Rinse & Repeat

We wake as first light creeps over the horizon. The orange hue brings us to deck for another wondrous sunrise and a refreshing, 10-knot breeze from the southeast. Behind us, we can just make out the Australian mainland. Our Fleming 65, Freja, sits in 30 feet of crystal-clear water in the north of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

Today’s weather looks to be a repeat of yesterday’s: wind building to 20 knots, a small swell and neap tides resulting in good protection behind the fringing reef. This will enable us to fit in two scuba dives. Visibility here is superlative—averaging over 65 feet and sometimes well over 160 feet—and we’ll be suitably rewarded with a dazzling array of sea life, from sharks to nudibranchs and everything in between. Between dives, we’ll check the weather forecast and lunch on fresh-caught fish and salad.

Eventually, the wind builds to a consistent 25 knots, and the swell becomes solid 6-footers outside the reef, so we run north for Lizard Island and wait it out, anchored in Watsons Bay amid the catamarans and monohull yachts. We’ll do some fishing and spearfishing there, and stock up on mackerel, coral trout and (hopefully) tuna. And we will probably do the same thing tomorrow and the day after.

My wife, Johanna, and I have been exploring this reef for two years, racking up more than 5,000 nautical miles with periods at anchor as long as four weeks. We’re well off the grid, and our trips are totally weather-dependent, as the swell and wind can sweep across the reef. Particularly at high tide, this can make being at anchor extremely uncomfortable, before the tide drops again and flat water prevails. The southeast trade wind that blows from May through to December is predictable, but interspersed with several consecutive days of glassy conditions when being out here is like being somewhere completely different.

The Great Barrier Reef begins north of Fraser Island (known as K’gari) and runs to the top of the continent. Between the islands are a wealth of creeks, rivers, marinas and bays that offer good protection and make passage-planning reasonably simple.

Our favorite spots include Lizard Island, which is 1,100 nm north of Brisbane and considered the general turning point for most people who make the pilgrimage this far north. The area is remote, and assistance is hours away at best. Many cruisers only make it as far north as the Whitsunday Islands, about half the distance north from Brisbane. But there is so much more to see.

Lady Musgrave Island has a protected lagoon and is home to thousands of birds and nesting green turtles. From here, a long day of cruising from sunrise to sunset will put us into Great Keppel Island, with its sandy beaches and hiking trails. Most of these trips involve trolling a line for a few hours to see if we get a fish or two, keeping an eye on the chart that details the fishing and non-fishing areas of the reef.

The islands, creeks and rivers north of Great Keppel offer good protection all the way to the Whitsunday Islands. Here, the abundance of yachts is noticeable, with a robust tourist industry. The national park service provides moorings with time limits to make access fair, and there are unlimited protected bays for dropping anchor. Many cruisers spend months here before heading south again, but we prefer to head farther north. Weather permitting, you can pick reef after reef and feel as though you are the first ones to visit.

Two of our favorites are John Brewer Reef and Lena Reef. The former is home to the Museum of Underwater Art, which is a fun dive. Lena Reef is known for sightings of tiger and hammerhead sharks. We had a curious 16-foot female hammerhead come and have a look at us while diving. It was a privilege to see one of these gentle giants so close.

Another favorite of ours is the Percy Islands, whose yacht club is a gathering point for sailors. Other islands are home to resorts and homes, with the majority deemed protected habitat for birds, turtles and flora. Many have scant protection from the charging southeast wind and swell, however, others provide safe harbor in almost all weather conditions.

To access these amazing places, we provision to spend weeks at a time on board. We have to eat our fruits and vegetables strategically, but with the constant source of fresh fish, we want for very little. Frozen vegetables are also a must if you plan to explore these waters.

Then again, the mainland has numerous marinas with modest rates, and some, such as those in Airlie Beach, are world-class with superyachts. Many have loaner cars for provisioning and errands, and marine services are available for maintenance. Some marinas are a short stroll from a town center; we like Port Douglas, which is a five-minute walk to some wonderful restaurants. It is also the last port before the run north to Lizard Island.

Those trips ashore can be great, but for us, nothing beats being on the hook in this region. We often end our days with the late-afternoon sun pushing into the salon, and the air conditioning running to take a little of the heat out. Our cockpit is often strewn with dive gear that’s rinsed and drying for tomorrow.

That’s the real beauty of this cruising ground: There’s always something great in our plans for tomorrow. 

This article was originally published in the May/June 2024 issue.