Mackay to Airlie Beach

Well the time has come to leave Mackay Marina and head further north to the Whitsundays. Our destination for the next leg will be Brampton Island. This was once a bubbling Resort which people from all over the world flocked to, to enjoy the ambiance and tropical atmosphere.
The pic at top was taken when Rob and I went out to check out the entrance of the marina  and Brampton Is centre back with St Bees and Keswick Islands on the right.

As Brampton is only 20nm north of
Mackay, it was an easy 4hr motor sail
and at left is where we anchored. We
will be here for a 2 days so we can have
a look at the Resort which we were told was abandoned some 6 years ago and as you will see in the pics  below, the damage that Cyclone Debbie did to the place.

Below is a collage of pics on how the Resort is today after Debbie and as you

will see, she is in a bit of a mess - it is a shame this beautiful place is left like

this!!!!

At the end of the day, whilst on board having a sundowner

Rob turned and said: "Welcome to the Whitsundays"

So I guess our real trip starts from now . . .

Thursday 15th June 2017

We have decided to head north to Goldsmith Island

as our next leg and its only 12nm away. This will bring

us closer to Airlie as well as another give us a look at

another piece of these fabulous Islands.

We upped anchor just after 0730 hrs as Rob had received a text from a mate to

expect winds of 20+ knots with 1-1.5m seas and choppy conditions later in the

morning. As you can see from the pic above, this is Minnie Hall bay,

our anchorage at Goldsmith.

Rob anchored 1st and as I came up on his boat, the other yachtie, Neal, seen here

at right called out that I was headed for a bommie, so quick action was taken

to come astern of Rob and drop the anchor. Whew that was close.

Inside the anchorage was interesting as there is

another smaller Islet named Farrier Is, as you can

see at left. This Islet has a private residential dwelling

on its S/W shoreline and it doesn't appear to have been
affected by Debbie at all. 

We stayed in Goldsmith for a couple of days due to weather and it proved to be a good haven against the strong winds. Whilst there we spotted a Bronze Whaler shark chasing a feed of school fish and had dolphins swimming around the boats, but alas didn't get any pics of either.

The next leg will be up to Shaw Island bypassing Thomas Island - another small 15nm run with winds expected to be around 10-15knts.

0700 - hoisted the pick and headed off  and arrived at around 1000hrs. Good run with smooth seas and a gentle breeze, although I got an extra 1.5knots when I raised the headsail.

We anchored in behind Burning Point, but a little too far out, but that didn't matter as we would only be here for a day or two any how.

Shaw Island proved to be an excellent anchorage  and

as you can see at left, is across the way from Lindeman Is

which like most other Resorts here are or have been closed

for some time due to the economy or cyclone Debbie -

again a real shame.

Above is our next destination, Cid Harbour. A beautiful anchorage which many Bare Boat

Charters are attracted  to as it is only about 9nm from Shute Harbour, their base for the

boats.

On the way up, we passed by Dent and Hamilton Islands as we were running with the current and doing 6-7knts without any sail, although Rob & Kerry told me later that they sailed all the way.

Some other visitors are these two boats - a tallship & large privately owned cruiser - told you the place was popular . . .

Also here is some more remains of Cyclone Debbie.

I was told that this happened during the storm and

as yet hasn't been salvaged as there were some 40

vessels that have simply "Just Gone Missing"???

Wednesday 22nd June:

Today we decided to head into Airlie Beach, some 14nm away and as we passed the top of the Molle Chanel, The Pacific Jewell was there waiting at the entrance to Pioneer Bay.

The trip across had been a little rough with 20kn+ winds

and at times 1.5m+ swell and I was glad to be in behind

Pioneer Point and heading for an anchorage just outside

of the Abbel Point Marina Complex.

Upon anchoring the owner of the nearest boat came over

and it turned out to be Rob Woodforth from Southport

yacht club - small world!!!

We stayed at the first anchorage one day and as it was too rolley, we moved over near the Airlie Beach Sailing Club as you can see here at left and the view into Airlie at right.

Here we will stay for a week or so before heading off to explore some more of the Whitsunday Group of Islands as we have decided to make Airlie our base and I  will bring you more of the updates as we go . . . so until then, as always, CHEERS.