Lady Musgrave Island was a welcome retreat after the Tasman crossing. The cruising guides and government publications state that boats are not allowed to stop in Australian waters until they are cleared through customs, immigration, and quarantine. I asked, and got permission via the Iridium satellite telephone to stop at Lady Musgrave Island. We arrived at sun-up, and anchored outside the lagoon. We rested and snorkeled along the outer reef and spent the night there. In the morning, we decided to go inside the lagoon and try out the Super Snorkel diving gear. We had a great dive and by noon on May 1, we started the fifty-two hour sail to Mackay, which took us thirty-seven hours with the help of some strong and favorable winds.

We used only the genoa for the entire 265 nautical mile trip. Winds averaged about 28 knots. The maximum wind speed noted was 59 knots and the maximum boat speed was an all time high for Cosmos at 17.7 knots (21 mph, 32 kilometers) on the ship's log. Cosmos held up very well and we arrived safely in Mackay at 3:22 AM, May 3. We anchored in a windy and small harbor and I stood anchor watch until daylight.

In the morning we were contacted by customs and told to be at a commercial dock at 8:55. The rough commercial dock stood about 20 feet above Cosmos and fending off of the huge pilings was quite a job. Customs, immigration and quarantine did a most thorough job of checking out the entire boat. Immigration was easiest with the normal forms, although Australia uses the longest forms we have seen yet. Both Customs and Quarantine made themselves at home, checking every cabinet, closet, drawer, bilge and hollow part of the boat to which they could gain access. Customs even brought swabs to take sample rubbings from all over the boat. The swabs were taken back to their office where a machine tries to identify any illegal substances that may be aboard the boat.

Needless to say, we cleared customs. Then we moved to a lovely slip in the very fine and new Reef Marina at Mackay Harbor. This is by far the best accommodation we have had since leaving the US. The Marina is three years old and built to better standards than most large, modern US marinas. The town of Mackay is a $10 Aus cab ride away and we pretty soon took off for town.

The town is a pleasant working town, but not very large. We got access to the Internet, exchanged some money for local currency, and ate a nice meal. Finally we went to the Customs office to pick up our cruising permit.

We arrived at the Customs office about ten minutes before closing and immediately the same two officers began to ask many questions about the boat. How long had I owned it? Who else besides us had been aboard? Had we left the boat unattended recently? Who was aboard in Whangarei? When did my official documentation expire? What do I think the residue is in some of the hollow spaces of the boat (it is saw dust from the boat's original construction)? Exactly how long were we staying in Mackay, and exactly were did we plan to go when leaving?

Of course I sensed something was afoot. The only thing that made sense is that the drug tests they did had shown some unexpected results and after many questions back and forth, they finally said, "Well the tests are not always correct, but they did indicate that some drug might be or might have been aboard."

I immediately invited them back to the boat to inspect as much as they would like and at first they declined. After more discussion, which included several more offers from me to have them return to the boat, the head Customs official said maybe it would be helpful if they took more samples because it might help them identify what was giving them a false positive.

My offer served our purpose well also, because we saved the $10 cab fare by getting a ride back to the boat with the Customs official. He spent another hour aboard Cosmos collecting swabs and sawdust and left assuring us that based on all he could tell about us, the boat, etc., there would be no problem. He gave me his card and said to call any time I would like. Perhaps I will call and find out if they learned any more about the test results, or what they might have found mixed with the sawdust upon further inspection and testing.

The rest of our stay was fairly uneventful, as there is almost nothing to see in Mackay. The new marina is the most exciting thing in the area.

Mackay was a good place for new crew to join, and we did pick up additional crew there. As a result of adding to our crew, life aboard Cosmos has changed. Since leaving the USA, Cosmos crew has always been exclusively male. Now two females, Margareta and Hilary bring the crew count to four males and two females. While the males well outnumber the females, life has been changed. I have found that for me, life was, in some ways, simpler in an all-male society. In this mixed society, we seem to care more about our appearance, how often we take a wash, and the noises that escape from our bodies. Now we are on good (or at least better) behavior.

Actually, life has become easier. First, more crew means more hands to work the lines, clean the boat, and stand watches. The entire crew is showing their handiness at these jobs. Because the more seasoned crew is trained and experienced in caring for the boat, the newer crew has taken on the job of making sure thatwe are all well fed, and the boat is gradually taking on a new shine.

With new crew aboard, we left Mackay on May 6 on a day sail, headed for Hook Island, 65 miles away. The wind was good, but not as good as the downhill sleigh ride from Lady Musgrave Island, so we did not make the full 65 miles that I had hoped for. Thankfully, there are many excellent anchorages between land and the actual reef, so we chose Whitsunday Island, the largest of the famous Whitsunday group. This group of islands is THE diving center of the Great Barrier Reef. The number of boats sailing between the islands and on anchor in the many bays, is equaled in our memory only by the number of boats on the Chesapeake Bay.

I chose Dugong Inlet and dropped anchor a dusk, among 20 other boats. We were in the lee of the island at 20 feet, in a good holding area and settled in for a very restful night.

Because we are eager to see as much as we can, we left the next morning for Butterfly Bay where diving is reported to be so good that boats are permitted to stay only two hours. I decided that along the way, we should run up Nara Inlet to take a look, because it was highly recommended by our Customs officer. When we arrived, we found the inlet to be so lovely that we decided to spend the night. The inlet is surrounded by hills of volcanic stone that rise steeply from the water. It is deep to within 5 feet of shore. Huge volcanic stones line the shore and caves are plentiful everywhere. The stones are black, gray, brown, and tan with huge recesses washed away by the waves. Even though the steep hills appear to be 98% stone, a beautiful mixture of trees, ferns and shrubs grow there.

We went ashore and hiked up a hill to an aboriginal cave, complete with cave paintings, and to a beautiful overlook above the three-mile long inlet. The day was a sensory overload. Steve Hall and I made plans to go fishing at first light. The crew slept well that night.

I awoke at 6:15 to the sound of coffee-making in the galley. We got our gear together and fished for three hours along the end of the inlet. Catching a few fish was a nice addition to the lovely scenery we enjoyed along the way.

We left Nara inlet this morning to finally make our way to Butterfly Bay, on the other end of Hook Island. Here we are tied onto a mooring that is marked for a two hour usage limit. Because there are several unused moorings, it is our plan to spend the night.

The entire crew went scuba diving. The coral and fish were plentiful and varied. I saw some of the biggest coral fish that I have seen since entering the Pacific and six or seven corals that are totally different from others that I've seen.

The temperature is a lovely 80 degrees with showers interrupted by hot sun. The wind is still blowing at 20 to 25 knots with gusts up to 35. We are stalling before going to the outer reef, waiting for the winds to reduce. We want to do some serious diving, and the place I have chosen to do this is Bait Reef. It is a totally submerged lagoon in the GBR, offering little protection from the wind. But the guide book indicates we could spend an entire week on this small, submerged lagoon and not see it all. We are sailors, praying for no wind.

Best regards,