Cid Harbour

We had gorgeous weather leaving Nara Inlet and had every intention of sailing out but... there's always a but! But as we put out the jib we discovered that the furler was broken again. We pulled into a little bay, dropped the anchor and set about fixing it. Now the good news is that we did figure out what was causing the problem. When we bought the boat we replaced the existing anchor for a bigger one. When we raise or lower the bigger anchor, sometimes, as careful as we are to avoid it, the anchor hits the furler, knocking it out of alignment and causing it to cease functioning. Anyway, having already fixed it once, this time it was a piece of cake! When we were ready to go again, I volunteered to take the helm so that Bryce could work on finding a way for the anchor to not hit the furler. Now putting the anchor down and pulling it up are "my jobs" and while I'm quite happy at the helm out in the big blue where there is nothing to hit, maneuvering the boat whilst surrounded by coral reefs and other boats is not really something I've ever volunteered for. It all went fine, I didn't hit anything and I suppose, practice will make perfect.

So while of course we came over to Cid Harbour to enjoy Cid Harbour, we also came here because we thought (and had been told) we would be protected and have Internet access. We had reception across our entire sail so imagine our surprise after we set the anchor that we had none.  Now I'm realising that it may sound a bit like we are obsessed with being connected but that is not the case. It's just nice to be able to check email every once in awhile and communicate with friends and family, so it was no real big that we didn't have a consistent connection because when the boat was pointing in a certain direction and you held the phone at a specific angle, we were able to get emails in and out. Easy!

Cid Harbour itself is a gorgeous place but for me the highlight was the walks it offers. There are two walks from Sawmill Beach, one around to another beach and one all the way to the top of Whitsunday Peak. The walk up was switchback stairs most of the way and was brutal but the view at the top made it all worth while. 360 degrees of Whitsunday islands! Just stunning. Well worth the walk up!