GUESTS                                      ABOARD

The aquamarine waters surrounding the Whitsunday Islands are a Marine Park that are within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. The reef itself lies 60km from the mainland but in between lie over one hundred, mostly uninhabited, islands with many fringing coral reefs. At least 50 of these islands or islets afford comfortable anchorages.  A perfect area to entertain guests.

 

WELCOME ABOARD   
While we take much pleasure in having guests aboard we are never without the concern for their safety and how they will manage living in a confined space, adjusting to the constant movement and dealing with any problems that may arise. We were about to find out!!

South American overland travelers first reunion aboard s/v Ariel
Michael, Frank, Monica, Simon and Gayla

In 1978 several intrepid travelers on the Gringo Trail in South America met up and remained friends throughout the years: Frank the log scalar from Canada (wearing $4 hat) and known to be one "self contained unit".  Aussies Monica and Simon, after beating a path across Russia to Samarkand dropped out to raise 3 kids and brought along one, their 16 year old son , Michael.
 

 

 


Our ten day cruise around he Whitsunday islands started at Hook Is. where the new sailors got their first taste of sailing after a wild dinghy ride to s/v Ariel in 20-25kt winds and 2 foot white caps....at anchor.

 

 

 


Fortunately Nara Inlet is one of the best protected anchorages in all weather. The 14 miles getting there we had up to 30+ variable winds, a strong current, BS of 8kts, heeled over, water over the bow and into the cockpit.
 

We also picked up a new crew member, a sulphur crested
cockatoo that took up residence on our lifelines.


Gayla and Frank inspecting
aboriginal rock art at Nara Inlet

 
 

Near Haymen Is. we anchored off One Foot Island sand spit and snorkeled and swam then continued on to Blue Pearl Bay where we took a mooring for 2 hours. Like many of the bays the park service had free moorings with 2 hour limits. If we arrived by 3PM our two hour limit would take us to 5PM which in turn allowed us to spend the night on a mooring. Besides Nara Inlet other nights were spent at Shorehaven Bay and Butterfly Bay on Hook Is. which we circumnavigated in very rough conditions. 
Parks Public Mooring
 
        Our land lubbers got a feel for more high seas and strong winds. Everyone pitched in and no one ever complained. I was very proud of my well traveled friends and their accepting tolerance of difficult conditions. Like Monica would say, "what's all the fuss"!

            One Foot Island                           Snorkeling Blue Pearl Bay           Hearty crew at work

We sailed each day, stopped to snorkel or just rest or hike, then moored or dropped anchor at a different island every night. We spent the night at Border Island also Tongue Bay on Whitsunday Island, and anchored off the long white silica beach of Whitehaven beach, a busy spot for tour boats during the day. In the evening we dinghied ashore, the only boat at anchor, totally alone.
 

            Relaxing                                               Hiking                                         Sunbathing

Totally alone on Whitehaven Beach

In very short order the crew fell into daily routines and chores then relaxed, visited, ate, drank and zoned out! Life aboard..... cruising one of the most pristine cruising grounds in Australia!

 

 


AND THEN IT HAPPENED!!!!!
 
We had warned the crew that things do break aboard a sailing vessel and to please let us know if anything does happen.  Well, it was not long before the inevitable happened, the one major break down that NO ONE wants to deal with.

                     A LOG JAM IN THE TOILET OF SCATALOGICAL PROPORTIONS!!!

 Now, not to put the blame on any one person,  we were impressed that it was the log scalar from Canada that so gallantly measured up to the task of dislodging the dam with exceptional skill.  With the ingenuity of the captain a special plug was built.
                          
        TOILET DUTY INSTRUCTIONS (in layman terms)


  Drill a hole into  a wooden 'through hull' plug
  Insert a brass hose connector into the hole
  Dive under boat & pound plug into toilet outlet
  Connect water hose to brass hose connector

  Inside boat, disconnect hoses leading into toilet
  Place towels & plastic bag tightly around toilet
  discharge outlet

 

                                       
                                     

  STAND BACK......turn on water hose
                                                     


SUCCESS with no mess!!!
 

 Note: Wise to keep inscents on hand.  Here we have 'Frankessencs' !!

Least to say we all had a lot of laughs and all got along famously. No problem for old overland travelers to deal with such adverse conditions.
 

 

Leaving Cid Harbor we headed for
our last anchorage and a day at South Molle Island.
Cost for mooring is $49Aud. for 4 persons and $10 for extra 2. This allowed us free use of the resort facilities including archery lessons, bird feeding, swimming pool and and extra $15 per person for a big buffet dinner.

In the end we found that even the most land locked people can adapt and become excellent sailors!

 

Back in Airlie Beach we had one last beautiful sunset before it was time to see our guests off but
we now have many wonderful new memories to remember.
We look forward to more 'reunions', always the most special times with old friends.

                                                                                                                                          

 

With a one day turn around we take a little rest and our second guests arrive.

 No complaints here.....we loved keeping busy and enjoying friends.

 


        WELCOME ABOARD   

Sue and Hans-Peter, a Swiss couple with duel citizen-ship in Australia,  sailed s/v Wombat their  37' Halburg Rassy, on a circumnavigation in the late 90's.  Presently touring the 'outback' they made a special trip to Airlie Beach to connect with Gayla, again old friends from those overland days in the early 1970's.
             

