Sailing the Whitsunday Islands

A few of some of the islands coming in on the plane.
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The day that Koz and Wee man left I flew up the coast to a little town called Airlie Beach.  The only tourist traffic Airlie Beach sees is because of the Whitsunday Islands, a patch of 74 incredible islands just off the coast.  I went there to get on an 83ft racing yacht called "Boomerang" for 3 days and 2 nights.  The Boomerang was used in races around the US, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand before it was bought to lug around tourists like myself.  We mainly just sailed around the islands (but the best sailing was the last day, the winds on the first 2 days was really weak, but I can't complain about the weather--it was about 90 and sunny everyday) and we swam, snorkled, and hit a couple of really nice beaches.  At night I slept right up on the deck of the ship, which meant I was up for sunrise everyday, but I can't complain about that, the sunrises over the islands are amazing.  We saw a few dolphins, and a baby shark or two near the beach.  And obviously swarms of fish and big clams and corals while snorkeling.  Overall the trip was fantastic, and if I had enough time (and money) I would definately come back and extend my stay up there a bit.