Cruised to South Molle Island after breakfast today, and set anchor in Beauer Bay. Today’s tender ride was something of a luxury as we had a jetty to disembark on, rather than getting our feet wet jumping out at the shore.
Brendon and I spent a day on South Molle for our honeymoon back in 1993. Back then we spent the day at the golf course, swimming in the pool and exploring the resort. Those days are long gone, following the demise of the resort after Cyclone Debbie tore through the Whitsundays, leaving the resort a series of deserted buildings. The cost to replace/repair/build anew has meant the island has remained empty, with no real timeline for revival.
Today’s walk took us to the Spion Kop Lookout, which would normally give us views of all of the places we had spent exploring over the last 4 days. Unfortunately the weather gods were not playing nice today, and we found ourselves standing in the cold, windy, rain waiting to head up to the lookout. Even though the views weren’t quite as sweeping as expected, they were still pretty spectacular looking down into the bay and spotting Solway Lass, and looking across to Denman Island, Goat Island and Long Island.
Heading back along the jetty, Thommo and Adam lifted the fish hole lids for us to see the sea life below the jetty. Once again marvelled at the plethora of fish in sight, and even spotted a ray in the waters too. An hour spent on the boat trying to dry out, and was introduced to a game called Heardle (think Wordle but with music), and snagged a win with Foo Fighters’ The Pretender. After another delicious morning tea, we set off for Woodwark Bay, with a promise that if the conditions were right, we would travel under sail.
True to their word, we watched the crew prepare to unfurl the sails, climbing high up into the rigging to release them. It was such a majestic site to watch the wind catch, and then know we were being pushed along by the wind, at a rate of about 5 knots, with the silence and serenity of an earlier age. We are so lucky to have experienced this and I can’t thank the crew enough for their expertise and knowledge sharing with the millions of questions we have asked throughout the cruise.
To watch them climb up, balancing on cables and positioning their bodies to untie knots hardened by salt water and wind was truly awe-inspiring.
We sailed under sail across in front of Airlie Beach and even got the chance to check out the latest P&O cruise ship which had just left port. But most special were the whales we once again spotted, this time close enough to the boat that they were easy to pick out through the swell, and one even gave us a cute little tail flick as he dived down.
A few of us ventured into the netting at the bow of the boat, comfortably settling into its ropes, kicking back and relaxing into the rise and fall of the sea as we sped over the waves. The 5 knot speed was only slightly slower than our under motor speed (about 6 knots) - but it was the trust of letting nature take charge that made it so very special.
As we prepared to anchor for the night, it was entertaining to listen to the banter of the crew as Adam stood high up in the rigging securing the sails to the yards, while Izzy and Thommo revved him up from below. These tasks aren’t for the faint-hearted and we fully appreciated all the crew did to give us such a special gift as sailing under sail on a 120 year old tall ship.
Final night tonight and who knows what tomorrow will bring. After a predictably delicious dinner of green thai chicken curry and rice, we presented the crew with a little token of our appreciation to thank them for an absolutely amazing week on the water. We have formed some great friendships over this time, and I can see catch ups and reunion sails in years to come. Solway Lass holds a really special place in all our hearts.
Tomorrow is our last day, and I’ll try to capture the essence of my fellow sailors in my final words about the trip. They are truly an amazing bunch of people.
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