Airlie Beach
Airlie beach
Airlie beach
Cabin - i slept on that chair under the table!!
Our first overnight stop
Attractive
Whitehaven beach
Whitehaven beach
Everyone on the boat
Front of the boat
Back of the boat
We saw many rainbows during the trip
Eureka
Silent night
After leaving Magnetic Island we head for Airlie beach. Airlie beach is the departure point for sailing trips around the Whitsunday islands. These sailing trips are really popular on the backpacker circuit and just about everyone you meet has been sailing or is about to go. The Whitsunday islands are a group of 74 islands inside the great barrier reef off the coats of Australia. They are absolutely beautiful islands and everyone I have spoken to has told me that the sailing trip was the highlight of their Australian trip. I had a few days in Airlie beach before I went sailing and so I lazed around the very small town for a few days. There isn’t much to do here though. There is a lagoon on the foreshore and a few places to go out at night.
I booked my sailing trip from Sydney and so I was pretty much ready to go. I booked a trip on a Maxi sailing boat called Silent Night. The boats offering the sailing tours range from small Maxis to huge Catamarans. I opted for silent night as it was a sailing boat that was still raced and looked like great fun. All your food is included in the price, but you bring your own alcohol. I was really looking forward to the trip and had spent my two free days packing my day bag and buying things to take.
I booked my sailing trip from Sydney and so I was pretty much ready to go. I booked a trip on a Maxi sailing boat called Silent Night. The boats offering the sailing tours range from small Maxis to huge Catamarans. I opted for silent night as it was a sailing boat that was still raced and looked like great fun. All your food is included in the price, but you bring your own alcohol. I was really looking forward to the trip and had spent my two free days packing my day bag and buying things to take.
I had a afternoon departure and so had a nice breakfast before heading to the marina. I picked up some cans of pre-mixed Bourbon and coke. These cans are brilliant, they are really convenient and taste good. Shame we don’t get them in the UK.
I met up with the others going out on the boat and we got on board.
In my group of ten we had a Scottish brother and Sister, an English couple and the sister of the bloke, a Swiss German guy, and two German girls. We all seemed to get on well from the get go. Showing myself up as a right alcoholic I had bought the most alcohol!! The crew on the boat consisted of the captain (who turned out to jointly own a few of the boats that run these trips!) and a deck hand called Sam. The weather in Airlie over the last few days had been rainy and one of the days it rained constantly all day. We were hoping for some nice weather out at sea.
We set sail and we all sat down on the raised side of the boat. There was a fair bit of wind and a few clouds. We had all taken some sea sickness tablets before setting sail and luckily we did as the going was tough. The sea was choppy and after a while it started to rain. The plan for the first day was to get to our overnight stop and drop anchor. The winds pickled up once we were out of the shelter of the main Whitsunday Island. The winds were reaching 40 knots and we were sailing about 20 km per hour. It felt like we were racing. The captain called for attack quite often. When attack was called we had to climb over the boat to the other side as the boat was changing direction to catch the wind. This was sometimes tricky as we had to watch the boom and climb over the deck whilst the boat was tipping from one side to the other. It was really good fun though, even though we were freezing and soaked through. We got to our overnight spot which was in a bay on the main Whitsunday island. It was raining and quite dark so we didn’t go to the main island. Sam cooked us Lasagna and garlic bread and we settled down with some drink and had a chat. The captain set up a shelter up top and we mingled and drank.
The rain dried up and the stars came out. The night sky was amazing and we drank to around 12 ish. We spotted the milky way and the southern cross. Also we noticed some small fish who were using their bio-luminesance whilst swimming around the back of the boat. The captain was a typical aussie bloke and was making us all laugh with his jokes and stories. He admitted that the gear attached to one of the steering wheels had broken whilst we were sailing earlier and that he had to make do with steering from one side of the boat, which was safe but not ideal as he had to hold on tight when the high side wasn’t the one he to steer from!!!
As I was one of the tallest I was given the bed that doubled as one of the seats in the cabin. It was kind of uncomfortable as I had the table covering part of the seat. I did mange to get to sleep after a while.
I was woken early the next day as we had breakfast early so we could set sail for Whitehaven beach. There wasn’t really the possibility of having a shower on board and so we all had to make do with a “wash” in the tiny bathroom. I kept on bumping my head getting in and out of the bathroom and soon I had a really lumpy bumpy head and it was getting quite sore!!!!
We sat up top in our jackets through the wind and rain. We were sailing quite fast again and attacking a fair bit. All of a sudden we heard a big bang from under the boat. Everyone looked at each other and Sam said that it had come from under the boat. The captain slowed down and he checked that the instruments and equipment were all responding from up top. The captain said it was safe to continue and so we made our way to Whitehaven beach. Whitehaven beach is the beach that is pictured on all postcards from the Whitsundays. Its an absolutely beautiful beach with fine white silica sands. We jumped in the dingy and made our way to the beach. It was cloudy and cold but we all still went to the beach. We had to wear stinger suits and there was still a risk of jellyfish. The suits were tiny and skin tight. I couldn’t stand up straight in mine!!! I got a few laughs!!!
After a few hours on the beach we went back and the captain wanted a word with us all. He said that the big bang was the keel of the boat. It had dropped off the boat!!! The keel was a 7 tonne weight that basically kept us in the water and prevented us from tipping over when were sailing with the boat at 45 degrees in the water. We were therefore sailing at high speed at an angle of 45 degrees without a counter balance to keep us balanced in the water!!!!!
