240v Inverters

All Whitsunday Escape bareboats have 240v and 300W inverters as standard equipment. Inverters are useful to charge small devices such as phones, cameras or laptops. The standard size, 300w inverter will supply enough power to run a small television and charge a few devices at the same time.

The inverters cannot power:

• Blenders
• Coffee machines
• hair dryer & hair straighteners … leave them at home and send the good looking crew to the fore-deck for 10 minutes and the sea breeze will take care of their hair.

Although laptops draw very little power they may not work on the inverters. The electrical signal to start up the inverter may not be sufficient and the sine-wave may not be correct, check the operation before departing the marina or leave your laptop at home for a digital detox.

Sleep Apnea Machines

Your sleep apnea machine will run off either 240v or 12v (12v is best on the boat), please ensure it can run off a 300w inverter prior to arrival.

We recommend that you bring a power lead that is around 6 metres in length to ensure that it reaches a power source. Make sure you check that it is operating correctly before departing the marina.

Air Conditioning

Air-conditioning units are installed on all of the boats in the Whitsunday Escape fleet. All units will work when using the shore power at either Coral Sea or Hamilton Island marinas. Some boats have a generator fitted so they can use it when on the water, for details see the individual boat features.

The Whitsundays are within the trade wind belt, and as such are blessed with cool breezes. When at anchor or on a mooring, the boats naturally face into the wind. Simply open the forward facing hatches to allow the breeze to flow through.

Whitsunday Escape has not promoted on the water air-conditioning. Feedback from our guests is that the noise of a generator running all night quickly outweighs any benefit from cold air.

In order to not overprice our boats for a feature that is unlikely to be used and to encourage our guests to save energy, we charge a loading of $10 per hour for air-conditioning use on the water. When at the marina the boats are not facing into the wind and often the marina is protected from prevailing winds. There is no charge for air-conditioning use in the marina as you can plug into the shore power.

Charts & Cruising Guides

All boats are equipped with:

• • Chart Aus 252 – Hayman Island to Smith Island group
  • Chart Aus 825 – Whitsunday Island to Bowen
  • Charts Aus 254 – Plans of the Whitsunday anchorages, which include detailed charts of Stonehaven anchorage and Fitzalan passage
  • 100 Magic Miles – current version
  • Whitsunday Escape Cruising Notes & Safety Management Plan
  • GPS Colour Plotter
  • Tide tablaes, parallel ruler and dividers

Charts provide you with the distances to be travelled and the hazards to avoid when cruising the Whitsundays. It is important that you know how to read them and to use them for your passage planning.

For more accurate descriptions of inlets, anchorages, resorts and surrounding reefs, refer to the ‘100 Magic Miles’ cruising guide by David Colfelt.
The ‘100 Magic Miles’ is also a great souvenir of your trip and very useful reading for your holiday planning. Order a Pre-Charter Kit if you would like a copy pre- or post-charter.

Music & TV

Music – All vessels are fitted with a marine stereo system. Most have Bluetooth capabilities (check your boat specs) and for those that don’t, there is a headphone auxillary cord allowing you to connect your phone.
Remember to bring your phone charger and ensure you set up some offline playlists so you can still listen when there is no internet coverage.

NOTE – If you have one of the newer phone models without the traditional headphone port, please bring your own AUX converter as we do not supply these.

TV – All of Whitsunday Escapes fleet have a flat screen digital TV with USB port access. Good TV reception is only guaranteed at Coral Sea and Hamilton Island marinas, elsewhere can be patchy at best. If needed, bring a hard drive of movies to watch.

Refrigeration

Refrigeration space is limited on all boats. When planning your groceries consider how much you need to refrigerate and meal plan to use the meals with the most fresh ingredients first.

Some boats stop back at Airlie Beach or visit Hamilton Island after four to five days to drop off garbage, top up water tanks and buy more ice. This is a good time to replenish your fresh produce, meat and bakery goods if required.

All boats use 12v refrigeration units and they are controlled by a thermostat that will switch the fridge or freezer compressor on or off as needed. Marine freezers are designed to keep produce frozen but most are not cold enough to keep ice-cream or freeze unfrozen goods. Refrigeration units are designed to shut down at low voltage therefore always monitor your batteries and keep them well well charged.

See each vessels’ specifications for refrigeration sizes.

Stocking your Boat

VHF Radio

Whitsunday Escape monitors the radio between 8 am and 4 pm, scanning all stations. After hours, the emergency frequency Channel 16 is monitored by the Mackay port.

Radio check-ins known as “scheds” are conducted to communicate with all our boats twice daily, at 8am and 2pm, on channels 82 and 86. During the scheds, we relay the current weather information and check the location and plans of each boat for the coming day/night.

At this time, we will give advice based on the current conditions to ensure that all charterers are having a safe and enjoyable day and have a suitable anchorage planned for the evening. These twice daily scheds are your opportunity to relay any important information back to base, ask questions and request advice on itinerary and plans for the coming days.

Charterers are not required to hold a marine radio licence. Charterers are briefed on correct radio procedures as part of the pre-charter briefing.