Skipper louise

SKIPPERING
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I had about three hours to sort meself before hopping onto our boat. It was a goorgeous old fashioned sailing boat, none of this catamaran crap, with proper ropes everywhere and sails and a big wheel. It was raining a lot of the trip, but this was not too much of a put down.

There was a loovely group of about 25 of us, mostly gap year students for a change. I would've liked to have longer to get to know the group, everyone seemed pretty awesome. Our crew, skipper tony, deck hand andi and host richie were the best guys ever and reeeally great fun.

Whitehaven beach
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We did loooads of snorkling which was just gorgeous, over reefs and with huuuuge fishes. I felt like i was in david attenborough's blue planet. We got to wear sexy skin tight lycra stinger suits to protect us from micro jellyfish. Afterwards we got tea and biscuits.

The first night we had a delicious chicken curry and listened to Dan play his guitar, and watched over the side of the boat as sharks hid in the shadows to catch fish. Also there were 10 dolphins showing off all near the boat, it was amazing. The stars were out and the moon rose above the mountain island we were moored near, and we drank goon out of plastic mugs and cuddled together to keep warm. My bed was in the corridor next to the skipper.

Whitehaven beach
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We woke up at 5.30 to rough bouncing over waves accompanied by heavy rock and roll. I very almost threw up. We did more snorkling and the sun came out for the first time, and i kicked the skipper out and drove the boat for a couple of hours over the roughest sea ever, got everyone at the front pretty soaked. Cured my seasickness though, and was sooo much fun.

We had a lunch of potato salad and pasta salad and ham and lettuce and tortilla wraps (we were proper well fed on this boat). In the afternoon we walked out to whitehaven beach, to the lookout point and onto the sand which is pure white and perhaps the most beautiful place i've ever seen. We took a load of group photos and stuff like that, and andi told us about the island and its aborigional origins.

Our boat
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We got back on the boat for 'the sunset', which didn't occur due to cloud. Dinner was a lovely pasta bake and garlic bread. I helped out in the kitchen and made a salad. We played evening games, the one with the cereal box which you have to pick up off the ground with your mouth with your hands behind your back which gets smaller each round until it's a flat piece of cardboard, I WON not having known how flexible i am. People were asking if i'm a gymnast... HAHAHAHA

We also played a game unique to our sailing boat, the SV Whitehaven. The game involved tying a condom filled with water around your waist and pelvic thrusting so that it sways and whacks an orange which you have to get into goal. Very fun times.

Our boat
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After everyone else went to bed, me and tom lay out under the stars on the front of the boat which was just incredible, in the silent still water of the inlet we were moored in with the hills on either side.

We woke up at 7 and had breakfast (i've decided i like museli which i never did before) and then the torrential rain started. Despite my fisherman stlye big yellow raincoat from the boat, i got soaked. It was quite fun though, we put tenacious D on and rocked out in the rain. It was sadly the end of the trip, so we walked wetly back to our hostels. I met up with andi and rich and a few of the girls at half 3 and basically drank rum with the crew til half 7, having steak and philosophical conversations. I then had to get my overnight bus to cairns, arriving at 6.30am.

The whitsundays sailing trip was almost definately one of the best experiences i've had. It's a forever-memory, for sure.