Dos Gatos

Dos Gatos in storage

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 11:00:00 +0000

We've put Dos Gatos on a storage mooring and we're ready to begin our land tour of Australia.

After Christmas and New Year in Brisbane I flew back to the USA for my annual visit - to see doctors, file taxes, visit kids and go skiing.

On my return we took everything movable of the boat, to minimize the chance of any bad weather problems, and we moved into our caravan. Now she's out on a mooring for storage and we've set off south.

We plan to travel to Western Australia via the southern route, and in a few months to travel back across the top end via Darwin. We'll see if our stamina holds out!

Podcast #34 posted

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:33:00 +0000

I have posted my final podcast of the season to my podcast feed.

Back in Bundy

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:28:00 +0000

We arrived back in Bundaberg today. We first spent a couple of days at Lady Musgrave Island and then a couple more at Lady Elliot Island. There we made our final dives of the season, and surprisingly good they were too.

When we started north the dives at Lady Musgrave were cold with poor visibility. Now the water was much warmer and clearer. We visited Lady Elliot Island for the first time and were really impressed. Although the anchorage is poor, having no lagoon like Lady Musgrave, we stayed as long as we could to make three dives.

Then we headed to Bundy and today came up the river. We're in the marina and in a couple of days will head down to Brisbane for Christmas and New Year.

Happy Christmas to any and all readers!

Still going south

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 07:23:00 +0000

Three weeks and 600 miles south of Lizard Island. 150 miles to go to Bundaberg.

We're traveling almost every day and it can get a bit tedious! We're now at Great Keppel Island which we left on June 20th. We've traveled in three weeks what took us three months going north.

We stayed a few days in the Whitsunday Islands hoping to get out to Bait Reef, but the wind was blowing 15-20 knots from the north. Rather than wait we set off south. However the wind was kicking the seas up so we decided to wait it out anyway and we went into Mackay Marina. This gave us a couple of meals out, fresh veg, a used book trade, and a day in Eugenia National Park to see the platypus.

We're hoping to get out to Lady Musgrave and Lady Elliott Islands in a couple of days to make out last dives of the season.

Drawn to Magnetic Island

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:29:00 +0000

Eight days after leaving Lizard Island, we are now 280 miles south, just outside Townsville.

It's been a pretty uneventful trip, motoring or sailing south in 10-15 knot winds. We revisited several anchorages we'd been to on the way north, and a couple of new ones that we'd missed. Last night we stopped at Orpheus Island in the Palm Islands Group, after retracing our way back through the Hinchinbrook Channel. On the way north we bypassed the Palm Islands while we were out on the reef.

Tonight we're at Magnetic Island, a few miles outside Townsville. The winds are forecast to be 15-20 so we'll stop here until they quieten. Magnetic Island in a major tourist center. Horsehoe Bay, where we anchor, has a couple of restaurants and a shuttle bus service to other places on the island.

We plan to refuel in Townsville. I've been watching fuel levels carefully as we haven't bought fuel since we topped up at Cooktown nearly two months ago. We're hoping that a fill up in Townsville will last us until Bundaberg - around 500 miles.

"Escape from Lizard Island"

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:34:00 +0000

We made it! We're in Cooktown admiring the statue of Captain Cook - and raiding the supermarket.

We moved around to Mermaid Bay on Saturday to make a night dive on our final day in Lizard. But next morning, the pesky Met Bureau had raised their wind forecast (from 10/15 to 15/20 - when the wind's on the nose, that's a big deal.) So we stayed the day in Mermaid Bay and made another night dive. The next morning the Met Bureau had done the same thing again! This time we said "$%$# them" and set off anyway.

This was a bit of a mistake. They were right and we were wrong. We bailed out after 18 miles and anchored at Cape Flattery. The next day the forecast stayed at 10/15 and we had a comfortable motor the rest of the way to Cooktown.

Now we've stocked the larder, had a meal out, and we're ready to set off south again. We're expecting to find more reliable light winds further south, this northern section of the Queensland coast seems to have steady strong trade winds most of the time.

Help! Send fresh veg!

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:23:00 +0000

We've been stuck here in Mrs Watsons Bay at Lizard Island for over two weeks. It's blown over 20 knots the whole time and sometimes over 30. There was a brief gap between the weather systems - high pressures moving across the Tasman Sea - but the winds only relaxed for a day.

We've dived every dive (no comparison with the outer reef) hiked every hike, and snorkeled every snorkel. Fresh veg is running low - it's been nearly 6 weeks since we left Cooktown. Of course, we haven't actually run out yet, and we have plenty of other food, but Ginger's meal options are steadily reducing!

