whitsunday islands

depth charges in honour of our voyage. that and partying with a brit who apparently is known as the "king of goon," and was recongized by fellow travellers when he got off the bus. you can check out his facebook page. it is all drinking games. while in rainbow beach i lost some pages in my book along with emma's postcard while climbing a 200m sandblow. so i had to abandon reading the rise of the 4th reich for the secret history of lord byron.

as luck would have it the canadians i befriended in the rainbow beach hostel and on fraser island were on the same ship - all able hands before the mast. note on our vessel, the siska: the siska was built and raced by perth sailmaker rolly tasker, designed by german frers of argentina, and built in western australia. dimensions were as follows: 10mm thick aluminium, 32 tonnes, 80 ft. long, mast height of 106 ft. the siska has a proud racing history - winners of races in australia, new zealand, fiji, hawaii, england and south africa. 2 time winner of the sydney to hobart race, with has circumnavigated the world twice. in 1979 with hrh prince charles as part of the crew the siska set the fastest time defeating world champion kioloa, and was first overall in the queen vic cup. also in '79 she came 2nd in the fastnet race, and later won the parmelia race from england to perth.

now, she is a pirate ship. or so we decided. in the spirit of pirates of the caribbean and master and commander we set sail looking for prizes and booty. i, of course, was the captain. by the end of our cruise the ship also boasted a first officer, surgeon, navigator, naturalist, translator, 2 cooks, gunners, a master at arms, etc. i was captain neil to everyone. el capitano. we tried to talk in nautical terms - bow, stern, port, starboard, main sail, head sail, stow, grog, arrgh, matey, avast, etc. no captain had a better crew. i would ask the navigator our course and he would make something up like "sou' sou' west?" our official anthem was fire water burn by the bloodhound gang. by the end of the trip i was receiving salutes while the first officer used a water bottle like a telescope. i would even give the bridge to my 2nd when i went below, and would jokingly order people "as you were" when i passed. at the end of our trip i gave a short speech to everyone how pleased i was with them and how no captain ever forgot his first command. no mutiny either. bonus.

note on the whitsundays: the whitsunday islands are a group of 74 islands, all but 4 of which are completely wild national park. the water is a dazzling blue/green. the area is completely protected within the confines of the great barrier reef world heritage area. it is a flooded landscape - the islands are in fact tops of submerged mountains. coral is everywhere.

our course was due ne as we left abel point marina into the blue. just above hook island we anchored in luncheon bay and snorkeled for the first time. it was amazing to see the different colours of coral come out in the sun's rays. little worlds of darting fish and closing plants. in your stinger suit you switched from diving through underwater coral trenches to just skimming the surface with the coral inches from you. hard coral, soft coral, coral formations twisted below you like the many branches from a giant tree. after our snorkel and some lunch the siska sailed south @ about 8 knots and made anchor in hook passage. after dinner, the goon would come out and everyone would party on deck together. the captain would not disappoint his crew in the games of ping, pang, pong and kings, categories and celebrities. i even taught some of the more willing a new way to skull their jug. at night i would forgo my berth below for the open deck and the ocean, the stars and the lapping waves. the early morning chill would wake me to the pink fingers of dawn.

on the 2nd day we sailed north out of the passageand then se along whitsunday island. everyone would alternate between laying in the sun, talking, listening to music or reading. along the way we would learn about sailing, and would get practice hauling out the mail sail and the head sail and working the grinders. on the se coast of the island we made halted and made inland at tongue bay. once on the beach i proclaimed the spot stevenson landing in honour of my exo. we hiked down to the 6km long whitehaven beach, voted in the top 10 beaches in the world. sand dunes peaking out from the water at low tide, circled in light blue. the sand is so soft you are warned it will get into your camera, the silicon soft against your feet. time for cricket and rounders to please the scoucers. my team thrashed them at rounders, with el capitano being the last one out. then time for a swim where a manta ray breezed right through our group. back to the boat for a n course to dumbell island and more snorkeling. grouper fish, sea turtles, barricuda, parrot fish, sharks - not by me unfortunately, and more life aquatic coral. that night we anchored in nara inlet - a breeding ground for hammerhead sharks. the goon was out before the sun was down. laughing and joking, teaching germans how to play poker while they taught me to speak it. the canadians were again the last ones standing. again back to the deck for another star kissed lullaby.

up at dawn, sore and happy. south out of the inlet and then nw to longfed island. one last snorkel. on the way back to abel point i stood on the edge of the bow bobbing in the huge swells and spray. if you want to be there with me listen to gabriel faure's requiem.