Charter Chatter

Winter has hit southern Australia and smart boaties are heading north to the Whitsundays to escape the cold. Sailing, fishing, diving and sight seeing day trips can be booked upon arrival in Airlie Beach or on the islands but overnight crewed or skipper yourself charters are usually booked in advance.

The third annual Seawind Whitsunday Rally set sail from Shute Harbour on Saturday 20 June for a week of racing and partying around the Whitsunday Islands onboard 14 luxurious Seawind catamarans. Seawind catamarans are available for charter next year from event sponsors Whitsunday Private Yacht Charters and Whitsunday Rent A Yacht. More here.

Each year pods of the humpback whales make the 5000km migration from the Antarctic to the warm waters off the Queensland coast. The calm, protected waters of Hervey Bay are a favourite resting spot for the whales. The humpbacks can weigh up to 40 tonnes and reach 19 metres in length. They are also one of the more active of the species and love to show off with a range of activities ranging from a 'blow' to tail slapping, pectoral fin waving, and breaching.

Whale season in Hervey Bay officially starts on 1 August with the blessing of the Whale Watching Fleet, and is followed on 8 August with the Hervey Bay Whale Festival. The range of whale watching tours includes dawn trips, morning and afternoon half-day journeys and full day cruises for the real enthusiast.

Sunsail has a few catamarans available for charter during Audi Hamilton Island Race Week in August at a 15 percent discount for all new bookings.
Non-racers are beginning to realise that it is just as much fun to watch this regatta from the sidelines as it is being in the thick of it. Imagine watching the spectacle of over 200 yachts with spinnakers flying as they sail past you in the Whitsunday Passage. Click here for more details.

The Kimberley Coast in the north-west of Australia is widely regarded as one of the most spectacular cruising destinations in the world, and those that know will tell you that July to September is the best time of the year to experience the area. More details.

Jim and Jo Wallace, the Cairns-based owners and operators of Big Cat Green Island Reef Cruises, are celebrating 30 years of cruising to the Great Barrier Reef. The couple recognised the importance of the Great Barrier Reef long before it was inscribed on the World Heritage List, first sharing it with visitors on June 9, 1979 when they started daily cruises to Low Isles, off Port Douglas, on the Martin Cash. Find out more here.

Four Sunsail yachts made up the Bareboat Charter Class at the Sawadee.com Regatta 2009, at Samui in Thailand. The Aussie charge, led by Andrew Short's Oceanis 461 Constanza, kept a clean sheet with seven wins in a row. In the last few years they have dominated this class and it will take a special effort to take the title away from them. Hong Kong's Chin Yew Seah on the Sunsail 39 Bussakorn was second overall. More details right here.

Orion Expedition Cruises for 2010 will feature six new rarely visited island destinations in Papua New Guinea, three new ports in the Spice and Tanimbar Islands, new Australian coastal voyages from Cairns to Hobart, inaugural voyages to Melbourne, the Limestone Coast, Kangaroo Island, Eyre Peninsula and Fleurieu Peninsula, Christmas in New Zealand's fjordland and an inaugural visit to Irian Jaya, famous for its Asmat Art woodcarvings. For more info go to www.orioncruises.com.au.

Coral Princess Cruises is offering a 25 percent discount on its small-ship, expedition-style, Auckland to Bay of Islands five day voyages for departures between December 2009 and February 2010. The offer is available for new bookings made until July 31, 2009.

A marine biologist, working with Quicksilver Connections in the Reef Biosearch department for nearly 20 years, describes his job taking small groups of people from Cairns and Port Douglas snorkelling on Agincourt Reef at the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef. Get more info here.

Photograph: Whale watching at Hervey Bay