We've been to the outer reef exactly twice - for 2-3 days, and 5 dives, each time. In the next lull we have to head south. It's now officially Cyclone Season (although no one expects to see a tropical anything until Christmas) and we have over 700 miles between us and Bundaberg.

We're hoping that in the next calm period we can visit Ribbon Reef #3 - about 50 miles south. Then, when the weather kicks up, we'll head into Cooktown to shop for veggies!

Out to the Reef again

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:17:00 +0000

We managed another trip out to the Great Barrier Reef. This was only our second excursion in a month at Lizard Island - there have been stronger winds in this area than is usual at this time of year, we're told.

This time we spent three days at the gap between Ribbon Reef #10 and Ribbon Reef #9 around 24 miles southeast of Lizard Island. We made five dives on three sites during that stay and anchored overnight at the back of Ribbon Reef #10. For diving we borrowed moorings placed by the commercial liveaboard dive boats that visit the area.

Two dives were pinnacles - Lighthouse Bommie and Pixies's Pinnacle. In both cases, a pillar maybe 50' across rises straight off the bottom at 90' to within 10'-20' of the surface. Lighthouse Bommie is undercut near the surface so it looks like a mushroom. The water was clear and there were huge numbers of fish schooling around and hiding in the crevices.

The other dive we think is called Challenger Wall - but it isn't much of a wall. It's near the channel out into the Coral Sea so it can have current - and also lots of fish.

These two dive trips have been good but it's a pity we've made only two trips in a month at Lizard Island. Between these trips we've sat in Mrs Watson's Bay in 25-30 knot winds!

Out to Cod Hole

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:41:00 +0000

After a week at Lizard Island we managed to get out to the Barrier Reef. Even though it was blowy (like up to 30 knots!) at Lizard we managed to make a few dives and to move round to visit the moorings in Mermaid Cove, but we really wanted to get Cod Hole, a relatively famous Barrier Reef dive site. We left as the weather was settling and stayed for a night at Eagle Island. Then we went to Cod Hole.

There is no anchoring permitted near Cod Hole but there are two public moorings. Amazingly, however, the moorings are both placed too close to the reef. We arrived at low tide and it was obvious that we could not leave the boat unattended while we dived. We can't think why they did this, there's plenty of room to move the moorings 30' further out. In the end we asked a commercial boat and borrowed a private mooring to make the dive. The site has earned its reputation - beautiful clear water, huge potato cod, and lots of other fish.

After the dive we moved to nearby Cormorant Reef and anchored in the lagoon for three nights. We made four more dives, all excellent. Cuttlefish seemed to be a constant on the dives!

Then strong winds were forecast again and here we are stuck at Lizard Island in Watsons Bay with 25-30 knot winds blowing. As soon as this settles we'll be off to the reef again. Apart from visiting other sites we'll go back to Cod Hole at high tide.

Arrived at Lizard Island

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 07:21:00 +0000

We've arrived at Lizard Island. As far as we intend to go this season.

We stopped for a day at Cooktown to top up our fresh vegetables and fuel. Cooktown is named after Captain Cook who stopped there to carry out repairs to HMS Endeavour after she had run aground on (what is now) Endeavour Reef. There is a statue of Captain Cook by the river. Cooktown is small but has a supermarket and a few other essentials.

After an overnight stop at Cape Flattery, we arrived at Lizard Island on Sunday. There are nearly 20 boats here so it's quite busy. On Monday morning we hiked over to the Marine Research Station to see when they give their free guided tours. Remarkably enough, they give them at 11am each Monday, and we arrived just after 11!

Last night the yachties in the anchorage held a pot-luck dinner on the beach. Many people have come to Lizard Island several times before. Most are planning to go back south from here - the people heading off to Indonesia, for example, are long gone. The consensus appears to be that we won't see light or northerly winds until the end of October. Today the wind is a little under 20 knots and it's expected to strengthen later in the week.

Heading for Cooktown

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:33:00 +0000

We spent nearly a week in Cairns, mainly shopping for provisions and used books, and taking care of other chores. We managed one day of tourism to travel on the Scenic Railway to Kuranda.

We fueled up and left Friday and then visited Upolu Reef and Michaelmas Cay. Now we're at the Low Islands ("Today we passed some low islands." - Captain Cook, 1770) which are near Port Douglas.

All of these reefs are heavily visited. Every day large boats come out of the nearby ports loaded with snorkelers and divers. However, they are still pleasant places to anchor at with reefs to snorkel, beaches to walk on, and birds to watch.

We're on our way to stop at Cooktown in a couple of days; our last opportunity to buy fresh food before our stay at Lizard Island.

