Spank me

We were told to check in at a travel shop at 8.30am for our boat trip so we got up early, showered, packed up and ate toast (finished the peanut butter off) before leaving our big luggage at the hostel. However, on arrival at the travel shop we were given a form to fill in and were told to be at Abell Point Marina at half 12. This meant we could have stayed in bed longer, ran over to the travel shop then gone back to the hostel to eat and pack up. It also meant that we had four hours to kill that we hadn't known about. So with our small rucksacks and our box of wine we walked round the lagoon several times, sat on a bench for a bit, looked in a book shop for a book on New Zealand, stopped at a cafe for tea and a scone (had the argument about how to pronounce scone), lay down on some grass and filled in our forms (if we die it isn't the travel agents fault) before buying some fresh strawberries and Greek yoghurt for our lunch. 

As you can probably tell from the name of this blog, the boat was called Spank Me which made us nervous and so when it was finally time to walk 20 minutes round the bay to Abell Point Marina we had a few butterflies in our bellies. On arrival we were given a good quality stinger suit (full length to keep us warm) and boarded the boat. The other 20 passengers seemed very friendly which calmed my nerves and the boat was fantastic. It had the highest sail in the whole of the Whitsundays (for boat people it was apparently an 82ft maxi, whatever that means) and was a proper sailing boat. The whole of the deck was open and underneath were the bunks surrounding the little galley (kitchen) and a central serving area. I've decided I like boats and I think my papa should teach me how to sail (dad, it would help if you won the lottery and bought a nice boat, maybe a catamaran). 

Once all passengers were sat on deck the three crew members introduced themselves and we were given a safety talk whilst the skipper drove the boat out of the marina (using the motor, not the sails). The safety talk was pretty long and went into a lot of detail when it came to the toilets. We were also told (and we already knew this) that this was not a party boat, no matter how dodgy the name was. This didn't bother me as I didn't want to be hungover when sailing or snorkelling and no one else seemed to be bothered either. We realised that all the bad reviews online were from people that thought Spank Me was a party boat and were then told off for getting too drunk and being rowdy. People die each year in the Whitsundays from getting drunk and falling overboard or doing other stupid things so I understood the rules perfectly. This didn't mean we weren't allowed any alcohol though. In fact we were encouraged to bring on goon (very cheap boxed wine) or beers and chill them in the cool box. 

When the talk was over and we'd all picked a bunk, a few of us volunteered to help get the sails up. Matt and I were assigned to a grinder and when told we either turned it to first gear or second gear (towards the back or front of the boat). It was great fun! The boat sailed on to our first stopping point next to Hook Island for some snorkelling. It was rather sunny but it wasn't warm so we reluctantly pulled on our wetsuits and took it in turns to climb in a small motor boat to be taken to the snorkel point around 50 metres from the boat. With my snorkel and mask on I jumped in and stupidly swallowed a load of sea water meaning I was coughing for the next 5 minutes. We'd been told that this spot wasn't great for snorkelling but we saw a few nice fish and some pretty reef as this was still part of the Great Barrier Reef. Before long everyone was getting picked up by the little boat and being brought back because we were all cold. However, back on the big boat we were able to make a nice hot cup of tea and sit with our towels round us. My towel is the smallest thing ever and both mine and Matt's had a lovely damp smell about them. I was very jealous of other people's big warm fluffy ones. 

When everyone was back on board we set off to our spot for the night which took a couple of hours. This meant we could warm up, eat some carrots and celery with dip and enjoy the beautiful sunset. I do like boats. Once anchored in we were told dinner was ready. The smells that had been protruding from under deck were amazing and we were all rather hungry. Matt and I giggled to ourselves when we realised it was bolognese (what we had last night) and Matt's eyes lit up when he saw the mass of spaghetti that was sitting in a large cauldron like pan. There was also some iceberg lettuce with cucumber and tomato and the choice of an Italian dressing but this healthiness was cancelled out by the delicious hot garlic bread that was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. It wasn't gourmet food (the bolognese might have been from a jar and the garlic bread might have been bought) but it was comfort food and it tasted good, something we've missed. 

After tea it was time to open up our box of wine (which we drank in plastic mugs) and enjoy a few drinks (it wasn't that bad) whilst playing a few games. They were mainly games so everyone could get to know each other but they were rather amusing and we had a good laugh. We were the only English people on the boat (except the first hand who said he was from Essex but he's obviously lived in Australia a long time) which made it a lot more cultural and interesting. There were a couple of Northern Irish, a lot of Germans and quite a few French. There was also a Korean girl and a French Canadian girl. Everyone was super lovely and easy to chat to so I had an enjoyable evening before I called it a night at about 10pm. I wanted to get enough sleep so I was ready for all the exciting things that we were going to see tomorrow.