Awards night

With 10 weeks and 703km of sailing behind us it’s important that we recognise the good and the ‘less good’ of the trip at this awards ceremony.

Nominations for the Sailor Jerry’s Rum award:

sailor_jerry

  1. Whitsunday islands. These are the most magnificent sailing grounds in the world, with beautiful sandy white beaches, the bluest turquoise seas, mostly clear blue skies, lush green islands, coral in a million colours and textures, and myriads of fish so pretty and inquisitive.
  2. Top Shelf. What a beautiful boat. She never let us down once, never felt unsafe in her, she beat a keel-yacht by a mile when sailing into the wind and she took us places we’d never be able to go without her.
  3. Weather. With temperatures between the low and high 20’s, only a few days rain, storms that mostly missed us, and winds that allowed us to sail at least 75% of the time, there can be few complaints about the weather.
  4. Ray, the autohelm. For his inaugural trip Ray was a wild success allowing us to sit back relaxing while he gently guided us in the direction instructed.
  5. Trailer. We spent a good penny or two on a quality trailer before leaving Brisbane for the 2400km journey. It towed like a dream.
  6. Norbert, who not only kept our car and trailer safely out of harms way at his home in Airlie Beach for 10 weeks, but also collected it from the Mackay marina and drove it to his home.
  7. Milk bottle showers. Just enough fresh water to rinse off the salt.
  8. Noodle covers. We used the legs of dark-coloured tights to cover the noodles on the cockpit safety lines. They were cheap and prevented sun deterioration.
  9.  Boom tent. Erected every time we anchored. The tent and bimini covered the boat from mast to stern giving us beautiful shade. The guy who designed and built this for us deserves a medal!

    On Curlew Beach, Macona Inlet

    The fixed bimini at the back shades us while sailing and holds the solar panel which provided all our power. The boom tent zipped securely to it, hooked on the side stanchions and tied around the mast to give the cabin and cockpit total shade.

  10. Stable tables. We took a small fold-up table, but the Stable Tables (trays with bean bag base) were perfect for meals in the cockpit, balancing computers, holding our ‘sundowners’ drinks and snacks, etc.
  11. Welding clamps instead of pegs. Fit over the rails of the bimini perfectly to attach towels, etc to dry with no chance of not holding in a breeze.
  12. No More Tears in the goggles. Brilliant! Stops goggles fogging up when snorkelling.
  13. Non-slip surface stuck to the round table in the galley. Have previously had breakages from unexpected swells rolling the boat, but not this time.
  14. Midgie screens. We had screens made of midgie (sand-fly) netting to in-fill the gap between boat and pop-top and also the washboard (ie the ‘door’ to the cabin). That, combined with our all-natural, DEET-free Mozzie and Sandfly atomiser and cream prevented sandflies being a problem to us completely. Interestingly, Hook Is is infamous for its March Flies – not this trip; rarely saw even one.Mozzie_stuff
  15. Hand-held VHF radio was useful to use in the cockpit. Main radio is in the cabin.
  16. Two black towels. These lived in the cockpit and found a million uses – and never looked dirty.
  17. iSailor. Using this iPhone/iPad navigation app we planned our tracks every day, GPS locator showed exactly where we were all the time and it recorded our routes. It’s worth it’s weight in gold!

AND THE GRAND WINNER IS:

Pammy and Milton who house-sat for us. Keeping the grass and weeds in order, keeping an eye on all the birds, caring for our home, collecting our mail, doing our banking (which was no mean feat!) and leaving us worry-free to enjoy our trip.  Thank you Pammy and Milton.Pam_Milton

Unfortunately for every trip with highlights there are also lowlights, so now we move to the
Walk the Plank award nominees.

  1. The deflating tender. Too late we learnt that inflatable tenders built in China are held together with heat-sensitive glue which melts in our tropical conditions.
  2. The tender outboard. Mostly reliable, or is that a contradiction of terms. When sailing it’s 100% reliability or nothing!
  3. Drying out. We still have lessons to learn on how to do this successfully.See that fin thing underneath - that's the skeg, and what caused us to lean uncomfortably, for a while.
  4. Red rope on the rudder. Too hard to explain here, but suffice to say Steve is still having nightmares about the red rope that without fail jammed EVERY time the rudder had to be raised. To free it he had to have more than half his body hanging out of the back of the boat, head down. Not a happy chappy.
  5. Antifoul routine. We started too late and with less dedication than we should to keep the hull from growing marine life, even barnacles. We now have hours of painstaking hull cleaning in front of us.

And the grand winner is:
Fluffy Muffy. Do not jest!! This is the name of one of the chartered catamarans. Every day we’d listen to the bareboat charterer’s scheds for the weather, good anchorages, or anchorages to avoid due to them all heading there, and we laughed at Fluffy Muffy each time she called in. UNTIL the day we met Fluffy Muffy leaving Abell Point via the very narrow lane of the marina as we entered it. Heart in mouth as we reversed dodging pontoons, million-dollar boats and Fluffy Muffy as she passed.

This is THE Fluffy Muffy! We soon leant not to take her name in vain!

This is THE Fluffy Muffy! Never again will we take her name in vain!

Ideas for next time:

  • Beach chairs – to sit comfortably on the beach.
  • No table (stable tables good enough)
  • No kayak. Too much hassle trying to inflate onboard, therefore not used as much as we’d have liked.
  • Stand up paddle boards. Just an idea … saw plenty of people with them. They’re light, easily stored, ready to use in minutes and would replace the kayak. Just have to learn the skill.
  • Seawater pump in galley.

13 – 18th Nov: The final leg

Friday 13th November: Hamilton to Macona

Arrggh! Our marina berth was near the pub! Live music last night till midnight, good muso luckily, then a group kept it up on their boat till 4am! Definitely time to leave in search of tranquility.

We’ve a few things left do before our trip ends. Most of them are much better with south easterly winds and the forecast today is just exactly for that. We left Hamilton after filling the larder, putting dinner in the Dreampot to cook  and waiting for an Express Post envelope that should be here by now and isn’t – marina office staff not very helpful in that respect.

