What a 2009 Cruise on Erica - Nov 2009

As we write this, our last post for 2009, we have swapped the Ocean Highway for the Bitumen Highway as we take to the road and drive to Brisbane before flying home. This brings to an end our fantastic cruise on Erica this year when we sailed or motored over 3,000 nautical miles on the Queensland North Coast. As you will see from earlier postings we achieved our goal in 2009 of reaching Lizard Island which was a very memorable experience.

The attached photo shows the happy crew of Erica enjoying a fast sail off Cape Manifold on our way to the Port of Bundaberg. This is where Erica will spend her Christmas Holidays after crossing her own bit of bitumen but her new home has a nice view of the Burnett River where she will return in 2010 for some more sailing fun - We hope you enjoyed following our travels in 2009 as much as we have. All the best for Christmas and the New Year.

The Cruise Back - Nov 2009

After the initial strong southerly winds making life hard we have now got northerly winds and have been enjoying champagne sailing as we head south towards Bundaberg. We have used this time to catch up with some old Farr sailors in Airlie Beach and sunset drinks on the beach at West Bay, Middle Percy Island. Days have been long with lots of nautical miles to be covered and being overtaken by our friends who fly spinnakers. In between the long sail we have discovered new and beautiful bays including Long Beach on Great Keppel Island before another sunrise as we head out to sea for another long days sail. We still seem to be meeting lots of new friends at beach drinks and staying in touch with some of our well known sailing companions. Enjoy as we are!

The Bash Back - Oct/Nov 2009

After a fantastic and busy week at Lizard Island a weather window (less than 25 knots on the nose) opened up so, with a pre-dawn start, we followed the procession of boats leaving including our new friends on Gypsy Lee. During that first day they had several encounters with large ships but gladly survived and we all enjoyed a musical dinner that night at Hope Island. Hope is truly a magical place for us. More fast and this time rough passage up the cost found us after several days at Cardwell where we found ourselves in the Friday night lawn bowls fun. Then dinner with our dear friends on Kieara C who are heading to Darwin next season. Then we found Gypsy Lee again in Hinchinbrook Channel were we enjoyed breakfast on Gypsy and dinner on Erica. Last night we spent at Cape Bowling Green which is appropriate after our game of lawn bowls but this Cape is no more than a very long and flat sand spit. It is truly sad saying goodbye to so many new and old friends as we fast track down the coast. As we write this we are an hour from Gloucester Island which we left 3 months earlier on our odyssey to Lizard Island.

Lizard Island - Having Fun - October 2009

Once at Lizard Island, and after the first nights drinks, we have now settled into the routine of exploring the island and enjoying the cruisers social life. We walked to the Lizard Island Research station, beautiful Lagoon to the west and the stunning Cooks Look and the incredible views from 400 metres up. All this activity was intermingled with sunset drinks on the beach, and Marlin Bar, birthday parties, dunny paper awards, and papal ordinations - great fun in a magical place.

Lizard Island - Goal Achieved - October 2009

The goal of Erica's crew was to reach Lizard Island on the far North Queensland Coast in 2009 and with great excitement and relief this goal has been achieved. Yippee! The following shots are on the way to Lizard and our arrival. We discovered in the first few minutes of anchoring that drinks are on the beach every night so we were into this from day one. We will post more shots of Lizard Island and our adventures as the days progress. Enjoy as we are...

Goodbye Cairns as we head North 15 - 19 October 2009

After our extended stay in Cairns which included two trips to Adelaide we have now set sail again for our intended northern destination of Lizard Island. The first two days north of Cairns were perfect where once again we enjoyed glassy conditions at Michaelmas Cay with superb snorkelling. Then on to the very beautiful islands of the Low Isles group where we met old friends and enjoyed a live music show. As the weather deteriorated into a strong wind warning we had a very quick sail to Hope Island which if you know some of our past and present family members it makes this a very special place. This is were we are currently anchored with the wind outside peaking at 30knots and awaiting a long enough break to do the last 65 nautical miles to Lizard Island. Enjoy - we are!

Cairns - October 2009

Sorry to all those blog followers as the postings have been a bit slack. From late Sept to mid October we have been in Cairns. During that time we have both been back to Adelaide individually and had visitors from Adelaide and Darwin. So here are a few shots from our long stay and hope to do more postings soon. Today we are sailing further north towards our ultimate goal of Lizard Island.

Mourilyan Harbour to Fitzroy Island - September 09

With a change to rougher weather we headed back to the mainland and the protection of Mourilyan Harbour which is not much more than a very large sugar wharf and a few moored boats. Once the weather cleared we enjoyed a fast sail towards Fitzroy Island which is just south of Cairns. Our major problem was trying to determine what was Island and what was Australia as Fitzroy Island blends in with the coast. Fitzroy has a fantastic new resort which is sadly closed and in possession of the bank. A great secluded spot so close to all that tourism!

Beaver Reef - 6 September 2009 to 8 September 2009

From Dunk Island we sailed back out to the reef again at a coral cay call Beaver Reef. This is where we celebrated Fathers Day and enjoyed snorkeling in crystal clear water. Our friends on the 73' Horizon Motor Cruiser "Eagle" arrived (unplanned) and we enjoy a lovely roast dinner on this luxury boat.

Dunk Island - 3 September to 5 September 2009

Dunk Island is a famous resort island with good resort facilities (a drink at the bar) and fantastic National Parks walks. We also caught up with our friends on Cruz Control again.