Island Redemption

Splash, our skipper, taking roll call.
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No more islands and stories of cyclones or soggy sleeping bags.  This entry focuses on the Whitsunday Islands.  A 74-island chain a few hours north of Fraser.  These islands are known mainly for one thing: sailing.

The call I made from Fraser let me know that the weather was holding up north, so I did not need to fear another monsoon mishap.  What I did have to endure to get there, however, was a Greyhound ride that departed at 12:30pm on one day and arrived at 6:15am the next, 18 hours of coach travel.  Luckily, Greyhound turned out to be my friend in most cases, including this one, because the coach was air conditioned, it played movies, allowed food, and usually sparsely populated such that I could spread out.

Hoist the mainsul!

Mast is there, but where's the sail?
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The same morning of my arrival I boarded the Ragamuffin II, a maxi racing sailboat.  In other words, they go fast, unlike the tall, classic sailing ships.  However, on those you can actually climb to the crow's nest and pretend every day is "Talk Like a Pirate" Day.

Our group of 13 people did not immediately mesh as well as the Fraser Group, but by the end, we knew each other well enough to dine and drink when we came back ashore.  The crew, however, made up for any lack of energy or color in the guests.  Our skipper, Splash, had been sailing most of his life, some in competition, and his skin showed twice that length in the sun.  His deckhand, Benny, is a lively and personable fellow that I, and I hope most, liked instantly.  And by some unknown good luck, I was made the second deckhand.  This meant I slept in the crew's quarters, helped out on the boat, and even hoisted a few sails...just the jib ones though.  More importantly, this gave me the opportunity to bond with the crew even more than the regular passengers, which I seized wholeheartedly.

First group shot: Linda, Yuann, Pete, and me.
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For three days and two nights the schedule went something like this: breakfast, activity, lunch, sailing, anchored, dinner, party.  The weather could not have been better for swimming or sunning, but the winds in the afternoon could have been much better, according to Splash.  However, on each of the days, we hoisted the sails and made the most of it.  The first day, our best, we got the boat on such an angle as I've only seen in movies.  It felt so good to slice through the water past boats with much bigger engines, and I understood why it could become an addiction.  It is an art and science in one.  It is a game of minute details that usually only wisdom and experience can teach.

Benny, our deckhand, trying to bring in a mackerel.
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Our activities during the mornings included snorkeling around the islands and hanging out on others.  The most memorable was spending time on Whitehaven Beach.  This is Australia's most photographed and, arguably, most beautiful.  It is 98% pure silica, so it looks and feels, but not tastes, like sugar.  The added bonus for me and the rest of the passengers were the dates we visited it.  We spent the last afternoon of 2007 and spent the first morning of 2008 on it.  I even managed to begin this year with some yoga on the rocks with the surf breaking below my feet.  If I had a video camera, I would have taped it just to sell the footage to some Yoga instructor to edit himself in my place.

Our first day sailing was our best. Check out the angle at which the boat is listing.
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The last morning we spent at South Molle Island Resort.  This island and its resort had many things one could do: hiking trails, gymnasium, golf, tennis, swimming, boat rentals, kayak rentals.  It was also rumored to be owned by none other than our skipper.  I never confirmed this, but the story I was told was that he was quite successful as a racing skipper and made a fair bit of money.  Enough to buy this island resort.  If it is true, I enjoyed the lesson in assumption-making.  Splash dressed modestly and seemed to live even more so.  He spent 6 days of every week on the sailboat, which he did own, on a single-sized bed, eating the same food, and trying to entertain 13 visitors from all over the world.  I admired his choice of lifestyle, especially if he had the financial means to change it.

There's the sail!
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Next adventure: scuba diving.