Breakwater Marina, Townsville 16 November 2006

This is the season for Northerlies along Australia's east tropical coast and conventionally, anyone who has been cruising the area over winter is well advised to make the run south before December, the onset of the cyclone season. However, this is the second year in a row where cruisers have found these great sailing winds (15 knots abaft the beam) run out of puff halfway down the Queensland coast and are replaced by generally lousy weather. Yesterday'snews was of amini-cyclone in southeast Queensland that caused widespread damage to property and this followed on from another severe hailstorm a week previously. Sadly the amount of rain from these storms does little to help the generally drought-ravaged country south of the tropics (which is most of Australia). Weather patterns are definitely changing and we consider ourselves fortunate to be in a relatively benign place. "Just wait until they get a cyclone." I hear you say!