South Percy to the Whitsundays

Thursday 17 June, South Percy Island to Scawfell Island
The day didn’t start well with Peer Pressure finding their anchor chain wrapped around a coral bombie. Several anxious moments for Len as he pictured having to take to the chain with his bolt cutters so early in their cruise. They eventually unwound themselves and we all headed off in a very pleasant ESE breeze of 10 to 15 knots. Peer Pressure and Next Phase set spinnakers while One More had a motor ticking over as we needed to make good time to cover the 68 miles to Scawfell before dark. After the excitement of the last few days it was nice to relax.

The breeze died after lunch and we dropped the kite and started the motors. We were then joined by 6 dolphins who delighted us with a display of precision bow riding and acrobatics. Very special as we sat in the bow seats of our Seawind and enjoyed the show. I really think they were pleased to entertain us! So Quinn, we have seen dugongs, turtles, dolphins and whales but happily no sharks or crocs.

The breeze freshened again about half an hour later and the spinnaker was up for a quick finish to the day. The only issue was avoiding a rather large ship en route to Mackay that the AIS picked up on a collision course. A course alteration was required to ensure we passed well astern of it. It was off to join the other 57 ships anchored off Mackay.

We arrived at Refuge Bay on dusk with just enough light to appreciate the pine trees and rocks to the waterline of Scawfell Island so characteristic of the Whitsunday Islands.

Friday 18 June, Scawfell Island to Cid Harbour

Southerly of 10 to 15 knots sees the spinnakers up again for the final leg to the Whitsundays. One More made an early start as they wanted to get to Airlie Beach to meet some family members while we left at 6:30. This is a very beautiful part of the coastline with many islands that we hope to explore on the trip south. Saw a navy patrol boat heading south.

The breeze died again around lunchtime so we motored up the Whitsunday Passage to Cid Harbour. The forecast is that the glassy conditions will not last! We saw several more Seawinds including Hadja (1160) who are also participating in the rally. Print this post