This is the latest tale of traveling adventure, for previous logs visit the archives. If you are new to Bad Latitude and wish to get a better idea of the whole adventure then it is best to start at the very beginning. The logs are updated when we get the chance, due to the erratic nature of sailing it is difficult to know exactly when we will be able to update the site, so for this reason we have the update alerter which will inform of any update via e-mail.

Issue12 - 26/10/2001 Cairns - Townsville

After a couple of days of anticipation we finally got the news we had hoped for, John invited us to sail with him for the next couple of weeks to Townsville - what a result! So we checked out of our unit and began the unenviable task of loading our things onto Charisma. Tracy and I had not actually anticipated travelling as such as we expected to be on board Nkwhazi for the full sixth month cruise so our bag was bulky and weighed a ton. Couple that with Charisma's limited storage space (She's more racer than family cruiser) and we had quite a mission stowing our stuff. Anyway we just about managed to heave it over the guard rails and stowed it at the bottom of our quarter berth. Although we had got a collapsible bag so it was easy to stow, we still learned something this day.

Now with everything stowed John filled the water tanks.....as this was casually done I remembered the red faced panic, shouting, incompetence and general abuse onboard Nkwhazi as this procedure was carried out, oh the contrast! As we cast off the wind perked up from still to 10-15knts and the sea was calm, perfect for a relaxing sail. Up went the main, followed by the yankee and the staysail. It was great to have the sails up without the drone of the motor. As we rounded a headland we were headed dead down wind so John poled out the staysail and we goosewinged towards our next destination - Mourlyan Harbour. Nothing much to report here. I think its the site of a sugar refinery, not much to see really. So we enjoyed a relaxing night, enjoying the cold beers, fine company and Johns Italian food.

Next day we woke up at a reasonable hour, unrushed and relaxed ready for our next sail. The wind was again 10-15knts North Westerly, though there were the remnants of a small 1 metre swell setting against us. So we set sail for our next destination, the beautiful Dunk Island. The normal anchorage at Dunk Island is on the Northern Coast, however due to the wind direction we anchored on the South side of the island. So now anchored up we set about doing our usual chores of swimming to shore, enjoying the Queensland sunshine, and acclimatising to the relaxed regime aboard Charisma.

Now talking of the regime, there have been many discussions on what went wrong aboard Nkwhazi. I personally think a number of factors that went against us - misunderstandings, age differences, jealousy, to name but a few reasons. However John came up with one that also made sense. Basically John had always said he understood the English due to his skippering experiences he has had crew from the US, South Africa, Oz, etc and understands how the different nationalities react in onboard situations. The English he felt would deal with it by humour or 'taking the piss' as he (and we) put it. Which relieves tension - no pun intended, and clears the air without being confrontational etc. This just did not happen before, people took things so personally it just couldn't, and the Norwegian's just didn't have the remotest sense of a sense of humour.

Anyway enough amateur psychology.....Dunk Island is a self contained resort just off the Queensland coastline. It has a rainforest appeal about it - tall peaks covered in lush vegetation, shady canopies, all surrounded by white sandy beaches. All the usual beach activities were going on around us, parasending, sunbathing, other yachties anchoring up, we felt like we were in a millionaires playground. We spent about three days at the resort. As its an island and only accessible by plane or boat its quite easy to gain access to its facilities, i.e. bars and bbqs, and swimming pools, which of course we did.

The next stop on our journey South was to pick up some supplies at a small outpost just North of Hitchinbrook Channel. So we pulled the anchor up and cruised the 25NM in calm conditions to Scraggy Point at the northern tip of Hitchinbrook Island. The landscape here was quite the opposite to the low lying lands of the Northern Territory and the Northernmost part of Queensland. Think Jurassic Park. Lush intensely green tropical forest bound hills rise dramatically out of the sea. There was a good reason why the island was so lush; the amount of rainfall it received. Due to the height of the island it acts as a barrier for westward travelling clouds which soak the islands in an attempt to go over them. Due to its lushness and status as a National Park hitchinbrook has abundant wildlife, the usual crocs and birdlife, but its the insects that will always stick in my mind. Mosquitoes, sandflies, and the marsh fly - bastard amongst flies. We had these things swarm us in biblical proportions! Marsh flies are big and ugly with a bite to match, You hear the drone of their wings with dread. Normally you heard them at first light after the mossies have attacked you without mercy all night, you have half an hour respite before the marsh flies clock on for work. Thankfully though they are quite sluggish and the drone alerts you to their presence. So as we couldn't swim again due to the proximity of the crocs, days were past hunting the flies. Johns preferred method was the elastic band.....I preferred the flick approach and was quite successful! After a short time I was 9-2 up, the ratio of fly deaths to bites. Not bad! I only lost one day, the day I was at the helm keeping Charisma within the leading marks of the narrow Hitchinbrook channel.

And so after a torrential downpour at the southern end of the channel which actually came as quite a relief as it not only relieved the heat but it gave respite from the fly attacks - we sailed the final passage south to Magnetic Island, named by Captain Cook due to the fact that it effected his compass as he sailed past. We dropped anchor in Horseshoe Bay after an exhilarating sail in which Lydia showed us how to execute an unplanned tack! We knew this was our last day or two aboard Charisma so we made the most of Magnetic Island. Being a back packer haven there's plenty to do for a couple of days. We opted to hire a mini moke, the ultimate in motorised death trap, and hacked it around the island to find a sheltered, secluded bay and do some snorkeling. (Which it has to said was a little disappointing!). Though it was at Horseshoe Bay we caught sight of what we reckon was a Dugong.....it rolled out of the water and looked like a diver with the fins on but no-one was diving or snorkeling in the bay, it was quite strange.

Anyway our last days aboard Charisma flew by, and we soon found ourselves sailing the short hop over to the mainland and the end of our seagoing journey in Townsville. Sadly for us John was meeting a group of friends here to continue South with and it was our time to say our farewells. We got John a thank you gift of a dance music CD in order to add to his extensive collection, struggled in the heat with our luggage over the guardrails to our hired car (thank god for air-con), and our yachting trip was sadly over.

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