Year 2 -4 July 2025–Great Palm Island to Hinchbrook Channel
I need an extra crew member from Cairns to Indonesia leaving about the 14/15 July 2025. If anyone is interested please contact me as soon as possible.
It was very damp when we woke and there was a lot of condensation on deck. The was also some mist beyond the town and I assumed there was a cold stream coming into the sea which was causing this – warm air over cold water. Initially it felt quite cool bit as soon as the sun was up it began to warm. We had breakfast of smashed avocado on toast with an egg and some bacon -delicious and a great start to the day.
The plan was to sail over to the Hinchbrook channel and to go inside the island – with the channel being some 26 nm. The problem is that the entrance to the channel is quite shallow and we worked out that the earliest we could enter the channel was about 2.00pm and this should just give us enough water. The wind forecast was not strong and we had two options to go inside the islands or outside to get to the channel. I opted for the outside as I thought we may get more wind. We therefore upped anchor about 9.15am and headed out to the North side of Great Palm Island and out beyond it. There was a channel we had to go through between it and the next island. We came through and there was a bit of a breeze.
We upped the sails and aimed for the last island after which we could head to the entrance to the Hinchbrook Channel. We sailed for a bit but the wind was light and variable and the sails flapped a bit and the wind was moving around. We poodled along and it was beautiful. The sun was out and the sea was calm and we could view the lovely islands as we passed them with the odd beach here and there. Then suddenly Nicola spotted a whale. In fact, there were two small whales swimming along and breathing with the spout of water and air from time to time. As we got closer they dived and were gone. It was difficult to tell what whales they were-either humpback or sperm whales. We then saw two far larger whales behind us which swam around and dived we think because a motorboat came quite close.
As the wind had changed direction we decided to gybe and I went through the routine with the crew. We then were heading out to sea but we had time as we could not enter the channel before 2.00pm or so. We took in the main and stayed on the Genoa which gave us enough speed to get to the channel at about the right time. As we passed the end of the last island the wind increased and we sailed on just the genoa about 5 kts which would get us there just after 2.00pm. As we moved forward we could see the cargo terminal where the ships took on sugar cane as a cargo. The pier was 5km long and a conveyor belt brought the sugar cane to the terminal where the ships docked. There was supposed to be some leading lights to show us how to go down the channel and to enter the harbour. We were trying to spot them as we approached.
We took down the genoa and motored to the line which was to lead us in and we saw a sector light (which shows red if you are too far to port (left), green if you are too far to starboard (right) and white if you are on the right course. We saw the white light and continued and began to enter the channel. The depth dropped so I slowed down and I watched the depth. Others watched the sector light and for anything untoward. The depth dropped to 3m then 2,7, then 2,5 and then 2.3m and then luckily it began to rise. For about 2 nm we had very little depth and did not hit the bottom. Eventually we were through but we could not have tried any earlier.
Once through there were marker buoys which demarcated the channel and we were able to admire the beautiful scenery. There were high mountains on the island with the highest over 1,100m. The mountains and hills were covered in trees and bush with mangroves at the bottom. The other trees looked like sprigs of broccoli.
We motored on up the channel and it looked just like crocodile country but alas we did not see any. We travelled about 10 nm and came to Haycock Island where we decided to anchor. There were no properties we could see and we just looked out over mountains and sea and it was so still and quiet. We had a cup of tea once we were anchored and I go out the deck chairs on the stern. We then had a sundowner and enjoyed the sun disappearing over the Cardwell mountains on the mainland.
Mark cooked a chilli for supper which we had with rice and broccoli. It had been a good day and we had got into the channel at the right stage of tide. We look forward to exploring the channel further tomorrow.
The Hinchinbrook Channel is a channel between the Australian mainland and Hinchinbrook Island. It runs for 44 km between Oyster Point, just south of Cardwell, and Lucinda in Far North Queensland. The Aboriginal name for the channel is Bolan Milbirmi. The Herbert River flows into the channel's southern point. The channel includes 164 km2 of mangrove swamps and 109 km2 of open water. It is the most scenic, calm waterway on the east coast of Australia. It has magnificent peaks and valleys. There are lots of creeks and channels off the main channel interlaced with a lot of mangroves.
The Hinchinbrook Channel is protected within the Hinchinbrook Island National Park (the largest island National Park), the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. Dugong feed and seek habitat in the sea grass patches along the channel seafloor. The channel is bordered by extensive, deltaic mangrove forests. The northern end resembles a bay, more than a narrow channel, with a width of 4 km.
The picture of the day is a lovely view of the island from the channel.
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