Kat Journey Date: September 2022
Published: December 2022
Sailing around the Whitsundays on your own private (rented) yacht is an amazing holiday, but it takes a lot of upfront planning to get the most out of the experience. Here are my top tips for making sure your trip is (ahem) smooth sailing.
1. Book early
The Whitsundays is an incredibly popular destination, especially during peak season from September to October. On our first attempt, we tried to book a yacht in April for September of the same year. We couldn’t get our choice of dates to start with but we asked to be put on a wait list and something became available within a week. At other times we checked and the monohulls were booked out a year in advance for some dates. So if your dates are not flexible it pays to book well ahead.
Hamilton Island is one of few resorts that welcomes bareboat yacht charters to stay overnight and sleep aboard your own boat, making it a popular place for dining. Most restaurant bookings now open 6 months in advance. When we booked, they were accepting bookings 90 days in advance. I had set myself a reminder to book our restaurant exactly 90 days in advance. By the time I jumped online in the early afternoon, many spots had already been taken, and there was nothing available after 6:30pm, although you could put your name on a waitlist. Visit the official Hamilton Island website to view a list of restaurants and to make a booking.
If you’re ordering alcohol through Whitsunday’s Provisioning it’s best to do this several weeks in advance. I tried doing it about a week prior and had missed the window. If you get caught out you can do a click and collect order from BWS at Airlie Beach.
2. Plan your meals
We sat down as a group and brainstormed all the food we wanted to have on the boat so we knew everyone would have food they would enjoy. We also got carried away and bought far more than we needed but I still think this was better than taking the risk of running out of food. The last thing you want to do in the middle of a cruising holiday is to make a trip to the supermarket to stock up on supplies.
Check out this post about provisioning for more details.
3. Buy the 100 Magic Miles book
This book has lots of great information about where to go, what you’ll see, conditions, tides, moorings, anchorages, etc. It was invaluable for us in planning our trip.
Some of the yacht charter companies will provide you a copy on the boat, so you may not need to take yours with you. You should refer to the copy provided by the yacht charter company when you are actually underway as it may contain information about additional restrictions, for example, they may have limitations on which moorings or anchorages they permit you to use, as well as the charter limits of where you can sail.
We bought our copy in Sydney at Whitworths in Brookvale, but you can also get it online: https://100magicmiles.com or from Amazon.
The current version as of December 2022 is the 14th edition.
4. Plan your voyage
We used the 100 Magic Miles book to plan a tentative itinerary before we left, again so we could make sure we all got to see and do the things we wanted to. You will need to be flexible with your plan as it may need to change depending on conditions. Having a plan in mind (OK, and printed) meant we could discuss it with our instructor during our briefing. She was then able to give us feedback and suggest some tweaks so we made the most of the currents and wind conditions. She also gave us feedback on which moorings and anchorages were likely to be popular, alternatives to try if they were full, as well as the best time to visit different locations. She also had useful local knowledge. For example, did you know Dangerous Passage is in fact a perfectly fine place to travel through at certain times? Because we certainly didn’t!
Having a well thought out plan also saved us time so we got through our briefing a little faster.
5. Pack light
I know, everyone recommends that in every packing list, but it’s especially true for a sailing holiday. There is nowhere to put a large suitcase on most yachts, so a bag you can collapse down is a much better option. We used some old backpacks and we bought some Gill Race Team duffle bags, again from Whitworths (ships to Australia, Christmas Island, Norfolk Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands)
We lived in swimmers and casual clothes for most of the trip anyway, and only needed one nice outfit for our meal at Romano’s on Hamilton Island on the last night of the trip.
Even though you’re in the subtropics, being on the water means it still can get cold at night, so you’ll need some warm layers too.
Check out this post for a detailed packing list.
6. Sleep aboard the night before your charter if you can
Some yacht charter companies let you sleep aboard your yacht the night before you check in, for a small fee. We paid AUD $220 (US $150 / €140 EUR) to sleep aboard our yacht. This gave us a chance to settle in, get unpacked and get familiar with the boat. It also meant we were available to take delivery of our mammoth Woolworths grocery order.
And we started our briefing at 8am the next morning, so we were sailing off on our journey by 11am. If we hadn’t done the sleep aboard we would have checked in to our yacht at 12pm on the first day and then had our briefing, so most of the day would have been gone before we were able to start our journey.
7. Choose your companions wisely
I travelled with my partner (affectionately known as Captain Dan, who has awesome boat skills and knowledge) and 2 friends of ours who aren’t really keen on sailing for it’s own sake, but enjoy being on boats and are very easy-going, helpful people. Honestly, we couldn’t have chosen anyone better to travel with. Despite being in close quarters for 6 days, we never had any arguments and we didn’t get on each others nerves. However, there are stories of people putting companions ashore and then calling them a water taxi because they absolutely refused to let them back on the boat.
8. Choose your boat wisely
If you want to sail, and not just motor everywhere, make sure you charter a yacht you can actually sail. We chartered ‘Highland Fling’ through Whitsundays Rent A Yacht and it was well shaded so it was great for motoring around and sitting on deck drinking and BBQing, but almost impossible to see anything from helm if you wanted to sail. You couldn’t see if there were any boats ahead of you, what the sails were doing or the tell tales.
Our trip was around 10% sailing, 90% motoring. It didn’t bother me because I am happy just to be out on the water, but if you are looking for sailing experience you will need to find out details of the boat in before you book.
9. Return your yacht to the marina closest to where you’re departing from
We started our charter from Shute Harbour, but our flight home departed from Hamilton Island, so this is where we dropped off the boat. There was an extra fee of AUD $450 (US $303 / €285 EUR) but we think it was worth it. On the final full day of our charter, we moored at Hamilton Island Marina in the afternoon and later went out for a nice Italian dinner. The next morning we had plenty of time to pack up and get the boat ready for handover at 10am. Then we strolled around to the airport without any rush or drama. If we hadn’t paid the extra fee, we would have needed to find an overnight mooring near Shute Harbour, then the next morning sail or motor back to Shute Harbour, pack up, clean up the yacht, hand the yacht back, take a taxi to ferry terminal and then take the ferry to Hamilton Island Airport. Returning the yacht to Hamilton Island Marina meant we had a very relaxed final day of our holiday.
You need to book a berth at Hamilton Island Marina if you plan to do this. Our charter company did this on our behalf and the cost was included in our additional fee.
