On the move again, slowly going north

Our target date for leaving came and we were more than ready to leave marina life. Well almost, we planned to leave with the high tide at noon, since we needed to get out from a tight, too close to the rocks berth, so we figured we had the whole morning to do last minute things, like get the mail from the post office, get the list of forgotten items from the supermarket, fill the water tanks, store hose, electric cable, etc. etc. etc. Logically, as we are not early morning starters, it was hectic but right at noon we were ready.

Finally, in a windless day, with the high tide and the help from Kerry (marina manager) and our friend Lynn (Time 2) we released dock lines and Zenitude moved smoothly out of the docks and in no time we were out of Nelly Bay. Sailing happily in a gorgeous day we went around to the northern tip of Magnetic Island and just 8 miles away at 1.30PM we were dropping anchor in Horseshoe Bay. After over two months in a marina it felt wonderful to be free at anchor once again.

With the weather forecast showing SE 15 to 20 winds indefinitely we left very early next morning toward Palm Islands. What we got was SW 10 to 12 knots which were ok for us except the seas were confused and uncomfortable. It was good enough to try our reformed main sail. It did quite well, going at 7 kn in the second reef with the wind at 90. Later on the wind started getting very light and backing to the S so we finished the trip motor sailing in very light winds, not exactly as the forecast prediction, but we arrived at Little Pioneer Bay in Orpheus Island at around 3.00 PM. 

We found the bay empty of boats and all 4 public moorings available for us to choose from. At the moment we are planning to stay here for a couple of days to visit the James Cook University research station and the giant clams’ area again. 

Underway again - Around Maggie

At anchor again - Horseshoe Bay

Enjoying gorgeous sunset again - Little Pioneer Bay

G.