We had 4 wonderfully beautiful  days cruising to S. Molle and Cid Harbor, Whitsunday Islands.
The weather is getting better and better.  The winds died down to SE 10-15  PERFECT!

Hans and Sue felt right at home getting back into the cruising mode as we head across to North Molle Island where they had camped on a secluded white sandy beach back in 1974.
  Little had changed. 

This time on S.Molle we climbed to Mt. Jeffery's for an incredible view over to Whitsunday Is.

Hans-Peter feeding the Lorikeets on S. Molle Island

           
            Hans-Peter steered a safe course between the Molle islands through Dangerous Passage then the girls, Gayla and Sue take over!
                                                                                               
Back at Cid Harbor one of the more protected anchorages we beach combed on Sawmill Beach and Dugong Beach, hiked up a mountain and enjoyed the diverse animal life.

And finally, after much had changed in our lives over the 20 years since we were last together, we found we were still basically  the same people on the inside.  Maybe a bit more mellow and a bit more confident!   But Sue said it best.........

 "because we are the type of people who need to keep our dreams alive, we must sometimes change to make that so."

 
 
                    GONE FISHING

         WELCOME ABOARD
           CORALIE & DAVID
       
 

We were having so much fun with old friends aboard we could not pass Cairn's Australia without seeing my old friend, Coralie.  We had met in Perth Australia in 1974 and again kept in touch throughout the years.  Coralie and David were keen to go for a sail and David was excited about the prospect of catching a few fish. 

Coralie and Dave aboard s/v Ariel in Cairns anchorage
 
A plan was made to sail from Cairns to Port Douglas, then continue on past Cape Tribulation off the coast from the Daintree Rainforest to Cooktown, a total of 100 nm.  We would  take our time, do a little fishing and just enjoy each others company.

 

The evening before a 'Mackerel sky' gave  promise that this trip could be very eventful with the prospect of some fine fishing.

 

 

 

While our guests were keen to learn the 'ropes' of sail handling, we set off wing and wing on a beautiful clear sunny day for the town of Port Douglas, 37.7nm north of Cairns.
 


A toast to Dave and Coralie arriving in Port Douglas on their first off shore sailing adventure
and one to King Neptune for the abundance of fish in the sea.    

                                                                                                            

The sunset was beautiful across
  Dickson's Inlet, Port Douglas
                  
Illuminating fish occupied our dreams

    
                                                                A calm still early morning, Dickson's Inlet looks promising
                                                                     
                   S/v Shalom at low tide off Low Is.

Only 9.5nm from Port Douglas in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park lie the Low Isles made up of two islands: Low Island is a sandy cay while the nearby larger Woody Island is a mangrove islands.                                                  
                                             
Low Isle Lighthouse is now a research center


              A 20 minute walk gets you around the island.
               After beachcombing the girls compare finds. 
                                

 

The reef surrounding Low Isles is home to a diverse variety of marine life.  The reef is dominated by 15 species of soft corals with over 150 varieties of hard corals, a large variety of fish, stingrays, turtles and dugongs.  This fragile area is protected as a Marine National Park Zone

                                               (Green Zone) meaning NO FISHING HERE!

So a little bottom maintenance gets done

 

 

Outside the Green Zone. fishing is allowed.  As we head for Hope Island 42.9nm David tries out different methods of fishing from a sail boat.
   
     Wench method                                Bicycle Tire Method                       Toe Method
 


Sailing on up the coast Coralie points out the many interesting sites:  Cape Tribulation where a World War II movie 'Pacific' is being filmed,  Endeavor Reef which Captain Cook hit back in the 1770's,  and a beautiful rainbow off our port stern. 

   
                                                      Hope Island appears in the distance

 
There are two separate cays each with their own reefs, one with mangroves the other with a National Park with a deep navigable channel in-between.  We sailed around keeping the eastern cay on our port side while navigating into it's lagoon through exposed reefs then straight to shore for a 10 min. hike around the island.

      

David, the fisherman, also turns out to be the curator of the Cairn's Botanical Gardens.
We learn more about the vegetation than we do about the fish but happy to have an expert on board

Just as we return to the dingy we run into Geoff and Jan of s/v Arnak who we invite over for sundowner's.  Both avid divers and snorklers, we learn that there really are fish down there.   They were kind enough to point out the signs we missed before our beachcombing hike around the island.

      

 
May 19, 2007  Hope Island to Cooktown   22.8nm

We had a beautiful short sail on to Cooktown with our now very expert crew.  Fortunately we had five wonderful sailing days with calm seas and perfect winds from Cairns to Cooktown.

                                                                All Hands on Deck

  

As we said good-by to our good friends in Cooktown.   Coralie had decided she could very easily get used to this
'life of luxury'. 

 

And while David never did catch a fish, he is thinking of changing his tactics.   He is seriously thinking about buying a boat.....
 a fishing boat!!!

A good day with wind in our sails, a glass of champagne at sunset with good friends aboard is for us the ultimate luxury. 

Our experience with guests aboard only proved that life is only this luxurious if you share it with others.