In the steps..or wake ...of Captain Cook

Pearl of Persia
Andrew Lock
Sat 31 Aug 2013 09:41
Lat 13:30.0S Long 143:43.0E
Over the last week we've steadily made our way north, up the coast of
Queensland and Cape York in perfect sailing conditions, a steady breeze,
blue sky and calm water, each evening anchoring in the shelter of a small
sand bar or reef. Green Island, Rocky Islets, Hope Island and then Lizard
Island, passing Endeavour reef where Captain Cook came to grief in 1770. He
managed to free the ship and limped into the Endeavour River, badly damaged
where he spent 48 days in repair. The Great Barrier Reef, in parts 75 miles
from land, gradually comes closer to the mainland as we sail north and Cook
was afraid of becoming 'embayed' with his passage to the north, blocked and
unable to sail back south against the wind. He landed on Lizard island and
climbed to the highest point and wrote in his log "..to my mortification I
discovered a reef of rocks laying 2 or 3 leagues (6 to 10 miles) away
extending as far as I could see on which the sea broke very high... But he
also spotted a gap and through this gap...now Cook's Passage, he escaped and
continued back to England. He had sailed and accurately charted 1700 miles
along the Australian East Coast. We spent 2 days at Lizard, climbed the
same hill, in the great man's footsteps and then sailed out to the gap in
the Barrier Reef itself to SCUBA dive with two other yachts.
It's hard to appreciate just how desolate the northern tip of Australia is.
Complete desolation, no people just scrub and rock. It must have been
exactly as Cook found it 250 years ago.
Photos show us diving with a giant cod grouper on the Barrier Reef and
Sussanne and me wearing our new 'Tilly' hats from Julie

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