Two Overnight Stops Make an Easy Passage to OZ
Monday, October 21st – It is now time leave the Louisiades and return to Australia. We are bound for Brisbane and would like to get as far south along the Queensland coast as we can on the ocean passage to Australia. Given that the prevailing winds for the passage should be from SE, we want to leave the Louisiades from a location as far east as practical. Rossel Island was farther east than where we are now, but getting to the exit through the reef passage at Rossel Island took us well to the west where the route to Australia was blocked by Sudest Island, the largest island of the Louisiades Archipelago. So, we have returned to a familiar anchorage at Nimowa Island where we have been twice before. From here, we will round the western end of Sudest Island and head along its south side until we can exit the Louisiades through Johnston Pass.
Thursday, October 24th – Our trip along Sudest Island was relatively uneventful. We took several days and stopped overnight in two different locations, and we also postponed our departure for a day due to a weather warning regarding the potential development of a tropical storm that could head for the Coral Sea. Fortunately, the storm threat has gone away, and we can leave today. By noon, we are out through Johnston Pass and sailing south toward Diamond Passage. This passage goes between the Diamond Islets which are part of the Coral Sea Islands, an external territory of Australia. Diamond Passage is located about 375nm south of Johnston Pass and is directly on our way to Hydrographer’s Passage where we plan to go through the Great Barrier Reef. We will check into Australia at Mackay then continue south along the Queensland coast.
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As often happens, our passage starts off in benign conditions and slowly gets rougher. On our first afternoon, we have moderate wind of 13 – 16 knots from SE with slightly rough seas. Because we are trying to get all the way south to Hydrographer’s Passage, we are pointing close to the wind and are on a hard port tack.
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Friday, October 25th – During the night, the winds creep up into the low 20’s, but shortly after dawn they are back in the 15 – 20 knot range. The day is nice and sunny, but seas are surprisingly rough, and a large wave occasionally breaks over us. We are making good progress and complete a noon to noon run of over 200nm. We are keeping a good lookout, because there is a fair amount of ship traffic, as we are crossing a shipping lane between Australia and the Jomard Passage through the Louisiades. All is going well until just after dinner when the autopilot disengages and will not stay engaged. This forces us to begin a routine of two hour watches with the watchstander having to hand steer and the off-watchstander sleeping nearby on the deck. With just two watchstanders, this routine gets old quickly, and we actually take down the sails and just motor for part of the night. Steering is easier under motor, but our speed drops way off as we are motoring against the waves.
Saturday, October 26th – Sails are back up after dawn, and conditions are better. Wind is down to 14 – 18 knots and has backed a little, and seas are finally getting smoother. The bad news is that we are still hand steering. The Captain has tried to get the autopilot working again but has been unsuccessful. We do have a spare autopilot, but it is difficult to install this part at sea while the boat is bouncing and the rudder is moving as we steer the boat. Fortunately, we are nearing the Diamond Islets. We can stop there make repairs, and it will also give us time to rest up after a sleep-deprived night of 2-hour watches. Studying our charts, The Captain chooses East Diamond Islet as our safe haven in the middle of the ocean.
Shortly after noon, our sails are down, and the engine is on as we approach the anchorage at East Diamond Islet. Anchoring is easy, and even though the islet is a low-lying sandy expanse, we are well sheltered.
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The Captain has had to change out our autopilot several times before, and our spare is all set up as a drop in replacement. So, it does not take him long to have the old unit out and the spare installed. The autopilot appears to be working now, but we will not really know if this new part entirely fixed the problem until we get underway. After a night of having to steer all the time, the crew is tired. We are not yet certain that we will not have to continue to steer, and knowing that we will have to be alert for a long passage through the Great Barrier Reef, we decide the prudent thing is to spend the night here at anchor. We will leave in the morning after a good night’s sleep.
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With plenty of light still left in the afternoon, we take the dinghy ashore and find birds similar to those we seen at Chesterfield Reef, just not as many.
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We see all the things we normally find on a remote bird nesting island: Young ones testing out their wings,
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frigate chicks waiting to be fed,
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boobies with their make-do nests of casually smoothed-out circles in the sand,
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and sleeping chicks while parents are off hunting food.
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Something new, though, draws our attention. Turtle tracks crisscross that sand. Are they coming ashore at night to lay their eggs?
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We are amazed at the number of turtles we see. Coming ashore in the dinghy, we first thought these dark round shapes in the water ahead of us were large boulders or dark coral, but they moved! Not only were these sea turtles out in the deeper water, they were swimming along the edge of the beach.
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Several have even come ventured ashore for just a while, but they turn around and head back into the water as we approach.
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We are not sure what they are doing, for we thought sea turtles only came ashore at night to lay their eggs. Possibly they are just checking out their landing zone for later tonight? We consider returning ashore after the moon rises, but, unfortunately, that is not until midnight. Knowing we need a solid night’s sleep before setting off across the ocean in the morning, we reluctantly pass on the opportunity.
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Sunday, October 27th – We leave East Diamond Islet and are relieved when our newly installed spare autopilot engages and works perfectly. This is a huge relief when you only have two crew onboard. Our departure was timed so that we would reach Hydrographer’s passage shortly after daylight the following morning. This deep water reef passage is over 60nm long and is used by many large ships carrying coal from Queensland ports like Hay Point to international markets. Well marked with lighted buoys, it is navigable at night, but we prefer to do our first trip through it in daylight.
Monday, Oct 28th – 0700 – It is another nice sunny morning as we begin to intercept the centerline for Hydrographer’s Passage. Wind is about 20 knots from E, and we are sailing relatively fast which proves a benefit, for within 1 and 1/2 hours, we are fighting 2 knots of adverse current as the tide ebbs. By mid morning, we pass Bugatti Reef and enter the wide open middle of this passage. The course through this section runs SE, and we had expected it to be too close to the wind to continue sailing here, but luckily, the wind has backed to ENE. We continue to navigate our way through the passage, and by late afternoon, we are sailing out of Hydrographers Passage. We cannot believe our good fortune. It was a sunny day with decent wind, and we were able to sail all the way through this passage. Later, we are amazed to learn that this deep passage through the Great Barrier Reef had only been charted within the last 30 years.
Our destination is Mackay where we will clear into Australia, but we still have some distance to go, and that will have us arriving into Mackay after midnight. We call Customs and request permission to stop and anchor at Scawfell Island rather than continuing all the way to Mackay. They give us permission to do so warning us that we are not allowed to leave the boat and go ashore. We acknowledge that. We are just pleased to be able to get a good night’s sleep rather than facing a nighttime arrival at a strange port.
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Tuesday, October 29th – Shortly after dawn, well rested, we motor away from Scawfell Island.
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By noon, we have cleared into Australia and are in our slip in the Mackay Marina. Our total passage from the Louisiades to Mackay was 667nm. It was not a particularly long passage, but it could have been really tough if we had not been able to repair the autopilot. Fortunately, we had the right spare part and a convenient stop where we could replace it. We were also grateful when Australian Customs gave us permission to stop at Scawfell Island. Being able to rest at anchor for those two nights on this passage made it so much easier, safer and enjoyable.