After another bus ride I found myself in Airlie Beach, a picturesque seaside town which is a fairly large tourist attraction. It has two sides to it, one being the industries aimed at proper tourists who are on vacation and then the one aimed at backpackers on more of a budget. The town itself has a main street with all the hostels, bars and food shops along the drag and the bay is just within site. Ships filled the bay as they moored in the distance. Marine, Jared, Bianca and I, the last of what was left from the original group, were booked for a 3 day, 2 night sailing trip around Whitsunday Island and the smaller surrounding islands. The boat was named Apollo and was about 20 meters long. The last time I went on a trip like this I ended up spending the majority of the trip in the bathroom. I was hoping for a slightly different outcome this time.
We explored a bit of the town and got supplies (goon) for the sail and 'tried' to go to bed early. We don’t always succeed in doing that however and this night was no different. Waking up around 7am we made our way to the bay and were given the intro about the boat and made our way on deck. The Apollo used to be a racing boat back in the 80s but most racing boats have a lifespan of 7 or so years. So there were some amenities that had been added to the boat since then but everything down below still looked pretty streamlined to me. Bunks lined the walls with a kitchen in the middle of the boat. Everything was smaller and tucked in every available space. With 25 people taking the journey the boat was filled to the gills. The weather forecast didn't look so hot and rain was looming. The boat made its way out of the port and out to sea and we were starting to get excited. We were sailing!
Our first stop was in a little inlet where we prepared to go scuba diving on some reef. I did some snorkeling first and could hardly believe the site as thousands of colors filled the surrounding space just below the surface of the water. Brilliantly colored fish would swim past me as if I wasn't even there. Huge plumes of coral were everywhere as well as various organisms of all shapes and sizes that I've only learned about. It was simply incredible to see it up close. When it was my turn to go diving I put on the gear and went under with the instructor, Marine and two others. It felt somewhat unnatural to breathe underwater but I got used to it. We went down about 10 meters and swam around the coral. It was like another world down there.
The next day we did some ‘real sailing’ and myself and some of the other guys went to the front of the ship, hung our legs off the deck and road the waves as we crashed into, over and under them. We made a stop at Whitehaven Beach which is one of the most pristine beaches in the world. The sand was almost pure white and was 98% silica. The smaller islands were scattered in the distance as we looked out from atop a cliff. We made our way down to the beach and had some fun in the water and goofed around while some taking pictures. We capped off the day with some more snorkeling where I saw the biggest fish up close I’ve ever seen and then had dinner on the boat. The food throughout the trip was amazing and it was probably the best I’d eaten in a couple weeks. At night we broke out the goon and played games on deck late into the night. Since everyone comes from different corners of the world everyone brings different takes and rules for the games we played. Good times for all.
The last day we stopped at a sandbar and did a spot of snorkeling again which is when I spotted the first sea turtle of the trip. That was simply incredible as he was hiding on a huge piece of coral and we would swim down and pet him. We tried to keep up with him once he left but they are just too fast to swim with. We then got a game of soccer going on the sandbar where Jared and I, the only two Americans, showed our ineptness at the game which Europeans know so well. But apart from being fairly out of shape and not playing soccer since I was about 10 years old I did pretty well. I even made an attempt at a bicycle kick which sailed wide of the goal. In retrospect I shouldn’t have attempted that maneuver as my body was paying for it the next day.
As we started to make the homeward journey we found ourselves in a race with one of the other boats heading home as well. Siska was her name and even though they got the early lead we ended smoking them by a good distance. There was some jeering from both sides as we went by which consisted of them throwing some sort of biscuits at us and culminated with us everyone on our boat mooning them. As we passed them the second time one of the crew members, Benny, took a bag of our trash and prepared to throw it in the dingy that trailed behind their boat. This was a risky move however since if you missed the dingy we had to swing the boat around to pick it up, which could take 30 minutes and effectively put us out of the race. So when they saw him approaching the front of the boat with a bag of garbage in his hand they quickly tried to pull in the dingy by the rope to get it out of throwing range. Benny took aim from the very tip of the bow and as the boat rocked in the waves prepared to hoist the bag about 5 meters into the dingy. The throw went farther than expected and hit the front lip of the dingy, bounced back just a tad and into the front section of the dingy. Everyone on our boat erupted in cheers as it wasn’t just a bag of trash that was thrown into their boat but rather a moral victory as we saw this little competition as a battle between our boat and theirs or, rather, good and evil. And I am happy to say that good prevailed.
