From the Captain Garry McKechnie 29/03/06 - 02/04/06

March 29
We depart Cairns at 0920 after a safety briefing and drills rehearsal, We have 12 people on board for this leg of our journey. Nick has sadly departed in order to return to his day job in Melbourne. His expertise and his company will be sorely missed. Andrew and Guillermo from GBRMPA will also be missed and are replaced by David Haynes and Fergus Molloy. David’s area of expertise is water quality monitoring while Fergus works in a variety of roles within GBRMPA. Garret Drago joins us from Williamstown High School as education and curriculum development advisor. Jane replaces Jayne as cook as mentioned earlier. The rest of the crew remain unchanged. Colin, Marina, Johnston, Ewan, Pedar, Lwayne, Matt, and myself continue as before.

Jane our new cook

We have returned to our original brief and are now back to concentrating on the coral bleaching survey. Our first site is at Fitzroy Island which is completed without fuss and we head to our second site at green Island, On arrival the wind is blowing at 25 knots and we decide to postpone the dive until the following morning when we hope conditions will have moderated. We anchor in the lee of the island and many of the crew go for a snorkel. A variety of soft corals and fish are encountered as well as a few sharks. Dinner on deck consists of spicy chicken, salads and veggies with poached pears and custard for desert. Jane is off to a flying start. A new set of strings kindly supplied by Johnston for Pelican’s resident guitar transforms the social landscape with the sounds of strumming and an occasional burst of song coming from the aft deck after dinner.

Pedar, Ewan and Matty work on their navigation

March 30
An uneventful night at anchor. Occasional rain squalls are washing over us with gusts in excess of 15 knots but generally the wind has moderated. At 0730 we launch the inflatable for Johnston to access the site on the SW side of the reef at Green Island. The survey is accomplished without incident and we raise anchor and depart for Michalmas Reef.

This section of the reef is heavily used by tourist vessels out of Cairns and Port Douglas. Huge triple decked monsters roar out to the reef at speeds Pelican 1can only dream about. This enables thousands of people every day to access the wonders of the reef. It also means that regulation of the environment and its resources is vital to preserve it in good condition for future generations. The work that GBRMPA is doing to monitor and understand the numerous and complex systems that make up the reef is a vital part of this process. Pelican Expeditions is proud to be involved. Our contribution towards increased indigenous involvement and educational access to research information is something that we are passionate about and given the opportunity we will continue to pursue.

After threading our way between numerous reefs and cays we arrive at Michaelmas. The site is on the outer side of the reef with only a few small reefs between it and the open water of the Coral Sea. Consequently we encounter clearer water than we have seen for some time along with larger swells. Marina, Pedar and Lwayne are now diving in close proximity with Johnston and his team, following them and observing closely. Soon they will be ready to take on some of the survey tasks in support of the scientists. These are the best diving conditions we have had for some time. Everyone enjoys the dive.

Three and a half nautical miles north at Hastings reef, another survey is completed in similar conditions. This time it is Ewan and Matty’s turn to observe the scientists working. As soon as everyone is out of the water we make our way cautiously inside the lagoon at Hastings Reef. The afternoon had brought several large rain squalls and we are keen to gain anchorage while visibility holds. Once safely at anchor the boys let go with a diving and somersault competition off the back deck. Marina more than holds her own in this context performing a back flip with a tidy feet first entry.

It has been a long day with three sites surveyed. This means that the scientists now have many hours of work still ahead in terms of collating data, making notes, checking equipment etc. They take a short break for dinner on deck then straight back into the office. The rest of the crew are asleep when they finish around 2200 hours and finally fall into bed themselves. (see web site for scientists logs)

Ewan takes a bearing

March 31
0600 The day dawns sunny with a light wind from the SE. Pelican’s crew are up and have the anchor on board by 0645. We use the track on the chart plotter to find our way out of the anchorage by retracing our inward path. The early morning light makes it impossible to see the bommies which surround the entrance to the lagoon.

By 0700 we are steaming towards our next survey site at Opal Reef about 20 nautical miles NNE. Breakfast is served on deck as we motor sail in a light SE wind at just under 8 knots. The site at Opal is similar to the other outer reef sites at least in terms of conditions. Once again The boys are following closely on the heels of the scientists. They are now beginning to look relaxed and very much at home in the water. Marina reports that they are controlling their buoyancy and managing all their safety procedures confidently. The survey is completed, people brought back on board and a course set for the next site at St. Crispin Reef. This morning we are ahead of our schedule and plan to anchor early in the shelter of St Crispen after the work is finished to give some of our support staff a dive with the scuba gear and a chance to have a look around. The boys confidently offer to give us some tips and look after us in the water.

After our second survey for the day we anchor in the lee at the northern end of Crispin Reef. An excellent anchorage on sand in about 14 metres. There is plenty of reef around us and as it is a blue zone the boys are keen to spear some fish for tea. I am a little bit disappointed with the apparent lack of fish. I put it down to the fact that this is an often visited site in one of the most heavily used areas of the reef. I am also comparing it with our experience of the protected areas we have been diving which tend to have more fish. Despite this we manage to get a couple of nice coral trout, sufficient to feed the twelve of us for dinner in combination with plenty of veggies. Lwayne and Pedar stayed in the water for hours and had speared 4 or five fish. They had nowhere to put them so they stashed them in a small coral cave in the shallows but the sharks found them and when they came back only two fish and half a head remained. Such is life.

April 1
The first dive of the day is at Agincourt Reef about three miles to the NE. The scientists complete the survey in good conditions, while marina completes another training dive with the boys. We depart early for Mackay Reef an inshore sand cay about 12 nautical miles due west. After completing our last survey here, for this section of the expedition, we steam NW in calm conditions for an overnight anchorage at Hope Islands. On arrival the first thing we notice is a sign warning of crocodiles inhabiting the area. This is a new addition to the island. I don’t remember seeing it last time I was here. People are cautious about getting in the water but in the end overcome their caution deciding that the chances of seeing a croc here are very slim. Lwayne spears another very nice coral trout just before sunset while the rest of us relax on the beach. Ewan picks up a bird sitting on the sand. It seems disoriented and sick. He leaves it on the beach. The next morning it is still sitting where he left it, dead.

Lwayne spears another nice trout

April 2
Heavy rain washes pelican’s decks overnight. Johnston and David take the boys snorkeling for a reef familiarisation session in the morning. They spend hours working their way slowly across the reef. Six heads in a circle and then six pairs of fins in the air as they dive to check the last bit of information given against the reality of the coral below. Then heads up again while Johnston and David explain the next bit of information. Marina spends some time in the water with Colin. This is Colin’s second dive and he is showing an immediate ability and enthusiasm for it. It is Sunday and its nice to be having a slightly slower day without the pressure of the schedule looming over us. We will make our way into Cooktown this afternoon for reprovisioning and to pick up Paul, Gillian and Katarina and to drop off David and Fergus. We are also looking forward to catching up with friends from Hope Vale who have promised to come down to the boat for a visit. The next week we will be conducting bleaching surveys in the vicinity of Lizard Island. We will also have a team from the Melbourne Age aboard.

Coral reef classroom

Happy Sailing
Garry McKechnie