The clear waters of the Whitsundays are now behind us and we’re putting 30 to 50nm under our belt each day as we head towards Cairns. We haven’t set foot on land for four days, just sailed in strong south east trade winds…or motored along in no wind! Then anchored up each evening, had a meal, watched and episode of the Yellowstone Prequels (so good!) go to bed, then rinse and repeat. We still have no friends to play with and it feels like we’re the only people sailing in Queensland. Angus has resorted to talking to random people on the VHF radio, he has a new virtual best friend, a Scotsman called Bob who is the only off-shore sailor that we’ve come across. We’ve not met face to face, maybe he’ll be our friend when we get to Cairns.
After leaving Airlie Beach, the next stop was Hook Island (Northern Whitsundays) we loved the two days of snorkeling and paddle boarding before motoring to Gloucester Island, then the next day sailed to Cape Upstart and anchored in Shark Bay, then a big day to Long Beach, which is 10nm from Townsville.
Holy moley this is a big country! We’ve got approximately 150nm to run until we’re in Cairns. We’re feeling a bit travel weary, the noise of the engine, and the constant movement of the boat is tiring. When the anchorages are rolly (which has been every night) and there’s wind against tide and items are rolling around in the lockers and lines are tapping and then there are the random noises that no matter how hard you try you can’t locate, and you’re chasing the dinner plates as they slide across the bench…aaarrrggghhhh! But apart from that it’s all good…especially when you catch a fish using our “lucky lure”.
We’re well and truly in crocodile country now. We read an article on line where the locals at Cape Upstart, were appealing to the council to relocate a couple of big crocs who are hanging around the boat ramp. These big scaly residents have been hampering the fishermen’s efforts to launch and retrieve for fear of a “negative croc interaction”. It got me thinking, in my capacity as a fishery officer, that we could do with a few of these creatures in our popular poaching spots, the crocs could be used to deliver a “positive educational interaction” for poachers. I liken it to MPI’s use of detector dogs…they could be known as “deterrent crocs”.
Cruising Innocenti 
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