After settling in a bit we left the marina at mid-day and sailed to Goldsmith Island, a distance of 24 miles.  The wind was quite strong out of the southeast and the only uncomfortable part of the day’s travel was the first hour out of the marina as we were heading east at that point and into the wind.  Once we were able to head north to Goldsmith everything settled down and we had a great sail.

In the fourteen days of the visit we went to 10 different anchorages, which meant that we moved almost every day.  This is not our usual practice but Paul wanted Alan and Teresa to see as much of the Whitsundays as possible, which is why he planned such a vigorous schedule.

Here are some highlights of the visit:

On Tuesday, June 24, we went into Hamilton Island Marina in order to drop Alan and Teresa off, as they were flying out of that island to Brisbane at mid-day.  Thus ended a whirlwind visit to the Whitsundays with Alan and Teresa.  Thanks for the visit Al!

June 25 – July 6, 2008

We were tired from all of the recent traveling and having guests aboard.  We also needed more fresh fruits and vegetables so we headed to Airlie Beach for provisioning.  While we were there we spent some time with Paul and Judy from Meridian of Sydney – the newly refurbished Meridian (reef rescue – August 2007 in the Louisiades).   We had a wonderful dinner aboard their boat as we celebrated the “new Meridian” and our friendship.  Paul and Judy were excitedly preparing for a visit from their son and his family and would be picking them up at Hamilton Island in a few days.

On Sunday, June 29, we were just about to head off to a quiet bay six miles north of Airlie Beach for a few days of rest and relaxation when we were contacted by Peter and Ilona from Lode-Star.  They were actually at anchor at Airlie Beach, but south of the marina entrance and we were north of the marina entrance.  We moved over to their side of the anchorage and spent a couple of days with them.

Peter and Paul were anxious to visit a nearby reef and, as the weather forecast was good, we made plans to go out to Knuckle Reef on Tuesday, July 1.  Bright and early on Canada Day, Paul serenaded the anchorage with “O Canada!”; receiving good applause from Peter and Ilona.

We, along with Lode-Star, set off at 0900h and traveled 20 miles to an interim stop of Butterfly Bay for the night.  The next morning we traveled the rest of the way to Knuckle Reef, a distance of about 30 miles.

Just as we set out from Butterfly Bay, Peter called us on the VHF radio and told us that they could see a large dark shape floating in the water and were going over to check it out.  Imagine our excitement a few minutes later when he reported that it was two whales – a mother and her calf.  We immediately altered course so that we could get a closer look. 

Early on Saturday, July 5, we waved good-bye to Peter and Ilona as they left the reef and headed north.  We left an hour later and set out for Airlie Beach.  We planned on returning to Line Reef in the next few weeks with Paul and Judy and Meridian of Sydney.  Right then though, we needed to get back to Airlie and to a payphone so that we could talk to our daughter, Jennifer, in New York.  She was planning her November wedding in NYC and we wanted to discuss our travel plans with her. 

There are two ways to get to Airlie Beach from Line reef – we chose the way that goes between Bait and Hook reefs and offers a strong current that would be in our favour with a rising tide and heading south.  With 25 knots of wind out of the south/southeast (coming at us), we experienced 1-2 metres of breaking waves (steep and close together) due to the 3-knot southerly setting current in the channel between the two reefs.  At one point we saw a speed of 10.5 knots over the ground despite the fact that we were close-hauled (almost pointing into the wind).  We decided that the next time, if we have wind against tide (as it was this day), we would go outside of Bait Reef.

We made it to Airlie Beach in good time (51 miles in 6 hours) and settled at anchor.  Again we were very tired as we had been going “flat out” (as the Aussies say) for about one month and were ready to drop.  We went to bed that night at 2000h.  

The next day was much more relaxing.  We went ashore at mid-day and had a nice phone conversation with our daughter and then met two friends for lunch.  The friends, Peter and Donna from Two Up (we met them in the Louisiades), were visiting their daughter in Mackay and had driven up to Airlie for the afternoon.  The conversation never stopped.  After lunch, the four of us were on our way to Bella Via for the last couple of hours of their visit when they asked if we wanted to drive to Shute Harbour and a lookout.  We had never been to Shute Harbour and accepted their offer.  We enjoyed the drive, especially looking at the Whitsunday area islands from a different viewpoint – however, Peter and Donna could not find the lookout.  The area had been much developed since they were last in the area.

July 7 – 10, 2008

We stayed at Airlie Beach for a few days trying to relax and, at the same time, catch up on boat projects.  The list is never-ending.

Paul and Judy from Meridian arrived back at Airlie on the Monday and anchored nearby.  We had them over for sundowners and told them that we needed a break from socializing for a few days.  They said that they needed the same as they had just had a wonderful visit with their family but having two young grandchildren aboard is exhausting.  It was agreed that in a few days we would go back out to Line Reef and Meridian would go along.  The two Pauls wanted to catch lots of coral trout.

