Lizard Island Day 2
Where Next?
Bob Williams
Thu 26 Sep 2024 05:19
Wind: SE , F4 - moderate breeze
Sea: rippled Swell: nil
Weather: sunny, warm
The anchorage has thinned out a bit today with about five boats leaving to start their trek south, though a couple of boats have arrived as well, leaving nineteen boats remaining. Conditions seem less than ideal for heading south but I was talking to an experienced Queensland sailor on the beach yesterday evening, one of those who departed this morning, and he was planning on sailing close inside the ribbon reefs today to be well positioned to take advantage of lighter winds tomorrow.
This morning I went for a walk up to Cooks Look, where Captain Cook sighted an exit out of the labyrinth of the Great Barrier Reef, now called Cooks Passage. It was an arduous two and a half hour walk there and back but I needed the exercise and the views from the top were worth the effort, though the haze out to sea meant that the outer ribbon reefs were obscured from view - a good thing the visibility was better on the day that Cook climbed this little mountain.
I was back on board at midday and went for a swim to cool off and to give the hull a bit of scrub before having lunch. The hull is much better than it was but there were a few small patches of marine growth that Ada and I had missed when we scraped the hull back at Orpheus Island, and there remains quite a bit of slime attached to the hull, most of which I have now removed for at least a few feet down from the waterline.
Meanwhile I continue to procrastinate over whether to continue north or return south. Unfortunately my visit to the mountain top failed to provide any revelations, though coming down the mountain when I got to the bottom and stood on the beach looking out over Watson Bay, I was struck by the intense beauty of the scene, with the clean white sand leading into the clear shallow water then turning various shades of green and blue as the water deepened out into the bay. It seemed to say, "Go on, just stay a little bit longer." But then, that is the siren whisper of the Lotus-eaters.
All is well.