Gypsy Cruising

2 – 3 September

Townsville to Cape Upstart then Gloucester Passage

It’s Spring.  Very clearly the weather is changing, with noticeably warmer temperatures and a different wind pattern.  I’ve returned to Townsville with John, a new crew to sail the boat back to the Whitsundays.  John is a fellow Club Member and boat owner, but has never undertaken such a long cruise as we’re doing now.

The process of provisioning has now become quite a fine art: review current inventories, check off against standard provisioning list, plan meals, update provisioning list, go shopping.  In fact this leg proved to be very simple because, being only one week in duration, it’s the shortest of the cruise so far and requires the least amount of purchasing and stowage.

As we found coming north, anchorages are scarce between the Whitsunday region and Townsville.  To get south as smartly as I can I’ve chosen to do two longish day sails - 70 miles from Townsville to Cape Upstart and then a further 50 miles to Gloucester Passage.  Both days have started with light south westerly winds and then strengthened and swung around to the east / northeast around lunch time.  Remarkably, this is the first time since I left Sydney in May that I’ve seen any wind in the north and it proves to be perfect timing for our southward passage.  I really don’t know how we came to be so lucky.  To cap it off, the water has been absolutely flat, skies have been cloudless and the temperatures have been high.  Once the wind settled in we had some magnificent sailing, reaching at well over 7 knots for hours at a time.

Not far south of Cape Upstart we saw a small pod of whales off our port side and I swung around to have a closer look.  We spent the next 15 or so minutes coasting along at 3 knots while the whales played on the surface, sometimes having to move out of their way when they started approaching closer than seemed prudent.

The three whales just off our starboard side

On a wholly different level, we also passed the Abbot Point coal loader, soon to be the exporting point for the Adani mine.

The Abbot Point coal loader, south of Cape Upstart

Notwithstanding the pleasures of sailing in this place in these conditions, I’ve found memories from the northwards cruise flooding in almost continuously, compelling comparison, prompted by seeing so many now familiar places.  There is a very great difference in character between that leg and what I’m doing now.  Only a month ago, seeing Gloucester Passage, Cape Bowling Green, Magnetic Island, so many other happy experiences and places, all for the first time and with a sense of looking forward to discovery, gave a feeling of freedom and excitement.  In comparison, this leg feels more like an assignment – get the boat south!  Heading homewards also brings reality, the gritty Sydney reality, squarely to the front of my thinking throughout the day.