Whitsundays revisited

 

Shag Island shoreline

Cape Gloucester was a lovely place and we made the most of our four nights there, exploring the coastline by foot along the sandy shore and by dinghy around the rocky headland - even wading through the water at low tide to visit Shag Island. We had lunch at the Eco Resort one day and visited for a swim and a drink on two afternoons, we swam at the beach every morning after our exercises. And we relaxed, the Captain doing a few “odd jobs” on Manookatoo or making bread, roti and banana slice, the first mate cleaning the wet areas and the salt covered glass, cooking or knitting. The wind caused us no problems and a breeze kept the temperature reasonable in the middle of the sunny days. While we were there, a maintenance crew was testing and upgrading each of the moorings, so we knew we were very safe!

An early start

On Friday morning, just before 6am, with the winds easing and the weekend looking very promising, we let the mooring go and headed through the Gloucester Passage, cruising south towards Airlie Beach. Just before 10am we tied up at the jetty next to the launching ramp, where the captain filled up the water tanks and gave the boat a quick wash and the first mate walked over the hill to Woolies for a few supplies. Then we were off again, past the anchorages full of boats and where the big ferries were departing for Hamilton Island, past Funnel Bay and Shute Harbour, through “Unsafe passage” and into Moonlight Bay, on South Molle Island. We anchored between the old moorings, noticing that the jetty was being rebuilt, the beginning of work on a new resort to replace the current wreck. The wind blew strongly as the day wore on, at first from the south, then from the east, so we were protected by the mountainous island, but later it turned northeasterly, blowing down the bay, causing the boat to rock and the anchor chain to moan loudly. Fearing this may lead to an uncomfortable night, we raised the anchor and headed across Whitsunday Passage to Macona Inlet, on Hook Island, a protected anchorage surrounded almost completely by steep hills. We enjoyed a quiet night in the company of five other boats, some of them charter yachts - it is good to see those businesses are open again.

Kayaking at Butterfly Bay

On Saturday morning we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before the captain raised the mud-covered anchor and we were off again, cruising along the west side of Hook Island, past Hayman Island, now very much open for business, and into Butterfly Bay. There are nine courtesy moorings in west Butterfly, five more in east, so we were confident of picking one up and we found one in a good position, on the west side of the west bay, near the reef and the rocky shore. Later in the morning we dropped the kayaks in and paddled to the beach for a swim and then to the end of the bay, the first mate managing to overturn her kayak on a gust-driven wave, needing the captain’s assistance to right her kayak and re-board! Other than that, the trip along the rocks and mangroves was lovely. As the afternoon wore on and the wind eased, we went out in the kayaks again, over to the now quite large sandy strip of beach, admiring the coral, much easier to see at low tide. We enjoyed a three course meal in this most peaceful and picturesque anchorage.

Bait Reef

On Sunday morning we dropped the mooring soon after 7:00. It was the beginning of a “window” of fine weather, with light, north easterly winds forecast for the next week; the best time, so we had been told, to visit the outer reef, so we were keen to get going and try and secure a mooring at Bait Reef, 18 nautical miles away. We weren’t the only ones with that idea! By the time we arrived, just after 10am, two boats were moored and another was just entering through the coral bommies, called the “Stepping stones” as they are all in a line, into the shallower waters of the lagoon. We were happy to follow them in and secure one of the remaining moorings. By 1pm all moorings were taken. As the tide fell, the shallow waters over the coral became more pronounced. After lunch we took the dinghy over and tried snorkelling but most of what we found was dead coral with the occasional small living piece. Moving the boat and stopping over a large bommie, the captain tried again and saw more of the living reef we were looking for, but the first mate was happy to hang over the side of the dinghy, leaving any further snorkelling for another day. We relaxed the afternoon away and enjoyed pizzas for dinner - no television or internet reception here so we settled for the offerings from our hard drive to entertain us.

We woke on Monday morning to clear skies and glassy seas, so we started our exercises early, then jumped into the kayaks to look around. The tide was starting to come in but it was still easy to see the coral. The captain tried snorkelling, tying his kayak to his leg, but there was a strong current pushing him away from the coral bommie and into the deeper sea, so he scrambled aboard again quickly! We spent a quiet day in the lagoon, doing a few odd jobs, resting and relaxing, then as the tide dropped again we took the dinghy over near the “Stepping stones”, tied it to a small mooring, then snorkelled around the edge of one of the bommies. Most colourful coral is on the steep, deep sides of the outcrops and there is something quite eery about swimming in shallow water one minute and very deep water the next! The fish life was amazing, with hundred of little colourful fish of every variety and a few quite large ones too. As the tide dropped the current pushing us out of the shallow water increased, so we returned to the dinghy and motored over to a calmer spot in a large patch of coral, where the captain snorkelled while the first mate relaxed in the boat. Snorkelling is tiring work, and when we returned to Manookatoo we hauled the kayaks aboard, showered and relaxed as the sun sank in the west. We enjoyed dinner on the back deck, admiring the starry sky, the crescent moon in the west and Mars in the east.

