August 5, 2024

We woke to rain and calm in the Morseby River at Mourilyan, and so were late leaving. Once we exited the river mouth and were out of the lee of the range of mountains that line the coast, there was a fresh SE breeze. With all our working sails up, we were making up to 8 knots until north of the Johnstone River that leads up to Innisfail, and it looked like we’d easily make it Fitzroy Island for the night. But the mountains along the coast were catching rain. Heavy rainfall along the mountains was driving an offshore breeze, and before we realised, we were trapped in the calm between the wind off the rain and the trades being driven by the big high pressure system over southern Australia. We had to motor out from the coast for about 30 minutes to pick up the trade winds again, before heading north again. We worked the north running current for a while, and found we were under the lee of Russell Island, part of the Frankland Group out off Russell River and Babinda. The vacant mooring was too alluring to pass, so we swung in for a walk, and ended up staying the night. Wind and rain blew hard through the night, and it was a little uncomfortable, but well worth it for the exploring of the island that we had in the afternoon.

It was low tide when we arrived, and the trip in to shore in the dinghy was tricky, avoiding the waves breaking on reef and shallow bommies that would have wrecked the dinghy hull or motor. Being low tide, the causeway across to Catalina Rock was dry, allowing us to walk across the dry reef and explore the rock outcrop. The granite boulders are covered in ferns and rainforest, with little perched pools of freshwater trapped on top of the rock. Most disappointing was the lack of wildlife. We saw no living animal. No birds. No fish. No coral. Nothing. It was like a desert. The coral exposed in the low tide was all brown and dead. All the clams were dead. Even the brain coral. The result of extensive bleaching?