For our third post in the Southern Whitsundays Series, we take you to Goldsmith Island where we spent a few days waiting for the strong southerly to calm down and sunny conditions to return. It was threatening with rain when we left Brampton Island for a downwind sail of about 12 miles under jib alone. We passed between Goldsmith and Linne Islands and anchored at Roylen Bay.
Isn’t it amazing, everybody flocks to the northern part of the Whitsundays, vying for a bit of swing room or competing for a mooring, and we are here enjoying magnificent views, a protected anchorage with a lovely beach all by ourselves! There is another anchorage protected from the SE which we had been to last year, but this is superior, with easy access to the beach. Unfortunately the island has no walking track, so unless you are keen on bush bashing, swimming is a better alternative!
Bengie loved her beach walks, there was some grass to chew on, a dried up creek bed to explore, a few logs to scratch on, nobody to scare you, what more can a pussycat want?
As usual we suited up for a snorkel. The water was a bit murky and the reef weedy; so there was not a lot to see and we did not stay in the water for long. But even then, with no unrealistic expectations and an attitude of “let’s see what’s under there”, you get nice little surprises, like the colourful patch of soft coral and algae and the tube sponges.
Because our dinghy is much bigger than Peasy was on Take It Easy, with big tubes, it is harder to climb back into it after a snorkel. It takes a fair bit of upper body strength to heave yourself up and over the rib. We decided to both practice the backward flip re-entry into the dinghy, a method mentioned by one of our followers. It means grabbing the dinghy side ropes and with your back to the dinghy flipping your legs and body up and over into the boat while your head is underneath! It worked, but we doubt our visitors would cope with the athletics! Here is a link to a video that demonstrates the technique.
Our friend Sue is joining us next month and we can just hear her protests all the way from Sydney: “You are joking, no way!” We have been able to order our Dicks Dinghy Ladder which comes highly recommended and is waiting for us at Airlie Beach. No more beached whale or walrus impersonations!
The strong winds have returned, blowing at 20 knots plus and forecast to get to 30 knots. The trade winds are well and truly established. We haven’t seen any yacht for days! On 4 June, we used the SE to blow us further north to our next destination: Thomas Island. More on this in our next post!
Sv-Anui 
The only time we stopped at Goldsmith was at the same Bay – and the only other boat in the bay had a fascinating (aged) individual on it who told us about his life and fishing career in the area in the ’50’-70’s. Boy things have changed in the interim! You can meet some interesting historical characters in isolated bays in the tropics!
You do meet some odd guys, some friendly, others you would not invite on board! There are a lot of single men on boats around these parts… not that we have seen anybody for the past weeks! We are stuck at Thomas Island, one stop further, hiding from 30+ knots SE! Nice place but not for 5 days!
How uncomfortable! We have no wind at the moment – but apart from the fact we can’t sail out of here, it is better than the 46 knots and driving rain we got a few days ago! Hope the conditions improve for you soon! And yes, most of the ‘single men stuck on boats’ syndrome is because of unfortunate circumstances and they are gorgeous people – but agreed, there is the odd individual that would be better avoided – of course if we took a closer look we would probably find that reflected on land as well.
You are right, most people are friendly and have interesting stories to tell.
Love the colours of the soft corals.
Backflipping into the dinghy is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Love it! I particularly love the leap of faith where you hold your breath and plaster your face under the rib under water. What could possibly go wrong?
You could secure your rope ladder to the opposite side of the dinghy and run it across and over the side. When you climb out you would have a series of handholds to progressively pull yourself out with. Any rocking of the dinghy would give you some leverage to assist with the haul out.
You are right Greg, it is a leap of faith when you hang upside down head underwater hoping you manage to swing your body over the rib! We’ll keep doing it, and we are sure you’ll want to when you come and stay on board, but what about Ann? 😁
Will be the beached whale look – upside down in the water has never ended well for me!
We thought of you and Sue… and quite frankly ourselves and are getting a decent set of steps!
Boat is looking sparkly! Loving your blogs.
Thanks Craig! We’re having fun!
Great pics – those coral tubes are amazing. The ‘baby’ looks in fine form too. You are having a once in a lifetime experience every day by the look of it. Brilliant. Enjoy.
Hi Caroline – nice to get your comment. Yes Bengie and us are in fine form and having daily excellent experiences! Why limit yourself to once in a lifetime!
I am thrilled you are buying a dingy ladder, will be so much easier. Yes I did cry NO WAY, NOT ME!! one would have to have huge upper body strength. Loved the sunset and the tubes
It’s fun to do the back flip but yes you need strength! We are picking the ladder up later this week!