Not so smooth sailing...

My three day sailing adventure went nothing like planned but an adventure it was!

The Whitsundays are supposed to be one of the most remarkable sights of Australia... beautiful forest deep islands with white sand beach fronts. I booked myself on a 14 passenger wooden sailing yacht. It really was a charming boat with impressive sails, but any boat would really impress this city girl, what do I know about boats?

The previous day as read in the blog before was hot and sunny! First day of sailing... errr not so much. It began cloudy and progressively got worse. About a half hour into sailing (well the motor was on because there were no winds) it started to sprinkle. The crew hadn't even finished giving the tour of the cabin before the rain started to come down. They broke out rain coats for us so we could still sit on deck and admire the lovely DARK view. While I was waiting for my tour, as they only took four people below at a time, I asked for a cup. Captain Ron, more about him later, and the other guests laughed at me as I began to drink wine... I mean really what else was there to do?! We were on a boat in the rain. Thankfully a couple from London, Olly and Sophie joined me in afternoon cocktails as well.

I got my tour of the boat. It was explained to us that we could only flush a little toilet paper at a time and had to hold down the flush for at least 20 seconds. We were showed our sleeping arrangements. I had to share the main room, where we also have our meals (the table conveniently turns into a bed for two as the bench across the small room did as well) with 5 other people. My bed was a cot attached to the wall that was above the table. Rain and a hanging cot, does this sound like me?! Yeah, I had a big gulp of wine after this one! I have to say though I felt most badly for the guy sleeping in the cot across from me, he was well over 6 feet and I barely fit on the cot!

With the tarps up you couldn't see a darn thing off the boat- they were quite low and you couldn't even stand with out having to hunch over. All I could think of was Gilligans Island and I couldn't even share the joke with anyone because the other 13 passengers were all Brits and had no clue of the show. All I could do was laugh and I think everyone got a real kick out of me because I would break out in random giggle fits. The situation just had to be laughed at! Olly would join in too... the two of us would just look at each other and laugh about our misfortune and very long and bumpy next few days! We were in one of the most beautiful places in the world and all we could see was tarp and dampness! The rain got worse as the night progressed, we are talking major down pours!

We played some drinking games that night and had some good laughs. We called it a pretty early night with hopes of a beautiful next day.

The next day... well, no rain in the AM but still pretty cloudy! We set sail after a 7 am wake up. Oy... a full day at sea. At least the tarps were able to come down- that was a huge bonus. As the sky was grey and everything around us was pretty dull, it was evident that in sunshine our surroundings would have been spectacular. It looked like a pirate movie- so many uninhabited islands around us- or like Jurassic Park, like dinosaurs would pop out of the forests! I actually got some great photos of the grey sky- this defo taught me to appreciate and see the beauty in a grey, dark sky! The ride was super bumpy, I mean it was rough out there- 20-23 knots (I have no clue what that means, but htat is what Captain Ron said)! I had to take three sea sickness pill, which made us all super groggy. I passed out three times that day! We were able to get some snorkeling in though. We didn't see much, the visibility was awful and the fish must have been hiding.

That afternoon the sky wasn't so bad, still clouds everywhere, just not so dark. We went to Whitehaven beach. It is regarded as the most beautiful beach in Aussie, if not one of the most in the world- not to my eyes! It had brown crap all over it and it was all damp. The white glowing sand was quite dull and off-white in the lighting that we had! It was a let down to say the least. You can't even swim in the water because of the stingers, some people wore stinger suits but I passed.

As I was laying there soaking up the UV rays (I was desperate to keep my tan and we were left there for a couple of hours) when what do I see- my Irish lads! A giddy girl I was indeed. My day was some what salvaged. Please understand hundreds (okay maybe not quite that much but a lot) of boats leave for this three day trip all the time and the chances of both of ours bringing us to this spot at pretty much the same time is remarkable. Let's call it meant to be! They had a crazy night. Their boat was a catamaran and sounded loads more fun. They were not in the best of spirits about the experience, though they had the same attitude I had... all you could do was laugh. We shared horror stories of the rain and I have to say there's beat mine. They're cruise is actually camping too. They didn't sleep on the boat; they were brought to an island with tents and they had to camp there. Being Irish and to totally generalize, they were pissed (that means wasted) that night. They went to bed an awoke sometime during the night to a tent full of water, shivering in the torrential down pour! Not only was it great to see them for purely a nice view but it was great to hear a story worse than mine! At least I had a somewhat dry sleeping area (there was a leak by my feat) and it was very clammy hot in that cabin!

We set sail again. More rain, more bumpy water and a lot of sickness. I managed to keep everything down but a few had to lean over the boat! All I could think of was Vee and how much she would have hated this boat ride! We had a delicious dinner that evening I will give the crew that much! It was a steak dinner with lots of sides. They even made me special mash for my lactardedness! The other peeps on the boat were pretty cool. A little more tame than some of the people I have been hanging out with, but really nice! There were two guys from London, Ali and Josh. They were hysterical- they reminded me a bit of my brother. There were two girls from London, Liz and Laura and a cousin pair also from London but of Indian decent- Rishi and Heena. I think we were all delirious by all the pills and waves- it made for an interesting and delirious evening! We were all very excited because we got to use the cool glow in the dark star map the crew had becasue we could see 4 stars- unfortunately it wasn't enough to determine which they were. Damn clouds!

That night I awoke at what I thought was close to sun up. I was sweltering hot. I cannot sleep in clammy, stuffy, 35 degree (that's Celsius) heat on a cot in a cabin with 5 other people! I decided to go up to the deck where the crew was sleeping. There was a nice breeze up there, the tarps were up and I could see a few stars from the side of the boat. I decided I should sleep up there for the last few hours and maybe watch the sun rise! It actually put me in great spirits... how cool, right?! Well Captain Ron is a pro at sleeping on deck. He was completely wrapped in a tarp as well just in case it rained. He was in a cocoon basically. I grabbed my pillow, sheet and two towels- oh and my camera for the beautiful sunrise! I used the towels to sleep on and the sheet for a cover! I got it all set up, laid down, looked out into the sky and felt the rain drops... what?! Oh yeah... no more then 30 seconds of being out there it started to down pour again! hahaha. Oh my luck! I curled up in a ball and Captain Ron looked out of his cocoon, startled to see someone he asked who I was... "It's Gi"... in my most pathetic and helpless voice. He opened his cocoon and asked if I wanted to crawl in. Well- Captain Ron to the rescue! I crawled in, put my back to him and quickly realized Captain Ron was trying to get his catch of the day! This girl wasn't bitin'! Kept my back to him for the rest of the night- which PS it was NOT almost sunrise- and couldn't really get much sleep. I have to say though it was beautiful to hear the rain and watch the storm from up there. Though uncomfortable, it was one of the most enjoyable parts of the boat trip.

The next morning I was quite the talk of the boat. The deck hand was up in the night closing windows and such and discovered I wasn't there... and let everyone know in the AM... though I quickly bring people to my side and they knew the truth very quickly- that rumor came to an end, because there was no coming!

The last day was basically cancelled because of the rain. I was in the most beautiful places in the world during the worst rain they have seen in 3 years! All I could do and still do is laugh!