The Whitsunday Islands
A timeless return
By Mathew Channer
Photos by Sailing-Whitsundays.com
On my first day as a commercially registered yacht captain, I sailed a Fontaine Pajot 38 catamaran from mainland Australia across the Whitsunday Passage to the western shores of the world-famous Whitsunday islands.
We cruised northeast on a 15-knot beam reach… perfect catamaran sailing conditions, watching the hazy shapes of the islands colourize and morph into crescent beaches, jungled ridgelines and rocky outcrops. The sails stayed taught and sharp in the wind, urging us over the small blue-green waves. My hands were firm on the helm, absorbing each soft jolt sent through the rudder along the chain-and-pulley steering system. I couldn’t wipe the dorky grin from my face.
The year was 2013. I was 23 years old, armed with more enthusiasm than knowledge, and, just then, I had no idea how lucky I was to be sailing in the Whitsunday Islands.
Located within Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, the Whitsundays is a grouping of 74 islands nestled within spitting distance of land and accessible by multiple ports and two airports. It’s also home to what is anecdotally if not formally considered one of the most beautiful beaches in the world: Whitehaven Beach. It’s the perfect cruising ground, so abundant with natural beauty, stunning wildlife, and countless picturesque anchorages that the widely distributed local cruising guide by David Colfelt (now in its 15th edition) is boldly titled 100 Magic Miles of the Great Barrier Reef: The Whitsunday Islands (1985). It’s a title no-less deserved today, for no matter how far word spreads or how popular the Whitsundays becomes with visiting cruisers, you can still motor out from the nearby town of Airlie Beach, point your bow toward the eastern horizon, and sail into a tranquillity that feels unchanged since humans first laid eyes on these islands thousands of years ago. As I was about to find out.
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