Tuesday 2 December
Started early and had a good run across Newcastle bay to Albany Passage .
The pearl rafts made a nice site against the sunrise

I should have been travelling with the tide but the going was slow. I should have screamed through Albany passage instead it was a steady 41/2 knots. Still it gave me time, not only notice what a beautiful stretch of water but also to remember that here is some of our richest history in Queensland.
The entrance to Albany Passage

In the 1800’s the Government decided that here would be our northern city. It was to be of the nature of Singapore. John Jardine was despatched as the first government resident. His two sons with a surveyor and four black boys left Rockhampton with horses and a mob of cattle that would bolster the settlement. They finally arrived having lost all their horses and a fifth of the cattle, they battled hostile blacks nearly all the way. It certainly was an epic journey. They established a settlement beside Albany Passage and called it Somerset. Eventually the seat of power moved to Thursday Island. Sill there is many stories about Somerset in the history of the north.
A pearl farm in Albany Passage

Came out of the Passage and headed up to the very top, that sloping rocky hill that is our most northern point. I have been their twice before but it gave me a great feeling of satisfaction to gaze upon it from the water. The tip of Australia Cape York is on the left of the picture and York Island is on the right.

Went around Eboric and York Island and then the long haul across to Thursday Island. It seemed to go on forever but eventually I started to travel down Boat Channel between Horn Island and Prince of Wales Island.
Then I started to see the building, at last

My first view of Thursday Island.

the long trip was over, anchored and went ashore.
What more can I say.
At least the condoms are cheap!!!

Monday 1 December
Started early, to a lovely sunrise, so that I can take advantage of the still mornings before the short, sharp northerly wacks me after lunch.,
The morning was just magic, the breeze didn’t start up till lunchtime you couldn’t pick the horizon on the water and the islands seems to be suspended in the air.

Arrived at the Escape River at 1500 hrs, a big run, the last two hours were sloppy but the rest was just magic. Had trouble finding a anchorage as there is a cultured pearl operation here and there is rafts of the bloody things everywhere .Had a quite beer , nearly there now ,I can taste it, or is the draft beer at Thursday island I’m thinking of, no it’s the achievement.

I don’t know if I will make it tomorrow as the tides are pretty vicious up here, just give it a shot and see where we end up.

Sunday 30 November
Away across Shelburne Bay to have a look at Captain Billy Landing, I can’t find out anything about it. All I remember is that it was said to be very windy, but the name intrigues me. Had a good run across, the water is smooth again. Arrived at about 1400 hrs, there is a bit of reef around but sand closer to the beach, after a couple of trial run-ins I anchored in 3 meters of water.

Went ashore and found a toilet, information signs including one with the history ,at last the mystery is solved also a large shelter shed with a lot of flotsam hanging on the wall.

Met a young guy called John who had just pulled up, introductions were made and we sat down and had a yarn.
What a story, John and his mate put a 4wd on the train, they come from the Gold Coast, they flew up 4 days later, picked up the car and headed north. They when hunting around Musgrave Station and shot about 20 pigs, it was hot. Johns mate says he’s had enough, the heats got him so he hitchhikes from Musgrave Station back to Cairns and then fly’s home early. John is then left to go to the top ,hunting , fishing and extreme 4wdriving in HIS MATES BRAND NEW 4WDRIVE.Can you believe it ,his poor mate would be sitting down the Gold Coast wondering how is brand new baby’s getting along without him. Anyway, John was making the most of his long awaited holiday with or without his mate

