The Whitsundays 28th - 7th May

This boat was our home for the week as the four of us sailed round the Whitsunday Islands. There are 74 of them in total, many surrounded by white sandy beaches and coral reefs. Obviously what with Chris' sailing credentials it made sense for him to be captain. I liked to think of myself as "First Officer" (vice captain) with special repsonsiblity for navigation and the anchor. Caity and Jean were "competent crew" although by the last 2 days we (the captain and I ) saw fit to assign them to navigational duties under close supervision. Caity was also the ships doctor and was press ganged into being our VHF communincations officer. From the ships log you will see only once were we within inches of running aground.

Life on board "Y-Knot" was slow and relaxed. The only decisions to be made each day were - 1) where has the best snorkelling 2) where are we going to anchor for the night 3) which one of the gourmet meals are we goint to take out the freezer for dinner?

My role as Communications Officer was vital to maintain the pretence that we knew what we were doing to the boat hire company. Twice a day they would radio us with the weather and then talk to each boat in turn to go through their plans for the day. Being at the end of the alphabet (Y-Knot) meant we got to listen in on everyone else. Over the week we made certain observations about the other boats in the area. "Morning Mist" never answered the radio. "Sun Quest" had a very depressed sounding man who always seemed to be at Happy Bay. Our favourite boat names were "Champagne on Ice" and "Rum and Coke".

We did some great sailing when the wind came up (and the rain came down!). Our maximum speed was 8.7 knots, but Dad did keep on insisting we could go faster!