Year 2 -12 May 2025 - Woodwark Bay -Bona Bay -Gloucester Island

It did rain a bit in the night. It was also quite cool but it was a nice day when we woke and we had some sun which seemed a little unique! We had a cooked breakfast of bacon sandwiches with an egg which was devoured without demur. When we were ready we headed off and we were aiming to sail along the coast. Due to the wind direction this was difficult so I decided we would sail out North and then gybe back when we reached the right point back toward the coast.

We had good wind and so we headed out North under 4 reefs in the main and the Staysail and we manged between 6 – 9 kts depending on the wind strength. The wind rangd from 14 kt to 30.9 kts and we absorbed it. As we headed out the swell increased but we were sailing well and fast and Stormbird was enjoying it. The sun was out and the sea was blue and white with lots of white horses. We were fishing and did so over the day but for some reason we did not catch anything. We seemed to be the only boat out here and we were enjoying it. We had to avoid a few islands but that was not an issue.

After a couple of hours, we gybed and headed toward Gloucester Island which we initially called potato island due to its shape. Gloucester Island is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 950 km northwest of Brisbane. It is visible from the town of Bowen. The island was seen and erroneously named "Cape Gloucester" by British explorer James Cook in 1770. The name "Cape Gloucester" has been used informally for areas on or near Gloucester Island. Bird watching is topical from October to April, when thousands of migrating birds can be seen, especially waders. The average altitude of the terrain is 34 metres.

We gybed and were then heading for the Northern point of Gloucester Island. We were on the opposite gybe and sailed well and fast. Different. We had sailed North enough to be on a good course and enjoyed the sail. Stormbird coped with these conditions very well in quite a swell and many boats would have found this uncomfortable. It took us a couple of hours to get to the top of Gloucester Island and then we came round the corner and the wind became a bit fickle for a bit and then we managed to continue sailing down the East side.

We came to a point when we had to bring the sails down and motor into Bona Bay where there was one boat anchored. We motored in as far as we dared and anchored in about 5m of water. We were reasonably protected and there was a bit of a swell to start with but then it calmed down.

We had lunch and then rested. I made a loaf of bread so that will be good for tomorrow. We enjoyed some tea and then as the sun was gong down enjoyed a sundowner and the picture of the day is 3 of us enjoying it. It is a good time of the day to watch the sun dip and there is always a bit of a breeze to keep us cool.

We had chicken and beef schnitzels for supper with sweet potato mash and peas. We also put the world to rights again and reflected on what a good day it had been with great sailing. Stormbird enjoyed the stormy conditions.

We will move on tomorrow to Cape Upstart.  

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 Reunion 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