The first two hours of the sail was magic as we ran north with a 10 – 15kn south-easterly and the tide. At 1pm the wind stopped and we were becalmed. At this point we usually pull down the sails and motor, but seeing we’ve got all day we sat it out and half an hour later it came back as a north-easterly – we were now close-hauled tacking our way north – still great sailing. Before we got to Macona it had moved around more easterly, stronger and gusty. Fickle winds!

The new forecast came out this afternoon and it’s now for stronger northerlies – damn, that’s stuffed our plans. Lucky we enjoyed the fabulous sail today so we’re not too upset about being up here now!

Saturday

We tossed up whether to sail all the way back south again to do the ‘northern winds activities’ we still want to do or stay here. We decided to stay, but moved to Curlew Beach, a tiny sand beach just inside Macona Inlet where we spent the day reading, hull cleaning and swimming. Heaven.

On Curlew Beach, Macona Inlet

On Curlew Beach, Macona Inlet

As the tide ebbed we motored around the corner intending to pick up a mooring at False Nara and dispatch more of those oysters, but all moorings (ie all 2!) were taken so into Nara Inlet to settle for the night. The problem with Nara is that it is deep its entire length. If we had a windlass to pull up the anchor, as has every boat bigger than us, we wouldn’t care if we have to put out 60 meters of chain, but when it’s poor Steve pulling it in we prefer shallower anchorages!

Sunday

With south-easterlies forecast for later tomorrow we thought we’d jump the gun and get out to the good snorkelling site at Border Is early, before any wind arrived, then head up to the northern Hook anchorages to enjoy the best snorkelling there when the southerlies come in.
We left Nara at 5.30am – once through Hook Passage the swell at 1 – 1.5m hit us broadside and the northerly wind was already up. We persisted for a while, hating every minute then decided the plan was flawed and turned around.

We stopped at an unnamed beach in Hook Passage (anchorage #2), anchoring just off the fringing coral, de-stressed, ate breakfast and had a lovely swim and snorkel over the corals, admiring the fish. So not a complete waste.
Just as we were about to leave the damn painter got caught in the prop stopping the engine. Down went the anchor again in a hurry and Steve spent the next 10 minutes upside down in the engine well trying to unravel it. Lesson learnt!

We motored back to Curlew Beach, pulled up the keel and rudder and floated Top Shelf just off the beach with a stern anchor, enjoying the 4 or so hours around high tide. Back into Macona for a peaceful night.

A sea eagle and her nest on the starboard beacon coming in to Macona. We could see at least 2 chicks.

A sea eagle and her nest on the starboard beacon coming in to Macona. We could see at least 2 chicks.

Monday:

We’ve given up waiting for the right winds for Border Is and the northern snorkelling sites. Today we planned to pick up a mooring at Bauer Bay on South Molle Island and do all the walks there.

It started so well sailing out of Macona with a reefed main to handle the forecast gusty northerlies, turning to strong south-easterlies. The winds weren’t initially too strong, but the swell from the north-east was annoying. The tide across the passage was very strong – we were pointing 30 – 40 degrees off course and being carried directly to our destination.

South Molle Island - our destination. Look at those choppy seas!

South Molle Island – our destination. Look at those choppy seas!

Bauer Bay is a good anchorage only when winds are from the south-east. It was obvious just before we got there that the south-easterly change hadn’t yet arrived and the swell would make the anchorage just plain miserable. We decided to go on to Shute Harbour instead, but stopped for lunch and a swim at Cockatoo Beach on North Molle Island – rudder and keel up to float over the fringing coral to shore. Delightful stopover.

The trip from there across the Molle Passage to Shute Harbour was horrible with a swell that was easily 1 – 1.5 meters rolling us around. Once anchored in this very protected harbour, along with the other 50 or so boats, we took the tender ashore to see what there was to see – which was nothing. All the shops have closed since Port of Airlie became the main tourist hub. Another ‘failed’ tourist area.

While there are a lot of boats moored, many of them don’t appear cared for, far less taken out occasionally, there’s a few ‘live-aboards’ getting cheap accommodation and one of the bare-boat charterers is based here. It’s a sad place Shute Harbour.

Shute Harbour is a huge anchorage. It's shallow - we were anchored in 2.5m at low tide - and very well protected from swell and winds from all directions.

Shute Harbour is a huge anchorage. It’s shallow – we were anchored in 2.5m at low tide – and very well protected from swell and winds from all directions – just as well by the look of those clouds!

Tuesday

The new forecast is out and it’s depressing – south-easterlies at 15 to 30kn for the next 5 days. We don’t sail in winds that strong. So last night we made the decision to finish our trip. It does mean that we’ve left some things we wanted to do undone, which sounds like a great excuse to come back again another year.

We left Shute at about 6am to catch the ebbing tide north and before the winds get up too much, motoring all the way to Airlie Beach. There was plenty of wind, but it was dead on the nose. At Abell Point Marina we had to hang off the public pontoon for a couple of hours until the office opened. We both felt a bit down today – we’re tired and the trip ended a bit abruptly. No cleaning or packing today – today is just for recuperating and reflecting on all the fantastic times we’ve had.

Steve collected the car and trailer from Norbert who has kindly kept them in his backyard.

Wednesday

With the thought of our lovely home awaiting us it was with renewed enthusiasm that we cleaned and packed up the boat and I prepared meals for the trip home. To give the car batteries a good charge we went for a drive to Laguna Quays. This is a mainland ‘failed’ resort, about 20 minutes drive from here.  It was opened in 1992 and covers many acres fronting onto Repulse Bay with a world class golf course, a marina, condominiums and the resort itself. It closed in 2012 and is now owned by a Chinese developer who has not done anything with it since it’s purchase several years ago. The buildings, golf course and marina are in disrepair.

Back to the boat and we de-rigged on the water; so much easier and less fraught than doing it on the trailer as we usually do.