Podcast #33 posted

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 06:01:00 +0000

I have just posted Podcast #33 to my PodCastaway Feed. It covers the month between Townsville and Cairns, and includes a discussion of anchoring issues.

Fitzroy Island

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 07:16:00 +0000

We're at Fitzroy Island - just 15 miles from Cairns - for the second time.

We came here first after a night in Mourilyan Harbour - a sugar port with little more to offer than a shallow muddy anchoring spot - and sat out a few breezy days here. Then we went back out to the reef.

All the reefs - and the islands - near Cairns are regularly visited by tourist boats. We first went to Thetford Reef which typically had 5-6 dive boats visiting daily. The dive boats used a collection of private moorings in the bommie fields on the northwest side of the reef. These coral bommies rise to the surface out of 70-80 feet deep water. We had to thread our way into the lagoon to find somewhere we could anchor. Even then it took two anchors to keep us from swinging onto the coral.

We spent three nights there and made three dives - from the private moorings in the bommie field, of course. Then we moved on to Milln Reef a bit further out on the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef. This reef also is well visited and has a collection of moorings along its west side. Happily it has a public mooring too as there is virtually nowhere to anchor. We spent a night on this mooring and made three dives.

These dives have been better than those we made further south; the water is becoming clearer and warmer!

Now we're back at Fitzroy Island while the wind has kicked up again. Fitzroy is also visited daily by a tourist ferry. The island has a resort that, although recently built, is closed due to the developer going belly-up. The island is a National Park and has several hiking trails and a camp ground.

We're due into Cairns in a week to pick up a guest but we hope to get back to Milln Reef before we go in.

Hinchinbrook Channel

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 07:37:00 +0000

We left Trunk Reef and came into the coast in order to take a detour through Hinchinbrook Channel.

Hinchinbrook Island is about 25 miles long and the channel between it and the mainland is about half a mile wide at the south and two miles at the north end. Both the island and the adjacent coast are mountainous and wooded so the channel is very picturesque and has many mangrove-lined creeks going off from it. We anchored one night near a small island, and the second night at the north end.

We also called in at Cardwell, a small town on the mainland side, to shop. The visit was a challenge because a breeze was blowing onto the beach building up a small surf. When we got back it was a struggle to get the dinghy back out to the boat. We did score some veggies, though!

Now we've come back out to the reef and are anchored at Yamacutta Reef. We'll dive here tomorrow but the weather looks like it will make us go back to the coast the next day. We'll head for Mourilyan Harbour.

At the Reef

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 07:23:00 +0000

We spent five days in Townsville to re-provision, to scour the used book shops, and to see the latest Harry Potter movie.

Then, after a couple of nights at Magnetic Island, the weather settled enough for us to come out to the Barrier Reef. We have finally realized that in settled weather we should come out to the Reef, and when the breeze pipes up we should go back to an island anchorage near the mainland. In essence, diving at the islands sucks and anchoring at the Reef sucks!

We spent two nights at John Brewer Reef where we had been told there was a lagoon we could get into. Our charts just don't have the detail to show that sort of thing; reefs are generally poorly surveyed. Then we moved on to Kelso Reef, and from there to Trunk Reef where we are now.

Lighter weather - forecasts of 10-15 knots or less - have held out for a week while southern Queensland has had a heat wave. Today it is flat calm and the sea is glassy. We can see in the distance the hills of Hinchinbrook Island to the west and the Palm Islands to the southwest. Otherwise nothing breaks the surface to the horizon. No visible reef, no boats.

We made a couple of dives at each reef. The diving has been 'OK'. Visibility has been moderate - say 30 feet - the coral has been relatively sparse, but there's a reasonable population of fish.

We plan to continue like this to Cairns. Out on the Reef when it's quiet, island anchorage near shore when it's not.

Podcast posted

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 07:45:00 +0000

We're in Townsville and I've posted PodCastaway Episode 32 to my podcast feed. It's an account of our month diving in the Whitsunday Islands; and I answer some emails. It may be downloaded from my podcast page.

Still in the Whitsundays

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 22:07:00 +0000

We're still anchored in Butterfly Bay on Hook Island in the Whitsundays. We've been to other anchorages but we keep coming back here. It's our favorite anchorage when it blows - every few days - because it's reasonably sheltered and offers dinghy access to some of the best dive sites.

We visited Hamilton Island a week or so ago. This is the only developed island in the the Whitsundays. We stayed a couple of nights in the marina, grocery shopped and ate out. The marina is expensive - AU$90 per night! It's very busy with mainland ferries and tourist boats constantly entering and leaving. It also has the only airport in the islands.

