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We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn near Rockhampton this morning at 4:59am so we have now officially left the tropics.

We have been making good progress south and might arrive at Southport ahead of schedule on Thursday. 

Weather has been warm with not much wind to cool the heat of the sun.

Some dolphins swam along with us this afternoon and we have spotted some whales in the distance. 

All aboard doing well and enjoying the trip. 

Left Airlie Beach today at 11:00am on our long voyage back to Melbourne. George and David flew in this morning to join Anne, Catherine and Phil: looking forward to having all family on board. 

Perfect weather. Fair winds. Slight seas. Warm. Off to a great start.

It was a pleasure taking Anne, Steve, Lily and Hugo on our last cruise of the Whitsunday islands this week. We wanted to share the best of what we have found in this tropical “Eden” and also revisit some of the places Anne and Steve saw when they cruised here many years ago.

A highlight of the trip was snorkelling with our favourite turtle Sheldon. She was so friendly, visiting the boat as soon as we moored and happily swimming among us, virtually kissing our masks. We have come to learn that Sheldon is a celebrity of Stonehaven Bay with many aliases, including Terry, Bob and—would you believe—Gangsta-T!

The coral and fish were spectacular. We visited a couple of new places: Cockatoo Point in Stonehaven Bay, and Luncheon Bay. The fish in Luncheon Bay were abundant, surrounding us in a kaliedescope of bright tropical colours.

We didn’t see any whales this week, unfortunately. Their migration back south must be well underway. However, we did spot some dolphins. We were also fortunate to see some bio-luminescence one night in Nara Inlet. Also, for the first time, we spotted goats wandering along the rocky shore of Stonehaven Bay. Not as awesome as whales but at least something new to add to the list of wildlife we have seen on our voyage.

The weather has been quite warm and humid with not much breeze to provide relief, so we often went swimming to cool off. We took in the beautiful view of Whitehaven Beach from the lookout at Tongue Point and then spent a few hours at the beach enjoying the sun and the sea. Instead of yoga, this week’s beach activity was swing dancing.

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The week finished back at Airlie Beach with a refreshing swim at The Lagoon, eating ice-creams, browsing through the stalls of the Saturday market by the beach, and a delicious dinner at our favourite seafood restaurant.

Catherine and I are now busy getting ready for our trip back to Melbourne. We have to stock provisions, load fuel and run through a long check-list to prepare Débonnaire for the voyage. The weather forecast looks good so we plan to leave on Sunday as soon as our crew arrives from their flight up from Melbourne.

People wonder how Catherine and I have coped with living for months cramped in a boat but when they visit us they realise we are very comfortable here in paradise. That was the case again this week when we enjoyed the company of Kathryn, Lorraine and Peter for a cruise to some of our favourite spots around the Whitsundays.

We happened across two turtles one day and it seemed so extraordinary to us that we were still talking about it days later. Turtles are usually shy and on the rare occasion one pops its head up it would be only a brief sighting before the turtle dives for cover. So we were surprised not only to see a pair of turtles but also that they swam around for 10 minutes unperturbed while we watched them closely from the boat. Truly memorable.

Colourful fish, coral reefs, whales, dolphins, Whitehaven Beach, sunsets, sunrises: all magnificent. After visiting the aboriginal cave, our night at Nara Inlet was capped-off with a pretty show of sparkling bio-luminescence in the inky black water. We packed all this in from Sunday to Wednesday while cruising around the islands. Thursday we spent at Airlie Beach sightseeing, dining, swimming and relaxing. It was terrific taking Kathryn, Lorraine and Peter around the Whitsundays, showing them the sights, enjoying happy hour and spending the evenings chatting and playing card games.

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The weather has been getting warmer, reaching high-20s. Also, the winds have now switched to northerlies and often light so at times it has felt quite hot on board: perfect for snorkelling. The nights have been balmy and star-filled. It’s going to be hard leaving this wonderful climate in a week’s time.

This week we had a delightful visit from Alex and Cam. We spent Monday looking at shops in Airlie Beach and cooling off at the Lagoon. We then sailed off for 3 days around the Whitsunday islands. Snorkelling at Stonehaven and Blue Pearl Bay didn’t disappoint, with plenty of coral and tropical fish. The highlight was swimming with a friendly turtle we named “Sheldon”. It was probably the same one that visited us the last time we were at Stonehaven. We felt so fortunate to enjoy such a close encounter.

We had a couple of other special moments during this trip. At Blue Pearl Bay, a huge whale appeared where the boats were moored, about 150 metres from where we were snorkelling. And at Tongue Bay, we were lucky to catch a couple of sightings of a dugong just 30-50 metres from our boat.

We spent our last day at the beautiful Whitehaven Beach. The weather has been getting hotter here and it was refreshing to swim in the cool sea that gently lapped along the white sand.

