Australia - Pacific Crossing Notes: A Sailor's Guide to the Coconut Milk Run - page 447

scenario, heading any farther north would be folly. We decided to hunker down amidst the
mangroves of Pacific Creek, a half-day sail south of Great Keppel Island. Timing our ar-
rival carefully for high tide, we eased our six-foot draft over the bar at the creek's entrance
(charted at three feet at low water). When depths dropped off to a healthy twenty-plus
feet, we set our anchor in the muddy bottom of the creek. Then the waiting began.
It was a week to be endured more than enjoyed. We were sitting ducks to the mosquitoes
and no-see-ums of the creek, and Nicky proved the tastiest of us all, racking up one hun-
dred bites within forty-eight hours despite doses of insect repellent and netting on all
hatches. We took to wearing pants and long sleeves despite the heat and burned mosquito
coils all day, every day. If nothing else, we made good progress on our pet projects:
Markus was busy programming a weather data program for sailors called Slocum [#1] ,
Nicky made a 3D model of our boat [#2] (with a little home schooling on the side), and I
had plenty of time to write.
A week after our arrival in Pacific Creek, Cyclone Ita pounded the northern Queensland
coast near Cooktown, then swept south, curving out to sea one hundred miles east of our
location. The worst we registered deep in Pacific Creek was a occasional burst of forty
knot winds. Had the cyclone hit more directly, we were confident that we would have
weathered it well in the narrows of the creek. The experience lent a touch of symmetry to
our three-year Pacific cruise: when we initially set out on the trip from Maine, Hurricane
Irene put a similar monkey wrench in our plans.