Queensland, at last! Southport isn't quite half way to Townsville, but as a psychological milestone, it'll do. We're tied up round the corner from Seaworld, in a forest of highrises and resorts - quite a contrast to the last few stops. Hopefully somewhere around here I can find a new alternator. Steve Y. is up here buying himself a boat (which is a relief, I've been feeling bad about taking his), so we had a friendly face to meet us when we arrived.
The trip from Yamba was the longest passage I've made so far, and one of the most beautiful - after a rough start, the weather turned very fair, with a decent breeze. There was a near-full moon that lasted most of the night, and mild seas, and of the 30 hours we spent, berth-to-berth, we only had the engine running for 9. With some offshore hazards and a bit of set-and-drift, I got to do some decent navigation work, too.
We were particularly well-favoured by dolphins (attentive readers might remind me here that in 'Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour' I said I'd stop going on and on about dolphins, to which: I didn't mean it), particularly off Cape Byron. I was happily reminded of my one-time brother-in-law Andy plunging into the surf to swim with them in his wedding clothes in Byron - I wonder if we encountered any of the same ones? Resting with the engine off, you could hear them through the hull - I reckon I can rig myself a bedside bathyphone by stickytaping on a stethoscope down below the waterline. That's one to add to the list.
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