15 43.728 S  145 27.382 E

We pulled in to pick up a mooring ball here in the midst of a reefs and coral heads surrounding 2 small islands. We arrived at high noon so the visibility was good for us to see the reefs and coral heads so no problem getting in….and we have an exit picked to depart at first light tomorrow morning. We plan on sailing 65 nm tomorrow to reach Lizard Island.

The water temp has been improving since we left Cairns; today it is up to 25 C  (77 F) so a huge improvement from those many days with it down around  22 C (71 – 72 F); just to celebrate the warming trend and to let mother nature know that I really appreciated her turning on the tropical heat, I jumped in for a quick immersion dip….but quickly got back on-board rather than tempt any crocodile in the surrounds. We don’t know if the crocs roam these Hope Islands or not….but more and more crocs on the mainland in these parts as we progress northwards.

All is good with us; our friends on Kilkea and Imagine kept were in “the parade” with us both yesterday and today …but they kept going another 40 – 50 nm to anchorages on the mainland when we turned in here. We will meet up again at Lizard Island….and expect to enjoy some snorkeling/swimming when we get there…finally!!.....it has been a long time coming to get to a spot where we could comfortably get in the water.

There are 3 other boats with us in this anchorage; we haven’t met the others yet but we know that 2 of them will be on the Indonesian Rally with us….so we will likely get the chance to meet soon… and along the way.

All well with us and Sea Mist. This afternoon was an opportunity for me to tick off a couple more items on my work list . I inspected the steering and changed the brushes in the autopilot drive motor; I checked out our scuba tanks to see what I still have for air….there is a problem getting USA or European tanks filled in Australia….if not manufactured in the south pacific, they don’t want to touch them….more money for them through renting or MAJOR inspection/retrofit work, etc. I found I still have 2 tanks of air…so I am fine to do the diving I need to do at Lizard to scrape a build-up of barnacles on the bottom of the keel. I can notice the drag is dropping the speed a bit when we are underway. There is most always a problem in finding a way to effectively apply anti-fouling paint to the bottom of the keel since the boat is resting on its keel when she is on the hard….for you landlubbers….when the vessel is sitting on the concrete in a boat yard for annual maintenance below the water line.

Time to enjoy dinner…..so I must sign-off before the Admiral thinks I am not interested in eating….no that would be a shocking change in my normal state.

Cheers to all….the Seamisters

p.s. Sorry about suggesting that we would get photos loaded to the blog while in Cairns….it didn’t happen…..hopefully someday soon….or may have to wait til Darwin…depends on what we can pick up for internet connection.