Fitzroy Island to Orpheus Island via Hinchinbrook Channel

Having spent a glorious afternoon at Fitzroy Island,the inclement weather shifted from Cairns  to settle over us during the early hours of the morning.

Awaking to drizzle and slightly more than that, as we got underway, we set sail for Mourilyan Harbour.  The wind being ok for a while then dying to nothing and then as the rain decreased to showers and finally disappeared altogether, a great breeze set in.

Never thought I would be sailing into here,when I left in 2005

o yes beautiful Mourilyan Harbour

Sailing into Mourilyan was brilliant fun.Inside the two headlands there is a wonderfully protected harbour and we anchored just clear of the swing basin on the shoaling mud bottom.

Those tugs look a little more powerful than the ones that used to be here .

Mourilyan to Cape Hinchinbrook

Again the next morning dawned drizzly, but with wind from the right direction. Approaching Dunk Island, the wind was in the right quarter to set the MPS, ahead of us the black wall of an approaching front precluded that idea, and  it  soon bucketed down again, before clearing into a rather stunning , but ultimately windless afternoon, which left us motoring into the Hinchinbrook Channel.

At the top of the Hinchinbrook Channel.

I suspect that it's not only a soft drink in that glass.
Lookout duties? ,Hmmm?

Awakening to more low cloud, which actually made Hinchinbrook look stunningly akin to somewhere in the Scottish Highlands , as its towering height disappeared into the clouds, as did the Cardwell Range on the mainland. We motored through the Hinchinbrook Channel, on a rising  tide so no chance to see the 'mud lizards' on the banks at low tide.Mind you it wasn't overly sunny ,so even at low water it is unlikely there would ave been many crocodiles sunning themselves.
I must return to this neck of the woods, and explore.

pot of gold?

a different view of Hinchinbrook Island

rainbow from port to starboard

Beautiful

Passage through the Hinchinbrook Channel

Scale: Jo at 1m distance ,Fw Buoy at 100m perhaps- it's still a toy FW By!

We motored out past the Lucinda Bulk Sugar wharf, which at close to 6km in length is the longest in the Southern Hemisphere, and which I have driven many times to and from the vessels I piloted at Lucinda.We cleared the Lucinda  Fairway Buoy, goodness knows how small it must look from a ship these days, as the current buoy  looks pretty small from a yacht at close range, and had a really great sail across to Pioneer Bay at Orpheus Island