were in fact the mast head anchor lights of two yachts that just happened to be in the correct orientation............
By the time we had launched the dinghy and got ashore the following day we had about three hours of daylight to see the sights. Fortunately “town” is bit of an exaggeration and in the time available we were able to spend an hour in the Cook Museum (some items recovered from those discarded on Endeavour reef including a cannon and one of the anchors plus a lot more about the history of the town), a quick trip around the IGA supermarket and a walk out to the botanical gardens where there is a very fancy cafe and interpretation centre (sadly closed by the time we arrived). When we arrived back at the riverside we had just enough daylight left for fish and chips on the harbour side, watching a local guy do his daily grouper feeding show for 30 or so onlookers. These were big groupers, maybe five feet long, that slowly and quietly came up to receive a large fillet of tuna or boney carcass slapped upon the surface of the water. And then - BANG - the fish was snatched in a ferocious rush leaving just the tail in our showman’s hand. He had his young son and dog with him. The son joined in the feeding display. I thought the dog might have been live food for added interest but it’s chain was apparently to prevent it from jumping in rather than escaping. I did wonder why this daily wafting of seafood in the water didn’t attract saltwater crocs. There are notices everywhere telling you not to put food and fish waste into the water. Apparently the crocs monitor your water based movements and if they detect a regular pattern will time their attack for one of these. Always a comfort to know this when at anchor. There was a 4.5m crock in the river at Cooktown that used to terrify the yachties until it was “relocated” elsewhere.
We didn’t have time (or the inclination) to climb grassy hill where Cook went up to try and see a way out through the barrier reef. It was grassy in his day but is now wooded. He couldn’t see the reef clearly enough from there but did see Lizard Island from which a good view was to be found.