Start Loc: Tongue Bay, Whitsunday Island (20o 14.40'S, 149o 01.09'E)
Narrative: Although it was quite windy it was relatively calm overnight due to the protected anchorage, so we all got a good night’s sleep. All lights were out on the boat (less the mooring light) by 8:30pm!
As we had breakfast, there were yachts, boats and ships of all shapes and sizes coming into or going past Tongue Bay. It was a lot more populated when we left than it was overnight. We raised the anchor at 10:25am and picked our way through the boats, before coming back around into wind to hoist the main. The winds were SE at 20kts so our heading of 030 degrees had us between a beam and a broad reach as we headed for the east side of Border Island. We made 6kts through the water and had an extra 1.5-2kts of tide to help us along. As we rounded the top of Border Island there were another yacht and a cat also heading into Cateran Bay, and one more yacht already on a mooring buoy. We anchored at 11:35am in 12m of water just outside the reef protection buoys, with 50m of chain. The winds were forecast to increase to 20-25kts in the evening so when the yacht on the mooring buoy left mid afternoon, we were quick to move to pick it up for overnight.
Tomorrow we will head around the corner to see if the Hook Island Resort (and underwater observatory) is still open, as we would like to get some milk and bread. We also plan to take the dinghy across Hook Passage to do the Whitsunday Cairn walk. We will anchor in Cid Harbour for the night, and then on Friday duck down to Hamilton to pick up the 5hp.
End Loc: Cateran Bay, Border Island (20o 09.33'S, 149o 02.03'E)
Distance run: 7nm (cumulative: 902nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 30 min (cumulative: 101 hr 50 min)