SEPTEMBER 28 , 2005

Journal Entry July 31-Pancake Creek Aug22-"River Rats" Sept7-Middle Percy Island Page 1 Page 2

September 7-9, 2005

We spent three days at Goldsmith Island with David and Heather from The Catch and Paul spent most of that time catching fish on the various reefs. It was good to catch up on what is new in the lives of David and Heather - they were not heading any further north and, in fact, left on the Friday for an island further south. We traded email addresses and hope to meet up with them when we are in the Brisbane area in December. We later learned from other friends that David was heard reporting on the VHF radio to the Mackay coast guard that The Catch was having engine trouble and they were heading into Mackay harbour under sail and no power. We also learned later that the fault was only a small part and easily fixed.

September 10, 2005

On our way to a southerly anchorage on Shaw Island (the wind was out of the northeast that day), we came very close to another whale. We slowed down the boat and enjoyed the show for about 30 minutes, as the whale cavorted in the sparkling blue water. We spent two nights in a secluded anchorage at Shaw and then left for Airlie Beach.

September 12 - 15, 2005

Traveling to Airlie Beach meant that we were finally entering the Whitsunday Island Group area. We immediately started to see an increase in boat traffic. As we were traveling up Whitsunday Passage and passing Long Island, Mary reminded Paul that Craig, a young friend of Jen Martyniuk's who helped us move in to Bella Via in Sydney, is now working at a resort on Long Island. We intended to make contact with him as soon as we settled into Airlie Beach.

At the same time as we were enjoying the sailing and the scenery, we noted that our port engine was making a new and suspicious noise. Paul identified that our new, two-month old, alternator was not functioning. This was very disappointing news to us as we had hoped that our alternator problems were finished. Good timing though, as we then decided that Paul would pull the alternator out in Airlie Beach and look for a marine electrician to check it out.

Our time at anchor in Airlie Beach was very hectic. We had to pick up our replacement watermaker pump and motor (which was successfully installed by Paul), diagnose what is wrong with the alternator (faulty, and shipped back to Sydney for repair), walk 45 minutes to a supermarket for provisioning, and do three loads of laundry. This may not sound like a lot, but when you have only a dinghy as a means of transportation, everything takes longer. And repackaging and putting away bags and bags of food and provisions, and updating the food storage lists, is a task that Mary "would not wish on her worst enemy".

While we were in the check-out line at the grocery store, we were startled and excited when who should approach us, but Craig, the very fellow who we planned on contacting. He informed us that he had just left the job on Long island and was leaving for Sydney in three days. We didn't want to miss an opportunity to visit with Craig so we invited him to come and stay aboard for Wednesday evening. He agreed and waited until we were finished our shopping and gave us a ride back to the boat. A lucky meeting indeed.

Airlie Beach is very much a young person's place, with hundreds of backpackers milling about and many, many touristy cruise boats moving in and out of the harbour for day and overnight trips. Airlie Beach is the nerve center of the Whitsunday tourist industry. Paul recognized several of the larger, sleek sailboats as former racing boats in the famous sailboat races, i.e. America's Cup, Whitbread Race, etc.

We followed this boat into Airlie Beach. Multi-masted boats like this one make for a beautiful sight on the horizon.


               
       

                       Click on Pics to enlarge

September 15 , 2005

While we were in Airlie Beach, we were again able to make radio contact with Bob and Julia from Kinta (we first met them at Yellow Patch and hadn't seen them since Island Head Creek). They had been patiently waiting for us to connect with them in the Whitsunday Islands. On Friday, September 15, we left Airlie Beach and met Bob and Julia in Nara Inlet on Hook Island. We had four days with Kinta, during which time we went to several different anchorages on Hook Island and Whitsunday Island. We didn't want to travel too far away from Hamilton Island as Mary's cousin Bill and his brother-in-law from Canada, Dan, were flying into Hamilton Island to spend a few days with us.

While we were island-hopping, Bob and Julia suggested that we might like to go snorkeling at Blue Pearl Bay on Hayman Island. We planned on only staying a few hours and then finding an overnight anchorage on Hook Island.

Here is Paul's personal account to family and a few friends of his few hours of snorkeling at Blue Pearl Bay....

"Yesterday I experienced my first true coral reef snorkel. WOW! Stimulus overload! The coral and sea life present an immense variety of colors, shapes, and even sounds. Those of you who have experienced this will understand how stunning it is. For those of you who haven't, this description will never do it justice.

The location of this experience was Blue Pearl Bay on the north end of Hayman Island. Hayman is one of the most northerly islands of the Whitsunday group. It is probably the most northerly point to which we will get this year. Blue Pearl Bay is a protected national marine park, of which there are many, and the fish know it. Imagine so many fish that the longer I snorkeled the larger the school that followed me got. When I turned left the whole school turned left. When I decided I had had enough and swam into the shallow water of the beach, so did the school of hundreds of fish of all varieties, colours and sizes. Try to imagine swimming alongside, (meaning three feet away) a one hundred pound potato cod (that's a fish) only 4 feet long but so fat that I couldn't put my arms around it's girth. Not that I tried.

