A short trip with Tanya

We don't have much time between trips so, the day after the Mr Bones day out we were joined by Tanya who is a mental health nurse on Palm Island. She holds a day skipper qualification so was a very useful crew member. On her first day we sailed 42 nm down to Shaw island, close hauled all the way in about 15 knots. We had been held up at the start of the day as our wind generator was returned after having a repair, so it was just on dark when we arrived. Next day we beat down to Thomas Island to have a more leisurely day. Suzie is a keen fisher person.  The day before we had spent a very worthwhile and amusing time in a local fishing shop. The owner was very kind and patient and thoroughly entertaining as he explained various fishing techniques and gave Suzie a lesson and sold a lure on which she was sure to catch something. There were lots of fish jumping round the end of Shaw and Suzie had her line out. We had great excitement as she caught a large frigate mackerel, a member of the tuna family. Sadly, although we did have two meals from it, we all agreed that it wasn't the best tasting fish. The rest will be used for bait. When we arrived at Thomas we had the anchorage to ourselves for most of the day and enjoyed swimming and snorkelling and mid-afternoon had a brisk sail back to the northern end of Shaw. Next day in a 15-20 knot wind and one reef in the main and a slightly reefed jib, we headed north again, through the Solway passage and anchored at Whitehaven beach for lunch. It was very blustery with a choppy sea and strong gusts of wind. This didn't stop us swimming and later we continued on to Macona Inlet. The night was very windy but next day we decided to sail across to Cateran Bay on Border Island. We put two reefs in the main and had a beat across in very lumpy seas and winds of 20-25 knots. However, of course there was no one else in Cataran Bay so we picked up our usual buoy and snorkelled. The water had been stirred up a bit by the wind so the visibility wasn't great but the water was warm and it was enjoyable. The Bay was quite calm but strong bullets occurred at frequent intervals. The sail back was down wind and very fast. We considered staying in Nara Inlet for the night but there were a lot of other boats there (most of whom we suspect had been there all day sheltering from the wind) so we turned back and went into Macona again. There was a fair bit of swell which made the first half of the night somewhat uncomfortable but after midnight it settled down and the wind started to moderate. After morning swims we set sail again for Airlie Beach, shook out the reefs and had a lovely reach back in about 15 knots and we're all very sad when we had to take the sails down and enter the marina. So now we are back. We've restocked the boat for our next trip starting tomorrow, we've had showers and a good meal ashore and sadly we have said goodbye to Tanya. Tomorrow we shall do the washing and meet our new crew member, Kirby. 

Suzie and her fish.

Lea going for a snorkell.

Tanya in her element at the helm.