We de-rigged on the water this time. So much easier than doing it on the trailer.

No more sailing. Top Shelf is nearly ready for the long drive home.

For our final night we took a walk into Airlie and had dinner at the sailing club. An appropriate place to finish a wonderful 10-week sailing adventure. We’ll retrieve her first thing in the morning and begin our journey home, arriving on Saturday.

Airlie Beach from the walkway at Abell Point.

Airlie Beach from the walkway at Abell Point.

To see more photos from this part of our trip CLICK HERE

 

11 -12 Nov: Hamilton Island

We’ve found that we happily last a week out and about, but after that we’re hanging out for a long, hot shower and a bit of luxury. Today we’re back at Hamilton Island.

At Hamilton .. bakery, pub, shower - where will we go first?

At Hamilton .. bakery, pub, shower – where will we go first?

For something different this stay we’ve booked to have lunch and a tour of the Hamilton Island Golf Club. It’s situated on Dent Island and is an 18-hole, par 71 course with every hole having spectacular views. The lunch at the Clubhouse first was superb, too.

Stunning course. I wish I could play golf!

Stunning course. I wish I could play golf!

The washing has been done, the boat cleaned inside and out (but not underneath), water and fuel replenished, the sailors rejuvenated and tomorrow before we sail we’ll restock the larder.

Another good stay on Hamilton Island, though we really did miss Baby John – so many extended family groups holidaying here bringing back the memories.

To see the photos from these couple of days CLICK HERE.

 

4 – 10 Nov: Long Is, Macona, Hill Inlet, Whitehaven

Wednesday 4th November

With our newly repaired tender in tow and all provisioned up we headed for Palm Bay on Long Island. It was one of the best sails we’ve had having a good 10kn wind behind us and the tide with us we flew along at upwards of 5kn at times. Ray was on the tiller; we sat back and enjoyed the islands as they floated by.

Running with the wind on our way to Long Island. Magic sailing.

Running with the wind on our way to Long Island. Magic sailing.

The entrance to Palm Bay is via a narrow, dredged channel to a small ‘lagoon’ within the rocks and coral. Here there are 4 mooring buoys. It took us a while and a phone call to reception to finally see the small red and green buoys that delineate the channel. We picked up a mooring buoy then went ashore and brought back one of the stern lines they provide. This will prevent us from swinging as the tide and wind change, hitting the reef, and also keeps us bow to the swell, ensuring a calm night.

Steve rowing ashore. Note the stern line from Top Shelf to the shore.

Steve rowing ashore. Note the stern line from Top Shelf to the shore.

Times are changing on the islands. Our guide book said a mooring fee ($50/night) would cover the resort facilities including pool, showers, etc. Not so anymore – that’s an extra $25 each … bit much to pay for a swim and shower. Palm Bay resort is a pretty resort with small individual burés set in lush tropical gardens facing the beach. It’s all self-catering, with a nicely appointed kitchen and large open dining room for the guests to use.

Palm Bay bures.

Palm Bay bures.

Thursday

Today was a day of walking! We planned to walk the southern walks from Palm Bay first, then to Happy Bay, the resort just north of Palm Bay where we’d rest a while at the beachside cocktail bar we remembered from our last visit here, before continuing with the northern walks. It started so well as we walked along well-shaded tracks covered with a rich carpet of leaves to Sandy Bay, Fish Bay, Pandanus Bay and finally to the Happy Bay resort. This is where it all went wrong – it’s closed! Another ‘ghost resort’. We walked on, unsatiated, completing the island circuit, all up 15.5km. While there were no great peaks to assault with astounding views as we’ve experienced before, it was nevertheless an enjoyable walk around the island.

The islands are interlaced with these wonderful walks, and rarely do we ever meet anyone else out there doing it. They don't know what they're missing.

The islands are interlaced with these wonderful walks, and rarely do we ever meet anyone else out there doing it. They don’t know what they’re missing.

For more photos of our stay on Long Island CLICK HERE

Friday

Suitable anchorages for the persistent northerly winds are limited. We decided to cross the channel again and take our chances at some of the places we still want to see despite the winds. Today’s sail was quite long, but again very enjoyable for most of it. To quote the Skipper, ‘it got a little frisky there for a while’. We were close hauled all the way from Long Island up to Macona Inlet on Hook Island where we’ve anchored.

Saturday

Decided to stay today and explore Macona Inlet in the tender. I must say I think this is one of the best anchorages in the Whitsundays. It has several lovely sandy beaches to explore and swim from, is well protected from all winds except a direct southerly, and the surrounding hillside is beautiful, covered in trees of so many different colours. And it’s not generally as popular as the other protected anchorages.

The guide book said you could catch fish here without requiring much skill. We duly baited our hooks and tossed the lines out, then sat reading – undisturbed. Obviously a greater skill required then we possess.

We were hit by storms tonight – lots of rain and lightning and wind. The anchor held without giving an inch and we had no problems. It soon passed and we slept well.

Sunday

Off to Hill Inlet today on the eastern side of Whitsunday Island. But first we had to pass through Hook Passage. I remember many years ago visiting the Hook Island Underwater Observatory which was here in Hook Passage – but it’s now closed; apparently competition from the high speed catamarans which take tourists out to the reef for the real deal was too great. Pity, I really enjoyed it.

Another once thriving tourist attraction now closed: Hook Island Underway Observatory.

Another once thriving tourist attraction now closed: Hook Island Underway Observatory.

Hook Passage is another of the Whitsunday passages where you have to get wind and tide just so and our planning was good. The tidal flow tore us along at over 5 knots with not much wind to speak of. However the timing also coincided with the tourist boats passing through which added some drama, particularly coping with their wake.

Rapidly closing on us, in Hook Passage.

Rapidly closing on us, in Hook Passage.

To view a few photos of our trip to Hill Inlet CLICK HERE.