Saturday 29 November
Followed my marks out that I’d put on the tracker when I’d come in and headed north again. The country around the mouth of The Pascoe is very pretty with big hills and huge boulders on white sand .
Headed north to Cape Grenville, beautiful day, the water is like a mirror and I’m steaming along at a good 5 knots.
Passed through the Piper Island Group, it is here that the Channel is narrowest, and with my luck holding along comes a big ship. However much to my relief there was room for both of us. The light on the western side of the channel has a helipad built onto it ,I’ve seen quite a few of these as I’ve travelled up the reef. Can you imagine the poor civil servant who says Hey I.ve got an idea let’s put helipads on the lights .The fight he would have had to put up to win, well good on him it certainly seems sensible .
Arrived at the Home Islands of Cape Grenville, there is a resort on Hicks Island I saw some buildings but nobody was around. Was a bit reluctant to go ashore, I,ll have to find out about it when I get to Thursday Island. The island group are very pretty, I tried to go ashore a one little island but it had a shallow reef around it, which was a shame, as the white sandy beach was very inviting.
Found a mooring off Cape Grenville and had some fun stirring up some wolf herring with a lure , one had a wack at the lure and missed completely but shot out of the air , you could imagine him going ‘what the f***’ as he suddenly sailed through the air.

Friday 28 November
Left Portland Roads in the morning and motored across Weymouth Bay to the Pascoe River. Negotiated the bar without any drama and anchored up inside. The Pascoe is a nice wide river with many sand bars and clear water, it reminded me a lot of the Maroochy River.
A bit bent but this is a panorama looking up the Pascoe.
Decided to have a day off and spent it reading. I wished the outboard was going as the river was most inviting, to be explored.

Thursday 27 November
Woke up to the sounds of my very good friend Kevin Lynch giving me a call “”HOLLY HOLLY THIS IS MOOLOOLABA BREAKFAST CLUB OVER” a call I have received every Thursday morning since leaving the coast .What can I say ,if he didn’t shave I’d marry him .
Norm Cooper’s regular call every week also has been a source of great comfort to me.
The journey has been long and hard and the obstacles have come from some unexpected quarters and have been some of the worst I have faced but if you don’t try to take them head on, give them your best shot what do you amount to.
As Rudyard Kipling said – to gamble all on the toss of a dice – lose – and walk away without moments regret - and start again – you are a man my son –or something like that.
On a more even note, went ashore and took my rubbish with me. Rubbish on the boat is a big problem that grows every day, excuse the pun.
Called in and saw Sheree at the cafe and offered her copies of the photos that I’d taken yesterday. She in return offered me one of her lovely cups of coffee. Greg had gone fishing for the day so the cafe was closed ,though next week they have bookings every day.
We yarned on the veranda overlooking the bay about many things. I commented on the fact that one of the great things of the trip, even more than the scenery, has been the people that I’ve met, her and Greg are certainly on the list , wonderful people . There was one sour note though, she asked if I’d seen the crock this morning, I replied that I hadn’t seen one since starting the trip. A nonchalant reply was, Oh, a three metre one went past your boat this morning, ---Oh dear--,
The view from the cafe veranda.
Before I left, I borrowed a plastic bag off Sheree and picked up quite a few succulent mangoes from the foreshore before rowing out to Holly.

Wednesday 26 November
Engine Hours 1432
Total Fuel 1021 Litres
Total Hours 764 hours
With great relief Temple Bay, the fuel barge answered my first call on the radio . He is moored at Portland Roads which is only a couple of hours away .Though I’d put the fuel from the jerry cans into the tank before I left. Managed to spill diesel oil over myself, so had to wash the clothes I was wearing before I left.
Motored around to Portland Roads and met Temple Bay. Had trouble getting alongside with steering from the back and the trouble I’m having with the gear selector. I just leave it in forward now and to change it into forward I have to lift the top off the control panel and jiggle the selector arms.
Met Paul who has been here with the barge for 18 years, put on 143 litres at $1.68 a litre, I think that the cheapest I’ve paid for it. Also topped up with water as I had lost quite a bit when I was grounded at the mouth of the Kennedy River.
Holly fuelling up on Temple Bay.
Quizzed Paul on what lay ahead and he gave me quite a bit of local knowledge, which was good.
Went and anchored near where the jetty that was built during WW2. The base here and the airfield at Lockhart River were big bases during the war and they were built after the Battle of the Coral Sea, which was fought to the south east of here.





The Jetty at Portland Roads during the war, I am moored just off its remains.
Went ashore and had a walk, its a very pretty place with about 10 houses that I can see. Found a cafe, called Out of the Blue a most appropriative name, my goodness, better have lunch.

