Sailing the Ragamuffin

Got up bright and early this morn to hop on the "immortal" Whitsunday yacht: Ragamuffin.

Unfortunately the clouds were a tad overcast and this meant I wasnt going to get my "blue-green water against white sand paradise shot". The trip was still nice and although we didnt get large waves to tackle (in true yachting-style) the Whitsunday Islands are a visual feast.

Soon after the yacht set off I got my first chance to hoist a sail old-stylee with myself and a German lad rotating the lever as fast as possible. It was quite a workout on the upper arms and shows that sailing aint quite the laid-back sport Id imagined previously.

Whitsunday Island was the main destination, in particular Whitehaven Beach - notably a popular spot since there were several large passenger ferries here upon our arrival 1 hour later. Despite the lack of bright sunshine, the beach still appeared impressive and the bright white silica sand is truly spectacular. Diving into the 22 C water was even better though it was rather salty (I had no problem floating on top of the water and almost fell asleep!) so didnt have too many fish.

The rest of the day included a scrumptious lunch of Chicken Satay wraps, Beef sambos and watermelon.. later we played around on the beach and soon, alas, the trip was at an end... though a little early it felt... dang!

One beer on the boat with a few of the lads I met topped off a nice relaxing day. Im probably meeting up with a few of them tonight to sample some Kangaroo Meat... yep you read that right!.. Ill tell you how this marsupial feast tastes in the next entry... Kangaroos are fair game in this country: they even sell kangaroo scrotums and claws in the tourist shop. Call the RSPCA!