Catamaran holiday in the Whitsundays
19 July 2016 | Whitsunday Islands, Queensland, Australia
Friends asked us to join them on a 60th birthday cruise through the Whitsundays recently on a charter cat. As the only experience we've had on sailing catamarans have been on little dinghies, we enjoyed the change. With 9 of us on board a Perry 43 with 4 double cabins and 3 heads, it was fairly spacious.
Whitsunday Rent a Yacht chartered Nemo to our friend and with plenty of tucker and booze on board we enjoyed a week long party on the water. At first the weather was kind with light winds and sunny skies. First stop was Whitehaven beach from Shute Harbour. The water was still bright turquoise and the sand blindingly white. There were many yachts anchored, the majority catamarans. Last time we were there was November 2007 on Valiam and we had the anchorage to ourselves.
Nemo hopped around the eastern coast of Whitsunday island up to Border Island then Butterfly Bay on the top of Hook island then down to Cid Harbour by the 5th day. We enjoyed snorkelling, bushwalking, beach combing and whale watching. A dugong delighted us in Tongue bay. As a strong southerly 25-30 knots with rain was predicted, Cid Harbour provided the perfect sheltered anchorage. Here Bill and I caught up with Karen and Rob on Dream time as well as Helene and Graham on Roobinesque. Karen and Helene are also members of Women Who Sail Australia Facebook group where we regularly chat on line and occasionally meet in harbours for sundowners. The group that met this day on Sawmill beach was large with a trail of dinghies on the shore. Bill and some of the Nemo crew climbed Whitsunday peak and still managed to photograph a great view despite the clouds.
Most people know I suffer from seasickness so I was interested to see how I would go on a catamaran. Flat seas were fine. However on 2 occasions we had to motor sail or motor into strong southerly winds. On the first occasion I took a precautionary sturgeron and was ok. After sailing a mono for decades the motion of this cat felt unfamiliar. Into the wind and there was some current it seemed to have 2 movements. Side to side as well as forward and back. Another crew member also felt unwell but sturgeron and staying out in the fresh air did the trick. The second time I didn't take anything and it was rather rough. Staring fixedly at the following sea and fresh air I kept the nausea under control. Lucky it was only a short trip. I guess I'm one of those unlucky ones who gets sick on any boat including catamarans, even if it doesn't heel like a mono.
Nemo is a beautiful boat and Whitsunday Rent a Yacht looked after us well. There was lots of fun on board with theme nights such as 'formal' and 'glamourous' with our own interpretations and imagination with what we had on board. The birthday boy was also treated to a surprise pirate song complete with stripey clad crew members followed by the girls belly dancing in sarongs and flower garlands. All good fun. Thanks guys for an awesome week.