Greg and Sheree run this wonderful out of the way bit of civilization.

Greg used to work for Telecom and lived on the Sunshine Coast in the 70’s .Had a change of lifestyle and found Portland Roads and has been here for many years as a mackerel fisherman now he’s changed direction again .A group from Lockhart River on a leadership course also came for lunch. Chatted to them nice group of kids.


Meanwhile a big storm seemed to be building to the Northwest but Greg said I’d have lots of time if it did get here so what’s for dessert , cheesecake , fine I’ve have some of the ,oh and another pot of that nice , fresh, coffee.

Storm clouds above Portland Roads.
Made my way back to the boat and have a relaxing afternoon and evening, Ah, the rigors of the lone putt putt traveller.

Tuesday 25 November
Lovely morning, sunrise was spectacular, away by 0600 hrs. Went in close to Lowrie Island and realized I could have sheltered there last night. One to mark in the book. Put out a deep diver lure and caught a mackerel in 10 minutes, put the lure away. That’s dinner for 2 nights.
Lowrie Island
Had a good run up to Lockhart River although the northerly sprang up again at about 1400 hrs but not nearly as viscous as yesterday. Found a nice anchorage on the inside of Lloyd Island. Tomorrow I have to chase up some fuel or I’ll be rowing to Thursday Island. I can get telephone reception here so spent the evening chatting to family.

Monday 24 November
Up early , had a read and then cleaned up . Got my first weather report from the Reef Rep. Gaye from Dancing Dolphin kindly wrote it all out for me when I was in Lizard Island. What it is is a series of VHF repeaters all the way up the coast, they control all the shipping up the way. They are located in hay point near Mackay. Pip, Marilyn and I were at their building at Hay Point to overlook the coal operations there. They are in the building on top of the lookout.
Headed out without any problems and headed north again .The weather was perfect, the water was just like a millpond. How wonderful, then it all went to shit. The northerly sprang up and in 10 minutes, it was blowing 25 knots. The waves were short and steep and I was bashing right into them. Let Polly out on a long rope and hung on as best I could. It was just band, bang, bang and so on. I tried to work out where some shelter was but there are very few hideaways from a northerly up this way. Eventually headed for Cape Sidmouth hoping I could shelter behind it . When I finally got there at 1630 hrs. No cover but by the it had dropped down to 15 knots with gusts of 20.I knew it would die down at about 2000 hrs because that’s the nature of the beast. Had a bumpy dinner and off to sleep.

Sunday 23 November
Woke up to a fine windless day so got away at 0530 hrs to make the most of it. Was careful as I went over the bar and managed to stay in 7 meters of water , marked the channel for future reference.
Hade a good run up to Port Stewart. It got its name when they discovered gold near Coen and a small freighter used to run up here from Cooktown. It’s really shallow entrance and a couple of deepest holes just inside. I had a bit of trouble finding the entrance, bounced off the bottom a few times but wasn’t worried, as it was an incoming tide. Finally anchored off the entrance and ran in Polly to check it out. There was young chap fishing there and had a chat to him and then went for a wander. Many years ago Pip and I came up here with Sam and Roy .Sam was in grade one when we came and now he’s 21 ,just to give you an idea of how long ago it was. Found the spot we camped at and the spot where Roy caught his first fish ,a cod.


The old Campsite from many years ago.
Hopped back in Polly to run out to Holly and the outboard wouldn’t start. Tried everything, borrowed a shifter off the young fella and cleaned the spark plug, no joy. Then had ago at rowing out but the incoming tide was too strong. So sat down with the young fella, watched him catch a big queen fish, and waited for the tide to slow down.
Finally, it was running a lot quieter so I started rowing out. On the way 3 blokes came in a big tinny from fishing outside, they offered to run me out an offer I immediately accepted. It was bouncy outside and I would have had a bit of trouble getting to the boat. As it was they had to take Polly back inside and I came in, anchored, and got Polly back.
The guys that rescued me leave their boat at Musgrave Station and fly up from Melbourne where they live ,hire a 4WD and run up and pick up their boat ,not a bad system.
A wash with precious water, a small can of baked beans, cold and 3 beers and I’m off to bed.

