Whitsundays

Our sailing adventure started today. It was a beautiful sunny day with a good breeze (maybe 25 knots). The sails were hoisted shortly after leaving the dock and we had a good couple hour sail on the way to our first swimming spot. The boat had 3 crew (captain, deck hand and cook) and 22 guests. There were no private bunks onboard but Rebecca and I did score the v-birth which was a bit more private. The group was made up of Americans, Germans and British. We got along really well with one British couple who were doing a similar extended trip filled with trekking excursions. It was BYOB boat and I can imagine it could get pretty rowdy with the right crowd but our group was pretty low key.

Our first stop was a sheltered bay for a quick dip before lunch. We learned all about stingers (jelly fish) that could do you some serious harm and we had to wear stinger suits. The stinger suits were like a very thin wet suit. The water was actually a bit on the chilly side so the swim was only brief. We enjoyed some lunch then continued on to Whitehaven. Whitehaven beach is world renowned beach for its pristine white sand. They claim it is some of the oldest sand in the world. There was a short walk to a lookout that we enjoyed before lounging on the beach for the afternoon.

We picked up anchor and continued on to our anchorage for the night. It was a pleasant evening but the winds were still up and we weren’t completely sheltered. The motion at anchor bothered Rebecca’s stomach a little and neither of us slept very well.Read more