Sailing diary week 9: Dunk Island and Cairns

Sailing diary week 9: Dunk Island and Cairns

To be honest, I can't believe it's already the ninth week on board the Malaika. To say that time has flown would be an understatement.

This week, according to the Sailing Log, we left the Hinchinbrook Channel and headed for Dunk Island, which is about 11 nautical miles from the north end of Hinchinbrook.

Harsh point

Our second anchorage at Hinchinbrook was further to the north end known as Scraggy Point.

This anchorage was fairly low key in terms of activities. However, it did provide a quiet place to lay our heads and admire the untouched wilderness of Hinchinbrook Island. The mud held extremely well and the fishing even better.
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Replenishment in Hinchinbrook harbor

We knew we would spend some time on Dunk Island before reaching Cairns. So we decided it was best to refill our water and fuel at Hinchinbrook Harbour.

Unfortunately, this beautiful harbor has been neglected by any dredging for some time. In fact, at low tide the actual canal dries up to 50 centimeters above the water level!

We then filled up with fuel and water and drove in the tender. The owners of the Port of Call boating equipment at the end of the canal greeted me with typical North Queensland hospitality and jokingly asked me to “tell the world!” So I am here to fulfill his request.

On to Dunk Island

North Queensland's streams and rivers are great for sailing and anchoring. However, there is something about the blue water that makes me miss it, even in rolling nights and howling winds.

So after a few days in Hinchinbrook Channel we headed to Dunk Island.

The sail was smooth and short in light winds. After arriving about two hours after pulling anchor, we grabbed one of the three slips and headed out to explore Dunk Island!
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Exploring Dunk Island

Dunk Island is a beautiful piece of the Great Barrier Reef Islands. Like many of the other islands we explored, it had a run-down and abandoned luxury resort.

Beyond the resort, there was plenty for the crew to explore, including a few shots of the scenic sandbar, a circular island hike through dense tropical rainforest, private beaches, and best of all, free hot showers.

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READ THE FULL BLOG POST: Exploring Dunk Island: The Best Things to See and Do

Set sail for Cairns

After an incredible four days on Dunk Island, we both set junk sails and continued north to Cairns.

We had fresh winds at 20-25 knots and 1.5-2 meters off our stern which allowed us to glide and surf all the way to Cairns.

The original plan was to stop at Fitzroy Island, but this is just a smart anchorage in relatively calm weather. Instead, we took shelter just opposite the Cairns Marina and ended an incredible week of sailing and exploring the Great Barrier Reef Islands.
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SEGELLOG: Rethink plans

Originally the northernmost point of the sail was supposed to be the Daintree River. However, after making weather forecasts and juggling time constraints, the crew decided that braving strong southerly winds wasn't so appealing after all.

Instead the new plan was to head to the Low Isles, Port Douglas and then explore some of the outer reefs and Green Island just off the coast of Cairns.

While it's disappointing not to be able to sail Malaika into the Daintree on this trip, everyone was happy to make the sacrifice to spend more time exploring the Great Barrier Reef.

They say that time seems to pass faster with age, but have these people ever lived aboard a sailboat? Recognizing time as our only true asset has always been the strongest motivator for me, almost to the point of a feeling of fear. Watching incredible experiences fade away can be a sad thought, but being grateful for their events is, in my opinion, an important step towards a fulfilling life.

As time marches on and the present passes into the past as quickly as it happened, all we can do is stop and embed the memories in our minds and store them there in the closet of life's great adventures.
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