Sailing around the Whitsundays has been something I've wanted to do since I arrived in this country some 7 months ago. For the night before my sail, I stayed at Beaches. Chris from my hostel had recommended it. God knows why, the room I was put it was horrible and dirty. Thankfully I had good company; Malin and Amanda, two girls travelling together from Sweden.
In the morning before our sail, we wasted time by chilling at the lagoon and wandering round the town of Airlie Beach. As a town, there isn't much there other than the main high street which can be explored in all of 30 mins. The walk to the Marina was certainly longer than advertised but at 2.30pm we were finally all set and ready to go. My boat was called Boomerang or "The Mighty Boomerang" as the skipper (Tommy) liked to call it. Right from the off, it was clear that we were going to be well looked after, certainly in terms of food! The crew were a group of 3 lads, Tommy, Jack (deck hand) and Gunny (host). Once we'd cleared the Marina, it was finally time to set sail and get involved. Tommy asked for 4 male volunteers to hoist the main sail followed by 4 ladies to hoist the jibb. This is exactly what I'd come on-board to do seeing as I've only ever sailed Barbary Tern who's 34 ft compared to Boomerang which is a giant 70ft beauty with 28 berths. Boomerang or "On-dine II" is an ex-racing yacht having
Our only stop of the day was at 'Falsey-doo doo' to do a snorkel. Sadly the water was at too murky to see anything. Our anchorage for the night was 'Hook Passage'.
Our first stop of day 2 was 'Tongue Bay' before heading over to the famous Whitehaven Beach. Matt from Launnie had described the beach as 'the best in the world' and he wasn't far wrong. The water was crystal clear, the sand was soft but most surprising of all, it remained cool on your toes regardless of the temperature. Incredible. After a few hours chilling on the beach and taking some daft photos, we walked up to the lookout where the view was even more impressive. To quote Gunny "you couldn't take a bad picture even if you tried". The view was picturesque and looked just like a postcard.
In the afternoon, we sailed to Luncheon Bay which was another opportunity to get involved. Instead I assisted hoisting up the main sail with the guys. Hard work that's for sure, before heading out for another snorkel in the bay which was thankfully a lot better. The water was so clear that I could see beautiful fish and colourful coral. After this, we headed to 'Langford Sand Spit' near Hook Island for our final anchorage of the trip and our final snorkel of the day where the girls and I swam with a turtle!!! An unforgettable experience.
On our third and final day of the trip we headed to 'Caves Cove' for another snorkel before returning to the Marina. In the afternoon, I cooked a barbie with Charlie and her sister and lazed about in the lagoon. I returned back to Beaches but thankfully in a different room and to my surprise, Anne and Marieke were in my dorm. We ended up having dinner altogether including Amanda and Malin before heading out for our boat night out. Sadly none of the crew came and the bars were pretty quiet but we still had a good time all the same.
Next stop: Townsville
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