Our first day aboard Hammer, a 25 berth Maxi (ex-racing) yacht, was a baptism of fire for the uninitiated - and so much fun! We'd been looking forward to this trip since before we left the UK, so we were a little disappointed in the morning as it was windy and choppy - but perfect for a jolly on the water. I'd not been sailing on a yacht this size before, and with only 3 crew (and 20 needed when it was being raced), we were 'volunteered' to help sail the thing, which was just the start of the fun. I say 'we'... Fiz was more interested in staying dry, warm, upright, on the boat and filled with Goon!
NB. Goon is what the Aussies call boxed wine - it is not an idiot - if you didn't know this before reading this note, the last sentence has a very different meaning! It's apparently an aboriginal word for bladder - if you have ever taken the cardboard away from a box of wine, you'll know how it got its name!
Anyway, as the wind was quite strong, we were ordered to sit on the high side of the boat and were warned that the boat tips 45 degrees when under sail. But neither of us had expected that the hand rails on the other side would be submerged in water for most of the day. And Fiz didn't achieve her objective - she stayed on the boat, but despite being the only one wearing a rain mac, looking like she should be in the Arctic not the tropics, she still got a good soaking!
I'd never really appreciated sailing, preferring motor boats for their simplicity, but that was probably because I'd not had an experience like this one - once you've done it, it's easy to see why so many people get the bug!
So after I'd finished playing deck-hand, and the sails were down, we taxi'd to a bay at Border Island for our 3rd snorkelling sesh at the reef. It's the start of stinger season, so we were instructed to wear stinger suits, or sexy suits, which are essentially all in one leotards, like morph suits, without the head covering. There's no photo of us in our sexy suits... for good reason!
Once dressed in our big black condoms, we got to see some more fishies and coral, but visibility wasn't great. When back on the boat though, we were lucky enough to see a large turtle, the first of a few on the trip, pop it's head up for air and a nosy at us from just a few metres away.
In the afternoon the sun put its hat on and our next stop was the incredible Whitehaven beach which is 6km long and filled with the whitest sand - its 98% Silica and apparently is good for making glass - it was used to make the Hubble telescope. It's so perfect that as we were walking we thought we could hear someone behind us with what sounded like a toilet plunger - only for us to realise it was our feet making the squeaking noise!
The white sand, the turquoise water, the seaplanes taking off and landing, the white parrots in the trees, the sandy haze and the feeling of almost complete isolation all added to the surreal feeling we had while sitting on our own little corner of the beach. No photo will truly capture it, it's definitely something you have to experience for yourself.
That night, after having eaten nachos on the beach whilst watching the sun set, we were treated to Roast Chicken (lasagne for the vegetable), and tucked in to some tinnies and goon whilst on the deck. We were anchored at Whitehaven for the night and were surprised that we could still see the sand under moonlight.
I seemed to be the only one who got a decent sleep on the boat and some hadn't been feeling great (and had been feeding the fish) - so the next morning everyone else was fairly subdued. But luckily the clouds had cleared and we were all very happy to see bright blue skies. We taxi'd to the Hill Inlet to take in the view of the area, then headed down to the beach below - where we spotted a baby reef shark and several stingrays roaming the shores. Later we had more sexy suit time, and visibility was almost perfect, so we stayed in the water as long as we could.
Despite applying copious amounts of sun cream, most of us finished the cruise looking like lobsters and we were all feeling a bit crusty - plus Fiz finished off her goon on the second day, so was swaying in more than one direction. It was good to put our feet on solid ground again but it was definitely one of the best trips we've done so far.
Put the Whitsunday Islands on your bucket list!
Very jealous
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