A Sailing Adventure in the Whitsunday Islands

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Geo: -20.2196, 149.025

As you know how much we love sailing, we chartered a bareboat from Airlie Beach for a week from Feb 7th to 15th. When we sailed we caught a few days of mixed sun and rain where we had some fun adventures; snorkelling, hiking and meeting all kinds of new and strange Marine animals (huge sea turtles, tropical fish, stingrays flying into the sky and phosphorous plancton that lit up the night waters like a star filled night). We even woke one day to discover squid (that fly apprarently) on board and in our dinghy. We found a fourth squid (after another unpleasant day where the smell was getting gruesome) behind the head (toilet). He somehow flew through the 4 inch by 6 inch portal and crawled behind the toilet - unseen for a day.

On our 4th day of sailing we were hit with Gale force winds (up to 90 knots). We survived a rough night and day safely anchored off an island in Cid Harbor but back at Airlie beach where we are now there were 36 boats ripped from their anchorage and moorings and smashed on the rocks. It was the worse tropical storm to hit the area in 20 years. Millions of dollars damage and lots of very sad stories although no injuries or deaths thank God! We have a few photos of some of the boats on the rocks posted so that you can see a bit of the aftermath.

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