Seven days bareboat in the Whitsundays

This is the standard Whitsundays week, arranged so that the two hardest things you do are not on the first or last day. It suits a crew with some coastal experience who want to be self sufficient, cook aboard and anchor rather than tie up. Read the bareboat guide before you book, because the Whitsundays is where most Australians meet bareboating for the first time and where most of the unpleasant surprises happen.

Who this suits and who it does not

It suits four to eight people who are comfortable with the idea that the skipper is not a guide. Under Class 4 hire and drive, the hirer operates the vessel. The operator can refuse handover if the briefing goes badly or the weather is wrong, and that is not a refund conversation you want to have on the dock.

It does not suit crews who have never anchored, crews with a fixed list of destinations, or anyone who needs to be somewhere on a particular afternoon. If nobody aboard has anchored a thirty eight foot boat in fifteen to twenty knots, book a skipper for the first two days or take a skippered charter instead. The charter types page sets out the difference honestly.

The shape of the days

Legs here are short. Most are two to four hours under sail. All distances are rounded planning estimates, not navigation figures, and the actual mileage changes with the route you pick through the passages.

The first day is deliberately soft. Airlie Beach to Nara Inlet is 18 to 25 nautical miles and you will still be learning where the winch handles live. Anchor with daylight left. Set the anchor twice if you are not happy the first time.

The last day is also soft. You come back from Cid Harbour, not from the outer islands, because the trades often build through the morning and you do not want to be beating home against a deadline. Fuel, water and a clean boat all take longer than people expect.

The middle of the week is where you spend your good weather. Butterfly Bay, Tongue Bay and Whitehaven are the payoff, and they are all exposed to something. That is the trade.

Decision points

There are three real ones.

First, the crossing to the north end of Hook. In settled south-east trades it is straightforward. If the forecast has north or north-west in it, Butterfly Bay stops working and you stay in Nara or Stonehaven instead. Losing a day here costs you nothing.

Second, Whitehaven. It is a day anchorage. If the wind is up or a swell is running, you look, you swim, and you leave for shelter before dark.

Third, Cid Harbour. Treat it as subject to current local advice, which the operator will give you at briefing and which can change. Always have a named alternative before you leave the previous anchorage.

Weather here is trade wind driven. May to October is the dry season and the south-easters dominate. Summer brings heat, thunderstorms and cyclone exposure, and the official Australian tropical cyclone season runs 1 November to 30 April, though cyclones can occur outside it. The weather and seasons page covers the pattern in more detail.

What to book ahead

Book the boat itself six to twelve months out for the dry season, and earlier again if your dates touch August. Airlie Beach Race Week and Hamilton Island Race Week both fall in August and they empty the charter fleet. School holidays do the same thing, with the Christmas and January period the longest and busiest.

Book your first and last night ashore. People underestimate how much they want a shower and a bed after a week.

Sort provisioning before you arrive. You can shop in Airlie Beach but it eats half a day. See provisioning, and think about draft, bridge clearance and whether you actually want a catamaran on the choosing a vessel page. Costs beyond the daily rate, including the security bond and the environmental management charge that applies to commercial reef tourism, are set out under costs.

One honest warning

The bommies are the thing. Coral heads sit well above the charted depth in places, they do not always show on a paper chart, and they are hard to see with the sun low or the water ruffled. Every bareboat operator here has repair invoices caused by someone cutting a corner in the late afternoon. Move between about nine in the morning and three in the afternoon with the sun high and someone standing forward. Tidal streams in the passes are strong enough to matter to a boat that motors at six knots, so check the tide before you commit to a pass, not after.

More options in the area are listed on the Whitsundays page and in the region directory.