Windy Whitdundays 4th to 10th August

Since I have been back in the Whitsundays after the trip to Perth and Albany it has been windy or very windy most of the time. We spent over a week anchored in front of the yacht club partly for the events of the Festival of the Sea and partly because it would have been even more uncomfortable sailing to another bay than remaining here. It wasn't such a bad place to stay either as once the splashy, wet dinghy trip ashore was accomplished we could walk, explore, sample the delights of the local coffee shops and keep up with the usual mundane daily tasks.

Beach front, Airlie

 

 Eventually we decided to move to Woodwark Bay, 6nm north of Airlie Beach, where we found many cruisers anchored in calm water at the head of the bay.  Bullets of strong wind blew consistently across the bay, but at least dinghy trips were not as wet as at Airlie Beach and the scenery was different. After two nights in Woodwark Bay the wind abated slightly and we motor sailed back to Airlie Beach for top ups of dinghy fuel, food, showers, laundry etc. We have checked the weather and have decided to take the one quiet day forecast to sail to Cid Harbour where we will sit out the next four or five days of strong winds. Here we will be able to walk, swim, fish, socialise and climb that challenging Whitsunday Peak for a bit of huffing and puffing when we feel we have over indulged and should do some serious exercise.  Cid Harbour, behind mountainous Cid Island, has suspect phone, radio and internet reception so we will probably be out of reach for a few days.

This week is Airlie Race Week and we have been watching the yachts racing in the distance. Ichi Ban, Condor and some serious racing yachts are taking part along with many smaller, but still very racy craft. We have been told that on the first day one yacht was dis-masted, one lost a keel and sank and many ended up with torn sails and broken gear. The strong winds are taking their toll! Hopefully we will still be able to see some of the action from Cid Harbour.

 

The Lagoon, Airlie Beach