Croker Island

[Kyle]With a forecast for light direct tailwinds, I decided I wanted to continue our cold engine streak with another departure under sail. Four hundred and forty-four cranks of our windlass' manual lever later, we were off, and sailing away from Two Island Bay, Marchinbar Island! We used the jib for better control until we cleared the two islands, then switched to spinnaker for the next three days.

With winds of just five or six knots and seas too small to move the boat around, we had smooth sailing, averaging about three and a half knots through the water. The days and nights were brilliantly clear and the only sail handling either of us had to do was gybe the spinnaker every four hours or so as the wind shifted slightly from one side to the other in a regular cycle.

Calm seas and a gentle sail

At the far end on the last night, the wind finally decreased to two knots, where it wouldn't even hold the spinnaker aloft. We kept having to fish the foot of it out of the water and plop it on deck until the next little puff lifted it over the lifelines and put it back in the water, where it clearly really wanted to be. I really really wanted to avoid starting an engine, but the current was setting us onto a shoal, so I had to give in and do it until the wind returned again a couple of hours later.

I still had high hopes of sailing all of the way until our anchor was down, but we had arrived with both wind and current against us. Our tacks were zigzagging us backwards. The current wasn't supposed to reverse again until after dark. Neither one of us fancied the idea of spending a whole night three miles from a nice secure anchorage, so down came the sails and on went the engine. I suppose it's at least nice to live in a time when we have the option.

Our anchorage at Palm Bay on the west side of Croker Island was so shallow that we were in less than five meters depth while we were still two miles from the beach. We chickened out a mile later and dropped the anchor where it only had to fall three meters from the bow roller to the bottom. Land from where we were was just a thin sliver of white beach alternating with deep red sandstone cliffs. Through the binoculars, we could actually see a house and a couple of trucks ashore. One of them looked like a ranger that might be waiting to nab someone for going above the high tide line without a permit, which we certainly wouldn't have done. Since the beach is still so far away, we decided we would probably skip a shore trip here.

Unfortunately we never went ashore here...

Then after sunset, we were sitting inside enjoying the breeze coming through our open hatches, as we tended to do. It was still over 30C (86F) outside and it felt good. Then the boat suddenly filled with mosquitoes. Oh, no!! We haven't had to deal with mosquitoes for months. That pretty much doused the last ember of the idea of a shore visit.