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Monday 6th September.
After such a beautiful day yesterday the weather has turned on us. 25knot winds predicted today over 30 tomorrow with 2m waves. So we have made a run for it. Not before Michael had a quick snorkel. The 25knots turned into 30+ by lunchtime with 1.5m waves peaking at 2m. Nothing Imagine couldn’t handle. With the staysail and mizzen up it made sailing these conditions reasonable.
Safely back at Airlie Beach it’s quiet time. Thats what happens before 5pm (sundowners).
This is the last evening onboard for Michael and Terese before they head ashore to continue their holiday.
Andrew is making his renowned spag bol with garlic croutons for dinner tonight, no pressure Andrew!

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Sunday 5th September.
After spending yesterday chilling out on the beach, today we headed back north.
A superb day in the Whitsundays. The weather was perfect, cerulean skies and light winds. We put the gennaker out and sailed past Whitehaven Beach. A sublime day on the water.
To top it off we snorkeled at Manta Ray Bay. The fish met us at the yacht and followed us in to the reef. Words can’t express how amazing the experience was. Absolute perfection.
We finished the day with a glass of wine watching the sunset gilding the waters of Luncheon Bay and solving the world’s problems with great friends Michael, Terese, Sue and Andrew.

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Friday 3rd September.
After a night of sometimes over 30 knots of wind (but out of the swell) and Imagine swinging around 360 degrees at times, the morning started with a downpour which made for another morning of relaxation.
After a big lunch of pancakes, bacon, blueberries and maple syrup, we tried to get to shore but the tide was too low for the dinghy to get over the reef. So we spent the afternoon relaxing. Michael tried his hand at fishing (we didn’t have fish for dinner!). We are exhausted after all this relaxation, tomorrow may have to be a day of chilling out!

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Thursday 2nd September.
Yes, there are still four on board. We headed south straight after breakfast determined to make it to Shaw Island today. The wind and tide were still against us, but we continued tacking south. The wind at times reaching 30 knots. Waves crashed over the bow as we tacked between the islands. We could see other boats behind us also struggling in the high winds. All eventually giving up, dropping their sails and motoring. One even turning back to the shelter of Cid Harbour.
After lunch we had to turn on the motor as we were only making 1.8 knots headway. By 3pm we made it to Shaw. The wind was still in excess of 25 knots and blowing over the hills into the bay. We found a corner of the bay where we are only getting a few gusts.
Its too gusty to go ashore so we are just relaxing. Terese Jones is working on the sequel to the book she has had published (Blood Will Tell).
By evening the wind was still whistling over the hills with gusts now topping 28knots. We are totally out of the swell so Imagine just points into the wind, which only rocks the boat slightly.

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Wednesday 1st September.
This morning we picked up new crew (our friends Michael and Terese). We set sail for Shaw Island but the weather was not in our favour, so we stopped at Cid Harbour. After lunch a trip to the shore was in order. It was a 2km walk to the next bay and back.
Once back on Imagine it must have been 5 o’clock because we started sundowners on the foredeck. After eating most of the nibblies with drinks the girls decided they were full and didn’t need dinner. So we boys have been left to starve (said the boys with their buddha bellies!).
The blonde (Terese) has talked Sue to Mutiny. The pair of them refusing to get in the galley and make dinner for us hard working males. (Hard work lazing around on deck while the girls wait on them hand and foot).
Cid Harbour is known for shark attacks. We will have to wait and see how many crew are still onboard for breakfast in the morning.

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Tuesday 31st August.
Silence is golden. Well, not if it’s the outboard motor that goes silent while going ashore in the dark in the rain.
This morning Vincent and Lydia were setting off down south at about 5am. Andrew took them ashore, with the the outboard cutting out on the way. Our outboard doesn’t like getting wet. It did eventually start and continued to shore.
Later in the morning at a more respectable time, Sue went ashore with the laundry. The motor started first pull and went there and back fine (not much rain). Andrew went out later and got caught in the rain. The motor cut out and he had to row the last bit to shore. With a break in the rain he was able to return with no motor problems. We have to look at the motor when the weather calms down.
By dusk the wind and waves had calmed down and no rain we made a dash back to shore to do the shopping. Now we are ready for two new crew in the morning.

