Sailing the east coast of Australia between Sydney & Hamilton Island in Drummoyne, New South Wales, Australia | Sport & recreation

Sailing the east coast of Australia between Sydney & Hamilton Island

Locality: Drummoyne, New South Wales, Australia

Phone: +61 428 311 941

Address: 1/380 Victoria Place 2047 Drummoyne, NSW, Australia

Website: http://www.whitsundayluxurysailing.com.au

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22.01.2022 Lady Musgrave Island is contained within it’s own lagoon of coral at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The lagoon entrance has one port and two starboard lateral marks but they are not lit making arrival at night, ill advised. The coral reef on the perimeter of the lagoon forms a natural breakwater against the sea and the water inside is turquoise and crystal clear. This was to be our first appreciation of Australia’s most treasured natural icon and the promise of things to come

18.01.2022 We were lucky to be included in the crew all of which turned out to be avid Afloat readers and boat owners. The crew included Alan Coote (Top Hat 25), David Ross (Halvorsen 33ft), Jamie Macdonald (Triton 24), Geovanni Toretta (Rob Leg 28) and Gordon Otten (Laser). Alan was on his 4thvoyage aboard Sydney Sundancer and all previous cruises had been on the return voyage, so he jokingly said he wanted to try his hand navigating with Australia on the left (he had also brough...t his sextant which he used with varying degrees of success!). The degree of offshore experience was also varied, and most of us wanted to learn by gaining hands on experience of port entry, bar crossing, navigation and seamanship. John made this possible by adopting a 3 watch rotation with 2 crew in two of the watches and 3 crew in the third watch. After the usual safety drills, emergency procedures and vessel familiarisation, we logged on to Marine Rescue Sydney and we were off. Alan was the obvious choice for 2IC because of his previous experience and was watch leader partnered with me. In the other 2 watches, the experience level was fairly even so duties were shared equally. John’s vessel familiarisation was thorough and as Sydney Sundancer can easily be sailed by 2 crew only (because all sails can be easily & quickly furled), he was confident to let us manage the vessel. He made an appearance on every watch to check on things but left the voyage management to us so that we could gain the experience we wanted. See more

15.01.2022 In trying to describe the experience I am reminded of the classic western movie The good, the bad & the ugly! In reverse order, the Sydney to Southport section was the ugly because an east coast low had exhausted itself leaving a large swell in its wake coupled with a 15 20kt northerly blowing. Not an ideal combination so more than half the crew were seasick, even Alan could not keep anything down & took a full day in Southport to completely recover. Then there was ...the bad, from Rosslyn Bay to the Whitsundays where we had to motor all the way because the wind speed never exceeded 4 knots. But the good from Southport to Rosslyn Bay, via the Great Sandy Straights and Lady Musgrave Island really made up for the other two sections, and then some Highlights of the trip included the sailing, bar crossing, two World Heritage listed locations (Fraser Island & The Great Barrier Reef) and gaining the experience I wanted. A detailed description of my highlights follow In trying to describe the experience I am reminded of the classic western movie The good, the bad & the ugly! In reverse order, the Sydney to Southport section was the ugly because an east coast low had exhausted itself leaving a large swell in its wake coupled with a 15 20kt northerly blowing. Not an ideal combination so more than half the crew were seasick, even Alan could not keep anything down & took a full day in Southport to completely recover. Then there was the bad, from Rosslyn Bay to the Whitsundays where we had to motor all the way because the wind speed never exceeded 4 knots. But the good from Southport to Rosslyn Bay, via the Great Sandy Straights and Lady Musgrave Island really made up for the other two sections, and then some Highlights of the trip included the sailing, bar crossing, two World Heritage listed locations (Fraser Island & The Great Barrier Reef) and gaining the experience I wanted. A detailed description of my highlights follow See more

12.01.2022 Another overnight passage from Rosslyn Bay saw us anchor in pitch darkness at Middle Percy Island, just before dawn. John confidently steered (with aid of GPS & radar) into West Bay where the anchor lights of 3 boats at anchor were obscured by a headland until we were about 100 meters away. We spent most of the day exploring and checking the history of this remarkable island. There was a plaque identifying Matthew Flinders visit in 1802 and memorabilia from visiting yacht...s dating from the early 1930’s. Then after another overnight passage, we arrived at world famous Whitehaven Beach almost exactly 2 weeks after our departure. This was ahead of our planned ETA, so John treated us to the kind of tour he conducts for fare paying passengers, but for us free of charge. We set off for Bait Reef about 15 miles north east of Hayman Island, and spent 24 hours at this absolutely amazing location. The water clarity was breathtaking and the marine life was simply unforgettable. A massive Maori Wrasse and two Giant Trevally accompanied by myriad of smaller fish took up residence under our hull and greeted us every time we plunged into the crystal clear water. We lowered the glass bottomed dive tender, aptly named Sundance Kid into the water and John took us on a snorkelling safari where we saw turtles, harmless reef sharks, and the colourful corals that make the Great Barrier Reef really great ! See more

08.01.2022 When I saw the ad on the yacht club notice board inviting participation in a relaxed voyage to Hamilton Island, I thought yeah, that’s what I need because my blood sail level is getting low !. Over 5 years, I had spent some time on a sailing boat visiting amazing locations but had been landlocked for a while and I wanted to introduce my surfing buddy Berny Hickey, to the ocean so I called the number advertised. John Boyce, the owner / skipper of the 60ft charter ketch Sydney Sundancer was repositioning for winter to the Whitsunday’s.