Departures and maintenance day at Airlie

Thursday 3ist August 2017

Settled into Airlie, today is maintenance day. But first, sadly, Peter and Sharon are leaving us after a great time over the time they have been with us. We have had a great time and really enjoyed their company.

They are booked to go to the airport at 10.15am and I have a diesel mechanic booked to service the engine at 10am. There is enough time to show Peter the South end of the marina, and at the same I can do a jerry can run to the fuel wharf , so we head out, and as we approach the south Marina Complex, it becomes clear a cruise ship is in port. I steer my way past the hoards of passengers coming up the gangway from the fuel wharf, guiding my trolley between them. I filled the tank with the 2 jerry cans and set them aside for another run to get spare fuel.

Before they left Carole was on laundry duty and in the end , did 4 loads of washing.

We said our farewells, and Carole saw them up to the shuttle bus, whilst I waited at the boat for the mechanic, and started filling the water tank.

Once the engine service was complete, I did the final diesel run and Carole finished the laundry.

It was now lunch time, so we bought a couple of pies from the café at the marina.

Next we had to clean the outside of the boat, covered with ash for days at Gloucester and plenty of sand came aboard in the dinghy. We gave the boat a good soapy wash and she is now sparkling again.

We walked into town for dinner at the Whitsunday Sailing Club. Amazingly, the lagoon is now open, and there are kids in swimming even at this hour.  Along the way we met another couple who we have met at RPAYC who own an boat called Barrenjoey Light. They have had a bit of a mishap and look like they will be here for a few days with a shaft drive problem. The boat is coming out of the water tomorrow.

The food at the sailing club was good as always, ,and they had a poker night running which provided a bit of entertainment.

We wandered back to our boat in balmy, but cool conditions and look forward to a good nights sleep after a busy day.

A Nice Sail back to Airlie Beach

Wednesday 30^th August 2017

It was a very peaceful night at Cid Harbour, and glassy conditions when we woke. We are not in a hurry to get back to Airlie Beach, so wait around until a bit after 10am for the wind to develop so we an sail back.

The breeze was only light, at less than 10 knots but enough for us to get the sails up and move along at around 4-5 knots as far as North Molle Island where we saw a whale breaching close to the shore.

Once past North Molle the wind is building up to 15 knots and we are now doing 7-8 knots on a broad reach. The wind held all of the way to Abell Point Marina, so it was a very nice sail to finish off peter and Sharon’s holiday with us.

We were in the marina and tied up by 2pm, after renegotiating our berth allocation, to a spot that was not in the middle of all of the day charter operators.

As Peter and Sharon’s time here is limited (they fly home tomorrow), we walked into town to have a look around and get a few basic groceries. The lagoon has now been repaired and filled with water and it looks to be only days away from re-opening,. Things are slowly returning to normal as the cyclone damage repairs continue.

It was ten back to the marina for a shower, and Dinner at Sorrento’s restaurant.

Snorkelling at Langford Reef, then on to Cid Harbour

Tuesday 29^th August 2017

Today is our last full day out on the water with Peter and Sharon, before returning to Abell Point Marina tomorrow, so they can fly out on Thursday. It has been a very peaceful night at Stonehaven, and it looks like we are in for another day of light breezes.

After breakfast, we decided to motor over to Langford Reef near Hayman Island to have a walk ashore at low tide and do some snorkeling. Imagine also headed over there, and Kite Runner headed in the direction of Blue Pearl Bay.

It was close to low tide when we picked up a morning at Langford and we cautiously took the dingy into shore, dodging the coral heads and very shallow water on final approach.

On the mooring at Langford Reef

The sand spit that is exposed at low tide is a lot bigger than it looks and it was a healthy walk to the end of it where had a great view looking back at Stonehaven.

Looking towards Langford Island

Looking towards Stonehaven

It was then time to get in the water and do some snorkeling. The coral is all quite damaged, like everywhere else from the cyclone, but there is some colour and colourful fish.

Back at the boat we are entertained by the arrival of some hungry batfish, who went into a feeding frenzy when a few biscuit crumbs were tossed over the stern.

