Day: August 4, 2020

04/08/2020

At nine o’clock in the morning, anchor was pulled up, mainsail was raised and the boat was headed to northwest. Compared to yesterday’s condition, today‘s was much more comfortable, as the sea was much calmer. We kept the main sail and jib on the same side for a while, and then set up goose wings. It was much easier to operate today.

Sailing in the morning was against the current, so we were not going very fast. Slowly passing through the Sir James Smith Group. There are Goldsmith Island (the island where we stayed last night), Silversmith Island, Coppersmith Island, Blacksmith Island, Tinsmith Island, Locksmith Island, AnchorSmith, and LadySmith. There is also a Hammer Island next to it… Along the way, we have seen more random or weird island names than these, such as Brown Rocks, Cockermouth Island, Danger Island, but the names of these Smith islands have had some thought put into them.

Although the wind weakened a little in the afternoon, the speed was still good as we were with the current. We sat on the front deck enjoying the sunshine and watching the beautiful islands on each side. It was so pleasant.

We have entered the Whitsunday Islands, the destination of our trip. It looks very suitable for holidays. There are many beautiful islands waiting for us to explore. Of course, we have to get some supplies from Airlie Beach first.

We sailed into the bay of South Molle Island at about 4:30. There were several classic style monohulls similar to ours, and only one catamaran. Normally it is the opposite. There are always more catamarans than monohulls in the bay, so J said it should be called Old School Bay. J also said that when he was 18 years old, he sailed a charter boat with his parents at the Whitsundays and they had been to this island. At that time, the resort here was still open. He remembered having a delicious buffet there, kept returning for more fried fish… Now the resort is closed with fences around. But the vegetation on the island seemed more luxuriant than before according to J.

In the evening J caught two delicious fish for dinner, as a reward for our arrival at the destination! I haven’t caught fish for many days, and finally there were some good protein for us to feast on tonight. J said that every time he comes to this island, there are fish to eat, so good!