georgebackhus on July 15th, 2005

 

 

 
George next to a “rather small” ant hill at Port Essington.

After two months of sailing mostly in a northwesterly direction up the Queensland coast, we had reached “the Tip” or Cape York, the northernmost point on the continent of Australia. We gybed onto port, and started heading in a westerly direction, “over the top” of [...]

Continue reading about Australia: Cruising “Over the Top”

georgebackhus on July 10th, 2005

 

 

 
Merima with cockatoo, Hamilton Island

I realize that I haven’t tapped out a “Sailor’s Log” for quite some time now, about six months to be exact, but for good reason. I’ve enjoyed the Queensland coast of Australia so much that, in my usual fashion, I got caught in the drift and decided to slow down and [...]

Continue reading about Queensland, Australia: The Whitsundays to Cape York

georgebackhus on October 14th, 2004

 

 

 
New kite.

The travel brochures describe the weather in Queensland as “beautiful one day, perfect the next.” The thing is, it’s really true. In the three months I’ve been here, I can count the less-than-perfect days on one hand. This is probably the reason that hundreds of yachties come to the Whitsunday Islands each spring [...]

Continue reading about The “Hams and Hogs” Regattas: Spring Break for Adults

georgebackhus on September 15th, 2004

Arriving in Australia from Noumea, Scarborough Marina (just north of Brisbane) was a convenient place to check in. In an otherwise nice marina, we ended up parked next to the very ripe-smelling local fishing boats that attracted flocks of birds looking for leftovers. Within two days, a combination of fallout from cane burning, dust from [...]

Continue reading about Queensland: Brisbane to the Whitsunday Islands