On our slow return south from Lizard Island, we dropped down to an area less battered by howling winds and explored a couple of spots we had not been to before, discovering Hope Island and Pickersgill Reef.

Hope Island East

This little island was a gorgeous stop after a long day’s sailing. With the four moorings taken, we did something we rarely do: we motored past the lot of them and anchored right in front of the island, 100m from the beach.

We were ready for a leg stretch so dinghied ashore with sundowner supplies in a basket, walked right around the vegetated cay, then settled at a picnic table no less and enjoyed the sunset, serenaded by flocks of Imperial Pied Pigeons. These were returning to the island after a day’s foraging on land in the rain forest.

With the wind strengthening during the next day, we left at dawn, rewarded for this early rise with a magic sunrise. We did not have far to go, but wanted to get to our next destination before the wind picked up too much.

Pickersgill Reef and Cay

The next week was going to be a little windy – 15 to 20 knots – so it was a bit marginal at the reef but regardless we decided to check out a spot we had never been to before: Pickersgill Reef and Cay. It is a large reef as shown on the satellite image, with a semi lagoon, not accessible with the big boat, but okay for an explore in the dinghy.

Being only 10 nautical miles from the mainland, the mountain range in the background is quite beautiful. Here is what our anchorage looked like from the air.

No sooner had we anchored that we put the dinghy in the water and went to the cay, then snorkelled around the lagunal area at the southern end of the reef as well as the bommies on the leeside. On our second day there, we snorkeled the bommies at the north west end of the reef. There was surprisingly good coral cover, although the visibility was not great which explains the less vibrant images. This whole thing about regrowth even on the inner reefs so close to the mainland has got us perplexed. But hey, we might as well enjoy it, even if it is mainly fast growing and fragile Acropora hard coral species and soft coral. As you will see in this slide show we particularly enjoyed the Giant Clams (Tridacna giga), and little fishes like the Saddleback Toby and Garfish which we don’t often see as well as the more common species. Maree saw a big blacktip shark heading Chris’s way, but Chris was too busy photographing the Toby to notice Mr Sharky!

We ended up staying for two full days, even taking Bengie for a walk on the cay as she was getting better and eating well.

It has been particularly nice to enjoy aqua anchorages with the fantastic backdrop of the mountain range just south of Cooktown and all this with the convenience of internet and phone coverage!

As the conditions strengthened and the rolling at high tide got a bit uncomfortable, we moved on. We were not sure where we would end up. In our usual fashion, we raised the sails early in the morning the next day and went where the wind allowed. It was a particularly rowdy sail hard into wind, with lots of splashes, banging and carry on. We made it to Low Isles, just north of Port Douglas and this is where we will see you in a few days.

By the way, a tip for navigation on our website, as we notice that some of you get a bit lost. To return to our home page with all our posts listed, just click anywhere on the header. If looking for information on a particular location, use the Search button at the bottom of individual posts. And there is always the Menu to see other pages such as Cruise Stories or Publications. Happy wondering!