We've stayed in a variety of anchorages. The southern side of Hook and Whitsunday Islands have deep mangrove inlets that we visited, and Langford Island has a reef and sand spit that is pleasant in calm weather.

By the weekend we expect to have left to head for Townsville. The long breezy spell that has kept us in Butterly Bay for a week is easing and we'll go to the mainland at Airlie Beach for groceries, and head north.

Bait Reef

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 10:41:00 +0000

We finally got out to the Great Barrier Reef. A group of reefs is around 30 miles northwest of Hook Island and we spent Sunday and Monday nights out there. Tourist boats also come out and pontoons have been moored to service these large boats. Other pontoons serve as landing spots for the tourist helicopters!

We spent a night anchored behind Line Reef and then went to Bait Reef, a few miles away. Bait Reef is a no anchoring zone but has six public moorings installed. When we arrived we had to wait a few hours on a private/commercial mooring before one of the public moorings became available. We made two dives that Monday, and two more the next morning. The diving was very good with us finally getting the sort of visibility we are used to.

There is no significant protection there and the mooring was only comfortable while there was no wind - 5-10 knots was forecast on the Monday. By Tuesday morning the wind was 15-20 and the anchorage was getting choppy. We stuck it out to make two more dives and we were the last to leave Bait Reef and hightail it back to Hook Island. We got in there around sunset.

Whitsunday Islands

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:00:00 +0000

We left Mackay about 10 days ago and after an overnight at Brampton Island we we anchored off Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island itself.

We'd selected this anchorage because yet another frontal passage was expected with winds backing through northwest, southwest and back to southeast. There are few anchorages with 360 protection but the stronger winds were expected from the south, after the frontal passage, so we most needed protection from southwest through to southeast - which Whitehaven provides. We had a moderately uncomfortable day while light wind and chop came out of the north - so the beach became a lee shore - but then the wind backed and our plan proved to be good.

The Whitsundays are just FULL of charter boats. There are lots of bareboat charter boats and even quite a lot of crewed charters and day boats. Whitehaven Beach for example never had less than a dozen boats overnight and each day several large ferries turned up with more vacationers.

We've now moved to the north end of Hook Island where the best diving is said to be. There are five nice bays close together - some good for day visits, some best for overnight. They've gone to lengths to protect the coral by putting in reef protection markers to prohibit anchoring too close to the fringing reef. This gives anchoring depths of >50 feet! They have also put in a lot of boat moorings but these are 'officially' limited to 2 hour use during the day, plus overnight. This suits the charter boats - who sail in the morning stop for a snorkel and lunch, and sail again in the afternoon - but it doesn't suit us.

We've anchored in Butterfly Bay - the most sheltered - and all the bays are within 2 miles. Along the coast of Hook Island it's an easy dinghy ride. We could take the boat to these bays and moor for a dive but in recent years we've become so accustomed to diving from the dinghy, it's more trouble to do that. We'd then join the afternoon stampede into the bays to find a free mooring!

This is just like the British Virgin Islands in that regard. It's a similarly great cruising area for bareboat charters but it feels unfamiliar for us full-time cruisers. We'll leave all this behind us when we leave here to head north in a couple of weeks.

Right now there's another windy couple of days here and we're hoping that it eases soon so that we can visit Bait Reef - part of the Great Barrier Reef - which is about 30 miles northeast. Our guidebook says there are good dives - and moorings - there.

The diving here is our best so far. A lot of fish, and new fish, but the visibility while better does not reach our high standards! It also still needs a 5mm wetsuit!

Percy Islands and Mackay

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:09:00 +0000

We spent a couple of nights in the Percy Islands, in an anchorage at the northeast island. We tried a dive but the visibility was very poor. The highlight of the dive was a giant snail with a shell over a foot long.

A switch to the northwest was forecast, with some reasonably strong winds, so we decided to leave. The Percy Islands have a couple of anchorages that are good for winds from the north but the expected shift to the south, as the front went over during the night, might have been a problem. We stopped at West Bay on Middle Percy Island and met several catamarans who were planning to go into a tidal creek at high tide and go high and dry while they wait out the windier weather. We decided to proceed with our original plan and leave for Mackay Marina overnight. Before we sailed we added a Dos Gatos token to the collection adorning an A-frame hut on the beach.

We arrived at Mackay early Friday morning. We had the surreal experience in the early hours of motoring through dozens of anchored ships - we estimated 50+. We saw them in tiers on the radar and several were visible at a time as they loomed out of the early morning fog. We were told later that these ships are waiting to fill with coal at Hay Point. Some wait there for weeks apparently.

