After saying goodbye to our friends at Magnetic Island, it was time to resume our slow trek south. We might not be sailing much in the light conditions, but we are using the calmness to take a look at the next section of reefs on the 165 nm trip down from Townsville to the Whitsundays.

Catching up with close cruising friends is always a mixed blessing. Friendships we forge at sea are different to land-based friendships. You meet up, there is an intensity about the get togethers, there is a strong shared bond and experience, but the interactions are fleeting. You spend a few days with people who really ‘get’ you and your nomadic lifestyle so totally dependent on the weather, who experience the same wonderments and frustrations. Cruising friends understand the lack of control, the compromises you make, in exchange for the closeness to nature and incredible adventures you are privileged to enjoy. Then each crew goes their own way and you do not know when or where you will see each other again. That is the sea wanderers’ life: connection and disconnection.

This week our sea wanders take us southeast along the Great Barrier Reef. We had about six days to get down from Magnetic Island to Airlie Beach before the next blow so plenty of time to explore. The light northerly breeze means there are limited reef anchorage options as most offer some protection from the Southeast trade winds, not so much from the Northeast. We are taking you to three reefs which provide suitable shelter: Little Broadhurst, Darley and Faith. All were familiar to us.

Little Broadhurst

Located 50nm SE of Magnetic Island, we tend to use Little Broadhurst as a handy overnight spot suitable both on the way north or on the return south. There is a small nook near the western entrance where there is space to anchor over sand in 10m of water at high tide. The rest of the lagoon is much deeper and peppered with bommies. First task: check out our surroundings with the drone. Here is what it looked like:

Although spectacular from the air, it is not so under the surface. Our previous snorkels at Little Broadhurst were uninspiring, and it was no different this time. We tried a few bommies in the deeper part of the lagoon, with no joy. We then moved to the outside wall, at the bottom edge in the aerial shot. The water was turpid, the coral in poor condition, but somehow there was fish life, and Wade managed to catch a coral trout.

Murky water, signs of repeated bleaching and crown of thorn damage are all contributing factors to this reef’s demise.

Only two interesting critters to show for our dive: a Tunicate and an Epaulette Shark. In both photos you can see how sad and monotone the substrate looks. The Epaulette Shark is a distinctive carpet shark using its fins to ‘walk’ on the sea floor.

Darley Reefs

We left the next morning, headed 30nm southeast to the Darley Reefs and caught a small tuna on the trawling line. This one was destined for the freezer!

The Darley Reefs are a vast network of multiple large reefs, forming a kind of hook. Some of them have a deep accessible lagoon offering good shelter in a variety of conditions. We entered one of these huge reef patches from the eastern side and using the sat map and head phones with a look out on the cabin roof, we made our way in to reach our chosen anchorage. It takes a while to get in from the outside – 30 to 40 minutes. We dropped the pick in 10m of water this time. The further in you go, the shallower it gets – about 6 to 8m – but it also gets tighter and believe us, you want 360^o swing room as you are subject not only to wind, but also to current.

Here is what part of the reef looks like from the air. We had glass out conditions which made the ocean surface like a mirror… not the best for aerial photography, but you get a sense of the size.

Our snorkel was uninspiring again! The reef is quite damaged, the water murky and we struggled against the strong current. We have only a few images to share: the siphon of a vibrant giant clam and a sea cucumber on the side of a live coral head we spotted on the way, and which had draped itself over the top by the time we returned. These creatures tend to be slow movers, so this one was active!

We would have stayed another day if the reef had been in better shape, but we thought we might as well keep going. So the next morning, we meandered our way out and did another hop, this time only 15nm further to Faith Reef.

Faith Reef

Faith Reef is a gorgeous location to come to, and beautiful from the air. We anchored at close to low tide, finding our way to a different spot than last time, sent the drone up, then went for a dive.

From previous visits and snorkels we knew inside the lagoon was destroyed but the outside, exposed wall was good. Pre-warned is pre-armed. We dinghied straight out of the lagoon to the SE wall which we found in reasonable nick. The reef certainly showed evidence of past bleaching damage, but there was a variety of hard corals such as Porites and Brain Corals, not just Acropora, and some beautiful marine life. The most striking sights were the Pink Anemonefish, the Christmas Tree Worms, a few colourful Giant Clams and a Queensland Yellowtail Angelfish who was posing for the camera! Do click on the individual images to see the beautiful details.

Back to Airlie Beach

We intended to stay another day at Faith and also check out Wallaby Reef before going back to the mainland for a short bout of strong weather, but we cut our reef hops short and headed back to Airlie a few days early.

We had to get Wade to a Doctor as he developed a blistering rash and pain after leaving Magnetic Island. He was confirmed as having shingles. It is a nasty virus! For our Australian subscribers aged 65+, and those of us over 18 who are immuno-compromised, you can get a free shingles vaccine as of 1 November… get it done, people!

While we are in Airlie, we have also lined up the insurance assessor to have a look at the damage caused when a boat dragged into Anui in Bundaberg a few months ago. We want to get the okay for the repair to be carried out when we are at the Boat Works at the end of November.

By the time all this is done, the windy weather will have passed, we will have replenished the supplies and be ready to continue southward, with three weeks to get down there!