10 October 2005 - Zoe Bay

On the eastern side of Hinchinbrook island, this is a magnificent but seldom visited bay. It is exposed to prevailing Trade winds from the SE but at this time of the year, light northerlies occur and we luckily found ourselves within sailing distance when one such forecast gave us the opportunity to try out the now calm waters of the bay. We anchored yesterday in 5 metres beneath tall volcanic bluffs thick with rainforest right down to a long, pure white, sandy beach. At the southern end is a walking track which leads to a waterfall and a freshwater swimming hole which we visited today for a refreshing cool off from this increasingly warm weather. Our passage yesterday from the overnight anchorage on the southern side of Dunk island was a great sail - just 10 knots of quartering breeze which had us lazily reading in the cockpit with the fishing line trolling behind . Unbeknowned to us we had sailed across a Barrier Reef zone boundary and into one where fishing wasn'tallowed. A National Parks launch hailed us and we were "detained" for an hour, a mile or 2 offshore. We were read our rights not to say anything as it would be taken down and used against us and advised the matter would be referred up the line. We felt really bad. We support the zoning plan as a means of preserving valuable reef resources but hope it ends there as a warning not a fine etc. The sad thing is our enthusiasm for fishing was never that great - we only caught two fish this season so to avoid any more embarrassment I'll keep the line in the locker for our next ocean crossing where there are no "green zones".