July 11, 2008

We left Airlie Beach in the company of Meridian of Sydney, spent one night at Butterfly Bay, and then sailed the next day to Line Reef.  We had 20-25 knots of wind out of the southeast and had a wonderful beam reach to the reef.  We were clipping along at an average of 8 knots when suddenly Paul spotted a whale blow up ahead and only four boat lengths away.  At first we were not sure in which direction it was headed but within moments it became clear that there was more than one whale and they were headed on an intersecting course with us.  If we continued on our course, in the next few seconds one of us was about to get T-boned.  There was a possibility that they would dive below us but we couldn’t count on that.

So, we altered course, and very quickly.  We performed what Paul calls a “crash tack”, which basically stopped the boat.  We were now “hove to”, and this meant that the foresail was backwinded and the mainsail was filled and we were held steady, pointing into the wind.  This manoeuvre is sometimes used by sailors if they want to stop moving forward, i.e. waiting until daylight to make landfall after an ocean passage.  We hadn’t previously hove to in Bella Via in such blustery conditions and we were very pleased with the result.

Meanwhile, we now had at least four whales (all adults) directly beside and behind us, as they also had stopped moving forward as if they wanted to play alongside Bella Via.  It was a magical sight. 

Getting back under way was complicated by the fact that we were towing 3 fishing lines when we “crash tacked”.  These were now floating down and obliquely across the underside of Bella Via.  As Paul attempted to reel in these lines, it became apparent that one of the three had snagged onto a starboard rudder or propeller.  Retrieving this line would have to wait until we got into the more sheltered waters of our intended anchorage.  In the meantime, we would be limited to using only our port engine when it came time to drop the hook (anchor).  This is not a serious limitation in open water.  If entering a marina this could be more critical because manoeuvering a big cat with only one engine in confined spaces is NOT easy.

Once the fishing lines were cleared away we continued on to Line Reef. 

July 11 – 21, 2008

We stayed at Line Reef for over one week, our second time to stay there for a week in the last three.  The weather was quite good and the anchorage was comfortable, even at spring tides (full moon, which means more water coming over the reef).  Meridian of Sydney was with us for about three days and also friends of theirs, Peter and Ann on Cleopatra.  While we were at the reef we again celebrated a birthday for Paul of Meridian (July 2007 – Louisiades) with a wonderful dinner on his boat.

Our Paul’s success with the spear gun has increased dramatically during these weeks at Line Reef, as has his ability to dive.  He is daily free diving (that means without tanks, just holding his breath) to depths of 20 feet and occasionally 30 feet and feeling quite relaxed as he does so.  Both Paul of Meridian and Peter of Cleopatra joined our Paul for daily hunting/gathering expeditions.  Both accomplices reported enjoying the snorkeling and the thrill of watching Paul hunt fish.  The accomplices would often spot a new target and/or keep a wary eye out for sharks, which frequently appear immediately after spearing a fish.  All shark sightings were of white tip reef sharks.  These are generally not aggressive but are definitely avoided, so the hunter/gatherers would often move on to a different area of the reef after tossing their catch and themselves into the dinghy.

Paul always fishes relatively close to wherever he has anchored the dinghy and returns to the dinghy after every catch, depositing the fish into the dinghy and then checking the neighbourhood for sharks.  Our freezer always has lots of fish now, which includes Coral Trout, Red Emperor, Painted Sweetlip and the occasional Stripey Sea Perch.  We haven’t purchased fish in months and we are eating fish two days out of three.  During our time at Line Reef, Paul filled our freezer and fed both Meridian and Cleopatra for a couple of days with the fish that he caught.  

During Paul’s fishing expeditions, which usually last from 1 to 2 hours in the water, he continues to see something new every single time out.  The biodiversity is absolutely astounding.  On one occasion he spotted a white tip shark resting on the sandy bottom with its head hiding in a cave.  This quickly dispelled the myth that all sharks need to keep water moving over their gills so that they can breathe properly.  Paul’s favorite sightings are of the sea turtles, which will often allow him to swim right up and alongside of them, nearly touching one another.  One sighting, that had mixed emotions associated with it, was of a giant stingray, (the body of which was approximately 1 metre in diameter and two metres from head to tail tip) which found the two Paul’s interesting subjects and swam unnervingly close to them as they stared in fear and amazement.  Stingrays resting in the sand are a common sight.  During these sightings all that is seen are the ray’s eyes and tail sticking out from the sand. 
Paul is going to miss the thrills and pleasures of the reef when we leave the Great Barrier Reef area.

We left Line Reef on Monday, July 21 as a low-pressure system was developing in the Tasman and Coral Seas and strong winds were predicted for Tuesday and beyond.  There was no wind, so we motored for 8 hours to a quiet bay, Woodwark, just 6 miles north of Airlie Beach.

On the way, we spotted whales at least three times.  Not too close, but close enough that we saw a few of the whales breaching (rising straight up out of the water) and it was a sight to behold.