Whitsundays – week 1 (30 June 2008)

Whitsundays – week 1 (30 June 2008)
After several weeks in Mackay Marina doing general maintenance on Erica our 3 new crew members arrived on Saturday 28 June. We spent a merry night on Erica before casting off the mooring lines and heading out into a fresh 20 knot southeaster bound for Goldsmith Island (located at the southern end of the Whitsunday region).

After nearly 400 nautical miles weaving up the east coast of Australia from Brisbane we felt that we had finally arrived! Our first real fishing success was also not far away - once we were well clear of the Mackay Harbour the new crew had the trolling line over the side and soon the first spotted Mackerel was on board (see photo). This fish was estimated to cost $600 but if we catch another one, they will be only $300 each!

Goldsmith wasn’t the comfortable anchorage we were looking for (Phil is still a beginner at this part of cruising). So we set off for Thomas Island and the promise of smoother waters and better swimming - the weather was certainly on our side and as the week progressed it just got better. As expected everyone fell in love with Thomas and its relaxed pace (see photo) and other friendly boaters (thanks Tonto for spare parts for our running repairs). Thomas also has a great sandy beach and an easy walking track to the windward side of the island - both young and older crew loved this sunny flat anchorage. Turtles again visited us in this pretty little bay.

After 2 days we decided to make the most of the great conditions and upped anchor to head for Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island and were overjoyed to see a Humpback Whale with a new calf close on our starboard bow heading south. A rare highlight which we hope will be repeated often. Whitehaven is the most popular, tourist focused, place in the Whitsundays and soon after picking our “quiet” spot on the beach we were horrified when a large tour boat unloaded several hundred tourists close by. We walked (see photo) and swam on the crystal white sandy beach under an equally crystal clear blue sky – a great day.

That night we proceeded to Tongue Bay for a quiet night, only to be greeted by an anchorage with 27 other boats - sadly we realised our days of anchoring in a bay with only 1 or 2 other boats was over for a few months. However, we were again fortunate to catch up with our friends on Imagin, who provided a hearty meal of oysters freshly harvested and a close encounter with a very unusual sea star / starfish (see photo) for our adventurous young crew to examine.

From Tongue we sailed on to Nara Inlet (see photo) via Hook Passage, for a quick lunch and a short climb to visit a cave with Aboriginal paintings, before sailing on to Stonehaven Bay for our last night at sea this week. Here at the Southern Beach of Stonehaven Bay we rendezvoused with our close friends who had left Goolwa 4 years earlier for a 1 year sail to Queensland and never quite made it back – we are fast realising why. A fantastic evening of sunset drinks was enjoyed on “Say No More” with the crew of “Imagin” and “Erica”, before a long dinner back on Erica.

On Friday the 4th of July we enjoyed one of our best sails of the trip, reluctantly returning to Airlie Beach and the realities of life as we squeezed Erica into her berth at the Abel Point Marina!