Two At Sea

Posted July 3, 2024
about September 24, 2022

On our final morning in Chance Bay, we woke up to low clouds sitting over the mountains. It was a beautiful sight!

At this point, we were in the process of making a decision. One option was to take our boat around the southeast corner of Whitsunday Island via a channel called the Solway Passage. Navigating this strait needs to be timed carefully, as the current can be very strong, up to 5 knots. If the wind blows opposite of the current, conditions can get really dramatic.

We could probably have managed going through the passage, but there was another issue. Once on the east side of Whitsunday Island, logic would dictate we stop at places of interest as we made our way counterclockwise around the island. This would entail another week of cruising before we’d be able to get to a marina.

Our other option was to head west to Hamilton Island for some marina time, then head out fully stocked and refreshed to the west side of Whitsunday Island and the south side of Hook Island. Below is a map showing places of interest that we’d need to sort through while making our plans in the coming days.

The day’s decision became easy when Rich let it be known that he needed some marina time. So, we set off for Hamilton Island, about a 7-mile trip. This island boasts a bustling resort city with a spiffy marina. Below, the view of Hamilton Island that lay ahead.

This marina wouldn’t be cheap; in fact this would be a big splurge for us, but we only planned to stay 2 or 3 days. I just hoped they’d have room for us. We called the marina as we neared the island.

Well, they did have room, but there was a problem. Before coming to Australia, we’d heard rumors that their marinas now require $10 million in liability insurance–a ridiculously excessive amount. We had talked to a few people who insisted this was true, while others said there was no way marinas would get boat owners to carry that amount of insurance.

So far this year, we’d been to three marinas with no problem (well, one did ask for $10 million but accepted our insurance policy as it was). We were now feeling complacent, thinking this might not be an issue. Thus, we were taken aback to hear that the marina at Hamilton required the $10 million coverage. Like, for real—there was no way around it.

What now? Well, our other planned marina in the Whitsundays was on the mainland at Airlie Beach, now about 18 miles away. Going there would throw off my itinerary but at least salvage our plan to have some marina time. We called, however, and learned that they, too, absolutely required $10 million dollars in liability insurance.

Now what do we do? We could skip these marinas, but I knew that one marina north of us, in Cairns, also required the $10m insurance. We could probably assume this would also be true of Townsville, our next marina stop north of the Whitsundays. It seems that after a certain point in north Queensland, boats simply need to carry more insurance.

What we needed to do now was up our insurance coverage. Luckily, we have a wonderful agent in New Zealand, Bill at the Marina Shop in Opua. We put in a call and yes, we could increase our insurance for the remainder of our current policy period, about 6 months. (As it turned out, this was a good thing since we ended up in Australia for another 6 months, but at this point we planned to leave in about 2 or 3 months).

We agreed to the terms and gave the go-ahead make the change in our policy, but it would take a couple of days for the process to be completed.

So now we had some time to kill and more decisions to make. We weren’t far from one of the “big gun” anchorages in Whitsunday Island, Cid Harbour. We decided to head up that way as from there, it would be easy to head over to Airlie Beach when our policy was ready. After a stay in Arlie, we could head back out to visit Hook Island and the north end of Whitehaven Beach.

It was a good solution, but this dashed my hopes for visiting Hamilton Island since that would entail backtracking. Part of keeping my promise to Rich to get through the Whitsundays as quickly as possible was to maintain a forward momentum, with minimal zig-zagging. Part of cruising, for those of us who do it as a way to travel, is accepting that it’s not possible to see everything and for this Capricorn to “digest the broken glass of disappointment” when plans go astray.

We did get pretty good look at the east and north side of Hamilton Island as we passed. It’s an attractive island, with what looked like very nice homes on the hillsides. We couldn’t see the main town or the marina, but we got a good look at the neighboring island, Dent. Below are a few photos of Hamilton Island.

Our next destination was now decided: Cid Harbour, famous in both good ways and bad. Items in the good category include the fact that it’s beautiful, protected from all wind directions, roomy, and conveniently located. (I think the one anchorage that all chartered yachts visit is Cid Harbour.) The item in the bad category: shark attacks—there have been several here. Cid Harbour’s deep, dark water attracts the fish that sharks like to eat. With no plans to swim in Cid Harbour, we had no qualms about going there. And so we set off with a new plan. –Cyndi

Posted June 30, 2024
about September 23, 2022

Goanna is the Australian name for monitor lizards, a family of lizard species ranging from the small Dampier Peninsula monitor, only 9 inches long, to the huge Komodo dragon, which can grow up to 10 feet long. Of the approximately 80 species of monitor lizards worldwide, 27 are found in Australia.

We were already familiar with goannas after encountering one species, the lace monitor or tree goanna, on a previous visit to Australia. These particular lizards are large, growing up to 6 feet long, and are adept at climbing trees.

We had spotted one on a hike near Port Stephens and were warned by a fellow hiker to give these lizards enough room so they never feel cornered. When trapped, they tend to panic and will try to climb up and over any obstacle, just like they would a tree. Their claws are very sharp; so this is always bad for the obstacle. Additionally, they can deliver a nasty and venomous bite.

With their big eyes and chubby bellies, they look wonderfully adorable and cuddly, but with the sharp claws, teeth, and venom, there will be no huggy kisses for these lizards!

