Time to Head South

"Red sky in the morning is a sailor's sure warning; red sky at night, is the sailors delight..."

A lot of sailing has to do with the wind, weather and sea conditions – and watching for a good weather window for safe and efficient passage. How long will it take to get to where we want to go? What’s the wind strength and direction? Will it be pouring rain or sunny? When is high and low tide? How big are the waves and swells? Will we be going with or against a strong current? Much of this is forecast via NOAA and various sources – but they so often are wrong. When things don't go according to plan, you adjust your sails.

We were very fortunate to have had a favorable weather window for most of the northern section of the Great Barrier Reef so we could enjoy calmer waters for snorkeling with good visibility and light currents and comfortable nights at anchor. We are realizing these are few and far between here. There are many more days and weeks of blustery winds over 20 knots which Nutmeg could handle but not something we want to be out in if we don’t have to. And, now is the time that we need to head back south to Cairns, beating into the SE tradewinds. Since we can’t sail directly into the wind, we need to zigzag back and forth (tacking), navigating around the reefs and islands. This adds a lot more distance and time to get to where you’re going. As in life, progress isn’t always straight forward.

To get to Cairns in our limited lighter weather window, we zigzag back and forth to get to Mackay Reef, back to Low Islands and then Cairns before the winds pick up again. We made good time in mostly comfortable conditions with mostly cloudy skies (with some sunshine and rain mixed in). Even the clouds are blowing us along. A black noddy tried making friends with Ed. A quick so-so snorkel but good swim with a giant 4' grouper and big batfish. And some early morning whales passing through (tis the season).

XOXOXOXO
Gma & Gpa