The morning bought Clear sky and a light cool southerly offshore breeze. So prepared for a solo sail - my first solo sail to Magnetic Island in
Teria. Around 0900 the light weather gennaker was raised and
Teria broad reached clear of the Duck pond at 5 knots, passing a sunken fishing boat with it's cabin just above sea level, it's only 2-3 meters deep. Something to watch out for if entering the harbor at night.
The wind increased to 15 knots and headed us to SE so dropped the lightweight Gennaker and unfurled the working jib for a fast reach towards the Island. A rope on the tiller allowed for limited self-steering to windward, enough time to do deck work or have a tea break.
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Sailing eastwards
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Magnetic Island inched by to leeward and motor-sailing kept
Teria moving well in failing wind. Checked boat speed with a smartphone GPS navigation app. The Johnson 10 Hp drove us at 5.3 knots on full throttle, tried half throttle and the speed dropped by only 0.1 knot to 5.2 knots! The Johnson will only see 1/2 - 1/3 throttle in future which should double the fuel - range in theory, until a more suitable 4 HP motor is found to replace it.
Hours later NE headland was cleared. wind and seas increased so cut the motor, and
Teria broad reached downwind tacking past Orchid Rocks and into Radical Bay around noon.
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| Orchard rocks - quite a balancing act |
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| Orchard rocks - mark the entrance to the calm waters of Radical Bay |
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| Ghosting into Radical Bay |
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| Fishing Chart - Radical Bay and Horseshoe Bays, Magnetic Island |
It was flat calm in the anchorage, the sun awning was up quickly and lunch was good.
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| A shaded cockpit with a view |
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| Sustenance - The hatch board doubles as a table - Esky full of food and cold ice water |
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| Making a cuppa - Trangia stove and thermos of coffee for the trip home. |
Kayaked around the bay in 9ft "Scamp", steep hills made of pale granite boulders with many Norfolk Island pine trees rose from the ends of the bay and a pale yellow-brown beach stretched between. Barnacles exposed by the tide encrusted the rocks. The waters below looked good for diving, so the plan to buy a mask and snorkel set was hatched.
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| Teria in Radical Bay from the Kayak |
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| The rocky shores, the clear waters look inviting. |
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| It's always good to step ashore onto solid ground even if only for a while. |
There are no dwellings just the end of a 4 wheel drive track ends here. Only few people reached the bay some would have hiked over from nearby bays with hotel accommodation, and only one 4wd was parked among the trees.
The Sun was beginning to fall in the west, so headed back to Townsville. Fist with motor-sailing to clear the NE headland, then with sheets free raised the Gennaker again to sail at 4 - 4.5 knots before a light easterly breeze.
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| Heading home - The large lightweight Gennaker extracts considerable power from the light breeze |
Altered course to see a huge barge being towed out to sea by a tug boat. It had 4 fair sized houses sitting on its deck! A strange sight, like a real life mega-moves show on TV. Later heard that they were destined for Palm Island which is about 20nm NW of Townsville.
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| Strange sight - Houses cross the sea on a giant barge |
Dropped the Genaker about a mile from Ross river, which allowed a trawler closing in on the port side to pull ahead and enter first. It was important to get the big sail in and reduce speed before getting too close to the rockwall, narrow channel and other boats. Being solo without an auto-pilot means the
Teria heads-off on its own best most stable course for awhile, plenty of sea room required while on the fore-deck pulling the gennaker down. Once the jib was unrolled, boat-speed was a safer 3 knots, it's easy to control and furl from the cockpit just before anchoring. The sunset was spectacular, at one point the sea went a mauve color.
Night had fallen by the time the rig was lowered, so motored into Ross River in the dark using green/red channel beacons, to clear the bridge and stay in the channel, and some shore and star-light to located anchored and moored vessels in the river. I was pretty tired and didn't want to meet a crocodile the hard way, so decided to anchor overnight instead of try to haul-out on the trailer at the ramp. Found a free spot between some anchored motor-launches. Set up the anchor light. It was dead flat with a light cool southerly, so the outgoing tide pointed Teria into the 17C land breeze. A good view of the milky way galaxy - I often forget about our small place in it when city living. The night sky was only slightly dimmed the lights of Townsville, the nearest suburban streets were about 300- 500 m away to the north. Nature to the south. Lifted the kayak onto the fore-deck so it wouldn't bump the hull if the tide turned or worse still came adrift and got lost. No sandflies or mozzies either, but lit the mosquito coil anyway.
Closed the hatches, had a bite to eat, rugged up and lights out.
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| The morning light reveals Ross River anchorage |
In the light of day, it's always good to see the boat was anchored in a good spot. The Kayak was stowed below, it fits nicely through the main hatch, through the oriental arch and up into the fore-peak. This is a great place for it when launching/retrieving and towing on the road. It wasn't coincidence that the Kayak was chosen as the hard dinghy, it's stowage potential was a major factor.
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| Kayak stowage for the road trip |
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