Saturday 22 November
Up early, did the log, and then picked up Craig for breakfast with left over damper. He loved the boat and reckons that it’s the way to travel, one of my own he doesn’t like sailing boats, needs a motor.
Good run down the river, it’s a very pretty river the Annie. Headed out to go into the Bay and noticed I wasn’t quite in the channel so cut across to it.
Oops, touched bottom, stuck ,turned off engine and tried to push Holly , Too late ,stuck. I had left on the start of the run out tide and the tide was running so quickly that within 2 minutes it was all over.
Read a book, scraped down the side that was exposed, and waited for the run in tide. It came 4 hours later and so I motored back up to the first bend to spend the night and have another go tomorrow. Only loss was about half of my fresh water which ran out on the lowest side, Oh and did I mention pride, properly not.
Big lightning storm in evening, lots of wind but no rain. Pulled Polly up close and tied her off beside Holly .Thought about an exit plan and all a bit too hard so went to bed.

Friday 21 November
Checked the crab pots first thing, no crabs, again. Headed off and down the end of the passage was a large cruiser so I went over to him and enquired about the weather, as I couldn’t receive a reception on the radio. He informed me that the weather was going to be good for at least the next few days. That was good news, as the weather is just perfect. Leaving the flinders Group I picked up a Shark mackerel on the lure, he was a bit too big for me and I managed to get him off the lure.

Continued across Princess Charlotte Bay which is very shallow and the countryside is flat except for Jane Table Hill which stands alone above the flat mangroves.
Had a good run with the boat , by carefully tying up some yellow rope from the steering wheel [ doesn’t work] to the tiller[does work] I managed to get the angle just right and it stayed on course for 2 hours , I just sat in the back and read a book – auto pilot- who needs it.
Found the entrance of the Kennedy River that the Annie River runs off and promptly got stuck on a sand bar . Bounced for a while as the afternoon wind had come up but as the tide was coming in I was soon able to move across to the channel , which I marked on the tracker for future reference.
Turned off into the Annie and saw the old fishermen’s camp at the junction. Travelled up the river about 6 klms and just as I was about to throw out the anchor for the night I came around the next corner and there was a camp. This was the new camp that the pro fisherman were at. Craig was also there just pulling his boat out of the water. He had seen me over at Cape Melville; he had a small fibreglass boat that he towed behind his four-wheel drive. He had travelled up to the Cape and then across to New Guinea for a bit of a look. Customs wasn’t too impressed. I had dinner ashore with him, I supplied the steak and salad and he made damper, I must say he knocked up a good one.


Before dark Walter and Coleen turned up, Walter is a professional fishermen who has been up he many years . There is also Merv who lives and works out of here but he was away at the time.

Thursday 20 November
Slept-in and got away at 0630 ,was treated to a lovely sunrise though.
Had a good run across to Cape Melville on the way I saw the most amazing thing, a fish somewhat like a mackerel come out of the water and go straight up in the air about 15 metres . At first, I thought it was a bird leaving the water, sort of diving in but in reverse, he must have had something a lot bigger chasing him.
Arrived at Cape Melville and marvelled at the huge boulders that make up the Cape. Anchored and went ashore, it was just amazing, any place like this down south would be a huge tourist attraction. I found a fresh clothes peg amongst the flotsam, quite a find that gives me 5 pegs now.
Continued across Bathurst Bay to the Flinders Group of islands. Coming into Owen Channel between Stanley and Flinders island there is a huge headland and the small rock mountains stand like sentinels to the channel called Castle Peaks .
I anchored near the National Parks shelter and put the crab pots out. I could see down the Passage from me a large war like boat and soon I got a visit from a couple of Customs Officers, nice blokes, we had a chat and off they went.
Checked out the facilities ashore, very good, some of the work that National parks have done on the Islands is extremely good. This one had a large shelter with 2 large water tanks, a large table and chairs and a toilet.

There is a walking track starting there, I only went a little way on it and found an aboriginal water hole neatly signposted.
Fresh mackerel for dinner.