On Our Way Again

Sunday 17th August

On Saturday the radio man arrived on BlueFlyer without our Raymarine VHF. Still hasn't arrived from Sydney. According to an email I got from Raymarine because it's 3 years old they will not repair it and were sending a new replacement. This may or may not be warranty, we don't know. However it appears that the old one may have been repaired and it is being done under warranty after all. The agent brought another make of VHF and fitted it so that we have a working radio at last. He also fitted a new GPS aerial too. All this went on the everlasting credit card.

So at 12.30 we set off to the south, having said goodbye to Gerry on Wizard. After we left the channel which is about 6 miles long we turned into the wind and waves and battered our way the 50 odd miles to Innisfail, passing tall peaks which are spectacular and very jagged. Our arrival at 10.00 in the dark left us in a fix. We tried to follow the lights into the town where we had arranged to go onto the as yet unopened marina, but could not. Even with high water the depth kept dropping to zero, so we anchored off for the night.

Innisfail was left at 0940 this Sunday morning. Still more battling with wind and waves for the 30 miles to Dunk Island. There is a resort here and we are all going ashore for dinner shortly. It looks like a beautiful island with golden sands and treed hills. There is an airstrip as well. We tried out the new dinghy that was bought in Cairns, and it was christened by Peter and Mary with beer before launching! It works very well indeed and is higher and drier than the old one. The little outboard pushes it along well. We will decide later on plans for tomorrow.