I was pretty excited when I saw my first clam about a foot in circumference, sitting on the bottom with it's shells, open only a few inches, and the opening pulsating slowly, only fractions of an inch as it filtered the water that it takes in for nourishment. The variety of striking colours of this opening is spectacular. Some are lime green with a dark green fringe, others are deep purple. Then I saw a bigger clam, about twice the size of the first - maybe two feet in diameter. That one was nothing when I saw the grand daddy clam, over three feet across with an opening that you could easily put your hand in, if you were stupid enough to do so. When close to this clam you could see the white meat on the inside. Just like the small ones, it too, continuously pulsates. This last clam was so large that there was a smaller one, maybe a foot around, attached to the outside shell of the granddad.

And the coral! Scientists must go crazy trying to identify and classify such variety. Again, one sees every shape and colour imaginable. My favorite is the soft stuff that sways in the currents like a field of ripe wheat in the wind.

You might be wondering what sounds I could be talking about. For one, there's the eerie sounds of whales in the distance. The other, is the crunching sound made by parrot fish as they chew on the hard coral. There must be some nutrition in the coral for them. These are really big, colourful fish. Up to about 10 pounds would be my guess. Of many colours as the name implies.

I've always been a little bit timid about diving when snorkeling - afraid that I would run out of air. However, I found that I was enjoying the view so much that I forget about my need for air and I would stay down much longer than ever before. Don't let me mislead you, I'm not going very deep, maybe 10 feet at the most, nor am I staying under for more than a minute. But I can begin to see how someday, I might be able to extend these limits significantly.

Tonight we are anchored in a large sheltered bay with over 50 other boats including two small cruise ships. Quite a spectacle after dark with all of their lights creating a romantic setting on a warm spring evening. Our dinner this evening was fillet of black marlin. This was given to us by another liveaboard who caught this 100 pound fish on his hand line today in the very same area that we traveled with our lines in the water. Sooner or later, this will be my story to tell."

(End of Paul's personal account)

 

September 20, 2005

On Tuesday at 1145h, Bill and Dan arrived on Hamilton Island and we picked them up at the fuel dock at the marina. It didn't take long and we were on our way to join Kinta at Shaw Island for two days. It also didn't take long for Bill and Dan to have their fishing rods in the water. With all of the designated Marine Park areas in the Whitsunday Island Group, it was a challenge to find anchorages where the guys could fish from the boat.

After two days at Shaw, we decided to sail to Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island as everyone wanted to see the famous beach, which is usually pictured in just about every advertisement for the Whitsundays. According to one of our cruising guides, "Whitehaven is an incredible expanse of pure white sand, the legacy of a geologic era when the sea level was lower. It is a magnificent beach, and one that is understandably popular with all and sundry, from itinerant yachts to motorized catamarans, complete with rock bands. The 5 kilometer beach is big enough for all." We were only at Whitehaven for two hours as it was a no-fishing zone and we only wanted to walk the beach. It certainly was busy - seaplanes arriving and taking off with resort passengers, tour boats dropping off passengers, and private and charter boats anchored everywhere. Now, we can say that we have been there!

 

Dinner time with Mary's cousin Bill from Brisbane (second from right) and his brother-in-law Dan from Alberta (next to Paul).

 

September 23, 2005

We dropped Bill and Dan off at Hamilton Island on Friday for their noon flight back to Brisbane. We sailed back to Airlie Beach in order to have a marine electrician check our remaining 150 amp alternator to make sure that it would not have the same problem as the one that is presently being fixed. The alternator was declared okay.

At the same time, we were looking forward to checking out the Airlie Beach outdoor market that is very popular on Saturday mornings. Sure enough, when we joined Kinta at anchor just outside of the Whitsunday Sailing Club, there were hundreds of boats all crowded into a small space. On Saturday morning, we joined the crowds for fresh fruit and vegetables and crafts. Soon after, there was a steady parade of boats leaving, although we decided to stay for another day.

September 25 - 27, 2005

The next three days were spent with Kinta as we island-hopped, enjoying snorkeling opportunities, great sailing, good anchorages, and pleasant times. On Monday, we traveled north for 20 miles to visit Bait and Hook reefs. This is the start of The Great Barrier reef and is an area in the Coral Sea where it is possible to anchor in less than 30 feet of water and be ringed by a coral reef. At high tide, the coral reef would be completely underwater. We went for a dinghy ride to see the coral and then sailed back to Whitsunday Island for the night.

Our time with Bob and Julia was drawing short, as they needed to start heading south. We will be staying in touch by email and will be seeing them again when we are in the Brisbane area.

September 28, 2005

Kinta left today to head south. We will stay at Nara Inlet on Hook Island for a couple of days.