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Published: December 13th 2009
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Behind the wheel of Mighty Boomerang
Sunset in the Whitsunday Islands, Sat 12th Dec 2009 Wow! Sailing is basically awesome! The last two days have been absolutly amazing. Having never really done any big time sailing before I was pretty keen to get on a big boat and check it out. And what a place to start...sailing round the beautiful Whitsunday Islands in Australia on a Maxi Ocean Racing Yacht! Dan took a few days to do some other things so I boarded the boat on my own and instantly met a load of new people, mainly from France and Germany. The boat was the Mighty Boomerang! An 83ft racing Yacht, 20ft wide with a 110ft mast. It previously raced under the name of "Ordine VII" (I think) and was once World Campion in the World Maxi Series race. It was still racing in 2001 before being bought to do sailing tours around the Whitsundays. I was introduced to the crew (Kane, Kylie and Max) and they were awesome at not only showing us all how the boat worked but they also took the time to tell us about the islands and the history behind them. We set off at 2pm on friday and heading straight out through the Whitsunday passage passed Hook Island. We had a long afternoon sail on faily light winds but it was enought to pick up some speed. I had a go at grinding (very hard work) and pulling the ropes. As the sun was going down we headed for a small bay to anchor for the night. After a brief swim (stinger suit needed again) we all chilled out on the deck having an amazing meal cooked up by the crew and we listened to some music on the built in stereo! Sleeping down in the boat was fun, I had a top bunk just by the galley. It did however get extremely hot...that was to be expected i guess with 27 other pechple on board! The next day was a busy one with two snorkelling sessions, a vist to see White Haven Beach and a full afternoon sailing. We went to the beak lookout and the view was breathtaking. The water was crystal clear and the sand was pure white. One of the most amazing views I have ever seen (phots to follow on facebnook shortly). I saw some turtles and some baby reef sharks so the animal count just keeps on going! After a small bush walk on the island we got back on the boat and heading to Lunchen Bay (or Fish City as the crew called it) and went snorkelly. Loads of fish, very different to any others I have seen before. We then headed over to Maureens Bay (or Coral World) where there were less fish but more...ahem...coral! The equipment I had fitted perfectly as well so that made the expereince that much better and as a mask that doesn't fit can prove very problematic to say the least. I also remember the names of some of the fish I saw...but not all...only the easy ones really, namely the Sailfinned Tong and the Golden Stripped Butterfly Fish. After the second session I attempted to copy every dive the captain did off the boat. It started simply with a headfirst dive off the front of the yacht. But I can safely say I have now perfected the no hands dive, a salmon dive, backflip, front flip, spinning back flip and the running spinning no hands bomb. Brilliant. It was so much fun I totally forgot about the 172 species of shark that call this place home that could be lurking under the boat! We then put the sails up and headed out to sea. At first we were going with the wind so we had a lot of pace but we were still horizonal with the ocean. We then did a 'jibe' (I think that is the corect sailing terminology) and took the back end of the boat into the wind and then things got crazy. The wind was side on and we instantly raised the boat sop we were racing it on it's side. It was at a pretty steep angle and I asked if it can go any steeper on this wind? The captain smilled and said get on the grinder! A few mintues later we were so so steep. The side of the boat was in the water and we all had to sit up on the other side (quite a few meters above the ocean!) Everytime a gust of wind came along it got even steeper. I actually got such an adrenaline rush out of it I didn't want it to end. And according to the crew it can go even steeper than that. We then let the sails down and pulled into a bay for the night. There was a beautiful sun set and as cheesy as it sounds, the crew put on Don't let then Sun Go Down On Me by Elton John and it was such a good moment. Everyone was quiet as we watched the sun drop down behind mainland Australia. I can't really describe it but that, coupled with the sailing just before made it the perfect end to an awesome day. I slept outside up on the deck that night as well to keep cool. I have never seen so many stars in the sky they were everywhere! The water lapping up[ against the boat was such a comforting sounds and I fell asleep straight away and I woke up to the sun rising over the nearest island. Amazing. On the way back to Airlie beach I got a chance to pull the fornt sail down as well and enjoy a monet up at the very front of the boat. The captain told us all about the history of the islands how they are the reminds of the great dividing range (post ice age) and how there are literally hundreds of species of soft and hard coral ranging from 10,000 years to 40 million years old. Founded by captain Cook on 6th June 1770 he named them the Whitsundays (believe it or not on the day he founded them...a Sunday). he also pointed out some geographical and biological inconsistencies in Finding Nemo. Some are very funny. There were only a few Aboriginal tribes to live on the islands but the ones who did managed to develop technology to get across the water and maintain a way of life. But apparently the area was cursed in those times along the lines of health, prosperity and relationships...and the crew filled us in saying this is failry true beacause everyone at Airlie Beach is unhealthy (drinks too much), if you arrive with no money you definalty won't make any money (lack of prosperity) and relationships generally last for the duration of a 2 day 2 night boat trip! I'm sure I have missed some stuff out but this is all I can recall now off the top of my head! In short it was an amazing two days in a beautiful part of the world and sailing, providing the wind is there, is pretty awesome. Off to the cattle ranch at Kroombit tomorrow for one night then out to Rainbow Beach.
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Clare
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Harry, we love your quality blogs :-)