My sailing holiday on Wendy Anne

It was the strangest gig that I have landed through Find a Crew. George really didn't need or want a "crew", so I did almost no "crewing" nor much cooking or cleaning. It was more like a sailing holiday. Initially that was fine by me as I was revelling in being back in the stunning Whitsundays and sailing south down the islands of Central Queensland. It seemed that in George's mind my role was to be a companion for his wife Wendy. He hadn't explained that to Wendy!

Wendy Anne, Sea Wind 11.6

George and Wendy plus Poppy the Cat had been sailing their Sea Wind 11.6 catamaran up and down the east coast for 2.5 years and we were joining the general movement of boats south from Queensland to avoid cyclone season. Their plan was a slow trip south arriving in Sydney for Christmas, however the best laid plans can fall apart and the trip ended in Rosslyn Bay, Yeppoon. Wendy Anne is now up for sale. I will draw a discreet veil over the dynamics that led to this change of plan.

I joined them at Abel Point Marina on the 30th October and left in Yeppoon on the 13th November. During the time I was aboard we went to Stonehaven, Bali Hai, the public jetty at Airlie Beach, Whitsundays Beach 25 (2 nights), Brampton Island both N side and W side, Mackay Marina, Percy Islands Refuge Bay and Whites Beach, Island Head Point, Pearl Bay, Port Clinton (2 nights) and then into Rosslyn Bay Marina.

Percy Island, Refuge Bay

George and Wendy Neal

Wendy Anne is very comfortable and well set up for easy sailing. All the lines come back to the cockpit and the main winch is electric. George didn't intend to do any overnight sailing if it could be avoided and much of the time we motor sailed with just the genoa up. We were lucky with the weather, fine and sunny with mainly light northerly winds except for a couple of nights at Port Clinton where we sat out a 25 knot blow. On the final day there were cyclonic storms in Brisbane and Wide Bay but we were lucky, we narrowly missed them.

I had my own cabin with queen size bed and its own ensuite with shower (no mention of bunks and heads) - such luxury. Wendy Anne even had air conditioning and a TV, neither of which I have ever had before nor particularly want again. I did not enjoy having commercial TV on most of the time. Neither George or Wendy were comfortable with me swimming off the boat when at anchor but we did enjoy several glorious swims on sandy beaches such as those pictured.

When we got to the Percy Islands we lost internet and radio coverage - quite normal. However it was the day of the election in the USA. We got the result "Trump won" via Volunteer Marine Rescue - but it was almost a week before we could get any more news. I admit that as a political news junkie I found that hard.

George and Poppy (the Cat)