Due to lack of wind and a contrary tide as we headed south we motored all the way to Hill Inlet arriving about 2 and a half hours after full tide. This stunning inlet which is the northern boundary of Whitehaven Beach is very shallow – too shallow for keel yachts, but perfect for trailer sailers and catamarans. Sensibly you’d enter this narrow Inlet on the full tide, or at least a rising tide in case of running aground, but we didn’t have those options so in we went anyway. We wound up the keel and pulled the rudder up half way and I took up position standing at the bow trying to spot the deepest channel, waving the directions frantically to Steve. By good luck we didn’t run aground and anchored in a couple of meters of water on the southern side.

This is Hill Inlet. Not my photo - taken from a greater height than I could manage. Here you can see the size of the Inlet and the shifting sands we had to negotiate. Not complaining - top anchorage.

This is Hill Inlet. Not my photo – taken from a greater height than I could manage. Here you can see the size of the Inlet and the shifting sands we had to negotiate. Not complaining – top anchorage.

This was a fairly long trip today – about 15nm of motoring which isn’t relaxing.

Late afternoon we went for a walk along Whitehaven beach. Whitehaven is 7km of pure white sand and is officially rated as one of the top 5 beaches in the World. The sand is 98% silica and very fine and soft. This amazing beach is a bit of an enigma as locally there are no quartz rocks from which it could have been formed. Naturally it’s a major tourist attraction of the area drawing several hundred visitors a day, mostly to the southern section. Being part of a National Park it is entirely unspoilt by development, looking the same today as it did to the Ngaro aboriginal communities over the centuries. And credit to all concerned it recently was awarded the ‘Cleanest Beach in Australia’, well-deserved too from our observations.

By late afternoon the day trippers are all gone and the yachties today are elsewhere, Whitehaven being a poor anchorage in northerly conditions. We could hardly believe our good fortune – arguably the best beach in the entire world and Steve and I had it entirely to ourselves to walk. Surreal.

Aerial photo of Whitehaven looking north towards Hill Inlet. This is the stretch Steve and I walked. Again, not my photo.

Aerial photo of Whitehaven looking north towards Hill Inlet. This is the stretch Steve and I walked. Again, not my photo.

Monday

South easterlies are forecast to arrive today. Rather than stay in Hill Inlet where we only have one opportunity a day to leave and therefore risk having to leave at a time when winds don’t suit us, we decided to move on today. But first a little sightseeing and some housework.

On the headland between Hill Inlet and Tongue Bay, the next bay north, National Parks has built a walking path to a lookout with magnificent views over the Inlet and Whitehaven. We took to the tender before breakfast to beat the crowds, enjoyed the views and photo opportunities then got caught in quite a long, heavy downpour. We were drenched!

Selfie from lookout overlooking Hill Inlet and Whitehaven Beach.

Selfie from lookout overlooking Hill Inlet and Whitehaven Beach.

Back at Top Shelf and now pushed for time we motored into shallower water and hopped overboard with snorkels and masks and our hull-cleaning equipment to give her another clean. Growth on the hull happens so quickly in these tropical waters. Hill Inlet has the same beautiful white silica sand as Whitehaven. The water is crystal clear over this lovely soft sand – it was quite visually striking and made hull-cleaning a pleasant pastime.

By the time we’d finished it was once more a couple of hours after high tide and we had to leave – still no breakfast. I repeated my demented arm-waving act standing on the bow and led us safely out to choppy waters. Fortunately not far to go – just to the southern end of Whitehaven – with southerly winds expected it’s now a good anchorage.

We managed to slip ourselves into the perfect location with the best protection on this magnificent beach and ate our breakfast at midday. Then we sat back and watched the comings and goings! Boats of every size everywhere, seaplanes flying in and out and even 5 identical helicopters arrived together and landed in formation on the beach.

Panorama of a few of the tourists at Whitehaven. Bit wonky as Top Shelf wouldn't stay still for me. If you have very good eyesight you may be able to see 5 red helicopters on the beach.

Panorama of a few of the tourists at Whitehaven. Bit wonky as Top Shelf wouldn’t stay still for me. If you have very good eyesight you may be able to see 5 red helicopters on the beach.

By 4.30pm they’d all gone leaving us and 3 other yachts in peace for the night. We put out a stern anchor to the beach to prevent any rolling from the swell, cooked a delicious meal then sat in the cockpit for hours listening to beautiful music, staring at the sky, counting the shooting stars and sipping a chilled semillon. I hope this evening will remain in my memory for many years to come.

To see our photos from Hill Inlet and Whitehaven CLICK HERE.

Tuesday

I loved it so much here at Whitehaven that I momentarily considered suggesting to Steve that we stay here another night – then I remembered the tourists!! No, they didn’t fit into my idea of tranquility, and sure enough by 8.15am there were already 3 seaplanes landed, disgorging tourists onto my beach. Time to leave.

Our morning constitutional on Whitehaven Beach, before the tourists arrive.

Our morning constitutional on Whitehaven Beach, before the tourists arrive.

This time it’s Solway Pass, between Whitsunday and Hazelwood islands, to be traversed, but we’re getting pretty good at these narrow passes now. Even so with all conditions on our side, and motoring, the swirling waters swept us off course a few times. Once through up went the sails for a gentle, pleasant sail northwards through Fitzalan Pass to Henning Island where we picked up a buoy. Just short of Henning we had a near-catastrophe. We were running with the wind, which means the mainsail was nearly at right angles to the boat  Steve, on the tiller, looked down to start the motor in preparation for mooring when the wind suddenly flipped the sail right across the boat to the other side where I was in the process of sitting back up after leaning over the side to rinse a bucket. It hit the top of my head – if I’d been any higher up we both shudder to think of the consequences. Accidents happen in split seconds.

That set the tone for the next few hours. The wind got up and made the Henning Island mooring uncomfortable, not that my headache and I had any interest in exploring. We dropped the mooring buoy and headed to Beach 25 (yep, that’s its name)  just across the passage and a bit closer to Hamilton Island where we want to go tomorrow for reprovisioning. It was a hasty move as we were both still stressed from the ‘incident’ and it wasn’t until we were half way there that I took a good look at the chart – dangerous reef and very shallow water all around it. Sh*t! We carefully navigated in, anchored, then decided it was too swelly and potentially shallow here too, so moved again to Gulnare Inlet. Took the short-cut through a very narrow channel of ‘a bit deeper’ water between rocks and reefs before negotiating our way into this beautifully protected and calm, but very shallow at dead low tide (which it now was) inlet.

