And here’s where the story really started … "On Tuesday 6 May 2025, we set sail from RQYS for our epic two-year cruise … We chased north to get into sheltered water behind Fraser Island ahead of a weather front and were met by a pair of howling dingoes at ‘Gary’s Anchorage.’ From there it was onto Cape Capricorn, the first time I had ever been here, and a visit to the lighthouse where we met the Volunteers who were into their tenth month of their 12-month secondment! Great Keppel Island (better known to cruisers as ‘GKI’) is always a fantastic stopover with anchorages around the island to suit all wind conditions. It also has a resort and some lovely walks where you can bump into goats and peacocks (go figure!). The islands south of the Whitsundays are always great to explore but, with an itinerary to meet and future crew changes in mind, we had to keep going. However, this didn’t prevent us from stopping over at Middle Percy (and the yachty A-frame), Curlew, Scawfell, Thomas and many others — great little day hops which still allowed time to go ashore and play a game of boules on the beach, for example. Our first crew change took place at Hamilton Island, where we had been hoping to head out to the reefs and do some fishing as we journeyed on to Townsville. Unfortunately, as we found much of the way up the Queensland coast, the predominant sou’easterly trade winds were in full force and we were pretty much compelled to hug the coast, ‘goose-winging’ northwards. However, before leaving the Whitsundays we did have a light wind episode that allowed us to anchor off Whitehaven Beach and marvel at the vista of Hill Inlet. Anchoring off Cape Edgecumbe, to the north of Bowen Bay, we had a fantastic sunset over Cape Upstart (see Quentin’s fantastic panoramic image: next pages) but this location and more especially Cape Bowling Green (better known as ‘Rolling Green’!) were very ordinary. So, our arrival at Magnetic Island was most welcome! ‘Maggie’, as she is affectionately known, offers a peaceful anchorage at Horseshoe Bay and a great way to explore the island, either by walking many of the different tracks or catching the local bus to visit the Second World War sites (and their many koalas, the pubs — and the brewery!) LALAPANZI Update #1 Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron Yearbook Mainsheet 2026 61
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