Crystal clear blue waters, white sandy beaches, snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef, sailing effortlessly aboard a luxurious catamaran - all made up our expectations of a week bareboating on the Whitsundays. But one condition was all important and unfortunately beyond our control - THE WEATHER!!!
The plans for our "great adventure" began around the dinner table one evening in a Sydney restaurant when three couples, Lupe, David, Pam, Paul, Barbara and John decided to do something different for the Easter Break. After deciding on a Whitsunday bareboat holiday, the word spread and other friends from Brisbane and Melbourne decided to join us, making a total of 17 people chartering three yachts.
There are several types of yachts available for charter in the Whitsundays and we decided on a 12m catamaran. It contained a huge saloon area, three separate double cabins, one main bathroom and two ensuites plus galley and all mod cons. Outside consisted of a large afterdeck with barbecue, a generous marlin platform for access in and out of the boat and a trampoline across the front hulls for sunbaking and relaxing. All the sailing work would be done in the rear cockpit behind a windscreen and spray dodger and the boat was capable of doing 4 knots with all sails up or under motor. It was definitely built for comfort not speed - a deciding factor as far as the females in our group were concerned.
 We were advised by our charter company to purchase a book "100 Magic Miles of the Great Barrier Reef - The Whitsunday Islands" by David Colfelt, well before we were due to embark on our sailing adventure. It is extremely comprehensive and contains absolutely everything you need to know about the islands, the waters, anchorages, expected winds, where you can go and where you can't, supported by detailed maps and photographs.
Further pre-planning entailed decisions on electing a skipper and who would be in charge of supplies. As John had the most sailing experience it seemed logical he would be skipper. Lupe actually volunteered to plan our menus and buy supplies at Airlee Beach before departure. The remaining four of us were deckies and able to declare mutiny, if necessary!! We all chose a 'buddy' (not our own spouse) to look out for each other as a safety precaution. A final touch was to design our own crew T-shirts and special flags to honour the occasion.
The three crews met at Airlee Beach and stayed overnight at a resort near the Marina. First thing next morning we borrowed a courtesy van from our charter company and purchased and loaded all the provisions. After an extensive briefing on the workings of our catamaran and the do's and dont's on land and sea, we set sail under supervision of a charter crewmember who stayed on board until he was confident we could handle the boat. One most important instruction was re radio schedules. We were instructed to make contact every morning to advise our plans for the day and our proposed anchorage that evening. Then in the evening another scheduled radio contact confirming we had made the nominated anchorage safely.
At last we were on our own - this was what we had all been looking forward to. But the wind dropped so it was a fairly slow 17 nautical mile trip from Airlee to our first anchorage at Nara Inlet on the southern end of Hook Island.
We had arranged to meet the two other crews here. One crew didn't read the map properly - mistook nearby Marcona Inlet for Nara and promptly ran aground on the rocks! Fortunately they managed eventually to drive off under motor, and as one of the men on board was an experienced diver he was able to dive down and check that no damage had been done to the underside.
Upon eventually arriving at the correct anchorage they then decided to announce their safe arrival by hauling up their special flag with one of the halyards. Having forgotten already the warning during briefing not to let go the ends of the halyard, the next thing it was lost to the top of the mast. It took over an hour for one tentative person to slowly climb up the 10 metre mast to retrieve the end - a very scary experience for him and those watching below.
 After a scrumptious meal prepared by Lupe complimented with a few good bottles of wine, we all retired for the night. Most of us slept soundly, unaware of the drama that unfolded when Paul was woken by a loud thumping noise. Upon scrambling outside he was shocked to see that one of the other yachts was crashing against ours. We had apparently dragged our anchor and moved quite a distance! Members of the other crew hurriedly rushed out, half asleep, to answer Paul's cries of alarm, upanchored and moved away to a safer distance, fell back into bed none the wiser that it was our boat that caused the problem!
In the morning 'Skipper' John insisted we all rise early for a compulsory pre-breakfast row ashore up Nara Inlet to tackle a bushwalk leading to an aboriginal cave containing paintings. It was a comfortable uphill trek and once at the top we took in the great view down to the where our boats nestled in the inlet appearing as small intrusions in an otherwise naturally beautiful scene.
We set sail for Stonehaven Anchorage on the western side of Hook Island. Our plan was to go snorkelling on the reef off Black Island (also known as Bali Hai) south of Hayman Island. After dropping anchor we all piled into the motorised inflatable dingy loaded up with flippers, snorkels, suncream and cameras for the 1 nautical mile trip. The seas were quite flat when we started out but suddenly the wind blew up and the waves became uncomfortably big.
