Finally in the Whitsundays!

Hello again, this time from the Whitsundays!

We finally made it. But the weather was not playing its part this time…

Sunday 13 April

We left Great Keppel with some regret, as we did not go ashore to check out island prices. We had heard from VMC that the wind would increase soon, and we wanted to be close to the Whitsundays. The day got us up to Island Head Creek, passing Cape Manifold on the way. We commemorated briefly the spot where Two To Go capsized some time ago, and where probably my wedding ring found its new home. Fortunately there were no serious war games on, and we were not bothered by the military. Island Head Creek is a lot larger than we thought, and it would have been a calm anchorage. But there was that destination…

Monday 14 April

During our travel, we discussed our options, as the wind increase was predicted for Tuesday evening. We could continue overnight (and fall asleep some time), we could continue Tuesday (and risk being blown away), or stay in the Percy Islands. We decided to stay at South Percy.

Bad choice. The swell came around the corner, and we were rocking continuously. The wind blew hard enough to prevent us from going ashore, and it continued to do so until Monday 21 April. We didn’t even leave something in the A-frame hut on Middle Percy!

The time at South Percy was not nice. With the benefit of hindsight, we should have stayed at Island Head Creek, as we knew the forecast. Another lesson learnt, with about six million others to come.

Monday 21 April

Finally under way, with a bit of apprehension about the swell that had built up over the last week of 30+ knot winds. But it was ok, apart from the wind direction. Jemimah just does not like the wind from behind. Again we arrived in darkness, against our plans. With the help of the moon and the chartplotter, we found a nice spot in Refuge Bay on Scawfell. We had the most restful sleep after a week of rocking and unexplained noises!

Tuesday 22 April

We slept a bit longer this time. It was so nice! And the next leg would be a short one to Shaw Island, the first of the Whitsundays. The wind was ok, 15 knots from aft quarter. Not ideal, but it kept us going. For the first time, we experienced the power of the tides here. But we found a nice spot, with some bullets over Shaw Peak (over 400m high), and had even some success with fishing. The Admiral caught two, and we had fresh dinner! It’s a sign of things to come.

Wednesday 23 April

The first sail through the Whitsundays. We went past Hamilton and saw those eddies created by the tide. Another new experience! And more was to come: The Admiral thought that with enough distance from Moreton Bay, those red Stradbroke ferries could no longer get her. Wrong! They sent their plane, and we had to take evasive action in front of the runway at Hamilton. The recommended distance is 300m, we had at least double that, but a plane with its lights and noise is rather scary.

We survived, and enquired about fuel and water at Hamilton. The fuel pump did not work, and to take on water, we had to tie up for $14 per hour. Needless to say, we gave it a miss and continued to Shute Harbour. This was full of tourist boats with no option to get water easily. The soft option was to go to Abel Point Marina at Airlie. We could even go shopping, and our watertanks are full again. Now for the hard part: Diesel is $1.81 per litre, and I would like to get 90 litres. Well, the Fitzroy experience taught us to be careful.

After that, it’s off to Whitehaven, and preparations for the Admiral’s birthday tomorrow.

We’ll be back here next week. By then, I will hopefully have worked out how to put pictures on. I’ll try now, but…
Take care!