CLIENT: General Public Voyage
VOYAGE NUMBER: 20210601
FROM: Airlie Beach to Townsville
DATE: 1 June 2021
POSITION: Cid Harbour
REPORT BY: Blue Watch
Monday night dinner was the start of this adventure. Delicious meal at the Sorrentos, Coral Sea Marina, Airlie Beach. Most of the crew boarded the South Passage and slept the night on the vessel in the calm safety of the berth in the marina
All Aboard by 0830. Introductions, pleasantries and on-board orientation.
Sun-cream, hats, lip balm a must. Quick introduction to all those ropes – no actually they are lines. And if it’s a line that does a job it’s a sheet and if, at the moment it’s not busy, it’s a lazy sheet. There’s only one rope and that’s the bell rope and when that gets used, get on deck!
Meet the watch members and watch leader, meet the Skipper, safety briefing and cast off!
All teams managed to get the sails up and suddenly we were sailing! And for the first time in about 2 hours since casting-off, I had a moment to recognize the ocean!
Working in our watch groups, and Blue Watch hoisted the two headsails (jib and staysail) for a starboard tack.
With a moderate (yet exhilarating) 15-20 knot wind that gave us a decent heel and more experience in tacking, we got to a speed of 10 knots and travelled 20 nautical miles into the glorious shelter of Cid Harbour. A few of the local inhabitants (AKA turtles) popped their heads up in welcome!
We shuttled into the shore and the adventurous began the trek up the Whitsunday Peak to an elevation of 434m. Others lazed on the beach, had a quick dip or wandered around the beachfront.
Chasing the sunlight, the climbers scampered down to be back on shore by 1645 and into the waiting tender back to the South Passage. On deck rivalry was born with the first of the knot tying competitions – round turn and two half hitches. Split seconds counted and blue team, robbed at the post, came second!
Dinner – the highlight of the night was a feast of roasted chicken drum sticks, mash and veg and the world’s best gravy!