Cruising the Whitsundays

The day after our glorious day enjoying an aerial view of the Whitsunday Islands, we slipped lines from Hamilton Island Marina and set sail to explore from the sea.

Our first port of call was the magnificent Whitehaven beach. We arrived in the early afternoon along with tour boats, sea planes, helicopters, and day trippers. We watched spellbound as a seaplane landed on the water and drove up to park on the beach. We counted 4 helicopters parked along the white silica strand as we squeaky strolled along towards the end of the beach, some 7 kilometers long. The helicopter occupants, usually a couple and a pilot; the couple picnicking on the beach while the pilot, a respectable distance away, checked his Instagram account on his phone. The Aboriginal name for the beach is “whispering sand”. What secrets does the beach have to reveal?

That afternoon, mindful of sunset at 17:50, we weighed anchor at 14:30 from Whitehaven Beach and headed the short distance around the corner to Tongue Bay. Along with James and Julia from Adalia II, we tendered ashore to watch the sunset, with a picnic of French rosé and salty nuts, to bid the day goodbye.

At an uncharacteristically reasonable hour of 08:50, we lifted the anchor at Tongue Bay on a bearing of 220°, with Nara Inlet, a long bay on the southern end of Hook Island, as our destination. Immediately upon arrival, we jumped in the dinghy to visit a Ngaro tribe cultural site. There were historical panels to read, recordings of tribal elders recounting stories of their lives and heritage to listen to, and cave paintings to view at the top of a short steep climb. The site had an aura that was precious and moving. We were glad to be alone as all the previous visitors made a quick exit as we arrived. We soon learned why! The tide was at its lowest and our dinghy was kilometers from the water, with craggy rocks and coral in between! George, Freddie, and I explored the uncovered tidepools, the “big boys”, Louis, Rob, and Jed, each found a comfortable rock and settled down for a nap in the warm sun. Rob placed a few sticks in the sand at the water’s edge, so we could judge the rising tide. It was not until 16:00 that we braved the walk to the water, dragging the dinghy along the crunchy ground. Back onboard it was full steam ahead as we were having Irish Blessing to dinner at 17:15! A rowdy night was had.

The following day, Wednesday, 10^th August dawned bright and mild. We left Nara Inlet shortly after sunrise, 07:10, in a light 15 knot southeasterly wind, full of anticipation. Louis was very excited about visiting Hayman Island, the former #1 resort in the world. He had been there in 1996 and was eager to revisit.  After cyclones, many changed owners, and Covid, the resort is now owned by Intercontinental Group. We dock in the marina, one of 2 yachts, the other owned by the resort for the express purpose of offering sunset cruises. We are met by Ben, the Activities Director. Ben is charming, and though busy, gives us his time wholeheartedly and without a sense of hurrying along. He loads us in his buggy and drives us to the central lobby, pointing out the pools, restaurants, and other amenities along the way. Freddie and George hurry over to the Hobiecat rental area and are on the water in a jiffy. See their account below. The Dads, Jed, and Louis, take numerous photos and videos, proud of their sons. There is nothing but praise for the boys’ sailing ability from all the guys renting out the boats. After boating it is time for a very large breakfast. The boys manage to down, French toast, pancakes, waffles, eggs, and bacon in record time. We spend the rest of the day on this luxurious island hiking, relaxing, eating and swimming. What an indulgence! We are charged with leaving by sunset, we just make it! The exit is tricky as the central channel is very narrow and shallow. Rob gets us out effortlessly, with no sweat.

George and Freddie’s account of sailing a Hobiecat:

Thirty minutes, that was the amount of time we were given to sail this beautiful Hobiecat in front of our eyes. The instructor asked if we had sailed before, and we quickly replied yes. George was helming and Freddie was crew. We instantly pulled in the sail as tight as possible and headed out on a beat.  The old girl shot away like a bullet. Like an untamed animal she bucked over the waves, unafraid of any obstacles ahead. It felt like nothing could stop us, the wind in our hair and filling the sail. Then without hesitation we began to tack, and to our disappointment the boat came to a grinding halt! To our surprise we were stuck head to wind, due to the slow tacking of catamarans. We were forced to push the sail out to finally turn. Not long after that she picked up speed again and we were confident to give the tack a try again. This grave mistake put us head to wind yet again. We decide gybing would be a better idea on these turns. We were pondering in our minds, trying to think of a name for the boat and we collectively decided on the name, “Mathilda the cat shagger”! Suddenly, a huge gust of wind caught us off guard, heaving us forwards and sideways, water gushing in the net below us. George distinctly remembers Freddie getting thrown side to side like a ragdoll by the torrent of water and wind. George hiked out so far his bones ached, with so much pressure on his hands the main sheet slipped out of his grasp. The boat quickly fell back flat again, and George was dunked in the water. Freddie then wanted a spin at the helm, and we switched. The wind died a little so it was plain sailing. We did our best to go as fast as possible and smile for the adults’ cameras. When George switched back to helming, Freddie quite quickly began to try to pitchpole us, he stood at the bow and got dangerously close before George ordered him to sit back down. Matilda the cat shagger brought laughter, fun and joy to the two of us.

We would like to acknowledge Sheila Fisher, (George’s grandmother) who responded to our call for help sending items to the schools that we visited in Fiji and Vanuatu. Thank you so much Sheila!

If anyone else would like to help, send us an email: irene4 {CHANGE TO AT} mailasail {DOT} com and we will send addresses and lists.