CLIENT: Voyage of Friends
VOYAGE NUMBER: 20220610
FROM: Townsville to Cairns
DATE: 11 June 2022
POSITION: Pioneer Bay
REPORT BY: Red Watch
Members of the Voyage of Friends awoke to bugle at 0630 with clear skies, a brisk SE wind and a chilly 10 degrees C.
The first challenge of the day before sailing was the “round turn two half hitch” relay, narrowly won by Blue Team. Red Team made good in the next challenge, “The Backstay Challenge”. Perhaps White Team will see success tomorrow. This was all carried out with good humour and perhaps a bit of competitive banter.
Pulling up anchor at Horseshoe Bay we motor sailed in an easing south-south easterly breeze in a north westerly direction past Havannah Island and Palm Island.
We enjoyed our first Gybes which were executed without drama under the expert tuition of our watch leaders. The pitching and rolling of the ship started to play havoc with some of our stomachs however we fortunately reached the calmer waters of Palm Island before anyone lost their lunch.
The 32 nautical miles to Orpheus Island was reached by 5pm when we pulled alongside Yanks Jetty for a quick snorkel/swim/beachwalk before another exquisite meal was consumed on the jetty with a backdrop of sunset over the rugged skyline of Hinchinbrook Island.
A 4 nm motor after dinner saw us drop anchor at Pioneer Bay for the night under the light of a waxing three-quarter moon. A beautiful place to end a perfect day in the tropics.
The highlights of our journey on South Passage include;
- Learning how to work together to sail this amazing vessel
- Making new friends
- The sensational weather and scenery
- The clear and friendly instruction from the crew
- Kath’s brilliant food that keeps us coming back for more.
and this is only day 2.