Cairns: changed
Cairns: changed
Cairns has changed out of all recognition in the past twenty years.
When I first sailed here in CHIDIOCK TICHBORNE in 1981, Cairns was a big country town. Now it is a tourist center, with marina, hotels, many, many, many day trip reef boats, one of which is my neighbor, the obligatory casino, and even a Louis Vuitton store. Louis Vuitton in Cairns? It truly boggles the mind.
I liked the old Cairns, but I like the new Cairns too.
Perhaps because of all the big day trip boats, which parade at 8:30 each morning through the entrance of a massive concrete breakwater built after an earlier marina was destroyed by a cyclone, the Marlin Marina is unusually spacious. They haven’t tried to squeeze in the maximum possible number of fingers, but have left ample maneuvering space for which on my arrival in twenty-five knots of wind, I was grateful.
Two hotels front the marina, with the ground level of both filled with restaurants. My craving for fresh and better food than freeze dried has been easily satisfied.
More than 100,000 people now live in this area. The marina is in the town center. Some of the development is a definite improvement. A curve in the beach front which used to be frequented by drunks throwing beer bottles on the rocks below is now a wading pool known as The Lagoon. Looking seaward from the shore it blends perfectly with the inlet.
The people here are as friendly as always, and I must confess that the conveniences of being in a marina, such as walking to lunch, shower, laundry, and shops, electricity, and fresh water, are a welcome novelty.
The marina is not noisy, but pre-departure preparations on the day trip boat beside me start at 6:30. Usually I would be awake long before this, but the habit of broken sleep during a passage persists after landfall, and I have been awake at midnight or 1 a.m. for an hour or two each night, and a couple of times could have gone beyond 6:30.
My concerns about the officials were unnecessary, thanks in part to my printing out the automated response email from Australian Customs verifying that my notification of arrival had been received. Canberra--the national capital--had not forwarded the email to Cairns, who did not expect me. If I had not been able to prove I’d sent my notification email, I would have been in trouble. As it was, the clearance was routine and quick. Not at all like my ordeal in Fremantle in 2002.
It takes a while to get the boat back into shore and coastal mode. Wednesday I moved all the stuff stowed on the v-berth and made up my bed there. The main cabin was a mess. I sorted it out Thursday, then caught up on email and did some other chores.
Yesterday was boat work day. I serviced the windlass and moved the anchor back to the bow--somewhat easier than it was to remove near Cape Wiwiki. Pumped up the dinghy and checked the Monitor carefully from in the water. Also touched up some paint on the hull. Rowed across to the fuel dock for a jerry can of diesel. Tightened the tiller pilot to tiller bracket, which had loosened on that rough last morning power to windward. Oiled tiller and companionway teak. Checked engine. Pumped bilge, which only had a couple of buckets full in it. And a few other things. I failed only in reviving my cockpit speakers, though I did go over the wiring and replace two connections in one of them. They did not get wet during the passage, but both seem to have failed. I may spend more time on them, but might also just order another set and have Carol bring them to Bali.
I have also done some writing. Have more to do. And have to renew a few supplies, mostly liquids: fruit juice, soft drinks, beer, boxed wine. There is a super market not far away.
While Cairns is less than 17º south of the Equator, the temperature has been pleasant. Around 70 at dawn, rising to the mid-80s during the day, but with enough breeze to keep it comfortable.
I expect to be here a week, departing on Wednesday, May 14, daysailing inside the reef 400 miles north to Cape York, and from there sailing directly the 700 miles west to Darwin. I should reach Darwin in three to four weeks.
Saturday, May 10, 2008