Once safely anchored the remaining alcoholhic beverages on board disappeared rapidly, but we did enjoy a beautiful evening.

26 Oct-3 Nov: Cid, Waite, Chance, Cid

Monday 26th October: Airlie to Cid Harbour

Borrowed the marina courtesy car again to take the tender to repairers this morning. We’ll pick it up on our return in a week or so. In the meantime we can use the kayak to get to shore.

Left Abell Point marina at 1030 our destination Cid Harbour via North Molle Island. A very light easterly wind saw us motoring until we passed the Molle group, then motor sailing most of the way to Cid to counter the very strong north flooding tide. Bad planning – we shouldn’t have left until the tide was turning!

Enjoyed a lovely couple of hours this evening sitting in the cockpit listening to Dean Martin’s beautiful voice floating over the water from a neighbouring yacht.

Some of the islands are exactly the same today as when Captain Cook first saw them, and this could be him now.

Thanks to our wonderful National Parks some of the islands are exactly the same today as when Captain Cook first saw them, and this could be him now.

Tuesday

Cid Harbour to Waite Bay, Hazelwood Island

Phew! Today was a big day.

The several narrow passages between islands around the Whitsundays are notorious for striking fear into the mariner who would dare to traverse them with a contrary tide and wind. Fitzalan Pass on the northern side of Hamilton is one such passage.  We left our anchorage at 7am anticipating a two hour sail to reach the pass at slack tide.
If we’ve learnt nothing else sailing it’s that plans rarely work out as anticipated. No wind this morning but we caught the tidal stream of the flooding tide. With the outboard barely above idle we flew down Hunt Passage and around the corner towards the pass at up to 7kn at times, arriving an hour earlier than planned. Fortunately the pass was mellow as what little wind there was was going with the tide.

Fitzalan Pass. One of the many narrow passages that has a bad reputation. Luckily it was well-behaved today.

Fitzalan Pass. One of the many narrow passages that has a bad reputation. Low rocky outcrops extend for quite a distance from the little island. That’s Hamilton on the right.

We variously motored, sailed and motor-sailed on to Hazelwood Island where we initially anchored for lunch near Lupton Island. This anchorage is deep and surrounded by coral. The trip into the beach without a tender would be a long way and I didn’t want to swim from the boat in such deep water. We upanchored, very unhappily bringing up a piece of staghorn coral the anchor had broken off and moved across Waite Bay to anchor on Hazelwood Island  in a couple of metres of crystal clear water over lovely white sand. Happy now.

Hmmm – ideal opportunity to clean the hull! As the tide dropped we were able to walk around Top Shelf scrubbing off the baby barnacles, slimy growth and even feathery pretty growth. Steve swam under the boat scrubbing the very underneath. It was hard work here for a couple of hours.  We were shocked at how much growth was on her. We won’t leave her that long again. We should fair fly through the water now with all that growth gone.

It’s a full moon tonight. We’re the only ones in Waite Bay – I’m sure this is heaven.

Once more we get to see a full moon rising on this trip - our 3rd so far. This time it's over Lupton Island and we're anchored in Waite Bay on Hazelwood Island. No one else here; an idyllic tropical experience.

Once more we get to see a full moon rising on this trip – our 3rd so far. This time it’s over Lupton Island and we’re anchored in Waite Bay on Hazelwood Island. No one else here; an idyllic tropical experience.

 

Wednesday – Thursday

We had a lovely gentle sail over to Chance Bay on the southern side of Whitsunday Island. After the last few days of predominantly motoring it was good to be able to enjoy the peace of sailing.

Chance Bay is a pretty bay with two lovely white sandy beaches bordered with low growing trees, pandanus palms and crinum lilies which are flowering now. The fringing reef made anchoring challenging until another yacht in the perfect spot left – we quickly took their place.

Steve pumped up the kayak, we paddled ashore and walked another leg of the Ngaro Sea Trail. This 8.5km return walk took us up over the hill, through eucalypts, acacias, large bloodwood trees and grass trees to Whitehaven Beach.

From the lookout on our walk. At the bottom of the cliff is Whitehaven Beach. In the distance is Chalkies Beach on Hazelwood Island.

From the lookout on our walk. At the bottom of the cliff is Whitehaven Beach. In the distance is Chalkies Beach on Hazelwood Island.

We enjoyed a well-deserved swim and chill on the beach watching the comings and goings of the day-tripper yachts, giant catamarans, super-powered rubber ducks, sea planes and huge private motor launches before making our way back to our quiet beach.

These guys give a whole new perspective to Street Food. On Whitehaven Beach.

These guys give a whole new perspective to Street Food. On Whitehaven Beach.

Back at Chance Bay we snorkelled for a while, but other than rocks covered with giant oysters and a few schools of fish, we didn’t see much. It’s supposed to be good snorkelling on the other side of our bay – next time.

Friday

Another perfect day of sailing today. Easterlies at 5 -15kn took us firstly over to Torres Herald Beach in Turtle Bay. We snuck in over the rocks to shore, not quite drying out, lunched and relaxed for a couple of hours. I got a meal prepared for tonight and put it into the DreamPot to cook. This beach is only small but could be the poster beach for any idyllic tropical beach you care to dream about.

Torres Herald Beach in Turtle Bay. This was a delightful luncheon spot for us. We arrived on a rising tide and were able to take Top Shelf right in to shore.

Torres Herald Beach in Turtle Bay. This was a delightful luncheon spot for us. We arrived on a rising tide and were able to take Top Shelf right in to shore.

