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Last week, Catherine and I sailed to Sawmill Bay (see Whitsunday Sunset). As we crossed Whitsunday Passage, a drone appeared out of the blue. It swooped past and circled around us a few times before flying back to a yacht in the distance. We had no idea who was flying the drone until today when through the intertwined network of social media we were given a YouTube link to the following video shot on 29 May 2017. We were sailing with just the jib because sometimes we decide to “take it easy” and don’t bother putting up the mainsail, depending on the wind, how far we’re cruising and whether we’ve got the energy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of2BgiMT8_E

Nice footage Emir Ruzdic.

As Melbourne rugged up for a chilly start to June, Grace and Sam booked a last minute weekend escape to the warmth of the Whitsundays.

Friday and Saturday were windy here so we spent our time in Airlie Beach. We wandered into town to look at the beach, foreshore craft market and Main Street shops. We went for a picturesque walk up Airlie Creek along a track into the hills behind Airlie Beach. We reached pretty rock pools with water cascading through boulders.

Along the way Catherine showed us fascinating mimosa plants. Their feathery leaves close when you touch them.

We also spent some time relaxing in the marina, hanging out in the hummock, reading books and playing card games.

Sunday was forecast to be less windy, so we decided to sail over to Blue Pearl Bay on Hayman Island to snorkel among the tropical fish. The following photo shows Grace and Sam enjoying the cruise–but don’t ask me who is whom!

The wind was supposed to be 15-20 knots but it came up fresher at 18-23 knots with gusts to 30 knots. The sea was a little bumpy but not that bad considering it had been blowing 25-35 knots for the past few days. Unfortunately, the wind and waves were from the wrong direction and made Blue Pearl Bay uncomfortable so we moved on to Butterfly Bay on Hook Island which was more sheltered. We buzzed over to shore in the tender to relax on the beach and go snorkeling.

The weekend was over too soon and Grace and Sam flew back home on Monday morning. Catherine and I enjoyed their short visit and we hope they took warm memories with them back to Melbourne.

For those interested in history, Sunday was notable for this region because it was Pentecost Sunday, a special day on the Christian calendar celebrated 50 days after Easter, also known as “Whit Sunday”.  It was on Whit Sunday in 1770 that Lieutenant James Cook passed through this region on his first voyage of discovery up the east coast of Australia. He named Whitsunday Passage and Pentecost Island.

 

Catherine and I spent Monday night at anchor in peaceful Cid Harbour on Whitsunday Island.  The photo says it all.

We had a fun weekend celebrating Catherine’s birthday in the Whitsundays with some old friends.

We had a surprise visit from Mr Chang, the noodle man. He dropped in briefly before he joined Helen, Paul and their friends on Carpe Diem for a cruise to Lindeman Island. He’s a little mischievous with a cheeky sense of humour, a spark of entertainment for plenty of laughter.

As we bid Mr Chang farewell we welcomed Gilly and Neil on board for a couple of days cruising around Hook Island. We spent our first night anchored at Stonehaven, not far from Hayman Island which is now closed until mid-2018 due to damage from Cyclone Debbie. We went snorkeling at Butterfly Bay and, although the coral was damaged by the cyclone and the water still cloudy, we saw our first colourful tropical fish. The second night we anchored at Nara Inlet. We went ashore and walked to an interesting cave decorated with aboriginal art. The highlight of the trip was the calm night in this anchorage, suspended in darkness with countless stars twinkling in the sky above and dazzling blue bio-luminescence sparkling in the water below. It was a magical, surreal experience.

We celebrated Catherine’s birthday back at Abell Point Marina. Helen and Paul joined us at the new marina restaurant where we shared stories of our cruises in the Whitsundays.

 

I’ve always enjoyed Melbourne’s crisp autumn mornings that often warmed into sunny days. So I was surprised to find that I wasn’t adjusting to the cool weather. It was getting too cold in Melbourne and the tropical warmth of Airlie Beach beckoned.

We enjoyed our short visit home. It was fun catching up with so many friends and family, hearing their news and telling them about our adventure.

