Gypsy Cruising

[I've been sailing around the Whitsunday Islands for the past week, almost entirely without phone coverage.  This has prevented me from updating my posts.  I'm now in a marina berth at Airlie Beach, with time to finally get this blog up to date.  Here goes...]


23 June 

Hexham Island

From Hexham Island up to Mackay lie a series of Island groups, each within about 25 miles sailing of each other.  This gives us quite a choice of anchorages for the next week, before we’re due in Mackay for the cruise Rendezvous and for Spencer’s return to Sydney.  For the time being however we have another day on Hexham.  Breakfast today is eggs Benedict, a popular meal around here.

The day starts clear and sunny but significant cloud coverage develops soon after sunrise.  Spencer is intent on climbing to the top of the closest hill and to then make it out to the small islet attached to the main island by a drying isthmus.  I was more interested in just gathering some more photos of the island.

Looking back into the anchorage from Spencer's small islet

View from the hill overlooking the anchorage

Views of the beach

The clouds kept developing through the day and the afternoon gave us our first rain for the trip, at least during daylight hours.  We’ve previously had a couple of brief showers at night, which are actually quite useful for washing accumulated salt, sand and other general dirt from the decks and canvasses.  In any case, this shower gave us an excuse to retreat below for a bit.

The hardships of living with a brief tropical shower