We were heading for the reef, so decided to turn around and head back to the yacht. The waves were thrashing over the front of the dingy completely drowning all of us. John was operating the motor and steering, David was bailing out water as fast as it was coming in, Paul was concerned about keeping his expensive camera equipment dry, and the three women just prayed that the dingy wouldn't sink! There was no other vessel around, which made it all the more frightening. Somehow we made it back to the yacht in one piece, soaked to the skin, but so relieved to feel safe at last. Immediately we upanchored and moved to a more protected anchorage in Stonehaven.
Later that day, Paul decided that the front deck needed a hose down. After completing the job he proceeded to walk across the deck to go inside, when suddenly lost his footing on the wet surface and fell heavily on his back. He just lay there, not moving. When he came to, he was very groggy with a large lump on the back of his head. We radioed the charter company for advice and were instructed to keep him awake to make sure he was not concussed. We spent several anxious hours monitoring his condition - fortunately he was OK but we all learned a lesson - be careful of slippery fibre-glass decks!
After spending the night at Stonehaven we left for Long Island where we hoped we could anchor and go ashore. The conditions were not good - very windy and huge waves. John was the only one enjoying the sail - it was a challenging experience for him. The rest of us were so glad when we reached Palm Bay on Long Island - a small secluded hideaway. After anchoring, we went ashore, and then set out for a walk across the headland to the Club Crocodile Resort at Happy Bay for cocktails poolside. This is a very easy enjoyable 45 minute walk each way, great to do at night as long as you have a torch and don't mind all the nocturnal sounds of the bush. We joined the guests at Palm Bay for a reasonably priced roast dinner in the log cabin dining room. The hospitality was great - very informal and friendly - we had a most enjoyable evening.
The following morning we arose to really awful weather - rainy, windy, rough seas. As we had not seen the other two crews since leaving Nara Inlet, we radioed
both yachts and arranged to meet at South Molle Island. That day was spent catching up on each other's sailing experiences, using the facilities of the resort, sitting around under cover near the pool and bar area and attending a Hawaiian banquet and floor show in the evening, hoping the rain would clear by the morning.
There was no change in the weather the following day and 'Skipper' John had mutiny on his hands! We all decided NO MORE SAILING - let's head for Hamilton Island and stay there for the last couple of days. As the wind was coming from the direction we wanted to go, it took hours of tacking in the windy rough conditions. Suddenly there was a loud crack like a rifle shot and the sail when streaming into the wind. The eyelet had ripped completely out of the heel of the jib - our most powerful sail was gone!
Because it was all roller reefing we had no way of pulling the sail in or down - it had to be wrapped around the forestay by hand. While the rest of us hung on for dear life, John fought the elements and scrambled to the front of the boat, up to his knees in swirling water to wrap the jib around the forestay and secure it so it wouldn't sustain further damage. It was terrifying to watch, but he succeeded at last. The remainder of the trip to Hamilton wasmade under motor.
What a haven Hamilton Island appeared to us - large, busy, colourful and SAFE. Once moored at the marina we couldn't wait to enjoy the island's attractions, and most of us were happy to just lounge around the pool, walk around the shops or hire a golf buggy and explore the island. The guys settled down in one of the bars and exchanged yachting experiences that got bigger and better as the afternoon wore on. All but three of us refused to go off sailing during the two days - the adventurous trio sailed to Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island and thoroughly enjoyed themselves, marvelling at the beautiful pure white sandy beach of Whitehaven and probably extremely glad to be free of the novice sailors for the day.
After two days of thoroughly enjoying Hamilton Island, it was time to return to Airlee Beach. No sooner had we left the marina than the winds died down, the sun shone, and water was still and picture postcard perfect. This was what we had expected our bareboating holiday to be for the whole 6 days. We were able to just laze around, take in the beautiful scenery and sunbake on the front trampoline as we circled Daydream Island on the homeward stretch.
There had been times during the previous 5 days when many of us couldn't wait to get off the yachts, but this day we just wanted to keep going forever. Upon arriving at Airlee Beach, the charter company staff welcomed us back and carried out a debriefing. Our bareboating adventure was over and we returned home with many stories to tell. We had a lot of fun, some scary moments, but mostly many great memories - and what better place to have all these experiences than in the beautiful (when the weather is kind) waters of the Whitsunday Islands.
Article by Barbara Barham
© Breakloose Publications. Unauthorised use or reproduction phrohibited.
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1-27-2005
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1-27-2005
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