That’s when we changed course and headed back up the coast to Nara Inlet, a protected little cove that we decided to stay the night in. There we swam off the back of the boat and took the dingy exploring and the water was nice and calm. Strangely, last night I didn’t sleep well because instead of the waves rocking me to sleep, they kept me awake and I don’t know what it was but something was squeaking. I missed my bed in the caravan a lot!
For today the plan was to go up to the north of the Whitsunday Island and anchor at Haman Island or Butterfly Bay, where there is some amazing snorkeling. Unfortunately the water was even rough went we came out of the shelter of the cove and we had to turn around and go back south to Sawmill Bay to get the main sail down.
It was a bumpy ride. No one wanted to be down in the cabin so we all sat up in the cockpit, wrapped in blankets and held on tight. Because we were moving against the current the waves made contact with a lot of force. We rolled over them one at a time and the spray sometimes came into the cockpit. At one point, Sam steered us right suddenly and the ship rolled. We were going over a wave at the time so we tipped dramatically and the crockery draw flew open, plates flying everywhere. The ocean sprayed us with salt water and then it went into the cabin! It was altogether a FREAKY experience!
We end up anchoring at Sawmill Bay and staying the night there.