Sitting in the shaded sun, on the soft grass verge above Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island, I am again driven to reflect on the splendour of the world in which we live and the magnificence of the opportunities this trip has availed.
After a few odd jobs, we left Townsville around 10:00 for a gentle passage across the 10 nm or so to the far side Magnetic Island and had a delightful sail. This was truly one of the 25% days of sailing or ‘Coffee Days’ as I call them. These are days when the skies are clear, the winds are right and the sea is tranquil.
Rounding the corner of Horseshow bay on the NE corner of Magnetic (the locals call it Maggie), we dodged the shark nest and found a spot among the 30 or so boats already at anchor; is was after all a Saturday. After a quick bite while we confirmed the anchor hold, we ran the dingy onto the beach for a look around, a swim and of course, the quiet time near the beach where this blog started. Here we met up with a couple a cruising folks we had conversed with on VHF prior to Townsville: Greg and Alan were travelling on ‘Banjerin’, a 34’ Van De Stadt on a trip surprisingly similar to ourselves and this led to a long(ish) and enjoyable conversation and exchange of stories that took us through the rest of the afternoon.
Now Magnetic is a big Island so it has much in the way of amenities. Horseshow Bay, notably, is on the far side of the island so still retains that sense of isolation. As such it offers the best of both worlds with shops and a pub yet somehow still provides a feel of 'far away' and personal ‘ownership’.
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