Last Night at Airlie before flying home for a few weeks

Monday 24th July 2017

Today is really all about getting ready to leave mica here for a few weeks and flying back to Sydney. Te focus is on cleaning up the boat and getting everything ready to leave her for a few weeks.

We wandered into to town to have lunch at the the Whitsunday Sailing Club ( well worth a visit), did some basic shopping realising that we will do a serious shop when we get back.

Abell Point Marina have announced today the launch of their new Ocean Club facility on the South marina. A number a Hanse owners decided to test it out tonight for a BBQ dinner. Mark and Janet from Koonya, John and Debra from Jo-De 7, Phil and Wendy from Kite Runner and ourselves were all there and had the place to ourselves.

It is a great facility, but apparently they intend charging a membership fee for people to use it. It is hard to see it getting off the ground on that basis, as none of us present would be prepared to pay to use facilities that largely should be provided for free as the amenities at that end of the marina are sadly lacking.

We fly back to Sydney tomorrow returning on 5th August when the blog will recommence.

Back to Airlie

Sunday 23^rd July 2017

It was another very pleasant night at Happy Bay, followed by very still conditions this morning. We plan to head back to Airlie this morning and get the boat tidied up and ready to leave at the marina as we plan to go back to Sydney on Tuesday for a short break.

There is no breeze , it will be a motor back to Airlie. The anchor came up smoothly at 10.30am, using the down button on the controller with the wiring reversed. I will pick up a new one whilst we are in Sydney.

Koonya had their code zero up for a while but made little progress and also eventually succumbed to using some diesel to get back to Airlie with us.

The number of people we know is steadily increasing up here as the arrivals of those who left later start increasing.

Back at the marina, my repaired Metabo drill has finally arrived after spending a month in Mackay waiting for Metabo to get their act together after having their computers hacked. It will be a lot easier to raise the mainsail again now.

Tonight there is a regular sundowners drink at Sorrento’s restaurant for “Shaggers”, so we decided to go up and catch up with a few people. Hanse owners were well represented with ourselves, Koonya, Bella and Jo-De 7 all there. There were a lot of other Shaggers as well in their distinctive Vice Commodore polo shirts.

Brian from Bella

Mark looking very relaxed

Ken Thackeray, the guy who started the Shag Islet Cruising Yacht Club was also there wandering around talking to people and flogging some merchandise.

Ken in the dark blue T shirt

The Hanse Team + Ken

After drinks we had dinner at Sorrento’s, with Mark and Janet and John and Debra from Jo-De 7, in the newly reopened upper deck.

Exploring Long Island

Saturday 22^nd July 2017

With high tide atn9.30am this morning, we are in great shape to go ashore and explore Long Island.  There is a gusty SE breeze, so we motor in slowly to avoid getting too wet, but there is lots of water (with the high tide), so we park our dinghies on the little bit of beach expose, right in front of the resort.

Happy Bay looks much more inviting at high tide

We found the walking trails that we had investigated yesterday, and set out on a walk to Palm Bay, where the only functioning resort on the island is located. The trail is well marked and cleared, with a few branches off to beaches or bays on either side of the narrow island along the way.

Pandanus Bay

Fish Bay

The distance to Palm Bay is only 1.3km, and the trail is relatively flat. Cyclone damage is minimal.

It doesn’t take too long before we emerge from the trail into Palm Bay Resort, and it seems reasonably busy.  The resort is located in a narrow part of the Island with occupying the full width of the island. On the Eastern side is the heliport and a pebbly beach, and on the western side is the nice sandy beach of Palm Bay.

The Heliport on the Eastern side of Palm Bay Resort

After having a good walk around we went to the lounge area and ordered a cup of coffee from the bar. The resort has had several owners and formats, from Peppers Hotels to the current owner, who runs it as a secluded retreat where you bring and cook your own food. There is a bar serving drinks and cocktails but not much else, it is basically self catering.

Palm Bay , obviously some of the customers are waiting for their ferry back to the mainland

The grounds are well maintained

And the beachside cabins have a great aspect

The manager seems to do everything, including serving drinks at the bar, and we spent some time having a talk to her. The resort seems to be going well and at this moment, is fully booked. There is a real mix of people staying here including a lot of young couples.

