whitsunday wanderings

We had a mixed bag at the Whitsundays. Our intention was to spend as little time as possible visiting the familiar haunts here. We have visited this popular Queensland location many times (yes … poor us!).

But as always, weather is G O D. 

After a lovely relaxing few days of calm weather at Whitehaven Beach, we hauled up the sails with Vivacious, Skedaddle and Serendipity V, bound for May’s Bay on Whitsunday Island. It was a rather brisk sail and it seemed to be a ‘race’ so “no motors”, the Race Committee announced.

Serendipity V, Vivacious and Skedaddle leaving Whitehaven Beach … taken from The Bossa, yes we were out in front!

It’s amazing how close we all were to each other at the May’s Bay finish line. We had a Lightwave 45, a Leopard 38, a Seawind 1160 and of course our Fusion 40. All those numbers represent their length, so quite a mixed bag!

The biggest hurdle, actually there were two, was getting through Hook Passage under sail against an outgoing tide. A huge amount of water moves through this narrow passage that divides Hook and Whitsunday Islands. The second was tacking!  That criss-cross thing you do that takes you nowhere slowly.  We cats just don’t tack! We did fess’ up to the Race Committee that we did turn on the engines through Hook Passage, as did we all. 

It was a fast downwind sail to the Passage, a short motor to get through the passage, followed by a long tacking leg (in to the wind) to May’s Bay.  A lot of fun.

We had the most amazing sunset at Airlie Beach.

After sitting out a strong bout of wind for a few days in Airlie Beach we sailed over to Stonehaven and Butterfly Bay on Hook Island.  We enjoyed catching up with our friends on Lakoa and I finally got back in to the water with my snorkel and cameras.

After the coral bleaching event last summer I really didn’t know what to expect. The fringing reefs around the Whitsundays certainly aren’t what they used to be. Cyclones, run-off from the mainland, boat damage and more recently the bleaching, have all contributed. The visibility is often poor as well.

However, my snorkel at Cockatoo Point, the northern end of Stonehaven on Hook Island, was a pleasant surprise.  There was lots of colour, some healthy soft and hard corals and while the fish were small, there was enough activity to keep my attention. The visibility was disappointing, even at low tide, but sometimes that’s about the preceding several days of wind and current. 

While the water clarity wasn’t great there were still views of colourful, healthy coral.

Remember to click-on/touch each photo for a larger view …

… and at Butterfly Bay and Alcyonaria Point …

These two snorkel spots featured some stunning plate coral.

What next?  Several days of SE wind, arghhh. In fact there was a big week of very strong wind forecast and absolutely no sign of reef weather.  We sat this out in Airlie Beach once again, socialising, shopping, eating out, washing, doing jobs and watching the Olympics.

It was time to sail north. The ensuing weather forecast for the coming 10 days showed more wind after a brief respite, so it was time to depart the Whitsundays. We’d enjoyed the socialising with boats we’ve come to call good friends over many seasons, as well as meeting new friends. It meant our time in Airlie was enjoyable and productive with the chores attended too as well. 

So, after stopovers at Woodwark and Jonah Bays, along with the Cape Gloucester Resort, we said goodbye to our friends on Vivacious, Serendipity V and Pacific Dreams. Skedaddle are still with us.

Drone images of Cape Gloucester

After so many years cruising this coast, we do feel it’s time to look out for new anchorages.  We’d never stopped at Queens Bay in Bowen (nor Jonah Bay near Cape Gloucester).

Bowen is the most northern point of the Whitsundays and often referred to as the northern jewel. It was a short hop from Cape Gloucester to Queens Bay so why not. We had a gentle down wind sail and what a pleasant surprise. 

It is a very protected SE anchorage and such a pretty spot with the big granite boulders dotting the shoreline.  Friends from home have recently bought a house in Bowen, so we even scored a guided tour around town.  Thankyou Frank and Barb (Frank actually made all our stainless rails on The Bossa).  

At anchor with Skedaddle & we are off to Maggie. What a great sail we had.

We’ve so many whales during our last few weeks, many just popping up behind us. Unfortunately no photos.  They are up and down very quickly. We’ve had a run of frustrating fishing. The last four fish have been a tuna (we are not fans), a barracuda, a blacktip reef shark and a mac tuna today. All returned to the deep!

It’s Magnetic Island next!