Year 2 12 July 2025 – Trinity Inlet to Marlin Marina- Cairns
It was a windy morning when we woke and a bit grey. This part of Trinity Inlet was a bit of ships graveyard of with old tugs and landing type craft. Next to us was on old tug Y299 – which I looked up. It was built in 1980 and was a tug and a minesweeper for the Australian Navy and is 242 tons. I wondered what she is used for now or has she just been abandoned? Despite the range of boats anchored it was quiet and pretty as we were surrounded by mangroves and bordered by the hills and mountains around us.
Once we had our tea we got the dinghy down and used the crane to put the outboard on the back as I generally do for a long passage. This was the first time the current crew had done this and it went well and we put the dinghy back on the davits. We then put down the solar panels and had breakfast. We had arranged to refuel at 10.30am but the man suggested we were ready by 10.00am in case the boat before departed early.
We therefore upped the anchor and headed back up the Trinity Inlet at 9.30am and chugged along passing lots of anchored boats, some of which had been someone’s pride and joy at some point. However, they were now very sad and seemed forgotten and were now rotting away. It is such a shame and there are so many people who would love to have a boat and who would look after them.
I received a call at 9.55am from the fuel man who said we could proceed and it was free. We therefore entered the marina and the fuel berth was on the left. We moored and put about 193 lts in the tanks. We contacted the marina and had been allocated a berth at F20 and this was beside a large research vessel. It looked quite tight to me to get in. We had 20-25 kts to contend with and we had to change the fenders and lines across to the starboard side after refuelling having gone port side to. Shaun from the marina was there to help us. I lined up and had to come in at an angle and make little adjustments. Luckily with all the factors involved I manged to squeeze us in and we moored successfully without hitting anything. The crew were quite impressed and Shaun complimented me. I felt phew as it is not easy sometimes but luckily with the bow thruster working it makes life a lot easier!
We sorted ourselves out and made the lines as to how I like them. It was then time to do some washing and cleaning as we do when we get into the marina. We then got rid of our rubbish and bottles and sorted the boat out somewhat. Adam Cooper, a new crew member, was arriving at 3.00pm. I sorted out his cabin and we all cleaned the boat before having lunch. The wind was howling and pushing us on to the pontoon but we were safe.
Adam arrived at 3.00pm and we welcomed him to the boat with a cold beer. I then showed him around and gave him his cabin. Adam I had met in Russel in the Bay of Islands, NZ where he and his wife run a clothing shop which imports quite a lot of UK sailing clothing. The amazing thing is that we talked about him joining and then we did nothing about it. However, about a week later we were at an Island near Auckland and decided to go to a small Fishing/Boat club for lunch. Adam and his wife and friends happened to be there so we bumped into him. How random and what a chance was that! We then set up a plan and he has arrived which is great.
Cairns is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the 2021 census, Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after Sir William Wellington Cairns, following the discovery of gold in the Hodgkinson River. By the late 20th century the city had become a centre of international tourism. In the early 21st century, it has developed into a major regional city. The economy of Cairns is based primarily on tourism, healthcare and education, along with a major capacity in aviation, marine and defence industries. The city is served by Cairns International Airport, the seventh-busiest airport in Australia. Cairns also has a major cruise ship industry servicing both domestic and international markets, with terminals at Cairns Seaport and Cairns Wharf Complex.
Cairns is a major tourist destination, with access to two UNESCO world heritage sites: the Daintree Rainforest as part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland, and the Great Barrier Reef, one of the seven natural wonders of the world. During World War II, the Allied Forces used Cairns as a staging base for operations in the Pacific, with United States Army Air Forces and Royal Australian Air Force operational bases (now the airport), as well as a major military seaplane base, Naval Base Cairns, in Trinity Inlet, and United States Navy and Royal Australian Navy bases near the current wharf. Combat missions were flown out of Cairns in support of the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942. Edmonton and White Rock south of Cairns were major military supply areas and U.S. Paratroopers trained at Gordonvale and the Goldsborough Valley. A Special Forces training base was established at the old "Fairview" homestead on Munro's Hill, Mooroobool. This base was officially known as the Z Experimental Station, but referred to informally as "The House on the Hill".
After World War II, Cairns gradually developed into a centre for tourism. The opening of the Cairns International Airport in 1984 helped establish the city as a desirable destination for international tourism particularly from the emerging Japanese market.
The marina is right in the centre of town and the are is quite lively with lots of bars and restaurants around it. It was lively and bustily with lots of tourists as a lot of the boats from here go to the Islands and the Barrier Reef.
At 5.00pm there was the last seminar of the Sail 2 Indonesia Rally which talked about the passage to Indonesia. There are various hazards we need to watch out for and that is the large number of fishing boats south of Papa New Guinea and the large nets some of them use which have AIS (electronic marker) posts. The recommendation was to stay in Australian waters until you need to turn North to Indonesia and this way we may avoid a lot of the fishing fleet issues. The Rally organisers will be monitoring the situation and providing us with waypoints to help us on the route. It was quite thought provoking and we are going to have to keep a good watch at all times.
After the seminar we went to have a drink with all 5 of us. We then went for a great meal at Tha Fish and we all had a good laugh and Adam began to fit in. We retired to Stormbird and had a night cap before we went to bed. It was good we were here and we now have some days of preparation before we leave Australia and head for Indonesia going up inside the Barrier Reef and through the Torres Straits.
The picture of the day is the sunset over the city looking from the marina.
Need/Opportunity Year Three
In year three I will be going from Thailand to Sri Lanka, India, Maldives and then on to Chagos, Mauritius, Reunion, Cape Town, St Helena, Azores and back to the UK. I am looking for crew from Mauritius/ Reunion Island to Cape Town and from Cape Town to the UK. If of any interest do email me.
The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com