The Camp Kitchen setup where you can cook your own food (and the resort does the dishes !)

The Resort Bar

Following our coffee and chat with the manager, we walked back to Happy Bay, hoping the tide had not gone out too far, so we would not have to drag our dinghies too far across the beach to get to the water. It was not too bad.

Mica and Koonya at anchor at Happy Bay

Back on board our boats, we had lunch and spent the afternoon fishing, with varied success. Janet caught a couple of Sweetlip keepers. I caught a variety of fish including one reasonable size, but tossed it back as we are flying home on Tuesday and still have lots of food.

Dinner tonight is a baked lamb roast on Mica.

Happy Bay, via South Molle

Friday 21^st July 2017

It is time to move on from Cid Harbour and with a forecast of 10-15knot SE winds we decide to go to South Molle Island and see what the anchoring conditions in Bauer Bay are like. If it is not too rolly we may stay there and do one of the bushwalks there.

As we are pulling up our anchor the switch keeps failing intermittently and it takes a lot of  starting and stopping to finally get the anchor on board.  By the time it is on board the up button on the switch is not working at all.

Koonya is already under way, and put up their code zero enjoying a brisk reach across the Whitsunday Passage. We are towing our dinghy in what turned out to be much lumpier water than expected and I spent most of the trip in the anchor locker, checking all of the wiring.

Koonya powering across Whitsunday Passage with just the Code Zero up

In a little under an hour we are at Bauer Bay, and there is a very uncomfortable Easterly swell rolling into the bay, and bullets up around 20 knots coming from the land. We are not stopping here, and after a quick consultation with mark on Koonya, we headed for Happy Bay on Long Island, which should be more protected. To get into flatter water we went through Unsafe Passage and then motored South down the Molle Passage.

Approaching the passage between south Molle and Long Island, my mobile phone rang and it was Brian and Petra on Bella, who were heading North and were on the other side of the passage between the islands and could see us on AIS. They are heading for Airlie in the next few days, s there is a chance we will see them on Sunday.

The anchor went down at Happy Bay in much better conditions than South Molle, and all I need to do now is work out how to get it back up when we want to leave. After confirming the switch is the problem, I reversed the wiring so I can use the down button (which at this stage still works) to raise the anchor when we leave.

The tide is going out and the extensive fringing reef around Happy Bay is all exposed. Low tide isn’t till 2.50 pm, so we waited till about 3.30pm before going ashore, and even then there was a lot of wading through muddy sand to get the dinghies onto terra firma, high enough up the beach to allow for the incoming tide whilst we had a look around.

At low tide the reef is very exposed 

The tide goes out a long way. Our dinghies are well up the beach but you wouldn't think so looking at this photo

Like most of the other resorts around here , Long island Resort is closed and occupied only b a caretaker. We had a bit of a chat with  him, and whilst we are not allowed to walk through the resort or use the jetty, he told us that there were some good walks on the island starting from the road that runs at the back of the resort. It is too late today to do any major exploration, but we will go ashore tomorrow at high tide and go for a walk, probably to Palm Bay.

Looks like there are a few walks to choose from

Cyclone damage is apparent  along the shoreline, but the buildings are still in pretty good condition. The resort is up for sale, and has been for a while.

Carole, Janet and Mark in front of the resort

Back to our dinghies, we headed back to our boats, with sundowners organized to be on Mica, and Dinner on Koonya.

A Blustery Day at Cid Harbour

Thursday 20^th July 2017

It wasn’t the most comfortable night we have spent in Cid Harbour, but I doubt that any of the other protected anchorages were a lot better. The Wind gusted above 25 knots all night and well into today.

Koonya arrived at around 11am, motoring up from Hamilton Island. We caught after lunch and Janet was not feeling well with an upset tummy, so she rested most of the afternoon.

Koonya at anchor in Cid Harbour when conditions had finally calmed down

We had sundowners on board Koonya, and then headed back to Mica for dinner. It was a pretty lazy day, but the conditions did improve during the day and by evening everything was very peaceful again with the change appearing to have blown through.

Coming with the change were cool temperatures that we are quite unused to. We even had to get a blanket out last night to stay warm.