Sailing the Whitsundays on a Luxury Catamaran “Lucy” – Dec 17featured
If you have never sailed before, fear not! This is something you must try at least once in a lifetime. I can guarantee that you will love it. Almost certain that once you are back to civilization you will be googling madly for your first boat! If you have, however, “been there, done that” kind of a person, then the next destination on your list must be the Australian Whitsundays at the Great Barrier Reef.
Where are the Whitsundays?
The easiest way to get to Whitsundays if you decided to charter the boat is to fly to Proserpine Airport the day before your booked trip and overnight at Airlie Beach. I recommend staying at the Mantra Club Croc. It is an inexpensive motel style accommodation but surprisingly has really good dinner menus with some top class cocktails at the bar! Abell Point Marina, where your journey will begin, is only 5 minutes drive from the hotel.
Abell Point Marina
Lucy – The Luxury Sailing Catamaran
There are plenty of charter options in the Whitsundays from small power boats to large sailing yachts. Lucy is a Lagoon 420 Sailing Catamaran that you can charter from Portland Roads. It has a Mainsail which runs up her 60″ mast and a furling Headsail. Accommodation wise, it has 4 double cabins, all with private en-suites and can accommodate 8 people comfortably. The charter is a bare boat, meaning that Portland Roads provide you with a boat and you provide everything else. There are a number of options where you can hire a skipper for the trip and get all the provisioning and catering done for you if you are after a total luxury experience.
We have purchased all our food and supplies at Airlie Beach and brought to the boat ourselves. It is a bit of a hassle and somewhat of a logistical operation. Even if you are not ordering full catering, I recommend you organize for your provisions to be delivered directly to the boat on the day. Just drinks and ice for a week will take you several trips to bring to the boat!
More on Luxury Sailing Catamaran
Lucy is like a luxury floating serviced apartment. She has an outdoor barbecue ( with amazing ever-changing ocean backdrop) and a gas stove inside. All the bed linen, cooking necessities, safety gear and communication equipment is provided on the boat. She has 2 fridges, a freezer, and a giant esky. Just bring food! Lucy also carries 800 liters of water which is enough for 5 days of cruising but don’t expect long showers! There is aircon in all the rooms and main cabin but it works off the generator ( which is loud) so at night enjoy the sea breeze from the windows in your rooms.
Whitsundays Sailing Experience
Where you actually go will largely depend on the weather and an agreement with your sail guide during early morning phone calls (known as SKEDS). There are 74 islands in the Whitsundays, you will not visit them all in 1 trip. A book called 100 Magic Miles ( provided on the boat) will become your best friend. Study the map and read about the islands you want to visit. The book will provide all necessary information about the moorings, anchoring points, snorkeling and fishing spots.
If you up to a long day of sailing try to visit Whitehaven Beach on the eastern side of Whitsundays Island which is rated as one of the World’s Top 10 beaches.
For those that have never sailed before, I highly recommend booking a training session for the first day with your sail guide. This would be the best $150 dollars you ever spent. He will take you out of the harbor, show how to put up the sails and bring them down as well as how to pick up a mooring ( trust me, its a skill) and operate the anchor, as well as some basic skills for tacking and jibing.
Luxury Sailing
You will find that at a short distance between the islands it will be faster and easier to just motor power the boat but on the long stretches of sea, it is an amazing experience to travel at sail. Learn the map and the tidal schedule but mostly listen to your sail guide. He will point out the best locations and best ways to get there based on the daily wind, currents and weather conditions. If you mostly use the Sails for your travel your fuel costs will be minimum. We used sails 30% of the time and fuel cost over 5 days was still only $260 dollars.
Sailing Whitsundays
Sample 5 Day Sailing Itinerary
Day 1 – Training. Airlie Beach to Funnel Bay
Day 2 – Funnel Bay to Border Island Cateran Bay
3rd day – Border Island to Hook Island Butterfly Bay
Day 4- Butterfly Bay to Stonehaven Bay via Langford Island
Day 5 – Stonehaven Bay to Airlie Beach with stopover at Black Island
Whitsundays Map
Mooring and Anchoring
Picking up moorings was the least favorite activity for me on the whole trip. It eventuated in a lot of bruises and scratches as well as a loss of a boat hook (twice) and subsequent chasing of it in the tender boat around the bay (by the husband with a lot of complaining).
Moorings are marked on the map and typically there are several of them of different sizes next to each island (suitable for different boat sizes). The trick is to pick the floating rope (attached to the buoy) with the boat hook, lift it up, pull it over the bow roller until you can hook it to the bollard on the deck. The problem is that the rope is thick and heavy and the boat is moving to/from the mooring in the wind. Moorings can cause a major damage to propellers if the rope wraps around them. So whilst pulling the heavy rope you need to communicate its whereabouts to the skipper driving the boat for him to maneuver around it. That’s pretty hard in the wind and often a lot of screaming is involved.
Anchoring
Also, there is a 2 hour limit in the Whitsundays for you to stay on the mooring with the exception of night time.
Then there is a swinging problem. Your catamaran will be moving around the mooring as far the rope permits. Once the mooring ball swings to the side of the boat it will be hitting it with a loud “bang” until the boat swings the other way. At night, this is not a lot of fun.
As a result, I highly recommend using an anchor instead, where you can. You can operate it with your foot without scratching off your pedicure. Anchoring points are also marked on the map but they are not available everywhere. Make sure you plan ahead. The advantage of an anchor is that you can also attach a rope to the chain that is attached to both hulls of the catamaran (bridle) to stop it from swinging.
Snorkelling and Fish Watching!
We found that the best snorkeling was around Butterfly Bay and Langford Island. In both places, you can take your tender to shore and snorkel off the beach. You will see some incredible corals of all shapes, sizes, and colors as well as some pretty amazing bright fish. At Langford Island as well as near the Black Island you will also most likely be sharing your swimming space with some inquisitive turtles. If underwater photography is your thing, this is the place to be. Be mindful of the current and the wind, particularly around Black Island. When on the boat, get entertained by giant fish that circle you and eat biscuits on your hands. Apparently totally normal at the Whitsundays!
What to bring
You will be doing a lot of snorkeling along the Great Barrier Reef. It is beautiful and you will not get enough of it! You can snorkel directly of the tender wearing full snorkeling gear. However, if you have kids, most likely, you will get to shore first and then snorkel towards the reef. I highly recommend reef shoes as oyster shells and corals are so sharp they will cut and slice your feet in seconds.
All the snorkeling gear and reef shoes as well as “stinger” suits you can hire at Aqua Dive at the Adell Point Marina before the trip. Stinger suits are a must and you will be reminded several times to make sure you have them. Marine stingers may be present in the waters of tropical Queensland year round, with the higher risk season during October – May.
If you are into finishing, hire all the gear at Aqua Dive as well. You will do some phenomenal finishing around the Whitsundays.
If motion sickness is something you are afraid of then stock up on some tablets. I recommend Kwells. I was taking them twice a day ( I get very sick normally) and had no issues whatsoever even in rough sea.
Other than that, bring some shorts and teeshirts. You will spend 5 days with no shoes, no hair dryer, and no makeup!