23.07.
Welcome to tropical Whitsundays. I'm sitting here with a blanket covering my legs and the wind is blowing whilst the rain comes down. Hopefully it gets warmer!!!

We are in Cid Harbour, an anchorage that promises good shelter in all winds. Although gusty at times we didn't have to hang on to our (wine) glasses like we had been since the Keppels as we got to know the meaning of rolly anchorages. It is our second time at Cid. After a week of sailing from the Keppels to the Whitsundays we decided to relinquish some of the islands we intended to visit for calmer waters.
We stopped at Port Clinton which wasn't too bad, much better than at Leeks Beach on the Keppels though. However, time was cut short here as the Military decided to invade the area with Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Nevertheless we also stopped around the corner at Pearl Bay. We had heard it was a beautiful bay and indeed it is. We were able go ashore and went for a walk on the beach. But also here, the rolling continued at anchor as we started to see the appeal of a catamaran, only momentarily thought!!!! 
Enjoying the beach at Pearl Bay the sky turned grey and the wind picked up so we went quickly back to Torea. We had decided to go to Cape Townshend next and from there to Curlew Island. 
I persuaded Steve to do some island hopping. I wanted to see a bit more of this area as well, as I am not a great lover of one night overnighters. I feel so exhausted after a night with this one hour on/off rhythm - and one night is not enough to get into a routine. Luckily, it didn't take long and no magic was needed to have Steve agree.
After a pretty rolly night (wind against tide) and roughly 10 hours of good sail (again the weather forecast was not at all reliable) we arrived at Curlew. The distance is not so big, but I wasn't aware of the extreme tides in this area. The Shoalwater Bay, namely the Broad Sound is known for its tides. It slowed us down for about 2.5 kn at times. 

Curlew looked quite nice but after another shabby night we both became a bit thin-skinned and we decided against going ashore and spending another night in this anchorage. We therefore left to Brampton island where we could get ashore for a stretch of the legs. We had both found information that the track to the top was open again (in 2016 a cyclone hit the island hard and destroyed the resort; since then, not much tourism is there). The night was again not too good, but this time, we decided to go ashore and do the walk. And it was worth it - the view was fabulous!
Being back on Torea we prepared her to leave. We wanted to go to Shaw Island, but as the winds were unexpectedly good, we changed our minds and set course to Cid Harbour. It was another long day, another 10 hours of good sailing but when we arrived at Sawmill Bay in Cid Harbour, we couldn't believe it, how calm the water was. We were a bit anxious that we would not sleep properly, as we would miss the roll... The following day we moved to Airlie Beach.
After one and a half days of re-provisioning and getting some missing bits and pieces, I eventually could satisfy my lust for pizza. As we were only able to eat one half of the pizza each, we had pizza for lunch the following day again! We will be in Airlie Beach again - to meet our friends, hopefully and to get groceries etc.

photo Airlie Beach at dusk