We have been living on the dock at Magnetic Island Marina for some time now – virtual locals! Sadly the weather has deteriorated quite a bit over the last few weeks as we reach mid-winter in the tropics.  While we have stopped swimming, we are still in shorts/ T-shirts, with daytime temperatures  around 24C. However, the nights are cooler and we have had a bit of rain and a lot of wind.  With our experience of these blustery conditions out on the reef from last year, we are reluctant to be out there to an uncomfortable anchorage, unless we have to.

 

All that said, we have nothing to complain about. Magnetic island is a fantastic place to be and have enjoyed our time with our friends here. On many a Sunday we have headed down to a local restaurant for a good Italian lunch. Everyone orders something and we all share, pizza; pasta; salad etc, and then follow this with delicious gelato and cappuccino - a very civilized way to spend an afternoon. 

 

     

 

We have been out on two fishing expeditions – one successful and one not. The first was a trip to escape the marina at full moon, when a local back-packer resort has a massive party, with lots of noise. So we headed out to a reef off Cape Cleveland to fish (no luck!) and then over to Horseshoe Bay to anchor for the night. The next day the weather had picked up and we headed back to the marina.

En route we heard a strange squeaking sound coming from the forward port side, but could not figure out what it was. As we only had a few miles to the marina, we continued on.  On arrival, some people on the dock were yelling and pointing at us, something about a shark!!  Once docked we could hear them and now see what the problem was. We had picked up a shark buoy with our bulbous bow.  These buoys are anchored all around the island, near swimming beaches, and are baited – to catch and kill large sharks.   We swept up the floating line and then then managed to get the hook caught in the bow-thruster, the squeak was the large float rubbing on the side of the bow.  Very reluctantly, Mike now had to dive into the murky water and see how he could release the chain and hook.  It was a very quick operation with the help of some compressed air and our hookah.   Luckily there was no shark on the end of the hook and the bow-thruster was not damaged.

 

            

 

Mike using the hookah to release the hook                                                            What was wrapped around the bow 

 

Our next fishing expedition was to the reefs that we have visited before - about 45nm north east of Maggie.  Heading out there, Mike caught two Bonita (for bait) and then a nice sized Doggie mackerel that made good eating.  We anchored near Lachlan’s island (a sand spit at low tide only) and Mike headed off in the Whaler to look for reef fish.  He was having an issue with his fish-finder and returned frustrated and empty handed.  However, at sunset he chummed the water off the back of TIME2 and then quite quickly pulled in his first Sweetlip.  Within 20 minutes he had 5 on board, and stopped.  We were happy to have some good fresh fish back on board.

 

     

 

 

Again the weather was turning, so we headed back to Maggie, with a few more projects to complete.  Before went home to SA, we went to a lot of trouble to ensure that everything on the yacht was prepared for extended “storage” in the tropics. Sadly we had two failures – the first being the damage to the ceiling liners, which have loosened from their backing boards. We have seen this problem on other Nordhavns, and attribute it to age, heat and humidity. These liners will have to be replaced in time. More serious, was the 15HP Yamaha outboard from our small dinghy that had seized. For the fist time ever, we had gone to the trouble of storing the engine and dinghy in a friends shed for the months we were away, but when Mike went to start it – it was seized solid!

After much research and discussion (with even a call to Rob, our “McGiver” neighbour in Cape Town), and then lots of WD40; Marvels Mystery Oil and literally taking the whole thing apart ... Mike the Mechanic got it working. We are still not sure what exactly the issue was, but happy to have our small runabout back in action.

 

  

 

 

As mentioned before, Magnetic Island is well serviced to Townsville (the mainland) by ferries. As a walk-on passenger you can take your bicycle and so we are fairly mobile on the other side.  One day last week we headed over to pick up a few spares from the chandlery and to visit an exhibition I had read about.  “World of Wearable Art” is an exhibition touring from New Zealand with the most incredible “outfits” on display. A competition is run each year for the most creative piece, it does not have to be practically translatable, or commercially viable – just had to be able to be worn.... and the creativity is extraordinary.   I suspect Lady Gaga may have had some inspiration from WOW.

 

      

 

 

  

 

  A lobster                                                                                                                             All wood

 

 

We are now waiting for a decent weather window for our three day trip up to Cairns. We have definitely “gone soft” – never keen to travel in over 20 knots unless we have to!

Looking forward to seeing Tony, Kirsten and Carl who are coming to visit us soon.