After getting back on dry land I found myself swaying when I stood still. I think it was my body assuming that I was still on the boat and needed to counteract the rocking of the waves. That night we all met up at a bar called Phoenix where the crew joined us. We formed a circle and had a dance off after a few and the night was effectively underway. The rest, as they say, is history. Next stop: Magnetic Island for my first Full Moon Party.
We explored a bit of the town and got supplies (goon) for the sail and 'tried' to go to bed early. We don’t always succeed in doing that however and this night was no different. Waking up around 7am we made our way to the bay and were given the intro about the boat and made our way on deck. The Apollo used to be a racing boat back in the 80s but most racing boats have a lifespan of 7 or so years. So there were some amenities that had been added to the boat since then but everything down below still looked pretty streamlined to me. Bunks lined the walls with a kitchen in the middle of the boat. Everything was smaller and tucked in every available space. With 25 people taking the journey the boat was filled to the gills. The weather forecast didn't look so hot and rain was looming. The boat made its way out of the port and out to sea and we were starting to get excited. We were sailing!
Our first stop was in a little inlet where we prepared to go scuba diving on some reef. I did some snorkeling first and could hardly believe the site as thousands of colors filled the surrounding space just below the surface of the water. Brilliantly colored fish would swim past me as if I wasn't even there. Huge plumes of coral were everywhere as well as various organisms of all shapes and sizes that I've only learned about. It was simply incredible to see it up close. When it was my turn to go diving I put on the gear and went under with the instructor, Marine and two others. It felt somewhat unnatural to breathe underwater but I got used to it. We went down about 10 meters and swam around the coral. It was like another world down there.
The next day we did some ‘real sailing’ and myself and some of the other guys went to the front of the ship, hung our legs off the deck and road the waves as we crashed into, over and under them. We made a stop at Whitehaven Beach which is one of the most pristine beaches in the world. The sand was almost pure white and was 98% silica. The smaller islands were scattered in the distance as we looked out from atop a cliff. We made our way down to the beach and had some fun in the water and goofed around while some taking pictures. We capped off the day with some more snorkeling where I saw the biggest fish up close I’ve ever seen and then had dinner on the boat. The food throughout the trip was amazing and it was probably the best I’d eaten in a couple weeks. At night we broke out the goon and played games on deck late into the night. Since everyone comes from different corners of the world everyone brings different takes and rules for the games we played. Good times for all.
The last day we stopped at a sandbar and did a spot of snorkeling again which is when I spotted the first sea turtle of the trip. That was simply incredible as he was hiding on a huge piece of coral and we would swim down and pet him. We tried to keep up with him once he left but they are just too fast to swim with. We then got a game of soccer going on the sandbar where Jared and I, the only two Americans, showed our ineptness at the game which Europeans know so well. But apart from being fairly out of shape and not playing soccer since I was about 10 years old I did pretty well. I even made an attempt at a bicycle kick which sailed wide of the goal. In retrospect I shouldn’t have attempted that maneuver as my body was paying for it the next day.
As we started to make the homeward journey we found ourselves in a race with one of the other boats heading home as well. Siska was her name and even though they got the early lead we ended smoking them by a good distance. There was some jeering from both sides as we went by which consisted of them throwing some sort of biscuits at us and culminated with us everyone on our boat mooning them. As we passed them the second time one of the crew members, Benny, took a bag of our trash and prepared to throw it in the dingy that trailed behind their boat. This was a risky move however since if you missed the dingy we had to swing the boat around to pick it up, which could take 30 minutes and effectively put us out of the race. So when they saw him approaching the front of the boat with a bag of garbage in his hand they quickly tried to pull in the dingy by the rope to get it out of throwing range. Benny took aim from the very tip of the bow and as the boat rocked in the waves prepared to hoist the bag about 5 meters into the dingy. The throw went farther than expected and hit the front lip of the dingy, bounced back just a tad and into the front section of the dingy. Everyone on our boat erupted in cheers as it wasn’t just a bag of trash that was thrown into their boat but rather a moral victory as we saw this little competition as a battle between our boat and theirs or, rather, good and evil. And I am happy to say that good prevailed.
After getting back on dry land I found myself swaying when I stood still. I think it was my body assuming that I was still on the boat and needed to counteract the rocking of the waves. That night we all met up at a bar called Phoenix where the crew joined us. We formed a circle and had a dance off after a few and the night was effectively underway. The rest, as they say, is history. Next stop: Magnetic Island for my first Full Moon Party.
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