Fitzroy Island

After taking up our mooring there was only one thing to do, and that was not to trek to Fitzroy Island Lighthouse.
 The lighthouse here being my least favourite of the Queensland coast, that we serviced, during my time on the lighthouse tender MV Cape Moreton.

Photo from internet 

photo from internet as mine not with me 

It has always reminded me for some reason of a  public urinal.Goodness knows why, as public urinals are not in fact, something I am familiar with, other than the knowledge they exist. I think it is the external tiles, that didn't do it for me. I realise it is supremely functional, having obviously safely lit the way through Grafton Passage for ships, for  many many years, but aesthetically, it has not one iota of the romance of the lights of Low Isles, Cape Bowling Green , Dent Island, Cape Capricorn, Bustard Head, Cape Moreton, Sandy Cape, or even Australia's probably most visited light at Cape Byron. They are all , or at least were, both functional and beautifully romantic looking  lights, when I saw them back in '79.

So instead of visiting my least favourite light, it was into the water to inspect once again, what was going on down there.
There was substantially less weedy growth than when we  arrived in Cairns 3 weeks ago, so something had seen it off , whilst in the marina. My main focus, other than giving the hull growth a squizz , was to check the rate of consumption of the annodes on the sail drives and props.

I know if you have read much of this blog , it must appear I'm obsessed by what lies beneath. Mea culpa! It's what you can't see that is going to cause the most problems. Leaks, wear and tear, aloft and below, that is what is going to surprise you one day, and odds are, it wont be a nice surprise.

The night revealed that we are going to have to refine our buoy mooring technique. As we swung on the mooring during the night, the mooring buoy kept attacking us. To date this hasn't occurred as when we have picked up other moorings it has been in a current stream, or breeze which was sufficient enough for us to ride at a suitable distance and not override the buoy. Back to the drawing board, on that one.

 They are not insubstantial and yes they do bang on the hull, being made of hard plastic. The tail with the eye in it that comes aboard is a couple of metres long but still we over rode it.