Captains Log Date: Sept 14 2008 1130 Hrs

Cape Bedford We weigh anchor and raise main, mizzen and staysail. The wind is blowing the usual S. Easterly at 20 – 25 knots so we make use of the conditions to give the trainees some practice at beating to windward. We are heading south once again, to Nob Point to participate in Muni Day. Muni is the name Hope Vale residents gave to Pastor Schwarz when he landed here to work amongst them in 1887. They could not pronounce Schwarz so both parties settled for Muni which means black in the local language (Schwarz is german for black). Muni Day is celebrated at Nob point on the nearest Sunday to September 13 each year.

Niall Cobus Pelican Trainee on deck

I suggest that the young men perform the tacks to windward without use of modern technology such as autopilots, and chart plotters. This requires them to hand steer with accuracy and to observe closely all that is going on with the vessel and the prevailing conditions. They achieve this with a high degree of success and we round South Cape Bedford 90 minutes after leaving the anchorage having executed 9 tacks. Our final tack takes us all the way to the beach at Nob Point where an exceptionally hard clay bottom causes us to make three attempts at anchoring before we succeed. We are on a Lee shore with hardly any shelter. A series of reefs protect the beach where a small church overlooks a large group of youngsters playing in the water. The trade winds provide welcome relief from the heat and many groups of people can be seen sitting in the shade gazing out to sea. Outside the reef there is quite a chop in the onshore wind. Loading people safely will be a challenge but with so many capable hands we decide to give it a go.

Raf and Joseph take Colerige ashore. He will negotiate who is coming aboard for the sail and will arrange the ferrying of our guests out to Pelican in the inflatable. We offload many of our own crew to make more room for community members. We embark 22 people, 20 of whom have never been aboard Pelican before.

The sail goes off well. People are embarked without a problem and all enjoy Pelican and the opportunity to view their own country from the ocean. The trainees seem proud to be showing off new skills to their own community. By the time we return to the beach Muni day is over and only a handful of people remain on the beach waiting for our passengers. We sail back to our anchorage in the lee of Cape Bedford after a good day eager for another of Sam’s fine meals and a well earned rest.

Joseph with the best fish of the day a northern bluefin tuna.

September 15 We spend the morning working through several sections of the Ropes books (the theoretical part of the coxswains training) with the young men. This goes well but by 1300 eyes are starting to glaze over. We raise anchor and set a course via an island known to the trainees as Lodi with the aim of catching some fish. This is spectacularly successful and we arrive at Cape Flattery just before sunset with two beautiful northern bluefin tuna, 3 spotted mackerel, and a coral trout. We have enough fish to feed 50 people or more and the bama (Guugu Yimidhirr word for people) are stoked. They go ashore with gifts of fish for the crew from Hope Vale Men’s Group who have been working to set up the shore camp. They will have some for relatives arriving over the next day or so and we still have enough for the Pelican crew for a couple of days.

We kick off our meal that evening with a solid dose of sashimi with wasabi and soy and finish with tuna steaks tossed on the barbie. The trainees do not appear to be familiar with the habit of eating raw fish but since their first try in Cooktown they are warming to the task. They do however insist that I keep the blood rich part of the fillet next to the spine which they love to eat well cooked. They also save the roe and the carcasses which they use for soup. All in all very little is wasted.

September 16 We spend most of the day at anchor revising the theoretical elements of the training with the young men and signing off on their Ropes Books. We have completed 5 sections of the book, including radio operations, first aid, survival, practical seamanship, and engineering tasks (3). This is quite an achievement. The trainees have worked really hard and all offer their services as crew for the coming weeks of sailing with the community.

Trainees with ropes, books and Pelican crew at Cape Flattery

The Bay at Cape Flattery is one of the best anchorages on this part of the coast. The campsite on the beach is well sheltered and largely free of sandflies and mosquitoes. Natural springs of sweet water bubble out of the sand on the beach or flow across it in numerous places. There are plenty of fish, turtle and dugong in the waters nearby. That night from Pelican we can hear the sound of guitars coming from the bama camp. In many ways it seems like the perfect life.

CYMAG scientist Christina and Jeremy Bowen record seagrass data.

September 18 Scientists from Cape York Marine Advisory Group www.cymag.com.au join us for a couple of days to involve us in their seagrass monitoring program. We load up bama from the camp and take a series of samples of mud or sand from the bottom in the bay trying to establish the extent of seagrass beds. We find little in the immediate vicinity and are guided by Brian Cobus (a traditional owner for this area) around the point where the seagrass is more plentiful. No study of the beds has been made in recent years and in fact no comprehensive study has ever been made of seagrass on this part of the coast (at least not by white scientists). The beds provide vital feeding grounds for turtle, dugong and many fish species. Christina Howley principal scientist with CYMAG specializes in this work. She hopes to do a comprehensive baseline study in the area but for the moment is content to explain her methodology to the bama and give them some insight into the process of collecting and identifying the different species. She tells us that the seagrass is an important indicator of environmental health. If the seagrass is healthy and plentiful, chances are that water quality is also good and that significant numbers of turtle and dugong will come here to feed.

The mini dredge takes samples of the bottom.

Ian McCollum the head of CYMAG is also aboard. He knows many of the traditional owners and has been working with them on environmental monitoring projects for years. It is great to meet these people and much conversation ensues about how we might be able to devise programs to directly involve local bama in science and environmental monitoring aboard Pelican in the future.

Brian Cobus Traditional Owner (TO) and Ian McCollum CYMAG CEO aboard Pelican.

The digital story telling team is now aboard Pelican on a daily basis. The two days of seagrass and water quality monitoring also feature teams of young people with cameras, sound recorders, scanners etc documenting the activities and creating stories. Each new species of seagrass that comes aboard is scanned for the records. Each journey in the inflatable to collect samples involves training, documentation and direct involvement of the bama youngsters. Back on deck they share their discoveries with the rest of the crew. At night there are films on the beach and slideshows from the days images. Tonight, Friday, features a replay of a performance by indigenous comedian, Sean Choolburra. This is requested by the trainees who saw it aboard the Pelican earlier. On that occasion I could hear them on the back deck retelling many of the jokes afterwards. “No I don’t get into racism….. I just run fast.”

Carla documents scientists findings James from Qld State Library and Brian TO. look on.

The shore camp is now well set up and preparing for the arrival of an extra 100 people or more as the school holiday period gets underway. We are fortunate to have an ex navy chef on the team. Steve Adams is part of an organization called Indigenous Conservation Volunteers and is coordinating the catering for the camp in difficult circumstances. Despite the lack of refrigeration and difficult 4WD access, Steve is delivering 3 quality meals a day to all comers. We are hoping to train a number of young bama in this catering role. Steve and Estelle Bowen will put their heads together to identify who these people might be and work out a training program over the coming days.

The relentless SE trades blow at around 20 - 25 knots day and night and make our return to Flattery in the afternoons somewhat uncomfortable but as Ian McCollum points out, without them Cape York would be so perfect that everyone would want to live here.

Happy Sailing

Garry McKechnie