we made cairns

Our plan this season was to always sail as far north as Cairns and hopefully further on to Lizard Island. Well, as we sailors all say, “plans are drawn in the sand at low tide” … 

Lizard Island was always going to be weather dependent and dictated by timing. Unfortunately, the timing didn’t quite work for us to sail to Lizard but we did spend a great week in Cairns with our friends, followed by some wonderful visits to the Cairns outer reefs.

We left Innisfail, bound for Cairns, via the Frankland Islands and Fitzroy Island, before berthing at the Yorkey’s Knob Marina (a bit of a tongue twister that one!) for a week.

Franklin Islands – Russell Island

We enjoyed a lovely spinnaker run from Normanby Island in the Franklands to Fitzroy Island, topping off a great day with an obligatory drink at Foxy’s Bar on Fitzroy Island. A great location to watch the sun set overlooking the moored boats just below, including our Bossa Nova. I even snuck in a quick snorkel from The Bossa in the shallows after we arrived.  Not much to see but I did spot several Picasso Triggerfish … and another Sailor’s Eyeball! It was hot so swims ashore were appreciated too.

The view from Foxy’s Bar, Fitzroy Island

We met the ex-Easy Tiger crew way back in 2015. Leanne and Steve now live in Cairns. Our stay at Yorkey’s, along with our Rent-a-Bomb hire car was a lovely short break from our sailing life. After an initial scare when gastro hit the hosts, we did manage to re organize the program and not miss too much time catching up.  And we fortunately didn’t catch the gastro lurgy!

Here’s a few snaps … capping off a wonderful few days with a fabulous lunch at the Silky Oaks Lodge in Mossman.  

Cairns Botanical Gardens & Silky Oaks Lodge. We always enjoy catching up with Leanne & Steve. Lots of sailing adventures & special memories. Sorry about featuring the food, but the meal was a stand-out!

We said our goodbyes and returned our Rent-a-Bomb vehicle … it was a true bomb! It even had a different colour bonnet! The aircon worked (hooray) but only on ‘high’ which meant our glasses fogged up and on the last day, the boot wouldn’t open. The Captain had to scramble through the back seat to retrieve our groceries. 

So it was back to The Bossa … and a toilet issue. Lucky we booked the marina for another day, as it took the full day to establish that not only one pump, but two pumps, had failed. One was purchased, the other was not available in Australia. After a few polite but pesty phone calls Australia wide, one was found and it’s on its way to Townsville for collection on our way south. Lucky we have a second bathroom!

With a calm forecast for the Cairns waters, we decided  to explore a few reefs off the Cairns coast before heading south.

Our first stop was Green Island, mainly as an o’night anchorage before venturing slightly north to Michaelmas Reef. Hmmm, not sure we’d bother with Green Island again.  Say no more.

But we did find our little piece of paradise at Michaelmas Reef!

We had visited here in 2021 but the conditions were ordinary, so there was some unfinished business here. Back in 2021 we dodged the bommies along the reef, using our eyes only, anchoring some distance from the main Michaelmas coral cay, towards the east. It was rolly, we lost our shark shield due to a knot giving way and the Captain and I couldn’t quite agree on the best place to anchor. We left the next morning.

So, with our satellite program guiding us in this time, along with our previous knowledge of the reef and a calmer forecast, we decided to give it another try. We had much better conditions, anchoring in 4 metres of water over clear white sand and we discovered a coral cay right in front of us.  

The cay only appears at low tide but what a treat it was.  Our little piece of paradise. 

The snorkeling wasn’t that great, the bommies behind us were too deep with high tides unfortunately in the middle of the day, but our visits to the cay for a swim were perfect.  We had it all to ourselves too! Well, until a yacht appeared on the second day, anchoring close by, with two dogs … one guess where the dogs were going to get a run. So when they couldn’t get their dinghy motor started … well … yes … we were a tad pleased! 🙂 (We did eventually enjoy a chat with the skipper and his two dogs when he gave up on the motor and resorted to his paddleboard with the two dogs aboard.)

I did get my drone up from the cay. I’m afraid I’ve lost some confidence using it from The Bossa due to its erratic behavior during my last few flights. A visit to DJI in Melbourne has been organised but in the meantime I’m using it from land and crossing my fingers it comes back!

I did get a few good pics of a Picasso Triggerfish in the shallows near the cay.  I know I wrote about this fish in my last post but I think this fish is so striking (although its Clown Triggerfish relative is actually my all time favourite). Where’s the paintbrush?? The interesting thing about this fish, apart from its amazing paintwork, is that it can swim forwards and backwards and even hover. While they are quite active swimming around, they pretty much chomp in to anything, so while occupied I can sneak up for a few photos. It helps having shallow water.

I also spotted this Spine Cheeked Anemonefish and some cute little Headband Humbugs.

But it was all about the clear water, white sand and our little coral cay here at Michaelmas Reef. 

We’re off to Milln Reef next. Milln Reef is probably as close to the Coral Sea as we are going to get, as it’s right on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef.