Sail into a Gilligan adventure

A LUXURY yacht momentarily hands over crewing tasks to its guests as balmy winds fill its sails on a lazy journey around the Whitsundays.

Life's (not) hard ... Jaspe's 'crew' takes a dinner break.

PERCHED at the helm of the 15m luxury yacht Jaspe, I realise, with some reluctance, that I'm Gilligan, the Professor and Mary Ann rolled into one.

I am, however, neither the millionaire nor his wife – which is a great shame, given that I'm momentarily in charge of an $850,000 vessel.

As for the Skipper, luckily Sunsail's new luxury Crewed By The Cabin cruises, which sail out of Hamilton Island, come complete with one of the finest, as well as a hard-working hostess.

But what of Ginger?

So luxurious is this journey, if I squint very long and very hard into the Whitsunday sunshine, far beyond the island that promises to turn daydreams into realities, I can almost imagine myself as the flame-haired movie star.

It's a steamy Saturday of salt-air embraces, punctuated by gusts of welcome warm wind and the sails are set for Whitsunday Island.

Although we make up a motley crew, Jaspe is a gentle captive to the balmy Whitsunday winds that swirl around her 74 islands, most of them deliciously uninhabited.

At May's Bay, the champagne sunset concedes to a night sky of a thousand diamonds and a rising moon. Jaspe rocks in contentment before awakening to water that shimmers like an emerald evening gown.

Day two is spent at Shoalhaven Bay, off Hook Island, and the sea grass is dancing a hypnotic hula.

It's almost as if the Great Barrier Reef has hosted a luau for her exotic guest Jaspe, who has sailed 40 days from Tahiti to form part of Sunsail's fleet, enabling luxury sailing at an extremely affordable price.

Lunch is delicious Moreton Bay bugs, and prawns so salty they could have leapt straight out of the ocean, resting on beds of tangy lemon wedges.

Chicken drowned in garlic, cream, and mangoes forms dinner, followed by strawberries and dark-chocolate seashells.

The lights of nearby Hayman sparkle in a conspiratorial wink as if to say: "It doesn't get much better than this."

On day three, the anchor is unfurled to enable snorkelling in Blue Pearl Bay, one of the world's best dive spots.

The snorkeller becomes an unwitting conductor in an undersea symphony of sergeant-major fish, which sit like thick soup around the rocks.

Giant gusts nudge our yacht through the Whitsunday Passage to her final destination, Nara Inlet.

Barbecued beef and red wine flow freely, and afterwards, alone on deck, I grapple with the beginning to this story.

Surely Mary-Ann would speak of the sailing and the Professor of the weather, but what would Gilligan do? He'd say a quiet goodbye to Jaspe, and reluctantly sail back into reality.

The writer was a guest of Sunsail.

FAST FACTS

Package: Luxury Crewed By The Cabin cruises cost from $1100 for a three-night cruise inthe Whitsunday islands. This includes twin-share accommodation, a professional skipper and host/cook, all meals and beverages (BYO alcohol), plus use of the yacht's windsurfers, kayaks and snorkelling gear.

The Sunday Telegraph