Position: 15 27.85 S 145 14.59 E
At anchor Endeavour River, Cooktown
Wind: SE , F4 - moderate breeze
Sea: rippled Swell: SE nil
Weather: overcast, warm
Day's run (Port Douglas to Cooktown): 64 nm

All went according to plan yesterday. We continued to make good time up the coast averaging close to seven knots with a bit of current helping us along, arriving off the entrance to Cooktown at 1700. We rolled up the jib on our approach and handed the main once we were within the sheltered waters of the river, then motored another half mile over some shallows and into a deeper pool of water with a minimum charted depth of 2.5 meters. Here we could swing to anchor without concern for Sylph grounding at low water. There were several other cruising yachts in the pool who presumably had a similar draft to Sylph but fortunately there was still plenty of room for us.

The main object of today is to get Ada ashore. She will be flying back to Sydney tomorrow so, given the distance to shore, the fresh winds, and the limitations of Sylph's little dinghy, we decided the simplest thing to do would be to ensconce her in a hotel room for the night. Another concern Ada had was the presence of crocodiles and the possibility of one tipping us out of the little Walker Bay 8 - certainly I would not be able to outmanoeuvre one under oar power alone. Fortunately Ada's prayers were answered when we were able to flag down a young bloke motored past in his large tinny. He was heading to shore and was happy to give Ada a lift, so that problem is solved.

Now I have gotten the dinghy in the water and have given Oli a good feed and plenty of water. Sylph has been snug at anchor overnight so I am confident that she will be fine if left unattended for 24 hours (noting that there are two yachts high and dry on the beach to the north of us, presumably having dragged their anchors in a strong blow).

And the big question once Ada has departed is, "Where next?".

All is well.