Mourilyan Harbour

Where Next?
Bob Williams
Fri 4 Oct 2013 12:41
Position:  17 36. 18 S   146 07.40 E
At anchor Mourilyan Harbour
Wind:  East nor’ east,  F3 light breeze
Sea:  slight     Swell:  nil
Weather:  sunny, warm.
Day’s run:   24 Nm
 
We are gradually working our way up the coast towards our destination of Cairns.  Once again the morning dawned calm so I took the opportunity to row over to pay a social call on the ‘Claire de Lune’, a lovely timber boat with whom ‘Sylph’ had the pleasure of meeting back in the vicinity of Green Island a couple of weeks back.  I enjoyed a good gam with her owner, Ken, while his partner, Guo Hua, quietly and patiently listened to us talk about all things nautical.  A light breeze started to fill in around ten, so I thanked my hosts for their hospitality, rowed back to Sylph and soon had her sailing away making close to six knots close reaching to the light breeze.
The twenty miles up the coast to Mourilyan Harbour, a tidal estuary guarded by two towering headlands making it difficult to spot, was a very easy sail, and at three in the afternoon we all but drifted through the heads and dropped the anchor in its well sheltered waters.
I took the opportunity to row ashore for a good leg stretch and to give Peter the opportunity for some solitude.  As I was hiking away from the harbour, looking back I noticed that our neighbour from this morning had decided to follow our lead and was also to be our neighbour for this evening.  So after my little hike I rowed over to welcome them and was invited to dinner that night.  Guo Hua is a beautiful Chinese lady from Beijing who, it turns out, was also a great cook.  Peter and I enjoyed some very interesting conversation, predominantly with Ken, and Guo Hua’s Chinese cuisine spiced with wild chillies from Dunk Island.  It was truly an unexpected treat.
We have just returned and not it is time to turn in.  Tomorrow we will continue another step closer to Cairns.
All is well.
 
Mound Island, next to Dunk Island:
 
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Peter in his favourite spot:
 
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Yacht heading south:
 
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Claire de Lune entering Mourilyan Harbour:
 
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Exporting timber – Mourilyan Harbour is a commercial port:
 
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Mourilyan locals:
 
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The recent is a very rare bird indeed:
 
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