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Monday 30th August.
We got up early this morning, which was not Lydia’s best time. When asked how she was this morning the answer was ” vertical-ish “. That was all we got for the first hour.
The weather forcast was for 10 to 15 knots of wind, so we set off with the mizzen and gennekar. But struggled with only 6 knots of wind for the first hour. Eventually the wind picked up and we switched to mizzen, main and headsail. We raced back to Airlie Beach at a respectable 6knots.
Arriving back at Airlie we headed straight to the marina and the fuel dock. Unfortunately there was a queue so we had to go out of the marina and anchor for an hour before being able to try again.
In the mean time Alison disembarked after an enjoyable 8 days on Imagine. After making our way into the marina’s fuel dock and safely exiting after just a top up of 400 litres, we anchored in the usual spot here in Airlie.
That left the afternoon for Vince and Lydia to pack. Vince is giving Lydia a lift down south to meet up with her parents for a couple of weeks. She is abandoning ship! Deserting us! It will be good for her to catch up with family.
Tomorrow we do the laundry and restock the boat ready for two new crew / friends arriving on the 1st and sailing with us for a week.

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Saturday 28th August,
By 8:30am we were the only boat left in the eastern side of the bay where we are moored. This gave Alison the chance to get a few photos on the bow of the boat then everyone taking a dip in the beautiful blue water.
The morning adventure was a trip to Manta Ray Bay. Alison, Vincent and Lydia spent a couple of hours snorkeling with the fish in the bay before returning for lunch. After lunch Vincent got dropped off ashore and went exploring the bush, winding his way up the dry riverbed, while the rest of us snoozed.
Sundowners was once again partaken on the foredeck before dinner.
Sunday 29th.
Running out of things to do Andrew and Lydia dyed each others hair blue(not permanent dye). Back in the water this morning exploring the Butterfly Bay reef. We caught up with Serenade and Lydia spent the afternoon with them. Sundowners tonight was on Libeccio, a cat owned by Richard and Kim.

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Wednesday 25th August
The wind got up through the night and the swell turned to to north east. That gave us a rocky night.
Thursday 26th August Morning arrived and we set sail for more protected bays. The winds dropped to under 10 knots so that meant gennekar time. We raced up the eastern side of Whitsunday Island at a terrifying 2.5 knots (5km/hr).
We made it to Cid Harbour before nightfall (only half way up Whitsunday Island).
Friday 27th August After a totally still night we continued our journey north, reaching Langford Reef by lunchtime. We tied off on a mooring bouy and of course Lydia was in the water immediately. Everyone else had lunch before diving in to explore the reef. By the time the rest of us had joined Lydia, she had already found the third underwater sculpture. A giant turtle.
A couple of hours later we headed back to Imagine and off to Butterfly Bay for the night. The bay was packed. No moorings so we had to anchor. The only one with energy was Vincent, so he explored the eastern side of the bay while the rest of us relaxed. He didn’t return until it was sundowners time.

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Tuesday 24th August.
Late Sunday afternoon we dropped Vito and Freya off at Airlie Beach. It was too late for us to do any shopping or laundry. Yesterday was a bit of a rush. Sue went to do the laundry while Lydia took the dinghy around a couple of bays then went ashore to the nearest petrol station to fill the tank with outboard motor fuel. Andrew was left onboard Imagine to fix the deck wash pump as the pipe had burst.
Andrew was able to do a temporary repair (it will last till we get back to Brisbane). Lydia retured with the full tank of fuel, then headed ashore to pick up the laundry from Sue. With the laundry safely onboard Andrew and Lydia headed back ashore to help Sue with the groceries.
With barely enough time to put the laundry and groceries away when Lydia headed back ashore to pick up two of her friends that were joining us for a week.
Alison and Vincent were only onboard a few minutes when we hauled anchor and set sail for Thomas Island. We started with 12knots of wind and after 2 hours it was down to 9. We need 10 knots to move the 27 tonne of Imagine. The rest of the trip was completed under motor as the wind slowly dropped to 3 knots. We arrived about 9pm to find another boat was in OUR BAY (how rude).
After a calm night we awoke to a beautiful day and no wind. As we know there is going to be high winds tomorrow, Lydia suggested we take advantage of the calm conditions and go snorkeling around the southern bay. That’s where we spent the day returning to our bay on the north side in time for sundowners.