Tuesday 29th June to Friday 2nd July – Airlie Beach to Long Island via CID Harbour

Tuesday

The forecast for the next few days was for southeast winds of 25 to 30 knots. We really needed to get away from Airlie Beach, so we motored across to CID harbour on Whitsunday Island. We anchored in Sawmill Bay with 4 other boats. By the next morning there were 43 other boats.

Simon, Dina and Harriett (4yo) from SV-Fortuna were also anchored in the bay and it was good to catch up with them and to hear what they’d been up to for the last few weeks. We arranged to take a walk up to Whitsunday peak which was a decent 1.5 hour walk each way. Harriett did an amazing job as some of the steps were half her size. Having Georgie walk beside her holding her hand had been all the incentive she needed to make it to the top. It was cloudy at the top but occasionally the cloud would clear and we’d get an awesome view of the surrounding islands. It was worth the effort and would be magnificent on a clear day.

Wednesday

There was a short walk around to the next Bay called Dugong Beach. We timed ourselves walking one way and then tried to beat it on the return trip. I am pleased to say we smashed our return time by 4 minutes 😊

The remainder of the day was filled with games of scrabble, card games, reading and playing soccer with Lucy. Georgie was teaching Lucy how to eat gently from her hand. For those of you that know Lucy and Kelpie’s in general, that is a huge achievement, as Lucy eats each meal as though it is her last including your hand if it is in the way.

Thursday

The wind had finally eased to > 10 knots for the first time in 4 days. It was lovely to see the sun even if it was only for 15 minutes at a time between rain showers. We pulled up anchor at 0830 and motored towards Hamilton Island.

We made the mistake of having mail sent to Hamilton Island. When we received notification that our parcel was ready to pick up we researched the fees associated with getting a berth. What we discovered made our eyes water. To give you an idea the fees for 2019-2020 were:

• Per night $ 175.
• Weekly $715-$990
• Day visits per hour (Escapade) $50
• Day visits per hour (Dinghy) $15

Boats are not permitted to anchor outside the Hamilton Island Marina so Mark stayed in a holding pattern with Escapade while Georgie and I took the dinghy into the Marina. Unbeknown to us we had to phone the marina office and book a place at the dinghy wharf prior to entry and then wait at the entrance to the marina to be escorted into the dingy wharf. Thankfully the concierge was very understanding and made the radio call for us before escorting us to the wharf. Once at the wharf he wrote down the name of our vessel and confirmed that it was not a rental and gave us our ticket for $20 (increase of $5 from previous year).

Once all the paperwork was complete, Georgie and I picked up the mail, grabbed some milk and bread from the supermarket and then made a quick retreat, back to the dinghy so we were not lured to purchase some outrageously overpriced souvenir. We jumped in the dinghy and very carefully followed two superyachts as they exited the marina back to Escapade. Note to self, buy a Tattslotto ticket!

Once the dinghy was secured we motored away from Hamilton Island. With the wind blowing 10-15 knots from the south east, we put up the genoa turned off the engine and sailed along at a pleasant 5 knots towards Happy Bay at Long Island.

We dropped 50 metres of chain at a depth of 9 metres at 1130, had a quick lunch and then headed to shore in the dinghy. The Long Island resort has been closed for 8 years with only a caretaker left ensuring that nobody trespassed on resort land. The buildings were still in reasonable condition but would take a lot of money to bring the resort back up to standard. We had a chat to the caretaker who told us that the resort had been sold with the new owner about to start renovations any day.

There was a 3.5km circuit that went along the foreshore at the top end of the island and then cut back across the island adjacent to the resort. We completed the circuit although it did require maintenance as it was a bit rugged for the first 200 metres due to erosion. At the lookout along the track the caretaker was telling us that you can see whales as they come up the Whitsunday passage. Unfortunately, we did not see any.

Friday

Mel’s funeral was scheduled for Monday at Bundaberg, so we picked up anchor at 0900 and steamed back towards Airlie Beach to get a few jobs done.

While Mark booked Escapade into the Coral Sea Marina and a hire car (it’s about a 10 hour drive) I booked Lucy into the Whitsunday Pet Resort (that’s right not a kennel a pet resort!). This was going to be interesting as Lucy has never stayed in a kennel before. It actually took me longer to make Lucy’s booking than it did for Mark to book the marina, car and accommodation!

Unfortunately, with the COVID lockdown in Sydney and Brisbane none of our family will be able to make the trip up from Victoria (the same would apply to Mel’s family and friends from South Australia) but the funeral will be broadcast via zoom.

While walking Lucy along the foreshore we passed an electronic board that displayed the current temperature which was 22 degrees, then on the next line it read that it felt like 15 degrees. I could not help but chuckle because it certainly did not feel like 15 degrees to this Victorian – it was warm and humid.
The problem with humid weather is that your washing does not dry, so while Mark made water and did some odd jobs on Escapade, I whipped over to the laundromat. While waiting for the clothes dryer to finish, I found a nice hill for Lucy and I to walk up. It had a 22 degree incline, if only I had my road bike! I am totally inspired by the Tour de France (truth be known I would not make it even part way up the hill as I have the fitness of a sloth now, no harm in dreaming. 😊)