We had a beautiful sail from Airlie Beach to the Whitsundays but the wind sent us to the north so we headed into Stonehaven Anchorage and picked up a mooring. There’s a 2 hour time limit on National Park moorings in these islands but the rule of thumb is if you pick up the mooring at 3pm you can stay the night but must leave by 9am the next morning. However, this is only dependent on other boats wanting your mooring; if there’s no one else around, you can stay as long as you like.

Needless to say, these rules are often flaunted and charter boat companies in particular encourage their customers to pick up a mooring regardless of the hour because they don’t trust their anchoring skills. In good weather however, most bareboats stay out as long as possible so as dusk approached, our delightfully empty anchorage rapidly filled with an additional 15 boats anchoring once the 11 mooring buoys had been taken. It looks like the crowds have returned.