We spent 4 days in Mackay Marina. We rented a car and went shopping for groceries. We also spent Sunday sightseeing and visited the Botanic Garden in Mackay, and the nearby Cape Hillsborough National Park. Today, we fuelled up and headed for Brampton Island, our next stop on the way to the Whitsundays.

Podcast 31

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:18:00 +0000

Whilst in Mackay I posted a new podcast to my PodCastaway feed. It may be downloaded from http://podcastaway.libsyn.com/

Fitzroy Reef and Northwest Island

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:10:00 +0000

We spent three days at Fitzroy Reef and dived once. We would have made a second dive but I spent a day fixing the compressor!

Fitzroy Reef is similar to Lady Musgrave but without the island. The anchorable part of the lagoon is smaller, but still has room for plenty of boats. The entrance is narrower and has a dogleg - tricky for a wide catamaran. We shared it with a few fishing boats - private and commercial. A big boat turned up on the second day and anchored while smaller boats ferried snorkelers around while they collected, presumably, lobsters.

Both Lady Musgrave and Fitzroy are uncomfortable when winds and seas increase. When the tide is up the waves come over the coral and a big chop builds up in the lagoon. So after two days of 20-25 kt winds we left to find somewhere more comfortable. We went 35 miles to Northwest Island. That was not the comfortable anchorage we sought! We were partly behind a small island but mainly (not much) sheltered by a reef. We spent one night and set off again for a 45 mile passage to Great Keppel Island.

Now we have a secure spot - off a beach behind an island. The wind is blowing hard and a small amount of swell comes around to us but it's the best anchorage we've had in two weeks! We'll stay here until it settles and then move on north.

Lady Musgrave Island

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 06:50:00 +0000

We spent a week at Lady Musgrave Island which comprises an enclosed atoll lagoon with an island at one end. The island is very pleasant and offers a beach, a campground and a woodland walk. It's a nesting area for Black Noddies, Mutton Birds and a species of Rail. All were present in numbers except for the Muttton Birds - they must be elsewhere. We saw their nesting holes, though. The island is also used by nesting turtles some times in the year. We saw turtles in the lagoon but none appeared to be nesting.

Paddling around the anchorage was a large unfamiliar bird - a Northern Giant-Petrel. And giant it was. It has the tube nose typical of a petrel - but it's the size of a turkey! Albatross sized. We've never seen one of those before.

Lady Musgrave Island is visted almost daily by a tourist boat out from The Town of 1770 - called The Spirit of 1770. It ties to a pontoon and transfers its passengers to a small fleet of boats that remain moored in the lagoon. One takes some people diving, another takes some fishing, and a third is a glass bottomed snorkeling boat. Tourists also swim and go ashore - and presumably some stay overnight in the campground. The campground lacks water, but it does have composting toilets, and carts to transport your water from The Spirit of 1770.

We made three dives here - our first of the season - and once we'd figured out how much neoprene we needed to stay warm - the temperature was 69 F - the dives were good. Our first was inside the lagoon, and our second and third were outside the entrance channel. Good coral and a lot of fish. Several new species for us, and a Manta Ray.

We've now moved 20 miles northwest to another atoll called Fitzroy Reef. No island here, just coral reef.

Start of a new Cruising Season

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 05:27:00 +0000

We've finally left Bundaberg, running about a month later than last year! We returned to the USA a little later than last year, and then spent 3-4 weeks finishing our stack of boat jobs. (Not exactly finishing, we still have a few to do!)

We motored down the river Saturday and waited for suitable weather anchored near the Bundaberg Port. Today we motor-sailed 50 miles to Lady Musgrave Island. This is an island, and a small atoll, that's a popular tourist destination. Fast boats come out here every day from the Town of 1770. (This oddly-named town is apparently where Captain Cook landed in 1770.)

Lady Musgrave and her sister island Lady Elliot mark the southern extremity of the Great Barrier Reef. We'll work north along it over the coming months.

We plan to spend a few days here and start out diving and snorkeling. If only it were warmer; it encourages us to get further north as soon as we can.

Back in the water

noreply@blogger.com (Dos Gatos) — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:32:00 +0000

Dos Gatos is back afloat with a new coat of bottom paint, some minor cracks repaired, a new hatch, serviced engines, a repainted hardtop, and quite a few other fixes. She was in the yard just over 4 weeks.

We had to launch at high tide which unfortunately was at 10pm! I wasn't going far - just across the river to the marina - but I had to find and enter the slip in the dark. It was actually easier than I had been expecting and now she's comfortably tied up in the marina while I clean up the yard dirt.

We'll be off cruising again in a few weeks.