I returned yesterday from a 4 day sail through the Whitsunday Islands on 82' racing boat, Spank Me and it was simply epic.
(a quick note on pictures of all this: THEY'RE COMING SOON!)
(a quick note on pictures of all this: THEY'RE COMING SOON!)
Per the usual, the booking of this trip was pretty much done on the fly - I read up on sailing in my Lonely Planet book, they reco'd a specific trip booker because she "gets you and the type of trip that would suit you", emailed with a super nice lady named Jonny who is a replica of Helen Mirren (met her day of departure) who asked me to tell me what I wanted.... and this is what I sent her:
- One traveler
- Social environment = good
- Open to camping adventures but in NO way mandatory
- Am on an affordable end budget
She kicks back over the fence a boat named "Spank Me". Um, okay Jonny. I confirm, dubiously.
The passengers and crew of Spank Me showed up on a pier and the best way to describe the mood in the air was 'Who the Fuck are You and what's Up w Your Funny Accent/Sunglasses/Stylie t shirt" - it was and international set. Language barriers aside, I would absolutely not have guessed 4 days later this random pack of total strangers would actually be a bunch of friends who didn't want to get off the damn boat. (Everyone spoke english with varying levels of proficiency. I, once again, felt completely remiss in knowing just the 1 language that I do know.)
A quick roster:
Mickie/Connie: 2 austrian girls (mid 20s) who are really kinda quiet ... until they're not. Then watch out.
Gabby - german girl (late 20s) who doesn't like germany. Looks and acts like a character from Reno 911 and probably took 3000 photos on the boat.
Bert - 58 year old Dutch dude who walks the line between living the life of a rockstar beer drinkin', story tellin' party boy and a uber successful engineer, family man, business man who rides his bike everywhere at home.
Jan and Mark - 2 more dutch guys who were planning on traveling solo until they met one another on the plane over and have been traveling since they arrived. Love love love techno.
Jessica and Allie - From London Ontario, in college, and prob in a sorority at a party school. They like to woop it up. Jessica led a step aerobics themed dance party at 2 am. one night. Right.
Richard - German guy. Super cool. Likes to know how everything on the boat operated/worked/was built and I think was actually unsett
Adam - Brit, prob 25. Super kind, very very well traveled, and vaguely reminds me of Hugh Grant.
Darren - A short Irish lad who with that Irish accent, delivers a biting review or pretty scathing joke with not one iota of meanness or jerkiness. He and I were dive buddies one time and his enthusiasm was pretty much
...and many more....
In total, there were 24 passengers and 4 crew members:
Reese: Skipper (aussie), and a bad ass mother fucker. If he captain 85 foot racing boats, he'd be a pirate. You just do not mess w this guy. He was nice but only ONLY when everything else was done/stowed/safe and then you'd get 2 or maaaybe 4 words out of him, if you were lucky.
Sean: First mate. Pretty much the polar opposite of Reese. Jokey, funny, makes fun of everyone ALL the time, and absolutey the guy you want to be overseeing your airtanks and depth measures and shiz when your scuba diving on the reef. He's smart.
Ashley: Made all of our food, helped on deck and was just he nicest girl around. Could NOT wipe the smile off her face, even at 5:30 a.m. when we set sail. 5:30!!!
'Little' Jack: Deckhand I guess? Shuttled us in our scuba gear around in the tender, all deck stuff, sail storage. Jack pretty much worked his ass off the entire trip...but no worries mate! he's on the boat all the time mate!
All this guys love the water, love sailing and love Australia. It was contagious.
A quick roster:
Mickie/Connie: 2 austrian girls (mid 20s) who are really kinda quiet ... until they're not. Then watch out.
Gabby - german girl (late 20s) who doesn't like germany. Looks and acts like a character from Reno 911 and probably took 3000 photos on the boat.
Bert - 58 year old Dutch dude who walks the line between living the life of a rockstar beer drinkin', story tellin' party boy and a uber successful engineer, family man, business man who rides his bike everywhere at home.
Jan and Mark - 2 more dutch guys who were planning on traveling solo until they met one another on the plane over and have been traveling since they arrived. Love love love techno.
Jessica and Allie - From London Ontario, in college, and prob in a sorority at a party school. They like to woop it up. Jessica led a step aerobics themed dance party at 2 am. one night. Right.
Richard - German guy. Super cool. Likes to know how everything on the boat operated/worked/was built and I think was actually unsett
Adam - Brit, prob 25. Super kind, very very well traveled, and vaguely reminds me of Hugh Grant.
Darren - A short Irish lad who with that Irish accent, delivers a biting review or pretty scathing joke with not one iota of meanness or jerkiness. He and I were dive buddies one time and his enthusiasm was pretty much
...and many more....
In total, there were 24 passengers and 4 crew members:
Reese: Skipper (aussie), and a bad ass mother fucker. If he captain 85 foot racing boats, he'd be a pirate. You just do not mess w this guy. He was nice but only ONLY when everything else was done/stowed/safe and then you'd get 2 or maaaybe 4 words out of him, if you were lucky.
Sean: First mate. Pretty much the polar opposite of Reese. Jokey, funny, makes fun of everyone ALL the time, and absolutey the guy you want to be overseeing your airtanks and depth measures and shiz when your scuba diving on the reef. He's smart.
Ashley: Made all of our food, helped on deck and was just he nicest girl around. Could NOT wipe the smile off her face, even at 5:30 a.m. when we set sail. 5:30!!!
'Little' Jack: Deckhand I guess? Shuttled us in our scuba gear around in the tender, all deck stuff, sail storage. Jack pretty much worked his ass off the entire trip...but no worries mate! he's on the boat all the time mate!
All this guys love the water, love sailing and love Australia. It was contagious.
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