Hello Maggie

Fair winds have blown us back across Halifax Bay to that yachtie favourite Horseshoe Bay off Magnetic Island.
Of course anchoring here, just off Townsville, also means that our sailing season is almost at an end. It's been our best year on the water with weather conditions favourable far more of the time than other years. We suspect we may also be getting smarter and better at sailing too but generous weather breaks certainly help.
Horseshoe Bay is mildly swelly with the north-easterlies blowing but it's tolerable and we were keen to repeat some of our favourite island walks before we go across to Breakwater marina and start preparing the boat for the cyclone season.
We've just returned from a good leg-stretch around the northern bays - Radical, Florence and Arthur Bays - but couldn't access the Forts walk as it is closed off for asbestos removal. As we have seen in recent days, asbestos is a big problem on the islands as World War 2 era buildings deteriorate (or get wrecked by cyclones).

Radical Bay

Radical Bay

Arthur Bay

 

Bet the postie has no trouble locating this letterbox.

Another mackerel made it into the freezer on the sail across and will probably be donated to the 50th birthday party barbecue at the marina on Saturday night.
Ironically I had mackerel fillets defrosting for tea when the fish hooked up. If I'd had nothing defrosting we probably wouldn't have caught anything.
Royden also managed to retain his Steptoe title (for finding treasures in dumped stuff) when he found a working speargun on a beach amongst a tangle of debris. Thankfully there wasn't a spearfisherman attached and we can only assume he/she speared something that was too big for them to hold and the fish has taken off with the spear and gun attached. Can't imagine it ended well for the speared fish as the line was sheared.