We enjoyed having Alex and Cam on board, not only to experience the highlights mentioned above but also to spend time together relaxing, playing scrabble and other games, reading and observing happy hour. We’re glad they were able to join us for a short cruise before Débonnaire returns home to Melbourne.

Whitehaven Beach

Board games on board

Tongue Bay

Before I finish this post, I will go back to the question I raised in my previous log entry, “How big is it?“: Why is the port to the east of Port Phillip called Western Port?

Answer: When George Bass sailed south from Sydney Town in 1797 to prove whether there was a strait separating Van Diemen’s Land from New Holland, he cruised past Wilsons Promontory and then found a very large bay which, at that time, was the largest port discovered since he left Port Jackson. He called it Western Port because it was west of Sydney Town. He was then faced with bad weather, a boat in need of repairs, diminishing provisions and no more time, so he decided to end his exploration and return to Port Jackson. Had he continued west for just one more day he probably would have discovered the even bigger port on which Melbourne grew, Port Phillip.

Have you been wondering how far we have been cruising around the Whitsundays? You have been reading about the beautiful places we have been visiting but maybe you’re not sure where they are. Even if you’ve been following our track on the Chart page of the Débonnaire site, the distances might be hard to gauge. If so, the following will interest you.

I have created an outline of Port Phillip and Western Port and placed it over a map of the Whitsunday region. The outline is the same scale as the map so they are directly comparable. The map below shows that the central islands of the Whitsundays lie within the outline of Port Phillip, with Airlie Beach approximately aligned with Portarlington.

To the northwest, Gloucester Island is equivalent to about half way to Ballarat. To the southeast, Scawfell Island is about as far as Inverlock. Bait Reef to the northeast (it’s just outside the boundary of the map) corresponds to somewhere around Bundoora.

The comparison not only shows the extent of the Whitsunday region that we have sailed but also illustrates that many wonderful anchorages are within easy reach.

Question: Why is the port to the east of Port Phillip called Western Port?

I’ll post the answer in my next log entry.

Gigi captures the spirit of our voyage along the east coast of Australia to the tropical islands of far north Queensland with the song “How Far I’ll Go” from the Disney movie “Moana”. The lure of the sea draws us to leave familiar shores to face new challenges in the search of adventure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1JMrVo1D5c?rel=0

Catherine and I spent the past week cruising the southern islands of the Whitsundays. Our voyages over the last few months have now spanned most of the region covered by the best-selling cruising guide 100 Magic Miles, although there are many places within it that we have yet to visit. You can follow our latest voyage, and previous trips, on my Chart page where I have uploaded our tracks and some photos.

We left Airlie Beach last Wednesday and made our way to Plantation Bay on Lindeman Island. Actually, we tried to depart the day before but the tide was particularly low and that made our marina too shallow for us to leave, so we had to wait until the next morning. Our voyage continued south to Thomas, Brampton and Scawfell Islands. We then made our way back north, stopping at Goldsmith and Shaw Islands before returning to Airlie Beach.

It was a leisurely cruise. We weighed anchor after breakfast and travelled only about 25 nautical miles (about 50 km) each day. We would reach our next anchorage by lunchtime and spend the afternoon exploring the beach or relaxing on board.

We enjoyed more solitude than around the islands closer to Airlie Beach. The many tourists on bareboat charters are restricted to the central islands and not permitted to cruise the southern region. So we left the crowds behind in search of secluded bays. You might not expect Islands like Lindeman and Brampton to be uninhabited but they and several other resorts are in fact closed following the devastation of cyclones like Debbie earlier this year and Yasi in 2011.

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We met an eccentric character while anchored at Brampton Island. “Arrow” kindly invited Catherine and me to join him and his companion Peter for dinner on his boat. It’s how cruising used to be, he said, when people visited other boats in an anchorage. He prepared Shanghai braised pork, a delicious meal he learned when in the restaurant business, which we were to discover was just one of Arrow’s many pursuits. I would have to write a book to tell you all his stories about diving for abalone, sailing wild seas, exploring the Coral Coast, flying across the outback, partying with successful rich people, marrying a beautiful business woman who funds his adventures, coaching his genius son to win world championships in rowing (until he became a stunt car driver) and much more. Arrow is so outgoing and animated, I’m sure his hospitality is enjoyed every night at some anchorage along the east coast.

We continued to see many whales, dolphins and turtles. Several times we saw whales breaching and slapping their tails. They were often in the distance and a couple of times we were close enough to have a good view of the spectacle. (Warning: The following video footage was taken handheld while sailing on choppy waves and might cause sea-sickness for some viewers.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2xQiK7_9OQ?rel=0

We’re back in Airlie Beach now and looking forward to our visitors who will be joining us over the next few weeks. Maybe we can cook them a new dish, Shanghai braised pork?