11 July
Brampton Island to Shaw Island (via Thomas Island)
The rest of the cruising fleet remain one step ahead of us but we
plan on catching up with them tonight at Thomas Island. Thomas was the southern-most island that David
and I reached on our very first bareboat sailing holiday in 1986, so this
represents quite some milestone for me – I’m returning to the Whitsunday
Passage on my own boat as I promised myself those 33 years ago. The weather has pretty much returned to perfection, giving us a
very pleasant 20 mile sail.
As opposed to the leg between Bundaberg and Mackay, where islands were fairly sparsely scattered, we’re now entering a region where anchorages are only a few miles apart. This completely changes the complexion of the cruising. Not only are each day’s legs so much shorter and quicker, but we’re now spoilt for choice as to which island and anchorage to head to. Of course this is what makes the islands of the Whitsunday Passage so wonderful for visiting sailors and holiday makers. Not to mention their outstanding beauty and great weather.
As opposed to the leg between Bundaberg and Mackay, where islands were fairly sparsely scattered, we’re now entering a region where anchorages are only a few miles apart. This completely changes the complexion of the cruising. Not only are each day’s legs so much shorter and quicker, but we’re now spoilt for choice as to which island and anchorage to head to. Of course this is what makes the islands of the Whitsunday Passage so wonderful for visiting sailors and holiday makers. Not to mention their outstanding beauty and great weather.
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| Anne with view back to Brampton Island |
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| Trolling for fish - no luck since the first day out of Bundaberg, now weeks ago |
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| David and Goldsmith Island |
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| The islands of the Whitsunday Passage, seen from my bow - no longer somewhere over the horizon |
Sometimes all these benefits work against you. Like today, when we turned into the intimate northern
anchorage of Thomas Island, replete with several gorgeous gems of beaches, to
discover a Riviera regatta was ensconced there.
We counted 18 of these motor cruises crammed into our anchorage, most in
the 45-60 foot range. Being devotees of
Power, their dinghies were also overpowered macho symbols and were zipping
around between the boats and the beaches, some for no other apparent reason than to burn petrol.
I confess to feeling quite disappointed that my return to the Whitsunday
islands was tarnished by this mess. The
solution? We picked our anchor up and
motored the 45 minutes to Shaw Island where we found a quiet and very pretty place
(though not as pretty as Thomas) to spend the night. Not to worry, I’ll be back to Thomas soon
enough.
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| Evening at anchor at Shaw Island |
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