Wind SE Variable 10 knts 25 nautical miles
Got organised for Molly and Des to arrive and sail out to the islands for two days. John and I rode along the boardwalk for a look at Airlie. We left Morgs on the boat as her paws are still sore.
Had breakfast up town, grabbed a paper and rode back to O’vive in time for Des and Molly’s arrival.
We departed at 11:00 and headed out to the top of Hook Is for a very pleasant sail with the main and screecher up in hardly any wind only doing 4 knts.
We stopped at Langford Island and picked up a mooring buoy so we could enjoy a lunch of prawns , ham and salad. A very large turtle kept popping his head up not far from the boat.
After lunch we motored round the top of Hook Is then down the eastern side of Whitsunday Is to Peter Bay.
There were quite a few charter boats anchored in various bays along the top but there was no one at Peter.
The book said good fishing and as Des and John wanted to fish we decided on that anchorage especially as it wasn’t in a green zone.
Dropped anchor in 9.5 metres of water on the southern side of the bay about 400 mts from the little beach. The lines went in straight away but there didn’t appear to be any fish so the boys hopped into the dinghy and went for a fish along the islands fringing reef. Still no luck! Never mind us girls enjoyed happy hour on board and watched the hills turned pinkish as the sun disappeared behind them.
When the boys got back they set up their lines and left them in while we ate steak and salad for dinner with strawberries and cream for dessert. After dinner the fish began biting in earnest.
Des caught three beautiful large grass sweetlip , John two and several grinners which were very handy for bait as Morgan ate the rest of the old smelly stuff while we were eating dinner.
There were a lot of squid swimming under the boat so Jenny put a squid jig on her line and caught about five squid to add to Des’s two he caught on bait.
The squid attracted by the light were swimming in schools of half a dozen or more and were quite large in size but rather evasive. It was great fun and lots of laughter as squid and fish were alternatively hauled onto the back deck. Des’s first squid came straight on board and it squirted balck ink everywhere so we had to scrub the decks immediately as the ink stains terribly. He learnt after that to let them squirt all their ink out before he hauled them on board.
John spent a lot of time filleting fish and cleaning squid ready for breakfast.
Late night for us with all the excitement, we turned in at 10:30.