Saturday 1 September 2012

Segment 18: Scawfell Island to Goldsmith Island

Segment 18: Scawfell Island to Goldsmith Island.  31 NM
Saturday 25 August 2012:

We lifted anchor at 10.50 am  ,  were under way by 11.00am , and waved goodbye to Scawfell Island.
LEAVING REFUGE BAY AT SCAWFELL ISLAND

Capt Barry inspected the engine room and noticed some water around the forward bilge pump. Using the long practiced  and reliable scientific approach , Capt Barry dipped his tasting finger into the water and, after a dab on the tongue, determined all was ok as it was not sea water, but fresh water. Capt Barry immediately turned to the  nearby small 24vdc sump pump ( used for pumping out the forward master shower waste water ) and  triggered the associated float switch, but  alas, the pump did not spin. Capt Barry then removed the pump from its housing and inspected the underneath and noticed it was jammed with long red hair. The hair  was removed and the pump immediately spun,  so that was another  issue attended to in a timely manner.
However, Capt Barry did note  to acquire a spare 24vdc replacement pump, as it occurred to him that if one of the small bilge pumps failed , there was no replacement on board.

Not long after leaving Scawfell Island,  the rear admiral noticed a brown scum like smear on the water surface. Capt Barry took a long whiff and opined that it was probably coral spawn.
CORAL SPAWN ON THE SEA SURFACE BEING DISTRIBUTED BY THE SEA CURRENT AND WINDS

The seas were truly kind, as they were.... flat as..... and there was almost no wind. Capt Barry opened the fly bridge and spent some time relaxing up stairs,  and the Rear Admiral Julie took some pictures of the various islands that slipped past as LAST WORD  motored towards Goldsmith Island.






We arrived at 2.30pm and decided to anchor in Roylen Bay instead of  Alan Lucas 's preferred anchorage at  the next more southern bay to the south of  Farrier Island.


While the Rear Admiral Julie beaded on, Capt Barry attended to a few chores ie cleaning out the two air conditioner sea strainers and trying to resole (with black sika flex )  his velcro open footwear , which had suffered a blow out when  the added soles became  unglued ).

About 4.30pm we had another two motor yachts select Roylen Bay as their night anchorage.


MALUKA  , which we last saw at Marina Mirage , berthed across from LAST WORD

As the evening came to a close , we enjoyed a few drinks and decided BBQ lamb chops to be in  order for dinner, followed by the obligatory DVD movie and an early night.



The next morning the Rear Admiral Julie launched one of the surf skis and visited the beach, while Capt Barry inspected his repaired footwear, declared the fix a failure, and removed the half glued soles and decided to continue using the open footwear without the added soles.

As we were headed for Abel Point Marina at Airlie Beach today, Capt Barry completely deflated the smaller tender which was partially inflated in the lazz , and packed it away properly, as it would nor be needed for at least a week.

Whilst we had time to visit another island or two before proceeding to Abel Point Marina, Airlie Beach ( where we were going to leave LAST WORD  for a week whilst we returned to Sydney for some family commitments and personal  appointments ), we decided to save these location/visits  for when family and friends visited us, at Hamilton Island, over the month of Sept. so we could take different groups to different locations - and the Rear Admiral and Capt Barry would not get bored seeing Whitehaven Beach for the 4th or 5th time etc).


TRIP : DISTANCE 31 NM,  IN  3.65 HRS,   134 L,    AVERAGE FUEL BURN  37 L/H/TOTAL , AVERAGE SPEED 8.7 KTS.


 

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