With strong winds forecast for the weekend we sailed on back to Cid Harbour – again a great sail just sitting back watching the deep turquoise waters of the islands as they disappeared behind us.
We anchored close in to shore just to the south of Sawmill Beach and enjoyed our perfectly cooked silverside and vegies.

Saturday: Cid Harbour

Rained on and off all day today, accompanied by strong gusty wind. We watched movies and read our books.

Sunday: Cid Harbour

Today we climbed Whitsunday Peak. This is one of the highest peaks in the Whitsundays at 450-ish meters and quite challenging. Commencing at Sawmill Beach we followed the dry creek bed initially. It would be spectacular to be here to see it flowing – particularly the waterfalls over some of the huge boulders. The island is heavily wooded with hoop pines and eucalypts which kept us shaded and cool. Leaving the creek the ascent is steep with many zigzags and countless stone steps. A few pauses were needed along the way.

The views from the top were spectacular! We spent about an hour at the top just absorbing the beauty of this magical part of the world. How lucky are we!! It was fun to see places we’d anchored and plan where we’d go next. From up there it looked reasonably close belying the hours of sailing it takes to reach each destination.

The view north from Whitsunday Peak. Cid Island on the left, Cid Harbour the protected area between the island and the headland jutting out from the right.

The view north from Whitsunday Peak. Cid Island on the left, Cid Harbour the protected area between the island and the headland jutting out from the right.

Once back at sea level we washed the sweat off with a swim – don’t know the logic behind that, but it felt good, and paddled the kayak back to Top Shelf.

Monday: Cid Harbour

Today was kayaking day. The inlet looked so enticing from our sky-high view yesterday that we decided to explore it in the kayak. It was a good paddle following the coastline around. In the photograph you’ll see a tiny island in the middle. It has a lovely sandy beach, rocky headland covered in oysters, all sorts of plants, including orchids, and as it doesn’t appear to be named we’ve claimed it for ourselves. Back to the boat another swim and relax after an enjoyable couple of hours paddling.

Dugong Inlet from Whitsunday Peak. Sawmill Beach to the bottom left.

Dugong Inlet from Whitsunday Peak. Sawmill Beach to the bottom left. Top Shelf is anchored just out of the picture on the left.

Tuesday: Cid Harbour to Airlie Beach

Back to Airlie today to reprovision and pick up our tender. This time we planned the trip to perfection and had a lovely sail, despite the winds being south-westerly when the forecast was for north-easterlies. We’re nothing if not adaptable.

Got a big fright coming into the marina. Our allocated berth was amongst the catamarans. As we were about to  turn the corner into the narrow finger to our spot a catamaran was coming out taking up the whole ‘road’. Steve handled it very well with a little forward and backwards, but needed a good stiff drink once we’d tied up.

Another rather impressive boat in the marina at the moment is Hemisphere, the largest sailing catamaran in the world. It’s doing charters up here for the rich and famous. At $360,000 a week we’re trying to get a group together for a trip – we’ll need around 3,600 friends I think – pity it only sleeps 10.

This is the largest catamaran in the world. To get a perspective of how big it is Denise is standing on the pontoon beside it.

This is the largest catamaran in the world. To get a perspective of how big it is Denise is standing on the pontoon beside it.

 

Hemisphere leaves Airlie. For an indication of size, see the catamaran behind her - that's an average-sized cruising catamaran.

Hemisphere leaves Airlie. For an indication of size, see the catamaran behind her – that’s an average-sized cruising catamaran.

For more photos from this week in our travels. CLICK HERE

24-25 Oct: Airlie Beach

Well today had such great potential: a lovely sail in fair winds across the passage to Airlie arriving mid-morning when we would let the boat dry out on the beach so we could scrub her underside clean, righting herself on the incoming tide late afternoon ready for us to motor out a little way and anchor happily for the evening. What could possibly go wrong?

  1. No wind. We had to motor all the way over.
  2. The beach is called ‘Muddy beach’ for a reason. There are rocks in that mud! And sharp things to damage the hull and hurt our feet as we walked around scrubbing her.
  3. The beach is beside the VERY popular Airlie Beach Markets, and it’s Saturday morning. We had an audience watching us squelching around in mud.
  4. All day staying in our stinky, sweaty, muddy clothes waiting for a cold wash onboard this evening is not appealing.
  5. Can’t leave the boat unattended to go and get something to eat.

We abandoned the plan after about an hour and just in the nick of time before the whole bay dried out. We had lunch onboard then booked into the marina (Abell Point Marina) and beat a hasty path to the showers!
While the day had improved it didn’t get a lot better. A walk into Airlie was needed to settle our frazzled nerves, and both being tired we stopped at the first place for dinner – the pub! We ate the worst steak and the worst chips we’ve ever had.

Back to the boat for a very early night.

No photos from today – they wouldn’t have been pretty!

Sunday:

We reprovisioned today. The marina has a free car you can book for 90 minutes. We’re now full up with food, booze, water and fuel, ready to leave tomorrow.

Had dinner tonight at the Barcelona Restaurant with Norbert and Marlene who are the locals who are kindly looking after our car and trailer while we sail. It’s a Spanish restaurant, obviously. We enjoyed some tapas and a paella.

I like Airlie. The walk around the foreshore from Shingelly Beach (the marina site) to Airlie is very pleasant, and there’s lots to see and do at Airlie.

17-23rd Oct: Cid, Stonehaven, Nara

After farewelling Nick, Kim and the beautiful Baby John yesterday we re-provisioned at the store on Hamilton and prepared the boat to leave. Steve’s birthday in a few days called for a celebration at the seafood restaurant last night, and a toast to Hamilton Island.

The tender has a hole, possibly caused when dragging it on or off the boat. Fix-it kit comes into its own.

The strong winds are back but we’re off anyway! We waited for the change of tide to take us north and, along with the south easterlies and just a jib, we made good time to Cid Harbour on the western side of Whitsunday Island. This is a beautiful very large bay with several beaches and anchorages that comfortably accommodated at least 30 yachts on the three nights we spent here. Cid Harbour is very deep and protected from all directions except the west, a benefit during World War II when troop ships anchored here; today you’re more likely to find cruise ships.

