Whitsunday Islands
Log 56



April 10, 2008


After an nice two and a half hour sail we arrived at Abel Point Marina. This is the center of yachting in the Whitsunday Island area. The small town of Arlie Beach is loaded with backpackers and is a holiday destination. We weren't too impressed. The town was centered on a dusty busy street with speeding traffic. The "strip" was dedicated to fast foods,trinkets, and low budget accomidations. The beach was nothing to write home about. We spent one night in the upscale (expensive) marina, topped of our fuel tanks (US$7.00/gallon) and decided to take a mooring buoy in front of the Arlie Beach Sailing club. The Buoy cost us A$50 for a week. The marina was A$105 per night! (greedy bastards) The buoy had better access to town anyway. It was also much cooler out in the breeze. The weather has been very hot the last few days.

The next few days we tramped around town with our trusty/rusty folding bikes. An alternator was taken in for repair and we did a little grocery shopping. Freebird got a clean sweep fore and aft as we were preparing for visitors.

April 13th 2008
We rented a car to go pick up our friends, Geoff and Judy who were coming all the way from California. Before taking off on the 3 hour turn around trek we checked online to make sure the flight was on time. We arrived at the airport and guess what?? You guessed it.... The plane is delayed by 6 hours! It's not like there is anything to do near the airport for 6 hours. There is nothing for miles.. no restaurants, no shopping, no movies, not even a golf courses... nothing!.... Okay back to Arlie beach for lunch and the killing of time and rental car kilometers. We finally picked them up at 8PM . We jetted back into Arlie in time for a late Thai dinner.

April 14th 2008

Freebird is sailing with her new crew back out to the Whitsunday Islands. It's a beautiful sailing day and the wind allows us to comfortably lay Cid Harbor in the afternoon. It was such a nice day that we added a few extra sailing miles just for the fun of it. Feels good to be back out on the water. We're all pretty zonked. After a little nap Judy makes a nice chicken dinner. After a few hours of solving world problems we all crash for a quiet night on the hook.

A quick breakfast and we're off to find some remote anchorages. We've spotted some good potential snorkeling spots on the chart. Our track takes us around to the windward side of the islands. Soon it's blowing 30 knots and the skipper makes the decision to turn back. No use in making a miserable day of it. We sail by the Hook Island underwater Observatory. A mooring buoy is available so we take it. We took the dinghy to shore and spent a few hours walking the trails and checking out the old underwater observatory. It has deffinatly seen better days. The glass was so scratched that you could barely see out. It must have been very special in its day. Still all in all it was a plesant little excursion. Because the weather had started to blow up a little we dicided to head back to Cid Harbor. It is the most protected place in the island group. We dropped the hook in the calm water enjoyed the tranquility of this special place... Marquritas all around at sunset..... Good times with good friends...

April 16th

Awoke to a stormy day. The skipper felt that we should get back across the open water while the gettin was good. Our friends had a flight to catch in a couple of days. It would not be good to be stuck on the wrong side of the channel.We upped anchor and headed out into the malestrom. The wind was blowing about 25 knots but the seas were fairly calm because the current was moving with the wind. Had we waited a few hours the sea conditions would have been much rougher. A few hours later we anchored in a rainstorm. We're in front of "Peppers Palm Bay Resort". We scurried to the beach with umbrillas. It was pouring. Our plan was to make some dinner reservations but the weather didn't look promising. We dicided to do lunch instead while we were ashore. We enjoyed a nice lunch watching the downpour from the open air cafe. After lunch the rain let up and we went for a walk to the other side of the island. We returned to Freebird just as the sky opened up. We were treated to another nice evening of good food, drink, and special friends..

April 17th

Up early for the sail back to Arlie Beach.... still raining. There is no sign of a break. We huddle in the cabin and watch the radar. Freebird makes her way back to the mooring buoy before noon. The weather finally clears. We head ashore and after a bit of shopping and lunch at the Arlie Beach Sailing Club, it was time to bid our friends "Bon Voyage". They caught a cab back to the airport. We caught our dinghy back to Freebird where laundry was waiting for Judy and sail repair was waiting for Dave.