We had avoided the ‘hustle and bustle’ of Airlie Beach on the way up, choosing instead to anchor at the quiet wilderness bays just north. Airlie is the main Whitsunday hub full of tourists, backpackers and tour operators. Having spent a few days there, to our surprise, Airlie soon became our new favourite marina. The best marina facilities on the east coast, good coffee, and lively dog friendly restaurants quickly won us over. Throw in the Airlie markets, shops and ‘lagoon’ beach front pool recreation area, and we were sold on the place. After 5 nights we headed to the fuel dock on the way out: Addictive on one side of the fuel dock getting our 35 litres of diesel and 3.5 litres of unleaded and the f**k off massive motor cruiser on the other side with top deck looking down on our mast and requiring a bank guarantee to fill up with the high-flo diesel…that’s the Whitsundays.
Leaving Airlie, we avoided the most crowded bare boat charter areas such as Nara Inlet and CID Harbour, and headed south to Lindeman Island. Lindeman Island is part of the bare boat charter area, however oftentimes, on a weeks charter, people find it a little too far to go when there is a plethora of amazing places within only an hour or two. So we were banking on a quiet anchorage.
Once past Hamilton there were only a couple of sail boats in the distance and light sailing winds. Now that we are heading south we are looking for northerly winds and anchorages on the south side of the islands. Lindeman has a sheltered anchorage with an almost perfect beach, close to the mothballed resort. We visited the resort which looks functional from a distance but close up the degradation is obvious. There is evidence of rebuilding with work on the pier underway.
On a windy afternoon we dinghyed around to the next beach which was sheltered and empty. Bernie practised his shallow water fishing and we couldn’t resist a quick skinny dip.
After a few nights at Lindeman we decided to do a short hop South. We had stopped in at the north side of Thomas Island on the way up and loved it, and the cruising guide recommended one of the southern anchorages for protection from the north winds, describing it as having “a truly ‘South Pacific’ atmosphere” (Colfelt 2016, “100 Magic Miles”). This was absolutely true and we had a lovely time on the beach in this special place.
We have learned that wind and tide in the same direction means fast flat passages whereas the opposite is good for washing clothes. Leaving Thomas early after 2 nights, we had tide with us and quickly arrived at Goldsmith Island which looked a suspiciously rolly anchorage so we continued on to Brampton, for our second visit there. This time we were on the south east of the island away from the resort. We stayed 3 nights watching the cruising boats come and go as they headed south away from the cyclone season. A trimaran anchored over night and much to our surprise had a springer spaniel on board.
At high tide the lagoon near where we were anchored filled with water providing a beautiful calm swimming area. Each day mackerel herded the bait fish around our boat for a feed. We managed to hook a couple but they both escaped before we got them on board.
Eventually, we found some good weather, and enough motivation to leave beautiful Brampton Island for another spot further south. Keswick Island was only a couple of hours away and looked to be a good jump off point for the longer passages south. The paddle boards came out and we took Bernie into the beaches to harass the tiny fish. Afternoon storms brewed over the coast, provided a light display and fortunately declined before reaching the islands. On the last day we were there, Peter who had been living on his wooden boat for 20 years came over and offered us some tuna they had caught on the way in. Poke bowls for dinner setting us up for the next days sailing!
We came very close to being the first boat (unusual for us) to leave Keswick for the big trip south after getting up at 4:30am, but we were pipped at the post by our neighbours who were heading to Curlew Island. There was soon a procession of boats behind us heading out for the 10-13 hour trip south. At this time of year most cruising boats are using the Northerly winds to head out of cyclone territory. We motor sailed until lunch time when the wind and tide whisked us along at 7 knots. We enjoyed passing Mackay as we had enough food, water and fuel not to re-stock. When Sphinx Island came into view we were reminded of our blown water pipe on the trip north which happened in this area. Sails were dropped as we entered the channel between the Percy’s and we found a steady 3 knot current against us as we motored into the anchorage at dusk surrounded by a display of rainbow sands. We would have liked to have stayed a while, however we were mindful of our water situation, and Fi also wanted to spend a couple of nights at Island Head Creek which is the next hop south. Plus there is the inevitable blow predicted for 6 days away so we do need to move along.
The next day brought another long passage to Island Head Creek. We would pass through the washing machine area where we had miscalculated the tide against wind situation on the way North (you can read about that here: https://fiandadriansailing.com/run-to-paradise/). This time we were very careful to travel most of the day with the tide in the same direction as the waves and helping us down the coast. In the late afternoon we dropped sails and navigated the shallow entry to the creek. A catamaran that had been gradually catching us down the coast overtook us in the creek in the ‘race’ to the anchorage. But without the cruising guide book for the area, they followed the electronic charts smack onto a sandbank as we anchored safely in a deep pool in small tributary. After hitting the sandbank and fortunately reversing off, you could see the realisation in their eyes that we had better information than they did, and they headed off sheepishly around the corner to more predictable depths. It reminded us that local cruising guides are worth their weight in gold, and that the charts are not always correct.
For 2 nights we had this spectacular anchorage to ourselves. Its a military training area so there is no buildings, no phone coverage and just spectacular mountainous terrain (and maybe the odd croc). We put the crab pots down, but alas the famous “muddie” didn’t want to play with them, and we tried some fishing, but again, only little trumpeters wanted to play with us. We did find a few massive oysters which we enjoyed as entree one evening.
It was hard to leave Island Head but a combination of a looming SE winds forecast and a dwindling water supply meant it was time to leave. There was a strong tidal current coming into the creek as we left, but we were soon sailing down the coast with the tide changing and giving us a helping hand. A night out at Great Keppel Island before going to the marina was a possibility but a forecast review changed our minds and we set course for Keppel Bay Marina. The shoal areas close to the marina often create more choppy conditions, but today it was flat, with only a 1.5m Cobia. It was definitely too much fish for us and we returned it, hoping for something smaller and more tuna like, but alas…
So we will stop off here in Rosslyn Bay for a day or two, before heading back to Great Keppel Island again! We’re very happy to be back. This is a stunning part of the QLD coast.
