Our Current Position

Saturday 17 September 2016

The Whitsunday Islands

A week ago we sailed into the bay at South Percy island having spent an uneventful overnight of pleasant downwind sailing from Great Keppel Island. South Percy is a beautiful island and Debi immediately jumped into the water and swam the 500m to shore. Pat followed a little later with snorkelling gear but the coral was not terribly exciting. We spent 2 nights anchored there, the only boat in the bay. The only downside was a complete lack of cellphone coverage so we had no way to communicate with anyone, which left Ash and Gillian feeling a bit anxious. 
Next stop was Middle Percy island which has the landmark A-frame yachties' hut on it. There were lots of boats anchored there as it is a great place to stop. We left an X-yacht flag with our names and the date to mark our visit
Digby island was next, followed by Scawfell island and finally 2 nights at Thomas island.  Sailing in between all the islands has been pretty idyllic with 10-20 knots on the beam most of the time and mostly gentle, calm seas. Couldn't ask for more really.  The water is about 22 degrees Celsius so lovely for swimming although one does have to watch the currents which can be quite strong. 
The reef has been a little disappointing so far with only Digby island having any worthwhile snorkelling. Apparently it was all trashed during a cyclone a few years ago. There is also a lot of plankton in the water making visibility poor. 
This morning we did another short sail, aided by a very obliging tide, to Cid island where we will spend our last night at anchor before heading to Abel Point marina for some very welcome showers!




Strenuous work on the helm!

Digby Island anchorage

The A-Frame at Middle Percy

Yachts anchored off Middle Percy

Our friend Sovereign 3 at Cid Island


Cid Island

More strenuous helming

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