Year 2 -8 July 2025-Dunk Island to Fitzroy Island – Sailing Again at Last
I need two extra crew members from Cairns to Indonesia leaving about the 14/15 July 2025. If anyone is interested please contact me as soon as possible.
We had decided to start early and woke about 06.20 and by 06.35 am we had upped anchor and were heading out of Brammo Bay bound for Fitzroy Island some 70 + nm away. It was a greyish day and there were dark clouds out at sea and some over the hills and mountains on shore. We seemed initially to be in the middle and the sun began to gradually rise and we seemed to be motoring in the middle and the sun. We enjoyed our tea and watched the day begin its journey.
We waited until about 8.00am and we decided to have scrambled eggs on toast with a good cup of coffee. A perfect start to the day. We motored on whilst various jobs were done and we watched the wind. It was light about 6-8kts so we needed to make some miles as we had quite a way to go to get to Fitzroy Island in daylight. There were not any suitable anchorages between the two. The morning wore on and by about 12 noon the wind had increased to the extent that we could sail again.
We upped sails and before long we were on a broad reach (wind on the starboard quarter) and doing over 7 kts which is about what we were doing on engine. Initially we were heading toward the coast and obviously we were going to have to gybe at some point. I thought about it and thought we would have more wind if we stayed out. The issue was that this meant crossing the shipping lane which the cargo ships go up and down. We therefore gybed and headed out on a bearing about 030-40 and we were soon doing 8-9 kts and the wind had increased to about 15 + kts. The wind varied from 15 kts to 21 kts over a number of hours and we continued on this course until we needed to gybe again so that we could sail direct to Fitzroy Island. During this time, we had to avoid a pleasure motorboat called Blondie and a cargo ship called Long Quan (one).
We got to stage where we could gybe and then headed direct to the Southwest of Fitzroy Island. We continued to sail well and fast. The guys had not seen Stormbird stretch her legs but they did now. The maximum speed was 9.6 kts and the picture of the day is 9.3 kts.
We sailed well and at a good rate. I decided to make some water and we soon had filled the port tank. We got to the stage where we were at the Southwest end of the Island and we then had to put the sails away. Before long we were motoring round the corner of the island and came round until Welcome Bay. This had a resort which was still working. There were no mooring buoys so we had to anchor which was fine. We had a cup of tea having travelled over 70 nm.
We then had a sundowner and enjoyed the view. The island has various walks which look interesting and there is a sandspit which looks good to swim off. We then had a supper of bangers and mash (carrot and sweet potato) with broccoli which was all demolished.
We look forward to exploring the island tomorrow.
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