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Mischief - Up to Mischief : Log 67 Further adventures of S/Y Mischief through the eyes and ears of Chas Baynes



Monday, 30th July 2018 - Mackay marina.

Monday was a very slow news day for me as the others, Dave, Wendy and Neen had gone off to do a one day road trip similar but shorter to the one I and the 745 club did over the weekend,s after we had a skipper's briefing regarding the cruising of this coast and arrival in Darwin. Apparently, Thursday island at the very north of Cape York where we turn west towards Darwin is no longer recommended as a place to stop as it would very likely be that we would have to re-do our check in to Australia.

At least I managed to do my rugby club accounts and get them sent off to the Treasurer, my brother, in the UK. Plus I had peace and quiet for a while and tried out Wendy's new Ukulele - it is so small and constantly goes out of tune but I did manage to get a tune or two out of the thing.

Early nights all round as we were to make an early start in the morning for our trip up to the Whitsunday Islands, starting at Hamilton island resort about 50 miles due north.

Tuesday 31st July 2018 - Hamilton Island resort marina

We slipped lines at 7 am for Hamilton island about 50 miles to the north. It was really cold first thing even though the sun was out, it was breezy which necessitated a jacket! Not used to this……..

The wind was behind us so as soon as we had cleared Mackay we set the spinnaker and held it the entire way; it was possibly the best sailing day we have had since leaving Galapagos - flat seas, sunny and warm (eventually) and perfect wind direction. The boat loved it too and was creaming along without effort. We even saw some more Hump Back whales leaping about a way off, a few dolphins and then to cap it all we saw a massive sea snake swimming along minding its own business, with its black and yellow stripes of warning. We didn't need any warnings we were not going anywhere near it thank you very much!

We had to gybe the spinnaker later in the day which necessitated the switching of the spinnaker pole from port to starboard which we had not attempted before - went like a dream with the spinnaker filling happily throughout the maneuver. Perfect.

The islands are very reminiscent of the Greek islands and Croatia, and beautifully clear turquoise waters. The marina on Hamilton is part of an exclusive resort, there is nothing else on the island other than holiday hotels and apartments. It is easily the most expensive marina we have been into and possibly on the whole of the Coral Coast. At least we were met by a boat concierge who escorted us into the marina and took our lines in our berth. It is a slick operation: the girl on the concierge boat asked how many nights we may be staying and immediately whipped out a credit card machine from her bag and asked for payment. No need to produce boat papers, passports, insurance details or anything like that, just payment!

Fish and chips for tea - they have a proper fish and chip shop on the marina and no more expensive than at home, but they do sell beer too.

Wednesday, 1st August 2018 - Hamilton Island marina

Up at first light to go for a run with Neen - the trouble is every which way out of the marina area requires running up a steep hill or two which is a real heart-starter at that time in the morning. So, we ran up, and up a steep slope to the top of One Tree Hill, which you could tell by the fact that there were at least ten trees at the summit. We did see a kangaroo though and a bird of prey of some description rooting through the undergrowth - it was huge.

Later we did a little re-provisioning for fruit and veg then went around the island on the free bus service - it took all of 40 minutes, before having lunch on the marina from the bakery adjacent. We sat to eat it overlooking the boats and were joined by two white parakeets squawking away at the top of their voices until I gave them a little bit of my sausage roll which they picked up with one of their claws and stood on one leg whilst they nibbled daintily on the pastry - very good table manners, except they wouldn't go away!

Neen and I then went off on one of the trail walks - the 'challenging' one up to Passage Peak, the highest point on the island. We were wearing flip flops which was not too ideal, but we still made it up to the top in half an hour compared to the published time of an hour. The views from the top were stunning - an entire panoramic view of all the islands stretching out over the Whitsundays.

When we got back down we were to meet Wendy and Dave at the top of One Tree Hill at 5 pm but we were a little early so had to rehydrate with a couple of beers while we waited. The bar there looks due west and is a great place to see the sunset, and as sunset hour approached loads of people turned up armed with cameras and there was a long queue for a drink, served by Emma from Whitby in Yorkshire!

We jumped on a bus again back to the marina and went for dinner in the local Italian. They had no table until 7 pm so we had to sit in the bar area for half an hour which was a real hardship, then we were sat next to a table full of loud golfers who were constantly proposing toasts to each other and standing to say cheers. We decided to take wine with them too so stood up and shouted, "We wish to take wine with the Japanese!". They looked and realized they were being asked to drink wine with us and they all stood up to reciprocate, they were Chinese! Oops…….really nice people though and were keen to meet us, so keen in fact that one of them jumped up too quickly and knocked over their wine bucket sending ice all over the place.

We are off again tomorrow up island to Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday island which is only about 8 miles north again. So a short hop which won't require too early a start.

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