It was exciting to get an up-close encounter with this goanna, which was quite beautiful and didn’t seem to mind me following it around (from a sensible distance).

Australia has many lizards besides the goanna, including plenty of skinks like these two below that we spotted on the walk.

Australia also has a lot of snakes, but I was glad not to encounter any, as they tend to be venomous. Birds, lizards, kangaroos, koalas, echidnas, tropical fish, whales, and dugongs? Yes, bring them on! Snakes, crocs and sharks? Not so much.

After the walk we found that “deserted” Chance Bay was anything but deserted (as shown in my Chance Bay post). We decided to head back to Legacy. –Cyndi

Posted June 29, 2024
about September 23, 2022

Finishing our hike by stepping from a well-shaded forest onto what may be the brightest white beach we’ve ever seen was quite an experience!

The white sand starkly contrasted with the blue, blue water under a vast expanse of lighter blue sky—a truly remarkable sight! Despite several small tour boats anchored offshore, the beach was expansive enough not to feel crowded.

In fact, finding a secluded section of beach would probably not be difficult. I suspect the tour boats gather at the south end to offer visitors the option of walking the trail to Chance Bay, which is touted by some operators as a “secluded area.” Below is a photo gallery of our visit to Whitehaven Beach.

At the north end of Whitehaven lies an iconic sight—Hill Inlet, a shallow waterway streaked with shifting white sand bars. The beach spans about 3 ¾ miles, too far for us to walk, so our plan was to take our boat there in the coming days.

For now, this visit was all about swimming! With its clear water, white sand, bustling tour boat activity, and other people enjoying the water, this area didn’t seem like shark territory. We felt completely at ease going in over our heads, relishing the warm, pleasant water and beautiful scenery. I had a great time frolicking in the water, and I was understandably reluctant to get out.

However, we faced a trek back through the forest to Chance Bay. And we had some decisions to make about our next destination. –Cyndi

Posted June 27, 2024
about September 23, 2022

The Chance Bay Walk is a forest trail that connects Whitehaven Beach and Chance Bay. The walk is approximately 1.5 miles long and somewhat hilly, but it looked doable for us. Below is an approximate representation of the trail.

 
After making our way across the beach, we set out on the trail. We were surrounded by bushy scrub forest as we left the beach behind, but the trees became taller, greener, and the forest cooler as we gained altitude. It was a welcome respite from the Queensland’s bright sunlight and heat.

I enjoyed the sound of our feet crunching on the leaf-strewn path and the steady rhythm of our walk, interrupted at times when I’d stop to take photos, then rush to catch up with Rich who walked ahead of me.

At one point, the forest suddenly opened up, letting in more light, and our trail became surrounded by bushy plants known as grass trees. Tufted poofs with long thin leaves lined the path, giving it a fairyland appearance. We could hear birds and the occasional rustle of critters in the underbrush. Soon, the trees closed in around us again, and we were back in the darker, cooler air. There is something so special about being surrounded by a forest; it’s like medicine for the soul.

As we neared the end of the trail, we got our first glimpse of the sand of Whitehaven. It seemed to be a fitting name as the sand was so white it appeared like a light at the end of a tunnel of trees. Below is a gallery of photos from our walk.

As we neared the tunnel’s end, we could see we were about to enter a world of white and blue. Already I could see this would be a very special beach. –Cyndi

Posted June 17, 2024 about
September 23,2022

After we’d settled in at Crano Cove, we got in our dinghy and motored over to East Chance Bay, which is likely the second most famous beach in the Whitsundays. The most famous is, of course, Whitehaven Beach, located a few kilometers away on the east side of Whitsunday Island.

There is a trail that connects these two beaches. The walk is about 1.5 miles in length, but the terrain is pretty easy. Many people choose to visit both beaches by taking this trail, which is what we planned to do.

While there were a number of boats in anchorage off the beach, we saw only a few people on the beach as we approached. Much like Turtle Bay, the water near the shore took on beautiful shades ranging from blue to blue-green.

Below are some photos taken from the dinghy in the morning and later in the afternoon when the beach had more sun, and a lot more visitors.

Upon landing, we stepped into soft sand, more light beige than white. The beach gently sloped up to the line of trees and was quite expansive. On its east side, the beach ended at the base of a long and fairly high hill that made up that headland. The west headland was a small humped hill, beyond which was another beach that wasn’t visible from this one.

The hill backing the beach was low and topped with bushy scrub forest, but its sandy base was reminiscent of sand dunes, making this beach seem even larger.

We walked along the beach, taking photos whenever the sun broke through the clouds since the morning had been overcast. It was lovely here, but we didn’t have much time to linger as we had a hike to ahead of us (the subject of the next post).

Later, when we returned from our hike, the beach was much busier as a few tour boats had arrived. They’d set up a bunch of blue shade tents, and people were scattered about on the beach and basking in the shallow water near the shore.

It wasn’t actually that crowded, but something about this reminded me of the beach scene from Jaws. I pushed that thought aside and waded into the warm water to get a few photos before we took off in the dinghy.

Overall, I’d say Chance Bay Beach was pretty exceptional, but it did lose some of its appeal when there were a lot of people about. My advice to other cruisers would be to go early in the day before the tour boats arrive. I will say, though, that even when crowded with tourists, it’s still a beautiful spot. –Cyndi