On to the Whitsundays

Rosslyn Bay to the Whitsundays

Sunday, 17 September to Friday, 22 September 2023

After 9 days, we finally castoff our berth at Keppel Bay Marina at 0615 on Sunday in a strong SSE wind. It had eased a bit from the last few days and we were keen to move on. 

Dawn at Keppel Bay Marina

We set the spinnaker and had a great run all the way to the entrance of Island Head Creek. With winds a steady 15 to 20 knots, we had a fast trip with anchor down by 1345 after 52 nm. Our average speed over ground under spinnaker was a fast, for us, 9.1 knots and we saw 4 whales. 

Seas a bit larger than we like

On Monday we headed off again just after 0600 under main and jib as the wind was above 20 knots. By 0840, the wind was down to 15 to 20 so we hoisted the spinnaker and headed for Curlew Island. We carried it most of the way and anchored at Curlew at 1540 after 65 nm and seeing 5 whales including one right as we entered the bay. 

Curlew is one of our favourite islands but with family joining us on Saturday, we had to keep moving. We departed at 0610 on Tuesday morning for Brampton Island. Just after exiting the bay we saw a whale heading in our direction. A quick tack was required as it wasn't about to alter course for us. Spinnaker run again all day in a lighter 10-15 knot SE wind. As we approached Brampton we reunited with Dawn's Light from the RQ Cruise North group.

The beautiful Whitsunday islands

On Wednesday, we decided to head for Whitehaven Beach to enjoy the light winds of the next few days. Unfortunately these plans quickly changed when Warren discovered a small fuel leak from the port engine fuel filter. A call to our friend Brett in Airlie Beach resulted in him sourcing a replacement and offering to install it. So we altered course and after a night at the underrated Beach 25, we headed to Airlie and tied up at the Coral Sea Marina. Great service from Honest Brett's Diesel Repairs had it all fixed that day!

Friday was washing, cleaning and re-provisioning ready for our youngest son and his family arriving on Saturday.

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