The Stepping Stones

High tide at Bait Reef occurred at around midnight and with waves coming unimpeded across the coral, pushed by a moderate breeze, it was quite rolly! While it didn’t stop the Captain sleeping, the first mate spent quite a while rolling around uncomfortably. With a slightly stronger breeze expected on Tuesday night, it was reluctantly decided that we would move to less exposed water, so we dropped the mooring just before 7am and headed out through the ”Stepping stones” and turned west towards the islands of the Whitsundays. Cruising conditions were perfect, with calm seas and a favourable current meaning we burned less fuel than our speed - always the preferred option! It also made breakfast “on the run” a pleasant experience. We pulled up a mooring at Cateran Bay on Border Island just after 10:30 for a swim and a cuppa, then continued towards Whitsunday Island, dropping anchor just off Hill Inlet, at Whitehaven Beach. We enjoyed lunch looking across at the beautiful white sand, then jumped on the dinghy to cruise into Hill Inlet, where access into the lagoon is possible on the high tide, something the captain would like to try in Manookatoo if conditions are right. We walked across the sand to the bay, then returned in the dinghy to swim off the beach, returning to Manookatoo, pulling up the anchor and continuing on. We cruised slowly along the pristine white beachfront at Whitehaven, noticing how many more private and tourist boats there are this time, marvelling at how lucky we were to have the beach to ourselves back in early June! Cruising through Solway Passage, we turned right, entering Chance Bay, opposite Hamilton Island, our destination for the night, just after 4pm. There were a few boats anchored here already, including a “super yacht” from the Gold Coast. We dropped the kayaks in the water and paddled to shore for a walk along the shore, then around the rock face to a second bay, where we enjoyed a swim,  returning to Manookatoo for showers and sundowners before dinner on the back deck, glad to be in such peaceful surroundings.

Whoops!!

On Wednesday morning we had an early breakfast before going ashore in the dinghy. It was low tide, and a fishing boat was stuck high and dry on the sand, a reminder of why knowing tide times and depths is important; they would’ve had an uncomfortable night sleeping on such an angle! We took the walking track up the hill to Whitehaven Beach, a 3.6km walk, however a new track and lookout high on the peak tempted us further. The path and steps were new and well made so, even though it was an uphill trek, it was mostly just a “saunter” through the bush, but the views from the top were spectacular. By the time we reached Whitehaven we were very warm, so we enjoyed a dip in the water before our return walk: 6.8km in total! Another swim refreshed us at Chance Bay before we returned to the boat, raised the anchor and made the short passage around into Crayfish Bay. Telephone reception was important to us as we enjoyed a “Happy birthday” video call with Jack (5) and his parents later in the afternoon. We enjoyed another afternoon kayak to the beach for a walk and a swim, marvelling at the number of turtles here (although the next bay is “Turtle Bay”, no surprise!). Another peaceful night on anchor followed. 

Thursday morning was overcast - good for exercising! After a refreshing swim and breakfast we were off again, this time to Hennning Island, just near Hamilton Island. Once again we needed good reception, this time for the first mate’s Telehealth video with the Alfred Burns Unit - we are so lucky that technology negates the need for in person medical appointments, and the specialist doctor was quite envious of our location! Later we took a short cruise across to Gulnare Inlet, a long narrow flooded valley on Whitsunday Island, considered a bolt hole in cyclones. After anchoring Manookatoo, we tied the kayaks to the dinghy and took them deep into the inlet, paddling the final narrow path through the mangroves. It was almost eery, being in such a quiet, tree lined place with only the sound of the paddles and the occasional bird call. The evening was still and beautiful, with not even a ripple on the water except when a turtle surfaced or a fish jumped.              

Daydream Island 

We returned to Henning Island early on Friday morning, this time for a video Happy Birthday call with Benjamin (9), where we sang to him and he showed us all his presents. While we’re sad to be missing grandsons’ birthdays, at least it is easy to keep in touch and have a small part in the day’s celebrations. After breakfast we continued on, rounding South Molle Island and picking up a mooring in Sandy Bay, looking across at the recently restored Daydream Island. We went ashore in the dinghy, but what had looked like a sandy beach from a distance was actually a coral covered expanse - quite difficult to walk on, but we picked our way along the shore, enjoying a swim at each end of the beach, before returning to Manookatoo for lunch and an afternoon lazing around, watching ferries pass and other boats mooring in the bay. By evening there were six of us, including fishermen camping seashore, enjoying the balmy conditions in the bay, seeing the twinkling lights of Daydream Island and Shute Harbour in the distance.

With the sun rising early and no daylight savings, we dropped the mooring before 7am on Saturday and cruised past the newly reopened Daydream Island, then headed west across the bay, towards Airlie Beach. The Hamilton and Hayman Island ferries were heading out as we entered the channel, it’s good to see the tourists are back and the resorts are open again! We tied up at Port of Airlie Marina just after 8am and, after having breakfast, we took the courtesy car and drove out to Cannonvale for a couple of basic maintenance items, then to our favourite local seafood shop, Fishi, to stock up, before returning to town for groceries from Woolies. We intend making this a one night stop, so we want to get everything we need! After whiling away the afternoon it was “game time” - the AFL grand final. We decided to repeat our movements from three years ago, hoping for the same result, so had dinner at the Yacht Club (the game was on, but muted, as they had live music there), then at half time we headed to Magnums, the “backpacker” pub, where the tables were full, the big screen was on and the atmosphere was electric! We cheered hard and our team lifted, a great win in a pretty unique game - the first one at night, the first one in Queensland. We came back to the boat to listen to the speeches and the team song, by then Magnums had reverted back to a backpacker pub with loud music and was not our scene!

We left the marina before lunch the next morning, after filling the water tanks and emptying the rubbish bins. The weather is still being kind to us so we are making the most of the opportunity to stay on anchor in small bays and inlets, enjoying it while we can. We are reluctant to leave this beautiful part of the world, but time is passing and we should head further south soon!

Captain's Log: Cape Gloucester to Airlie via the outer reef and Whitsunday islands - 

Distance travelled: 113.7 nautical miles

Fuel used: 108.5 litres

Cruising time: 19 hours, 30 minutes