|
July,
August 2008 |
| Departing
Cairns , we had a full ship with friends and pick ups on
board. |
Lan Chau, Vi Huynh, My Godsons Aaron and Cyrus, Ida and
Tess and the first Japanese participant Yuta.
With good wind we sailed out of Cairns targeting the popular
Green Island for some snorkeling and exploring.
The next day we sailed north towards Low Island. A Whale
surfaced very close to Little Swan and stayed with us for
a while. |
|
In
the anchorage of Low Island there are many semi tame fish
and my Godsons had a great time feeding them.
Next point of Interest was Cape Tribulation on the Cape
York Peninsula. The weather had turned for the worse and
the anchorage was poor.
The weather forecast was not good news with Gale wind warnings
south of us. We stayed at anchor behind Hope Island hoping
for better weather. With strong wind from the south east
we reached Cooktown racing with 2 other yachts to the tricky
harbour of Cooktown. |
|
We soon met up with Mie and Betina who join us from Cooktown
to Darwin. My other guests departed to fly back to Sydney.
Thanks guys for your valued company.
It was great to have you on board. |
|
|
|
|
Mike C. Brask
|
Author:
Betina K. V. Andersen
Mie C. Brask
Denmark |
Crew:
Ida, Yuta, Mie, Betina, and me of course
We have been on Little Swan for one crazy month and it
was GREAT! Imagine walking at a beach on an absolutely
beautiful Island, where the only footprints there, are
your own!
Dolphins jumping around you, sharks swimming near your
feet at the beach and sea turtles peaking up to the surface
to say hi!
|
Dolphines |
Running-Free |
Anything can happen! Like hitting a sandbank
and running to the front of the boat thinking you can
“push” it free with the weight  |
One
of the most beautiful experiences was walking Mount Cook
to the look out on the top. It was an absolutely stunning
sight! Take a look at the photos and see for yourself! |
Cooktown |
Coastwatch |
Freshly
caught fish, jumping from the boat into the deep blue
ocean and going to shore to aboriginal “towns”,
you might not ever see other places. |
At
one of the last stops on our adventure, we went to shore
as usual, but THEN…we were watched! The coastguard
helicopter was around us like a fly and at one point we
thought that he was going to land on Little Swan! All
this, only to fly away again! We guess, he just wanted
to show us the POWER of “The Coastguard”! |
Lizard Island |
Hailo |
A
rainbow hay low around the sun was another spectacular
sight on our trip. Even Toni only saw it this one time!
|
One
of the more frightening experiences was when the stirring
went out of control in the middle of the night! We were
sailing non stop for three days and the stirring wheel
didn’t react on anything, but fortunately it was
fixable! Like anything else that broke, like the anchor
winch! We have been pulling the anchor up by hand on the
whole trip. So we got the muscles! |
Hole on the wall |
Thursday Island |
To
make a long story short, it has been a unique adventure,
where you learn a lot about yourself and what’s
important. And for us, no shower for three days and no
hair wash for over a week is NOT important!  |
|
|
So you go ahead! It’s worth it! |
Top End Sunset |
Appendix:
We did not sail all the time and stopped nearly every day
in a nice anchorage, of which some of them were:
Cap Flattery, Lizard Island, Howick Island, Morris Island,
Cape Weymouth, Cape Grenville, Escape River, Horn Island,
Gove Hrb,( Entering Arnhem Land) Elizabeth Bay, Gugari Rip,
Refuge Bay, Howard Island, Cape Steward, Liverpool River,
Cuthbert Pt., Sth Goulburn Island
Cape Cockburn, Raffels Bay, Port Essington |
