From Backpacker to Boat Owner A Hitchhiker's Guide To A Life Of Sailing The Whitsundays

 What began as a typical English backpacker’s journey from Cairns to Airlie Beach sparked a lifelong love of sailing, discovery, and adventure for photojournalist, Sharon Smallwood.
Sharon's journey began in 1997 on a Greyhound bus across Australia's East Coast. Equipped with insights from her Lonely Planet and Rough Guide, she planned her route and headed to the Whitsundays, known for its exceptional sailing.
Once in town, Sharon wandered the streets surveying the typical backpacker sailing trips but was quickly swayed by a man who invited her and her friends to join him on his timeshare yacht. Initially cautious, Sharon was up for the challenge, unaware that this chance encounter would change her life.
After sailing around the Whitsunday islands, Sharon was offered the opportunity to venture further afield to Great Keppel Island and back. “We quickly went from having never been on a boat before to suddenly being offshore on the Queensland coast doing our first night passage,” she said.
“None of us knew what we were doing – it was a case of the blind leading the blind and I'd say we pretty much limped home, but there must have been a lot more positively memorable things about that trip than there were bad, because that was the beginning of what has been a lifelong passion,” Sharon shared.
Fast forward to 2025, and Sharon now owns a boat with her husband, whom she met in Sydney. At the time, Sharon was well established in her film and television career, working on projects like 'Star Wars', The Matrix and Superman Returns at Fox Studios, while also juggling a three-month trip to Thailand for the CBS show ‘Survivor’. It was during that overseas trip that her husband Julian decide to alleviate his loneliness by buying a boat —a Compass 29 named 'Orion,' though it was often playfully called 'the Onion’ after a friend mistook the ‘r’ for an ‘n’ on the bow lettering.
“Note to other women out there if you leave your significant other for any amount of time, you may come back to a boat!” Sharon joked.
‘The Onion,’ was mainly sailed around Sydney Harbour, until in a burst of spontaneity typical of the pair, they decided to voyage to the Great Barrier Reef and back. “It was a fantastic trip, and we always used to say that if we could afford nothing else, we'd go around the world on that boat,” Sharon said.
Despite their love for the 'Onion,' the couple eventually upgraded to a larger boat, 'Brilliant II,' which they still own. Discovering it for sale in Thailand, they visited, fell in love all over again, and bought it from the previous owner. On returning to Australia, they packed up their lives in Sydney, shipped a few essentials, and spent a year sailing the boat back.
After this adventure, Sharon and Julian quickly realised city life wasn’t for them. Initial plans to turn around and sail back to Asia changed though when Sharon became pregnant, which led them to settle in the Whitsundays.
Sharon had already begun working as a photojournalist alongside her film and television career, before moving into mainstream journalism. After leaving the two Whitsunday newspapers she had edited, she launched her own company in 2017, offering media direction, consultancy, freelance journalism, and PR. Her adventurous life has now led to her latest project: The Whitsunday People Podcast. "I’d been chatting with my colleague, Phil Gordon, from Riptide Creative for about a year about starting one but with everything on my plate—renovating our boat (while still sailing it), documenting it on YouTube, working, and raising my son—I didn’t think I had room for one more thing. But here I am and the Whitsunday People Podcast launches today!" she said.
Alongside her recent venture into podcasting, Sharon has also photographed the covers of the last two editions of 100 Magic Miles, which is renowned as the boating bible for the Whitsunday area.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be a part of something that I hold in such high regard and feel honoured to have been given the opportunity, initially by the founders David and Carolyn Colfelt, and now their son and daughter-in-law Anthony and Emma,” she said.
To keep up with Sharon's various exploits you can follow her on Instagram at @shazatsea, on YouTube at 'The Sailing Adventures of Brilliant II' (@BrilliantSailing), or by subscribing to the Whitsunday People Podcast on YouTube and Spotify. 
What are your favourite spots in the Whitsundays and what hidden gems have you come across?
“It never ceases to amaze me that it doesn't matter how long I've been sailing these waters for, I can still go out to the islands and discover new spots.”
In terms of favorite spots, Blue Pearl Bay on Hayman Island is one of my favorites.”
“I also absolutely love South Molle island. It's got just the best walks ever!”
“And you can't beat Whitehaven and Chalkie’s for that beautiful, pure white silica sand.”