A storm was developing out at sea, and after some early sprinkles of rain, we decided to move south where the weather looked a lot nicer.

It took us just over 2 hours to motor to Cid Harbour, our planned destination for tonight. Imagine were about 15 minutes behind us. Conditions at Cid were much better, and after  a late lunch, we took the dinghy into Sawmill Beach for a look around.

Sawmill Beach

We were keen to stretch our legs further, so headed off on the walk to Dugong beach, with John and Sue from Imagine. Peter decided to mind the dinghies and relax. He has given his knees a good workout this morning.

By 5pm we were back on board for sundowners on Mica. We had noticed that Dalwhinnie was also anchored nearby, so invited Brian to join us, with Sue and John. Brian sailed across on his own from Airlie as Amanda is back in Sydney.

It is a perfect afternoon at Cid Harbour with glassy conditions. There were a few turtle spottings just after we arrived.

Gloucester to Stonehaven

Monday 28^th August 2017

We left the anchorage at Cape Gloucester at just before 7am, so we could get through the Gloucester channel before low tide at 9.30am. We are not expecting to have a great sail but are hopeful there might be a bit of breeze to take us to our destination at Stonehaven on Hook Island.

The Smoke in the Gloucester Passage is still a problem, we are pleased to be away form it, as is Imagine on the right hand side of this photo

Once through the channel there is a bit more breeze than expected, and sails are up and we look like we may be able to sail. Sadly, the wind never really developed, so it was a motor sail pretty much all of the way, except for the last half hour when we were moving along very nicely past Hayman Island towards Stonehaven.

Arriving at Stonehaven, the moorings are all taken, so we drop the anchor. Imagine is 10 minutes behind us, and just as they arrive, a backpacker cruise boat is leaving and they coasted straight up to the mooring and took it.

Imagine on her mooring

To our great surprise, Kite Runner appeared At Stonehaven, after their campaign in the Hamilton Island Race Week. They came by to say hello, and I went over in the dinghy to have a chat once they were anchored. It sounds like they had frustrating time during race week.

Kite Runner at Stonehaven

Conditions at Stonehaven were perfect and we were invited on board Imagine for a curry dinner. Another couple that they knew were also in the anchorage and they also joined us for an enjoyable dinner.

Final Day of Shaggers

Sunday 27^th August 1017

Today is the final day of Shaggers, with a Pirate themed lunch and entertainment at Montes Resort from midday.

Our first priority is to sort out the blocked holding tank, and John from Imagine, kindly offered to come across and help.  We spent some time with various implements trying to clear it from below the waterline, with no success. Whilst one of us was poking the various implements up the outlet, the other was in a dinghy pushing the stern of Mica to create a lee side from the wind waves.

The last resort was to see if we could water blast it out. I connected an extension hose to the deck wash and we tried blasting from below with no success. Putting the hose down the top of the holding tank and plunging it in and out eventually cleared the blockage, much to everyone’s relief.

After a fair bit of tidying up, we were ready to focus on the days scheduled event, the party at Montes. We arrived there at about 12.30pm, and it was well underway, with a wide variety of Pirates in attendance.

Hungry Pirates in the Buffet Queue

Ken, the Founder of the SICYC conducting proceedings

There was a huge queue for the buffet lunch, so we joined it and waited our turn. It was worth the wait as the food was very good and the servings generous, a bit of a contrast to the dinner at Eco Resort last night where the opposite was the case.

We eventually caught up with John and Sue, from Imagine and Geoff and Jenny from Ruby and settled in to enjoy the food and the very good band that was providing the entertainment. The entertainment throughout the whole weekend has been excellent.

Tonight we have arranged to have a baked dinner on Mica, with Geoff and Jenny and Sue and John. Having 8 for dinner was challenging, but we all fitted in somehow and had a most enjoyable dinner.

The fires have been burning on shore all day, and fortunately the wind has been blowing the smoke away from us, but everything smells very smoky and there is ash all over the deck from yesterday.