Passage: Airlie Beach to Mackay with the Brummits

6th to 17th September, 2021 - The Plan
After sailing for a few weeks (from Townsville to Airlie Beach) with my sister Maree, we dropped her off and picked up the Brummits to continue our passage south. The plan was to meander through the Whitsunday Islands, then island hop to Mackay a 12-day passage (66 nm if going directly).

6th to 10th September 2021 - Hunkering Down
Departing in the late morning we said goodbye to my sister. It was too windy to tie up to the fuel jetty so we sailed quickly using only the jib to Woodwark Bay just north of Airlie – at 25 knots it was a little too rough to sail across to the islands.

Woodwark Bay is a very comfortable anchorage with beach access only 6 nm north of Airlie. We had a relaxing day eating prawns, playing 500 and visiting the beach. Tallis loves all non-national park anchorages and he enjoyed a run on the beach.

Little did we know we would have to spend the next 4 days here as the strong SE winds continued which meant no travelling south or any south or easterly anchorages in the Whitsundays. You can’t argue with the wind so we made the best eating yummy meals and making amazing snacks (I don’t know why gherkin stuffed penne pasta isn’t a thing).

We played 500, forced our guest to look at all our French photos, visited the beach and had a picnic one day. John dropped Dave (we call him “Itchy Foot”) ashore each day so he could do walks around

the area and then post his track for all his friends and family to see. We also had a formal night where everyone got to meet Captain John. Kath and Dave were so lucky the Captain was able to spare some of his precious time.

Finally, still windy but with the strong SE subsiding we planned to go into Whisper Bay and fuel up first thing the next day before all the big power boats. We went ashore to restock the chocolate supply.

11th to 15th September, 2021 – The Passage: Airlie Beach to Mackay
Despite being early we still had to wait for 30 minutes to get to the fuel dock. Waiting in a boat is not easy as you don’t stay in the one spot and you need to do slow circles in the middle of the marina. We filled up with water and fuel – a whopping $400 – we have a 275 litre tank but it wasn’t empty. Everything about the Whitsundays is expensive.

Unfortunately, as we had spent so long at Woodwark there would be no Whitsunday touring. John decided to sail over to the islands and

past Hamilton so Kath and Dave could at least have a little look at the some of the highlights from a distance.

We sailed towards South Molle Island through Unsafe Passage. John loves going this way because of the name. He loves to build up the fear with passengers describing the complicated way one has to enter the passage. Nowadays, however, with navigational equipment, it is perfectly safe.

On the other side of Unsafe Passage John put a reef in the main sail as the wind was still problemsome. We sailed through some of Whitsunday Passage then west of Hamilton Island through Dent Passage. After that it got a bit rough until the wind moved to the east. It was a fast trip to Burning Point on Shaw Island at 7-8 knots.

Shaw Island (Whitsunday group) is in the southern Whitsunday south of Lindeman Island. Burning Point Bay on the south western side of the island is a nesting place for my favorite bird, the beach curlew and is out of bounds each October to March.

We had a lovely afternoon and evening here particularly as the whales were quite close to us in the bay. It should be noted that the home team won the scrabble game which is a bit surprising as Kath is a bit of a scrabble-shark.

Goldsmith Island (Ingot group): We had a lazy morning and Tallis, in his guise as a baby dingo, had some shore time. I’m sure he would run in the opposite direction if he ever came across a curlew. On the way to Goldsmith Island (15 nm) the guests (one of them) were given lessons on mooring, pulling up the anchor and putting the mainsail up. There were turtles everywhere in the bay. Dave was dropped off for another walk and we went over to the beach for sunset drinks.

I chose to get eaten alive by sand-flies, spending the next 2 days being excruciatingly itchy taking antihistamines and any other drug I could find whilst lathering myself in anti-itch cream – none of it really worked.
(Photos opposite Brampton Island)

Brampton Island: It was a very pleasant 12 nm motor sail to Brampton Island – another of the abandoned Barrier Reef resorts. Itchy Feet went for a walk on the island and John, Tallis, Kath and myself gently walked around the old buildings of the resort. Itchy Kathy remained miserable.

St Bees: As there are only three mooring balls at St Bees, we had an early start so that we’d be first in. It’s better to tie up to a mooring ball as the anchorage is in a channel and it was still windy in the afternoons. Unfortunately, there was no wind in the morning, so we motored the 15 nm.

Just on dusk we had the most amazing encounter with a pod of whales. A group of about three came right up to the boat and slowly circled us. One had its eye out of the water looking directly at us. It was such a special moment, almost spiritual and it takes a lot for me

to say that. It was a wonderful, exciting and emotional experience. The whales moved away and played in the bay opposite us with lots of tail and fin slapping.

Mackay: We intended to get to Mackay marina early as St Bees is only 16 nm away, however the whales decided to put on a few more shows. We stopped and drifted watching them travel slowly south. Once in we had lunch at the Breakwater Bar and Restaurant, one of the three restaurants along the front of the marina. The Brummits met up with Steve, an old friend from Katherine. We had dinner at the same place and met up with Uncle Tim. Tallis was so happy to be on land again. I am beginning to suspect Tallis is a marina dog not a salty sea dog.

On the Brummits last day, there was an exotic platter for lunch followed by The Captain and Crew Award for Most Valuable Passenger. Dave was fortunate enough to get the award and gave a lovely acceptance speech. More about the Captain and Crew awards later. Uncle Tim dropped Kath and Dave at the airport and took us back to his place in Slade Point so we could have some land time. We really appreciated that opportunity.

Next: Stopover in Mackay