Coral Bay - Mauds Landing
Thursday May 20 - Monday 24 165nm, 27hrs
Wednesday I woke to a lot of chatter. Colin had been enjoying it during his morning ablutions. Sparrows, and lots of them! I should have dragged myself out of bed, but I’m a slow riser, so Colin took photos. The little cherubs lined the upper and lower safety lines around the deck, and covered the dinghy as well. What a wonderful sight and sound.
During our passages birds often hover around the boat for a short while, give a few squawks, then take off again. We like to think they’re saying hello, but we are known for our anthropomorphising, particularly with chickens.
Wednesday night I spent time watching the bioluminescence bouncing around in the waves. Magical.
Again my impression of “comfortable sailing” varied greatly from the captain’s. We were cruising at 8 – 10 knots in 25 – 30 knot winds, and we certainly made good time, shaving seven hours off our previous time, though we started 20nm closer to our destination.
Thursday we arrived back in Coral Bay at 1040 hours. Mad Fish left Broadhurst Bay early and were ahead of us all the way to Coral Bay, dropping anchor a couple of hours before us. We kept a pretty low profile all day, resting, recuperating, reading and eating.
Friday, refreshed, we headed to Asho’s gap. The Mad Fish crew were headed to the same spot so we tied up to the same mooring ball. It took us a while to get our hookah operation sorted so we told Naomi and Stewart not to wait as they were on SCUBA and ready and in the water way before us. What a great spot. The water was warm and clear, and the fish were curious and absolutely unafraid, swimming up to us as we entered the water. Naturally there were the token squid taunting us, and if squid could flick you ‘the bird’ I reckon that’s exactly what these two would have done. We get that a lot from squid.
Determined to put an end to the taunting we embarked on a squidding mission, taking the dinghy to the far northern end of the bay to coordinates marked on the chart as good for this very activity. Well we all know how those guaranteed locations go…situation normal, we caught zilch!
Click images to enlarge
During our passages birds often hover around the boat for a short while, give a few squawks, then take off again. We like to think they’re saying hello, but we are known for our anthropomorphising, particularly with chickens.
Wednesday night I spent time watching the bioluminescence bouncing around in the waves. Magical.
Again my impression of “comfortable sailing” varied greatly from the captain’s. We were cruising at 8 – 10 knots in 25 – 30 knot winds, and we certainly made good time, shaving seven hours off our previous time, though we started 20nm closer to our destination.
Thursday we arrived back in Coral Bay at 1040 hours. Mad Fish left Broadhurst Bay early and were ahead of us all the way to Coral Bay, dropping anchor a couple of hours before us. We kept a pretty low profile all day, resting, recuperating, reading and eating.
Friday, refreshed, we headed to Asho’s gap. The Mad Fish crew were headed to the same spot so we tied up to the same mooring ball. It took us a while to get our hookah operation sorted so we told Naomi and Stewart not to wait as they were on SCUBA and ready and in the water way before us. What a great spot. The water was warm and clear, and the fish were curious and absolutely unafraid, swimming up to us as we entered the water. Naturally there were the token squid taunting us, and if squid could flick you ‘the bird’ I reckon that’s exactly what these two would have done. We get that a lot from squid.
Determined to put an end to the taunting we embarked on a squidding mission, taking the dinghy to the far northern end of the bay to coordinates marked on the chart as good for this very activity. Well we all know how those guaranteed locations go…situation normal, we caught zilch!
Click images to enlarge
Saturday, and once again, without planning it, we headed off for a dive / snorkel the same time as Naomi and Stewart. They scuba dived The Canyon while we snorkelled the shallow reef that lies closest to the moorings. Again the conditions were fabulous and we enjoyed the fish life and reef, and a turtle sighting. The current wasn’t too strong so we were able to swim against it then drift back.
We were invited for morning tea on Mad Fish after our watery activities, then Colin and I put in an effort to catch a fish. No joy there, but we followed a manta ray on the way back.
Sunday, and for the third day in a row we headed out at the same time as Naomi and Stewart. Must be something in the water! They snorkelled the shallow reef while we dived the Blue Maze, and what a delightful dive it was. Lots of bommies dotted around creating a labyrinth to swim through. We explored so many different structures but covered such a small part of the expansive grounds. Definitely a place to come back to!
Our plan to pack up and head north at 1800 hours to Tantabiddi, off the northwest cape, was thrown into disarray as the wind picked up more than predicted. Blowing 30 knots and raining cats and rabbits at our exact departure time, the captain decided to avoid mutiny (and divorce) and declared we best wait for another weather window. Even a salty sea dog like Colin doesn’t want to go out in conditions like that, and as time ticked on we got a message from Stewart saying he was glad to see we’d stayed put. Man makes his plans and the weather Gods laugh. I think that’s how the saying goes.
Monday morning the wind was such that if you had a small or medium sized dog you might well expect to find it blowing around off its chain. Diving was off the agenda, but we invited Naomi and Stewart over for afternoon tea. The wind eased off a little and they braved the seas, arriving with a treat of a freshly baked cake! I was very touched, and Naomi said it was for us to take with us, not just for afternoon tea. Such a sweet thing to do, and a delicious cake!
Click images to enlarge
We were invited for morning tea on Mad Fish after our watery activities, then Colin and I put in an effort to catch a fish. No joy there, but we followed a manta ray on the way back.
Sunday, and for the third day in a row we headed out at the same time as Naomi and Stewart. Must be something in the water! They snorkelled the shallow reef while we dived the Blue Maze, and what a delightful dive it was. Lots of bommies dotted around creating a labyrinth to swim through. We explored so many different structures but covered such a small part of the expansive grounds. Definitely a place to come back to!
Our plan to pack up and head north at 1800 hours to Tantabiddi, off the northwest cape, was thrown into disarray as the wind picked up more than predicted. Blowing 30 knots and raining cats and rabbits at our exact departure time, the captain decided to avoid mutiny (and divorce) and declared we best wait for another weather window. Even a salty sea dog like Colin doesn’t want to go out in conditions like that, and as time ticked on we got a message from Stewart saying he was glad to see we’d stayed put. Man makes his plans and the weather Gods laugh. I think that’s how the saying goes.
Monday morning the wind was such that if you had a small or medium sized dog you might well expect to find it blowing around off its chain. Diving was off the agenda, but we invited Naomi and Stewart over for afternoon tea. The wind eased off a little and they braved the seas, arriving with a treat of a freshly baked cake! I was very touched, and Naomi said it was for us to take with us, not just for afternoon tea. Such a sweet thing to do, and a delicious cake!
Click images to enlarge