Friday 15th July 2017
It looks like we are in for better weather,
finally with overcast skies but the wind is back to 10-15 knots.
Cody had an early morning fish before we
left, and managed to catch a couple of small reef fish.
After breakfast, we pulled the dinghy back
up on the deck, cast off our mooring at Stonehaven and motored around to Blue
Pearl Bay at Hayman Island for some snorkeling. The skies are a bit cloudy, but
it was a pleasant run with a bit of wind against tide bumpiness only in a few patches.
Once we rounded the bottom of Hayman, the
seas flattened and Blue Pearl Bay looked very inviting in the distance.
However, we can count six boats there and there are only six moorings, so we
may be in for a bit of a wait. One of the moorings is occupied by a tourist
dive boat, so we hung around them realizing that they may leave in 30 mins or
so, as they go to a number of sites in a day and appear to be packing up.
Fortunately we only wait 15 mins before
they leave and we grabbed their mooring before there were more arrivals. Few of
the boats here observe the 2 hour limit rule on the moorings and most spend the
whole day on them. The mooring we have is the northernmost mooring and the
closest to the good snorkeling.
With the mooring line secured, sunshade up
and all other things organized, we are about to get ready to hit the water when
the heavens opened and we had about 20 minutes of quite heavy rain.
It was more of a sunshower than anything
else and soon passed. Before we could get our snorkeling organized, we then had
a visit from the National Parks ranger Patrol boat, just to see if we were
aware of the zoning at Blue Pearl Bay, and what activities were allowed.
Fortunately we are well informed, as the QLD Govt provides lots of information
and it is readily available. We had a chat with them for a while before they
moved on to the next boat, satisfied we were not going to break any rules.
Soon the kayak was up on deck, and
inflated. Michelle and Cody paddled off to do some snorkeling, whilst I jumped
in off the back of the boat and swam to
the nearby reef area.
Michelle and Cody paddling off to the reef area
When Michelle was ready for a rest, Carole
took Cody back out in the kayak for another dose. The kayak ended up full of
water from him getting on and off all of
the time and eventually working out he could just lay across the front of the
kayak with his mask in the water whilst being paddled along.
Cody's new snorkelling technique
There is not a lot of colour in the coral,
but the fish are very abundant and colourful.
We had worked up a good appetite, so then
had lunch on board, before heading to Airlie this afternoon. There is a 10-15 knot SE breeze blowing, and
once clear of Hayman, we put up our sails and have a very pleasant , on the
wind, sail back to Airlie moving along at 6 to 8 knots as the wind varied. It
was one tack all of the way and the wind went a bit more east as we passed
North Molle allowing us to lay a course direct to Abell Point Marina.
By 3.30pm, we were tied up in our new berth
in the Northern marina, hosed the boat down, had showers and were ready for
dinner at Sorrento’s by 6.30pm. The
upper deck of the restaurant is still not yet open and there are more
customers than seats, so we were lucky to get a table, albeit a small one.
Looks like someone enjoyed the dessert
There was a bit more rain overnight but
everyone slept well.
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