Sawmill beach, Cid Harbour. A truly lovely, very protected, anchorage.

Sawmill beach, Cid Harbour. A truly lovely, very protected, anchorage.

On the short walk across to Dugong Beach we reminisced about camping here with the boys in the 80’s and more recently doing this walk with friends we bare boated with several years ago.

It rained on and off on our second day here- our books received lots of attention.

The tender continues to deflate slowly – not happy!

Tuesday

Happy birthday Steve!

The winds are finally dropping. We head for Stonehaven, a bay on the north of Hook Island. A swell made the trip roly until we cleared Hook Passage. We picked up a mooring buoy and prepared for snorkelling. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has defined ‘no-anchor’ areas around many of the best fringing reefs to prevent them being damaged, installing mooring buoys for visiting boaties. These buoys have 2 hour  time limits on them, though if you’re on one at 3pm you can stay till the next day. The buoys are very good with long floating tags making it so much easier to pick up than the ones we learnt on – the boat hook was the way to go with these.

We’ve been welcomed, and farewelled, by turtles at EVERY anchorage we’ve been to so far. It’s uncanny. I’ve decided the turtles must have formed a Whitsunday Ambassadors group, taking it in turns to volunteer to welcome boats to the anchorages.

Turtles came to meet us, and farewell us, at every anchorage. I think they've formed a volunteer welcoming committee.

Turtles came to meet us, and farewell us, at every anchorage. I think they’ve formed a volunteer welcoming committee.

We arrived early to catch low tide, the best time for snorkelling, and snorkelled around the southern end. By lunchtime we were the only boat there so felt no guilt remaining on a mooring, though we did move to the eastern end in the hope the bullets coming down off the surrounding hills would be less. They weren’t – one bullet we measured at 35kn (70km/hr).

We stayed overnight, with all moorings taken by 5pm. Despite the bullets the anchorage was good as the boat turns bow into them – bullets are fine (when securely anchored/moored), it’s a swell that rocks the boat from side to side that makes life miserable.

Wednesday

After breakfast we motored the short distance over to Blue Pearl Bay on Hayman Island. This is reputably one of the best snorkelling and diving sites in the Whitsundays. Again we picked up a mooring to be surrounded immediately by beautiful bat fish. I’d guess that people feed them, hence their interest in us.

Dreadful photo, but you can see the size of the fish that were swimming around our boat at Blue Pearl Bay, Hayman Is.

Dreadful photo, but you can see the size of the fish that were swimming around our boat at Blue Pearl Bay, Hayman Is.

After pumping up the leaking rear side wall of the tender, again, we motored to the southern end of the bay for some snorkelling, but soon moved up into the central area where there’s a narrow marked channel for dinghy entry to the beach – this was the better spot for the amazing coral and fish. Steve videoed some of what we saw.
View a short video of our snorkelling – it’s only 2 mins.

We started to get cold, and the day-tripper boats were disgorging tourists by the score, so we lunched onboard then left, heading north around Hayman intending to spend the night in Butterfly Bay. But the wind was now moving around to the north and someone told us they’d had a very roly night there last night. We continued our circumnavigation of Hayman Island, putting up the sails as we turned west; exciting sailing as we watched for and prepared for the bullets to hit us. We finally anchored in Refuge Bay in Nara Inlet anticipating a quiet night.

Thursday

It was like a mill pond last night! We’d anchored in 9 meters of water, but noted as we drifted on the anchor the depth would drop (rise?) to 4 metres – still plenty of water for us. In the sunlight and with such beautifully crystal clear waters we could see we were drifting over corals. If the other name for this bay wasn’t ‘Shark Bay’, rumoured to be a breeding ground for hammer head sharks, I may have been tempted to snorkel over it.

Today we went out to False Nara Inlet, a tiny bay just outside Nara destined to trick the unwary mariner. Here we picked up one of two mooring buoys then took the tender (after pumping up her broken wing again!) to the shore. The rocks were covered with the biggest oysters I’ve ever seen. This isn’t an often visited bay and few, if any, had been taken. Without moving more than 3 meters Steve had got a cup of oyster flesh for me – pity he doesn’t eat oysters!

My lunch today - 4 dozen oysters au beurre, fresh off the rocks at False Nara Inlet.

My lunch today – 4 dozen oysters au beurre, fresh off the rocks at False Nara Inlet.

A lovely swim followed then snorkelling over the coral bommies. I stayed mostly on the beach side so the coral was OK, but the fish kept me enthralled for ages – so beautiful. We investigated how we could get Top Shelf inside the fringing reef onto the gently sloping beach one day in the future to clean her hull – looks like a line from the middle of the two reef protection buoys on the southern side to the rock wall on shore looking out for two large bommies at the beginning. The water is so clear we’ll probably see them clearly.

We lunched here. By the time we’d finished there were three other yachts with us, one on the other buoy, and two anchored, one of which was a huge trimaran with about 20 bronzed, bikini-clad girls and half a dozen guys. They were ferried over to the reef to snorkel, which they seemed to enjoy, but they’d already missed the best time just before and during low tide.

I swear I’ve never seen anyone else at this little bay – seems like when one yacht anchors others just have to join them!

Back into Nara Inlet for another peaceful night.

Friday

The winds are back up again today – 20 knots from the north. No matter, we’re staying here today ready to sail to Airlie Beach tomorrow.

We spent a lazy morning attending to ‘business’ on our computers. I cooked one of my favourite meals, Pujabi lentils, while Steve inflated the kayak.

Leaving the Ngaro Cultural Site. Top Shelf is at the FAR end.

Leaving the Ngaro Cultural Site. Top Shelf is at the FAR end.

We paddled down to the far end of Nara Inlet where National Parks has provided a short walk and boardwalk to view an Ngaro aboriginal art cave. The Ngaro peoples appear to be one of the earliest groups of aborigines on the east coast of Australia. Archaeologists have dated their presence here back more than 6000 years. That all ended in 1870 though with colonisation. They were known as the saltwater people, travelling around the Whitsunday islands in their hand-sewn paperbark canoes, even as far out as the Reef. They were very accomplished mariners.