We returned to Airlie Beach last week, excited to be travelling again. It was a chilly 9°C when we left Melbourne and a sensational 24°C when we arrived at Airlie Beach. But the good weather wasn’t going to last. Rain was on its way, a lot of it, and we had to be prepared. We expected to be holed-up in the marina for some time so we stocked up with plenty of food and filled the water tanks. We also fixed the leaks we found on our trip north from Melbourne. The rain started Wednesday evening, just a light shower at first that increased to a steady rain. Not a deluge but it just didn’t stop. It rained and rained, pretty much continuously for 48 hours. We collected 185 mm, about three times the amount Melbourne typically gets in a month! At times it sounded like water was dripping everywhere inside the boat but it was mostly just the echo of water sloshing all around outside.  We had only a handful of annoying leaks when the rain was at its worst.

Life in our “submarine” was quite pleasant actually. We had plenty of time to read, watch TV and mop up drips. We tried all the games Catherine brought along for rainy days and I thought they were a lot of fun. Catherine thought that I was being too competitive; if that was true then it must have been the pernicious effect of prolonged confinement.

It was a great relief to see the clouds break in time for sunset on Friday and to step outside into the fresh air.

The weather is much better now and we’ve spent most of our time catching up on the never-ending maintenance and repairs: winches, blocks, jib furler, anchor chain, teak and more. For us it’s a labour of love, but for you it’s just boring, so I won’t go on.

 

With the crews of Debonnaire and Carpe Diem having departed by last Friday, Dino, Catherine and Phil spent a few extra days unwinding at Airlie Beach. Apart from some minor boat and sail repairs to organise, and some maintenance we did ourselves, we had plenty of time to relax and explore our home-away-from-home.

We wandered around town and checked out some shops and restaurants. It was bustling with tourists, particularly with young back-packers from all around the world. The main street through town is nicely developed, probably updated in recent years. Despite Cyclone Debbie, most businesses seemed to be operational again. There must have been a huge effort to quickly clean up the debris. There’s a lot of work underway to repair the damage and I’m sure that before long Airlie Beach will be back to normal. Even the trees that were stripped of their leaves are already bursting back with new growth.

We have been on a couple of short cruises. On Saturday afternoon, we headed over to the Whitsunday Islands and visited Nara Inlet. This is likely to be a first-night stop for cruises around the Whitsunday Islands later in the year, so this was a short reconnaissance trip. The course was quite straight-forward and took just a couple of hours. Crossing Whitsunday Passage was reasonably flat despite the 15 to 20 knot southeasterly breeze.

On Tuesday afternoon, we went “around the corner” to Funnel Bay. We set the anchor and were pleased it all went according to plan. We’ve rarely used the anchor because we mostly berth at marinas around Port Phillip. We thought that we should start getting some practice before cruising around to tranquil island getaways. Catherine also took the opportunity to have her first, long-awaited swim in the warm, tropical waters.

Dino returned to Adelaide on Sunday and Catherine and I flew back to Melbourne yesterday. We expect to be back at Airlie Beach mid-May. Until then, may The Force be with you.

It is with great pleasure that I post for you a sensational film of our voyage from Sandringham to Sydney, brought to you by “Dr Jugband Films”. Nominated for best cinematography, editing and original musical score, it is a trilogy capturing the drama, action and spectacle of the first leg of Debonnaire’s voyage to Queensland. Thanks David, love your work, as always.

WARNING: This film contains scenes that will give some viewers an overwhelming desire for ocean sailing. Other viewers might find certain scenes will give them an overwhelming feeling of seasickness and they should take appropriate precautions.

 

 

Wednesday began with a glorious sunrise. The last day of our long voyage was going to be a warm, sunny day with barely a breath of wind. The sea was flat, as flat as The Bay, not even any ocean swells because we were well inside the Great Barrier Reef that protected us from the offshore waves. Off-watch crew took the opportunity to relax on the foredeck, reading, listening to music or just enjoying the view. 

For much of the day we were some distance from the coast, up to 50 nautical miles (90 km) and beyond normal mobile phone range – unless you have a 3G booster!  During the day Carpe Diem slowed down so Debonnaire could come alongside and swap news. It also brought Debonnaire close enough to pick up mobile reception via the 3G booster on Carpe Diem.  We were confident that we would reach Airlie Beach on Thursday, so the crew took the opportunity to book their return flights to Melbourne. 

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During the day, our course took us through the middle of the anchorage off Mackay for cargo ships waiting to be loaded with coal from central Queensland bound for export markets. There would have been more than 50 ships as far as we could see to the horizon and beyond. 

