Middle Percy Island - The Whitsundays, Hamilton and Airlie Race Week, The Great Barrier Reef

We were excited to be sailing this next leg...The Whitsundays...The Great Barrier Reef were just over the horizon.  We continued north with stops along the way in Pearl Bay, Island Head Creek, & Hunters Island.

We enjoyed a full Lunar eclipse at Middle Percy Island and happily added a Canadian flag to the many accoutrements hanging in the Middle Percy Island Yacht Club.  We continued on to Scawfell Island, Brampton Island, Thomas Island, Hamilton Island which is akin to St Barts in the Carib...the home of the Rich and Famous.  We had finally arrived in the Whitsunday Island chain.  This is the sailing Mecca/playground for Australian sailors and the southern boundary of the Great Barrier Reef. 

The winds were light and fluky and despite flying the chute as often as we could more often than not the wind was on the nose and passage making more and more included the use of the iron Genny (engine). 

Despite all we had heard of the Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef and its reputation as a sailing and swimmers paradise, what we experienced was poor sailing conditions, a badly damaged reef with bleached out hard coral and almost no soft corals.  The lack of underwater marine life was very disappointing.  And to top it all off, almost all the anchorages were open to the never ending sea swell, causing the anchorages to be rolly and often quite uncomfortable.  On balance, given all we had heard and our resultant expectations, we were disappointed.  The people, on the other hand were awesome!  The island hikes were good providing excellent vistas from each island to the next.  The anchorages were mostly too deep to anchor and to help preserve what little coral there was moorings balls were provided. The highlight of our time in the Whitsundays was the Hamilton Island Race week, which is really a display of incredible wealth as yachties from around the world fly into this private island and hop aboard their crewed mega-yachts for a week of wave bashing and elegant parties, and for the rest of us, the Airlie Race Week.  Our friends Wes and Stine were crewing on a local go fast boat.  It was fun to cheer them on and participate in the nightly festivities.