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| Andrew Bird |
Andrew
Bird of yacht 'Safe Sailing' had a massive adventure during the
Christmas break of 2012. He visited 74 Whitsunday Islands in a record
attempt for 'the fastest time to step foot upon 74 Whitsunday Islands'.
He achieved the feat within 7 days, 1 hour and 4 minutes with the help
of competent crew, patience, thorough planning and a whole lot of luck.
He has written a detailed diary of his journey, being offered to
publications for use as a feature story. Below is an excerpt.
"Day one was a challenge as
my yacht is not a million dollar yacht and it has a little bit of age
behind it. The engine temperature alarm went off on the way to Hayman
Island. At this point it would have been too easy to quit on my record
attempt. Besides, I could have been at the work Christmas Lunch instead
with the lure of free food and alcohol. Did I pass up a good
opportunity?......
Leaving Edward we visited Workington, Lupton and
Haslewood Island. We later found out that Workington Island should only
be visited from the north and not from the east through the channel what
we call the 'washing machine'. The washing machine is quite extreme and
called upon the reserves of the engine to push through the current.
Both Luke and I were quite experienced and respect the might of nature
but sometimes it can be a hard thing to judge. I believe we both
relearned a lesson that day. Patience is a virtue......
Pine Island is
one of those islands no-one really knows about until now. It is a hidden
gem as it has great all round scenery of islands and the mainland and
the lure of real isolation. We were the only boat there. It would also
be easy to visit again as you could ride the Whitsunday channel north
and south to and from this island"
.......
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