Adjamarrugu Point, Croker Island
Really good anchorage. Anchored in 6m of water close to the breach. Well protected from NE through to SE winds. Good holding in sand and mud.
Mutee Head
There are numerous shallow areas as you approach the headland. We anchored in 9m of water as the bottom shoals rapidly. Good holding though subject to current.
Seisia
We anchored between Red Island and the mainland, just south of the jetty. Good holding in 4m of water at low tide. Very tight anchorage, with room for only 3 – 4 boats. Important to keep to the channel as the whole area is very shallow. Lots of sandbanks visible at low tide. Photo of the town jetty from our anchorage.
Roko Island
Anchored in 5m of water between the island and the mainland beach. Anchorage is calm but subject to SE winds. Good holding but there is a current between the island and the mainland.
Cape York
We anchored in 3 metres of water with York Island to port and about 500 hundred metres directly in front of the shoreline. It was very windy the day we were there, but good holding. Basically, a day anchorage for visiting the tip of Cape York. Photos below of Sea Goddess at anchor and York Island from Cape York.
Shallow Bay
The bay sits within the mainland side of Albany Passage. The bay is quite deep but does shelve very quickly, about half way in. Protected from swell, but you will get wind gusts from the trade winds. Good holding in sandy-mud.
Escape River
There is a wide shallow entrance to the river, best to enter on the southern side where the water is much deeper. We motored about 3 nautical miles up the river, anchoring around the first corner in 9 metres of water. The anchorage was calm but subject to wind gusts. Holding was good, but we did have a snag when retrieving the anchor. Possibly remnants of the fish farm. Navionics and C-maps show fish farms on the sides of the river, but they look to have been decommissioned as there was a group of buoys tied together in the centre of the river. We would not advise anchoring in this river post sunset.
Night Island
Good anchorage in strong south easterly winds. Good holding in sand and relatively calm.
Morris Island
We anchored here post sunset for an overnight stay with no problems. Again, good protection from south easterlies, but not suitable for northerlies. Sandy bottom.
Burkitt Island
Good anchorage for south easterly winds. Sandy bottom but beware of fringing reef. We ended up anchoring out from the island in 10 – 11 metres of water. We can’t confirm reports of a resident croc as we didn’t go ashore and had no visual of one.
Princess Charlotte Bay (near Normandy River)
Another overnight rest stop, this one was a doozy. Firstly, we had to anchor in the dark again (not our favourite time to do this), this time in mud. A shallow bay, we anchored in 6 metres of water approximately 2 nautical miles offshore. We had trouble setting the anchor due to wind and current, in the end we just dumped 40 metres of chain, and with anchor watch on we hoped for the best. Good call or just pure luck, we held all through the night.
Fisherman’s Wharf Cooktown
This was purely a fuel stop for us. The owners gave us permission to tie up overnight at the fuel dock which opens at 0630. We had an easy approach through the channel at 0300 hours. The wharf was well lit, and we had no trouble docking next to the fuel pumps.
Fitzroy Island – Mooring
Moorings at Fitzroy Island are highly sought after, and this doesn’t take account of those who overstay the 24 hour time limit. So, its super important to get there early or be prepared to anchor in 11 – 16 metres of water in sand. NB There is a ‘no anchoring area’ which is signed by markers.
When we arrived there were no ‘blue moorings’ available, however there was a large can type white one, on the eastern side of the mooring field with no number on it that we commandeered. We stayed on the mooring for 2 nights, luckily with no issues. Be aware that beach access is not possible by dinghy as the beach is too steep and has a fringing coral reef. We tied up at the ladder on the jetty each day for easy access to the island.
Vlasoff Reef/Cay – Anchorage
Limited moorings are available, and none were available when we arrived. So, we ended up anchoring in 8 – 9 metres on sand. In south easterlies this anchorage is quite rolly. Dinghy access to the cay can be tricky especially if there is a swell. We encountered quite a strong swell which made landing and launching the dinghy very difficult. This anchorage is best in under 10 knots of wind.
Michaelmas Reef/Cay – Anchorage
Once again moorings were at a premium, and we noted two monohulls which appeared to have been on public moorings for some time. The area is also popular with day tours which used their own private moorings. We anchored once again in sand. Anchorage was much calmer than Vlasoff, and there is easy access to the cay. Note that most of the cay is restricted due to the presence of a bird rookery. A nice well protected anchorage.
