Puede leerla tambien en espanol.
Puede leerla tambien en espanol.
Si puo' leggere anche in italiano.
To make the flight from Germany to Australia somewhat
more pleasant, it is best to make a stop in Asia.
We took a flight from Berlin to Athens, and from there
to Sydney through Bangkok. This way we were never in the plane for longer
than 11 hours.
In Australia there are tactical complicated sites, but
there are also sites in which sailing can be connected with other activities.
We chose the Whitsundy Islands for our travel.
The Whitsundays lie on the east coast between Mackay and Townsville.
It's a group of 74 islands. The major island was named
Whitsunday by the famous discoverer James Cook, when he entered it on Whitsunday
1770, and the name has been attached to the whole area. While sailing in
this area James Cook wrote in his Logbook: "It seems like sailing in a
safe harbor."
This is because of the Great Barrier Reef. Unfortunately
James Cook did not know about the existence of the Barrier Reef until he
damaged his Endavor by sailing onto it.
Our crew consisted of four people and my three year old daughter, we chose a First 32s5, which turned out to be verry good.
We started our tour at the end of March.
In Australia at this time the autumn begins and in the
north (beyond 30 degree south) the rainy season starts and one has to be
prepared for heavy storms. At this time the temperatures of air and water
are between 25 and 30 degrees Celsius. The wind usually comes from the
southeast and has a strength of 3 to 6 Beaufort.
The best time to sail is September to December, but the Whitsundays can be treated as whole-year-site.
The area is characterized by the strong catabatic winds from the islands, whos altitude is more than 100 meters. Another features are the jet principle, which can occur between the two islands and the strong tide and flow.
But in all cases it's possible to find a bay, which gives protection.
We went by car from Sydney to Airlie Beach, which is a distance of 2000 km. (It's strongly recommended to plan more than one week for this tour.) Our boat left from the harbor of Ailrlie Beach, which is suitable for stocking up on provisions. The area is one of the pleasure boating capitals in Australia.
Every day at 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM we spoke by radio to our charterbasis to get the weather forecast and other helpful hints. based on this information we planned our daily trip. It would be impossible to tell about all the adventures, but it should be stated, that diving or snorkeling is an adventure, that will remain in one's mind for a long time.
Activities are possible for every personal taste in the area. Adding to the bathing possibilities on the miles-long white beaches one can collect stranded goods; but there are also resorts on some islands and an airport on Hamilton Island. One who prefers to angle for an magnificent tropical fish will also find a calm bay to do this.
A trip to an arbitrary island is always worth doing, but one should be carefully if one walks through the bush so as to prevent waking a sleeping Python.
A special highlight is the trip by hydroplane directly
form yacht to the great barrier reef.
More detailed information about such activities can be
found in the usual guides.
For every sailor I strongly recommend the book "The 100
Magic Miles of the Great Barrier Reef - The Whitsunday Island" by David
Colfeld. Clearly experience in coastal sailing is necessary.
The trip will be present in mind forever. The trip will
remain in your memories forever.
© by Frank Reinecke 1995