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The glassy water made it easy to spot sea life on the surface. We saw several schools of fish in a feeding frenzy. Dino, our fishing expert, instantly identified them as mack tuna and longtail tuna and wished he could throw in a line. Sorry Dino, no time to stop, we had places to be! We also saw flying fish and even a turtle. 

With the trip coming to an end, Catherine was keen to empty the larder. No problem! We had plenty to eat, especially chocolates, chips, nuts, fruit and freshly baked biscuits. It all had to go. We also had the last of the frozen dinners that Catherine prepared. Sorry to keep writing about how good they were, but they really were so delicious and all the crew loved them. We were actually one meal short because someone’s hungry teenage son (let’s call him “Charlie”) helped himself to a lasagne before the voyage. Fortunately, Catherine prepared generous portions and there was plenty of what we had left to share.

As night fell, we became more excited in anticipation of reaching Airlie Beach in the morning. Kylie ran a book on when we would arrive. It was going to be another dark night with no moon to help navigate the most tricky part of the voyage. Our route took us past numerous islands, shoals, rocky headlands and reefs with strong currents and swirling eddies. Navigation was now a full time job and Phil worked overtime through all the watches, catching only an occasional short nap. Having travelled safely all the way from Melbourne we didn’t want to stumble so close to the finish. Dino and Phil even discussed “what if” scenarios, like what to do if the GPS went blank, just to be sure we were prepared for all contingencies.  

At 2:30am we rounded the final headland. As the featureless black mass passed we saw the welcoming lights of Airlie Beach in the distance. We felt excited and relieved all at the same time. But we had one more challenge and that was to negotiate the narrow entrance to Abell Point Marina. Surrounded by a rocky breakwater, we were tense as we carefully weaved through the unfamiliar and tight right-left-right turns into the protected haven of the marina. The rocks seemed so close in the darkness. Soon we were alongside our marina berth. The crew of Carpe Diem, who arrived only moments before, caught our mooring lines and at 3:20am on Thursday, 27April 2017, our long voyage from Melbourne to Airlie Beach was complete. 

The crews of Carpe Diem and Debonnaire congratulated each other and celebrated with drinks. We went to bed around 4:00am but many of us were still too excited to sleep. 

We were up again by 7:00am to clean the boats and pack up. Most of the Debonnaire crew flew home that afternoon, so we enjoyed lunch together at the marina restaurant.  Catherine and Phil greatly appreciated having Kylie, Lawry, Dino and Colin on board for this final leg of the delivery. We hope you enjoyed the adventure and our good times together as much as we did. 

That evening, Dino, Catherine and Phil joined the Carpe Diem crew for their farewell dinner. We ate at a restaurant that is a favorite among sailors. Somehow we still had energy to eat, drink and listen to the live music. Catherine and Phil even had a dance! We had lots of laughs sharing stories of our voyages.  Thanks for a fun night, Carpe Diem. 

A special thank you to Paul, too. Catherine and Phil are so grateful you invited us to join you in tandem on this awesome voyage. We appreciate all your guidance when preparing for the trip and also leading the way as we cruised up the east coast of Australia. 

Arrived at Airlie Beach this morning at 3:20am, all safe, well and excited to have completed our long voyage from Melbourne.

More news after getting some rest.

It’s a dark night. No moon, just stars in the sky. Not even any glow from distant towns. On board we only have the navigation lights on and one dim cabin light to preserve our night vision.

Only two on deck, Dino and Phil, the others are sleeping. We made extra bunks by tying lee cloths on the saloon lounges so the crew don’t fall out of bed.

We’re now inside the Great Barrier Reef and protected from the ocean swells. There was no wind overnight and the sea is now calm. It’s like sailing on Port Phillip bay. A gentle breeze of 7 to 10 knots has come in from the west, so we have set the jib to increase our speed. The current is against us again so we’re excited to have some favourable wind to assist us.

We had dinner before dark. Catherine prepared the meals as individual servings and yesterday Kylie heated them up in the oven. The daily routine is to light the oven at 4:30pm and eat at 5:30pm while it is still light. The boat doesn’t stop for dinner though; Colin was on watch and at the helm. Lawry did the dishes and then we settled in for the night. Anyone on deck at night must “clip on” with their safety tether, an additional safety precaution to avoid losing someone overboard.

Phil checked the navigation for the night. He has routine “scheds” with Paul on Carpe Diem at 9:00pm and 9:00am to discuss our progress.

The sun comes up at around 6:00am. But for the crew who started their watch at 3:00am, it’s time for bed.