Cruising with the Robinsons

We started the trip the morning of Friday the 7th. We motored to 'Whitsunday Island' That is I believe the biggest of the hundreds of Whitsunday Islands. It took us most of the day to get there, me a Claire sat getting wet from the waves crashing on us talking about music, boys, and life. She is mature for her age but a little sassy once you get to know her. We had a great time chatting the whole way laying out in the sun. We anchored at Cid Harbor. We all got in the tender and motored over to a beach, and went for a bush walk on a trail to another beach. We sat on the beach relaxing for a bit then went back to the boat and made dinner. We went to bed pretty early.

The next day we motored to White Haven beach. Which is the most popular attraction in the Whitsunday Islands. It is a sight to see, that is for sure! When we got close to White Haven beach, the sand was almost to bright to look at! That is how WHITE this beach is!! We anchored right next to the beach. After eating lunch we went to the beach. We spent the rest of the day laying out in the sun and making a Sand Castle Estate. We made a road with lots of small houses that lead up to the main castle, and garden. Of course we went swimming and I took the surf-ski out for a bit. Before going back the kids stomped all over the sandcastle. We had a quiet evening and went to bed. We spent the next day on the beach as well. I layed out reading a book on Aero- and Hydrodynamics and boat knots. I learned that when the pressure in air drops the air streams speed up. A sail creates low pressure on the convex side. The airstream over the convex side has to speeds up because it has to travel further to join up with the air traveling on the concave side. When the wind is coming from behind the boat, the sail is sucked along by the airstream rather that being pushed.

After getting blown away by aerodynamics I practiced tying knots. Two guys paddling on a kayak went across the water in front of where we were sitting. We saw them the first day we were on the boat and they had already caught up with us! They must be paddling all day and camping out on the islands at night. What a neat way to see the Whitsundays! It inspired me to take the surf-ski out for a long paddle. There were a lot of waves that day so I got a pretty good workout. I found it was nice also to take a rest and layout on the surf-ski while floating on the water. I closed my eyes and relaxed for a few minutes and when I opened then only 10 feet away there was a ginormous sea turtle!! It had to be over a hundred years old by the looks of its size! Its head was bigger than mine sticking out of the water. When I got back to the beach we dung holes and buried the kids. We made Claire into a mermaid and Nate into a race car driver. Then they buried me and made me into a turtle like the one I saw!

The next day we motored to 'Tongue Bay' which is on 'Whitsunday Island'. On the way I say on the bow practicing tying knots. I can now tie the bowline, sheet bend, rolling hitch, clove hitch, Tugman's hitch, and the Truckee's hitch. After being under way for not too long, we arrived at Tongue Bay. We walked on a walking track to a look out point. It was a great view of White Haven beach and other islands. Then we walked on another trail down to a great beach. It was a cloudy day but it was still gorgeous. It was a big sandy peninsula called 'Dugane beach'. After spending some time on the beach we went back to the boat and motored a little ways to 'Butterfly Bay' on the north part of 'Hook Island'. We attached to a morine for the night. Me and Claire watched he movie Twilight. It is based on the first book in a series that Claire is reading. Its a fantasy with vampires and warewolfs. The main character Bella falls in love with a vampire.

The next day we did lots of snorkeling in Butterfly Bay. There was tons of beautiful coral and fishes! I felt very peaceful in the water listening to my breath and the fish chomping down on coral. My favorite fish had a big circular narrow body. It was black with little crescent yellow moon stripes. and a blue tail. My favorite coral was a peachy color with little star shaped tentacles. We snorkeled twice. My ankle started hurting a little bit but it was worth it. I layed out in the sun on the boat and dried and wrote in my journal and practiced the knots I learned again. Then the boat next to us offered us to come over and drink and eat nibbles. They were nice people but the conversations weren't very deep. We got back to the boat around 7:00 and I was trying to offer to make dinner, Clair was being a sassy know it all and Neil and Deb had something planned that they wanted to make. They had a bit too much to drink maybe and were arguing about something. I decided to just go to my bed and lay down. I fell asleep real early without eating dinner.

I woke up nice and early in the morning and watched the sunrise and did some yoga and meditation. It felt nice but I had a hard time loosing my thoughts in meditation. That day we went to 'Langford Island' and snorkeled for a few hours. I saw this big green fish with a blue border and bright neon yellow fins There was also one with an orange nose with a crazy blue design on it. There was also one with all different colors, ti had an orange smudge near its mouth. I wish I could remember more details. After snorkeling we motored a little ways to 'Stone Haven' anchorage on Hook Island. We got internet connection and cell phone signal here. I tried texting Josh but his phone was off. I went snorkeling again. The coral was not a pretty as the other places but it was still nice. Me and Claire jumped of the boat and I swam around the boat and floated on my back. It felt nice to swim without a wet suit. I taught Claire how to climb the ladder on he back of the boat. You had to wrap your legs around the bar to pull yourself up. I pulled myself up just using my arms. My arms have definitely gotten stronger. I used the computer, checked my email and posted pictures online. Then watched Blade Runner. I enjoyed it.

The next morning, I sat with Claire and read with her a bit, she is on the third book right now. I enjoyed reading it. It is easy to get sucked in to the story. Then we motored to Hook Island Resort. Where they would be dropping me off. We rented a Morine for the day and night. We hung out by the pool at the Resort. I liked the resort because it wasn't fancy, it was kind of run down. We mostly layed out in the sun and swam all day. I taught Claire how to play cribbage and she picked it up pretty good. I played cards with Nate, getting him to tell me what the number on the card was. He is still learning his numbers. Once he knew 1 through 8 alright we played go fish. Then we all played Uno. We walked down to the under water observatory which was nothing special but still interesting. Right outside of the observatory there was a really big fish just sitting there still a couple feet under the water.

We went back to the boat and made dinner and then hung out at the bar. The bar tender was from California. It's the first person from the states that I have met! It was weird hearing that accent! I played a few games of Australian billiards. Instead of solids and stripes they have yellow and red balls. The eight ball is still black with an eight on it, but none of the others are numbered. The only difference in the rules is you get an extra shot if the other person scratches or doesn't hit their color ball. I only won one game. There was also "The Hook" that was fun to play. There was a small hook on a post and a string attached to the ceiling with a washer on it. The goal is to swing the string from a distance and hook the washer onto the hook. I got it on my second try and soon could get it hooked two times in a row pretty easily. The challenge was to get it hooked three times in a row. I never did get it, but came very close! I also played this drinking game with a group of girls from England it was similar to Ass Hole but called Shit Head or something like that. After a long night on the island we went back to the boat around 12 AM.

Today I said goodbye to the Robinsons and they left me on the Island. They have a friend coming on the boat in a few day and need some family time. I am scheduled to catch a ride on a boat at 2:30 back to Airlie beach. I have no idea what I will be doing next! For now I will go for a walk.