In aboriginal culture it is common to ask their ancestors for permission before entering certain sites. This sign asks the visitor to pause and think about the people who walked here before them and acknowledge the Ancient Ones by putting your hand over the handprint.

In aboriginal culture it is common to ask their ancestors for permission before entering certain sites. This sign asks the visitor to pause and think about the people who walked here before them and acknowledge the Ancient Ones by putting your hand over the handprint.

After visiting this Cultural site we paddled on down to the dry waterfall then headed back to Top Shelf- all up over an hour of kayaking – I’m going to be sore tomorrow!

Another view of Nara Inlet. See our kayak on the little beach in the foreground?

Another view of Nara Inlet. See our kayak on the little beach in the foreground?

To see more photos from this part of our trip CLICK HERE.

1 – 16th Oct: Hamilton Island

Yes, it’s true – we spent 16 days in the marina at Hamilton Island! The winds just blew and blew and blew! The first week was actually lots of fun. I mean it’s hard to get sympathy when you’re stuck on a tropical island as good as Hamilton!

We admired the island

Lovely to eventually see a beautiful resort giving lots of people lots of happiness.

Lovely to eventually see a beautiful resort giving lots of people lots of happiness.

We enjoyed the free entertainment.

A very good muso - entertaining us on the marina lawn.

A very good muso – entertaining us on the marina lawn.

We blew our diet.

There goes 10 days of healthy eating! From the Pub on the marina side.

There goes 10 days of healthy eating! From the Pub on the marina side.

We climbed to Passage Peak. No mean feat as those who have done it will attest.

Catseye Beach. Taken during our walk to Passage Peak.

Catseye Beach. Taken during our walk to Passage Peak.

We relaxed by the pool.

Listening to live music beside the swim-up Cocktail Bar. Yep, that's relaxing!

Listening to live music beside the swim-up Cocktail Bar. Yep, that’s relaxing!

We didn’t have to go snorkelling to see coral and tiny fish.

There's also quite an advanced staghorn growing on the pontoon.

There’s also quite an advanced staghorn growing on the pontoon right beside us.

we joined in some activities – yoga, tai chi and ‘learn to husk a coconut’.

A coconut husking lesson.

A coconut husking lesson.

We ran in the inaugural Hamilton Island 5km Parkrun.

Steve, competing in the inaugural Hamilton Island ParkRun

Steve, competing in the inaugural Hamilton Island ParkRun

For more photos from the last 12 days on Hamilton, CLICK HERE.

And then the most exciting part happened! Nick, Kim and Babyjohn arrived for a 4-day stay.

Swimming with Opa.

Swimming with Opa.

 

Timeout, on Catseye Beach.

Timeout, on Catseye Beach.

 

Kim, bringing them in.

Kim, bringing them in.

 

We had great times together on Hamilton.

We had great times together on Hamilton.

 

Very special, happy little family.

Very special, happy little family.

To see more photos of our time with Nick, Kim and John on Hamilton Island, CLICK HERE.

30th Sept: Lindeman to Gulnare Inlet

The forecast is for strong to gale force winds for a few days starting from Friday – darn! We were intending to drop into Hamilton or Airlie soon anyway to replenish supplies so it is rather timely. We’ve still got today with pleasant sailing!

In the absence of the promised mooring buoys off Lindeman Resort we anchored and went ashore. This is another deserted resort. It was closed in January 2012 citing the downturn caused by the GFC and cyclone damage. White Horse Ltd, a Chinese subsidiary purchased it soon after and currently has a proposal in for 335 suites and villas across 5 precincts including 5 and 6 star accommodation, golf course, marina, upgraded airfield, etc, etc. At least this will be a resort that lots of people will be able to enjoy one day, unlike Brampton’s plans.

The resort has 3 caretakers who keep the grounds in reasonable condition. The buildings aren’t being maintained and one of the caretakers told us the basic infrastructure for water, sewerage, electricity is in poor condition. The resort will be bulldozed – but goodness knows when they’ll start works.

The empty beach on such a perfect day tells its own story of this resort.

The empty beach on such a perfect day tells its own story of this resort.

We were keen to walk to the top of Mt Oldfield, having been told the views are very good. The caretaker directed us to the beginning of it at the far end of the airfield. Another enjoyable walk of about 8km. The 360 degree views from the grassy knoll at the top gave us almost a bird’s eye view of the ocean and islands surrounding Lindeman. The islands seem to float in the subtly graded blues of the ocean and sky.

Panorama from Mt Oldfield.

Panorama from Mt Oldfield.

To view our photos from Lindeman Resort and Mt Oldfield CLICK HERE

Back at the boat we up-anchored and headed towards Gulnare Inlet, not far north of Hamilton Island. This is a narrow and fairly shallow Inlet that is very well protected from winds from nearly every direction. The sailing was enjoyable with Ray on the helm. Passing between Hamilton and Dent Islands the waters were really weird – like a washing machine, but that soon passed and after carefully following the geographical leads into Gulnare Inlet we anchored and prepared for a very peaceful night. Ingrid and Ken (On the Wing) were also anchored there but we didn’t catch up with them

29th Sept: Lindeman Island

Ahh such a peaceful night! We were going to do so many things today, but just didn’t get around to it. We did take the tender ashore and explored a little stoney beach beside Plantation Bay, then went around a small headland to Plantation Bay which has a lovely sandy beach. I wonder why one is all stones and the one beside it sandy?
We’ve got one more day of light winds before it starts picking up and by the weekend we’ll have gale-force winds.
Our lovely quiet anchorage has 12 boats in it tonight, all moving gradually closer to a safe harbour.

The sandy beach at Plantation Bay.

The sandy beach at Plantation Bay.

To see photos from Plantation Bay on Lindeman Island, CLICK HERE.

(PS: Happy birthday Deb and Lynise)