The captain asked us if we wanted to continue or go back to airlie beach. We all said that if it was safe we would like to continue so we made our way straight to our overnight spot. It was getting dark quick and the winds had picked up again. We were all a bit nervous as we moved from side to side of the boat as motored (instead of sailed) for the remainder of the day. We were all relieved when we got into the sheltered waters of the over night spot as the wind was blowing us around and we went up at least 45 degrees at one point. Sam cooked up a nice chicken dish and we sat down and had a few more drinks. The winds were still going strong and so we were spinning around the anchor for most of the night. It was okay as long as you didn’t look outside and see how fast we were spinning. We retired quite early but none of us got any sleep that night as aswell as worrying that the boat might flip over in the wind, we could hear the anchor chain hit the side of the boat at regular intervals. The rain was also hitting the boat which was quite noisy.
Early the next morning the captain said that we were going to be taken back by another boat as it wasn’t safe to go back in our boat. The Eureka came and picked us up and we were a bit disappointed and we bid farewell to the boat. The Eureka was a faster sailing boat that was a bit bigger than silent night. The winds had dropped off and so we basically motored back to airlie beach.
What an eventful trip!!!
In my group of ten we had a Scottish brother and Sister, an English couple and the sister of the bloke, a Swiss German guy, and two German girls. We all seemed to get on well from the get go. Showing myself up as a right alcoholic I had bought the most alcohol!! The crew on the boat consisted of the captain (who turned out to jointly own a few of the boats that run these trips!) and a deck hand called Sam. The weather in Airlie over the last few days had been rainy and one of the days it rained constantly all day. We were hoping for some nice weather out at sea.
We set sail and we all sat down on the raised side of the boat. There was a fair bit of wind and a few clouds. We had all taken some sea sickness tablets before setting sail and luckily we did as the going was tough. The sea was choppy and after a while it started to rain. The plan for the first day was to get to our overnight stop and drop anchor. The winds pickled up once we were out of the shelter of the main Whitsunday Island. The winds were reaching 40 knots and we were sailing about 20 km per hour. It felt like we were racing. The captain called for attack quite often. When attack was called we had to climb over the boat to the other side as the boat was changing direction to catch the wind. This was sometimes tricky as we had to watch the boom and climb over the deck whilst the boat was tipping from one side to the other. It was really good fun though, even though we were freezing and soaked through. We got to our overnight spot which was in a bay on the main Whitsunday island. It was raining and quite dark so we didn’t go to the main island. Sam cooked us Lasagna and garlic bread and we settled down with some drink and had a chat. The captain set up a shelter up top and we mingled and drank.
The rain dried up and the stars came out. The night sky was amazing and we drank to around 12 ish. We spotted the milky way and the southern cross. Also we noticed some small fish who were using their bio-luminesance whilst swimming around the back of the boat. The captain was a typical aussie bloke and was making us all laugh with his jokes and stories. He admitted that the gear attached to one of the steering wheels had broken whilst we were sailing earlier and that he had to make do with steering from one side of the boat, which was safe but not ideal as he had to hold on tight when the high side wasn’t the one he to steer from!!!
As I was one of the tallest I was given the bed that doubled as one of the seats in the cabin. It was kind of uncomfortable as I had the table covering part of the seat. I did mange to get to sleep after a while.
I was woken early the next day as we had breakfast early so we could set sail for Whitehaven beach. There wasn’t really the possibility of having a shower on board and so we all had to make do with a “wash” in the tiny bathroom. I kept on bumping my head getting in and out of the bathroom and soon I had a really lumpy bumpy head and it was getting quite sore!!!!
We sat up top in our jackets through the wind and rain. We were sailing quite fast again and attacking a fair bit. All of a sudden we heard a big bang from under the boat. Everyone looked at each other and Sam said that it had come from under the boat. The captain slowed down and he checked that the instruments and equipment were all responding from up top. The captain said it was safe to continue and so we made our way to Whitehaven beach. Whitehaven beach is the beach that is pictured on all postcards from the Whitsundays. Its an absolutely beautiful beach with fine white silica sands. We jumped in the dingy and made our way to the beach. It was cloudy and cold but we all still went to the beach. We had to wear stinger suits and there was still a risk of jellyfish. The suits were tiny and skin tight. I couldn’t stand up straight in mine!!! I got a few laughs!!!
After a few hours on the beach we went back and the captain wanted a word with us all. He said that the big bang was the keel of the boat. It had dropped off the boat!!! The keel was a 7 tonne weight that basically kept us in the water and prevented us from tipping over when were sailing with the boat at 45 degrees in the water. We were therefore sailing at high speed at an angle of 45 degrees without a counter balance to keep us balanced in the water!!!!!
The captain asked us if we wanted to continue or go back to airlie beach. We all said that if it was safe we would like to continue so we made our way straight to our overnight spot. It was getting dark quick and the winds had picked up again. We were all a bit nervous as we moved from side to side of the boat as motored (instead of sailed) for the remainder of the day. We were all relieved when we got into the sheltered waters of the over night spot as the wind was blowing us around and we went up at least 45 degrees at one point. Sam cooked up a nice chicken dish and we sat down and had a few more drinks. The winds were still going strong and so we were spinning around the anchor for most of the night. It was okay as long as you didn’t look outside and see how fast we were spinning. We retired quite early but none of us got any sleep that night as aswell as worrying that the boat might flip over in the wind, we could hear the anchor chain hit the side of the boat at regular intervals. The rain was also hitting the boat which was quite noisy.
Early the next morning the captain said that we were going to be taken back by another boat as it wasn’t safe to go back in our boat. The Eureka came and picked us up and we were a bit disappointed and we bid farewell to the boat. The Eureka was a faster sailing boat that was a bit bigger than silent night. The winds had dropped off and so we basically motored back to airlie beach.
What an eventful trip!!!
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