Low Isles to Port Douglas (unplanned stop!)
Gaviota
Wed 15 Jun 2016 01:44
16:29.167S 145:27.586E
Tuesday,
31st May – Syd’s birthday and the plan was to head off at 8.00am and
enjoy the 15-20 knot South Easterly forecast.
Black clouds covered the land and were getting closer, rain started and
the generator packed up!!!!! Now what do
you think Syd would enjoy doing most on his birthday – those that know him
would agree – upended, muttering to himself and covered in oil! After several hours he was defeated and the
only option was to go into Port Douglas Reef Marina and seek help. Genoa up and we bounced our way over the big
lumpy sea at a very respectable 7+ knots into the calm and tranquillity of the Reef Marina. First call was to Port Electrics who the
following day sent James to help - strangely he came from Somerset???? He
checked out voltage readings – not good, only option was for Syd to
separate the electrical part from the engine and get it to Cairns for an
internal check which resulted in corroded wires being replaced. So the first 2 days were spent with the boat
in bits, oily tools everywhere and lots of swearing. Finally the alternator part (all 25+ kilos of
it) was out, then had to be packed for a Courier to collect it the following
day. ‘Trady’s’ here have strict rules
and though they are built like ‘brick shit houses’ are not allowed to lift
heavy weights – so Syd was on his own to get the packed alternator off the
boat, onto a trolley and up to the car park to meet the Courier. The next couple of days were better news as
the place in Cairns pulled out the stops and did the repair and had it back by
the following Monday.
In
between all this we did get to see Port Douglas which is lovely, loads of
really nice restaurants, bars and cafes and a magnificent 3 mile beach with
pristine hard sand which is a favourite for people cycling along. We also found a resort which had a gorgeous
lap pool which we used (most days for free) so we did a lot of swimming – I
swam a mile a day and did several wonderful barefoot runs along the beach. Reef Marina was a great central spot and
there was a very friendly crowd of people living permanently on boats there. Every day tourists flocked into the Marina to
take the tripper boats out to Low Isles and the more adventurous out to the
Outer Barrier Reef. The only down side
was that the Micro Brewery which was due to open in May was behind schedule –
it looked temptingly ‘nearly ready’ but unfortunately was still not open when
we left!
