Adventures with Julia

Monday, September 23, 2024

We departed Silky Oaks (a type of tree) Lodge about 8:30 for an 1/2 hour drive to the dock at Port Douglas.

The Aroona and crew were waiting for us and we wasted no time getting on board and heading out to sea by 10am. We are 7 on board. Mark and me and 5 crew. As we motor 28 Nautical miles north to a sand beach called Mackay Cay, we get to know the crew.

The Captain is a charming Italian fellow named Lorenzo, who grew up in Venice. The Hostess is Eva, a Queensland Australian, the chef is a French lady named Adele, the Dive Instructor is a South African named Jarryd, and the Deck hand is Fletcher, a young man from the nearby aboriginal town of Mossman. Fortunately for us, they all speak perfect English and they are all friendly and talkative.

Along the way, Lorenzo gave us some details about Aroona. Her name has 2 meanings. One is “Clear Running Water” and the other is “Place of Peace”. Both are nice. She was built in 2011, is 70 feet long, has a draft of 5.25 feet and can take 9 passengers at a time. Everyone is happy with just 2 passengers. She can hold 2300 gallons of fuel and 500 gallons of water. However, she has continuous fresh water making capabilities. She also has maximum communication capabilities, so we are set for blogging and zoom calls.

We arrived at Mackay Cay about 1pm and suited up for snorkeling. I was very tentative, which was obvious from my hesitancy, but Mark and Jarryd were with me and I managed to snorkel about a half hour. I did not see many fish and thought the coral was sparse and dull looking. Maybe it was me. The life vest was too large and slipped up to my neck. I also had a noodle holding me up and that was not helpful. I was glad to quit and get out of the water. A hot shower and dry clothes felt good. Mark seemed to have a better experience. We called it a day and relaxed on the boat. Adele made a nice pork and pasta dinner and we ate together as a family. Had a lively conversation about each person. Lorenzo kept the boat in the same spot overnight. I slept really well, but snored too much for Mark.

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Mark got up for a zoom meeting at 5:30am. At 6am the boat was moving and I was up too. The boat reached the dive site Lorenzo had in mind, called Ribbon Reef 3, and we were ready to go snorkeling by 11am.

I felt much better and my equipment fit better too. I had on two wet suits and a better fitting vest We were in the water 45 minutes plus and I was still not feeling cold. The water temperature was in the low 80’s and very pleasant. There was a fairly strong current and I had a hard time moving against it. Fortunately, Jarryd and I were holding opposite ends of a safety float and he was able to pull me when I could not keep up. We saw a lot more fish and coral at Ribbon Reef 3. Meanwhile, Eva was busy free diving and taking photos of the things we were seeing, so I have included them here. Neither Mark nor I have an underwater camera.

After the snorkel and a hot shower, we relaxed and enjoyed motoring through the reef toward our next stop.

As we were trolling, a 30 inch Spanish mackerel caught the line. Fletcher realed it in and cleaned it for Adele to prepare. After a group discussion, she prepared the fish for seveche and grilling.

I got too much sun and need to watch out from now on. The air is breezy and cool, but the sun is intense. Went undercover on the upper deck. I invited the crew to play a game and they were up for it. The only game they had on board was a card game called Uno, so that is what we played. We had a lot of laughs and fun for a couple of hours until it was dinner time. We have asked the crew to eat with us rather than separately and our conversations are much more interesting. The fish was delicious and oh so fresh.

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

After a good night’s sleep, we were up at 6am. The boat was still at anchor from last evening and everyone else was already up. Coffee was ready and shortly fruit and fresh orange juice were ready too. After breakfast, the crew pulled the anchor and we motored closer into Ribbon Reef 5 where we will snorkel and maybe dive too. About 9am, Lorenzo tied up to a reef bouy and we prepared to snorkel and dive.

Jarryd stayed close to me at first as we slowly went down to about 20 feet, where the bottom was. Gradually I let go of him, relaxed and swam on my own. There were lots of different fish and coral. We saw fish in many sizes and colors. I wish I could name them all. The easy ones included clown and anemone fish, parrot fish, trigger fish, sea slugs and moorish Idols. The coral were not as colorful as I had hoped, but they were plentiful, especially purple acropora and blue staghorn coral. After about 30 minutes I finally got cold and signaled to Jarryd to go in.

I was very pleased with myself that I had finally, after 50 years of wanting to, done a dive in the Barrier Reef and am now looking forward to more dives. WooHoo!!! Mark and the crew were all happy for me too.

This is a good day. A dive and a fish.

In the late afternoon we all played another round of the game Uno. Silly game, but good fun. Then we had appetizers and dinner on the back deck so we could all sit together.

I asked everyone to share their knowledge and or feelings about aboriginal people and they each had different experiences to share. In all, they are friendly toward aboriginals and each has a few close aboriginal friends. They all support the notion of live and let live.

Finally, about 9:30 the boat generators were turned off and we were all in bed.

Thursday, September 26, 2024

After breakfast, the crew moved the boat to a dive buoy between Ribbons 9 and 10.

From the Aroona location, Mark used a sea scooter to do a long snorkel, while Jerryd and I went scuba diving.

Between dives we rested and warmed up. 40 minutes in the water makes me really cold even though the water temp is 84 degrees. After 2 hours we suited up to go again. This time to the twin towers site, which is 20 minutes north of Ribbon 9.5 Lorenzo raved about the site and it lived up to his praise.