Well, our arrival at Laguna was not without some excitement. It is very shallow and is somewhat infamous for that reason. To get over this the management produce charts that show the minimum depth every hour of every day. So in consultation with the management we agreed we could arrive at about 1300 (1430 was too late and anywhere before 1300 was a bonus – ie deeper). So we duly arrive at 1230 – beauty. BUT the charts are wrong aren’t they to quote management, “they’re pretty out of date, those ones !” , thanks!! Well we were supposed to have 1.7m of water but in the main channel at one stage we had 900mm!! Which means we were pushing 200mm of mud out of the way as we went. We got through that to arrive into the marina harbour keeping one boat width off each of the sea walls as instructed – but the last one was too much we could not get across the channel to the other side and slide majestically into the mud in the middle of the marina harbour (the locals call this mud bank, Hope Island and some mug “stops” there at least weekly). With a falling tide there was nothing to do but shut down engines have a beer, a snooze and do a few jobs until the tide came in enough at about 1600 and we could drag ourselves off. I’d like to tell them what do to with those bloody charts!! Anyway we docked, with lots of help and friendly locals and even had a drink and meal in the little marina bistro Sunday night. Today, Monday we worked on the boat until about midday and then we were driven up to the Racquet Club where we were able to laze away the rest of the day beside the pool – good one. Tomorrow we might do the same for a while before heading to the airport and the trip home for the WEDDING of the year!

We’ve been a bit tardy on the old Blog lately sorry. Since we dropped Judy we have been slowly going to places we have not been to yet. We had two gorgeous nights at Turtle Bay and then on to Hill Inlet for a dinghy explore (Well yes, we were given another feed of fish- our fishing has not been very good lately so I think people are taking pity on us and proving us with these meals). We went on to Tongue Bay for a walk which overlooks Hill Inlet and anchored there for the night. We left the next day and had a great snorkel at Cataren Bay on Border Island and anchored in the top end of Nara to see the Aboriginal rock paintings. The weather has been unusually hot and calm a few days of 5 knots and less. While it must have been a real pain for the Hamilton Island Race boats, it was fun for us. Today we had lunch with Paul and Marg from “While Your Down There” anchored off South Mole Island with the weather as quiet as a mouse. Tonight, Saturday we are in a little bay opposite Hamilton so we can drop Rob off early tomorrow as his plane goes at 0920 or so. We are then sailing to Laguna Quays – the plan being to get there Sunday afternoon. It is the start of the next phase or our “Whitsunday Dreaming” (thanks for that Steph). We leave Phlat Chat here as we go home for a while – for Em’s wedding. When we come back Chris has a list of places she wants to see up here before we start the journey south. A bit of a crossroads really. Once at Laguna we have a fair bit of work to do on the boat to get ready to leave.

Judy has brought fine weather but bugger all wind! We took advantage of the weather to “drive” out to Bait Reef – the closest of the outer reef complex, about 16 NM out from Hayman Island. It is a Marine Park and we were able to pick up a mooring – it was quiet and beautiful. We had a couple of Giant Trevally and a big Maori Wrasse off the back of the boat. Lots of snorkelling with good coral and brightly coloured fish. At low tide the reef is exposed and the lagoon is quiescent, slept like babies. Late that afternoon a couple of whales cruised by and we watched them for about an hour. Next day, Sunday we decided to motor back into the Whitsunday’s and spent the afternoon and night at Butterfly Bay (Maurens Cove actually). Next morning a bit of excitement – the starter battery died and we only just managed to start our engines. So change of plan – into Abel Point Marina for the night and to purchase a new start battery (Excide 70AH sealed lead acid). Rob and I worked on the battery while the girls wandered into Airlie Beach for a shopping expedition. We are now (Tuesday) en route to Hamilton to drop Judy off. It has been great to have her on board and we think she is looking pretty relaxed!

Well, it didn’t blow much in Cid at all, in fact we were surprised when we went around the corner into Fitzlan Passage and it blew 22 knots so Cid was a great anchorage. We motored to Gulnare Inlet to await the arrival of Mrs Howie’s little boy Robert on Thursday. However the tides have been very low and on Wednesday afternoon we found Phlat Chat sitting about 60 cm higher than normal– we were aground, but no matter she is designed to sit happily on her keels and she did exactly that. We then had the chance to scrub her down a bit, so now she MUST go faster! On Thursday morning we hopped in the dinghy and motored over to Hamilton – it was a bit damp but hell we dried quickly. We met up with the kids and invaded them – it was fun to play with Sophie again, she is so cute. Chris stayed with the kids the night to allow them to go out to dinner together and Rob and I motored back to Phlat Chat for a “boys night” – but we were VERY good. Next day Rob and I took Phlat Chat out of Gulnare to Hamilton and found a brand new public mooring – good job! I took the dinghy into Hamilton while Rob boat sat. We were then able to see the kids and the Sophinator. Judy Stevens arrived at 2.30 for the weekend which will be fun. We are now in Dugong Inlet and it is quiet here – dinner in on the BBQ and it is all GOOD!. Tomorrow we might go out to the reef to Bait Reef – we will see.

We left Hamilton Island Monday morning after a dreadful night with a mob of drunks in the next boat – idiots to a man. It was very unpleasant, it seems Hamilton attracts these sort of people. Anyway on to more pleasant things. We motored to Whitehaven Beach and anchored in a quiet and peaceful spot – we walked along the beach had sundowners after a lovely swim in the clear water. It was lovely and we all slept much better than at Hamilton! Next morning we decided to motor all the way around Whitsunday Island to show the kids (Lisa was not too impressed as she is prone to seasickness). However in spite of Lisa’s trepidation it was a great decision as it was quiet and the views were spectacular. We stopped briefly at Dumbell Island for a quick snorkel so Lisa and Mark could see the coral and the fish. A bonus for us all was the arrival of a mob of Batfish looking for a free feed. We dropped the kids back at Hamo after the circumnavigation and they are now in their flat, apparently with great views. We are in Cid Harbour with about 300000 other boats as it is supposed to blow 30 knots tonight and also be over 20 now. Right now it is blowing about 5 knots – and that’s fine!! We will see.

Thursday we decided to head up to Macona Inlet as it was supposed to come up a bit over night. Just before we left Cid Harbour the gentleman from “Sea Eagle” a power cat came over in his dinghy and gave us some fish as he had more than he could use. It was fresh and we ate it for dinner on Thursday night with Paul and Marg (by the way, Marg does not like fish!). It was delicious. On Friday morning Paul and Marg headed off to Abel Point for a few days and at the last minute we decided to follow them to Abel Point to allow us to stock up for the arrival of Lisa, Mark and Sophie. We were planning to anchor off Cannonvale but it was forecast to blow 20 knots from the NE and it would have been awful! Friday was a very busy day for Phlat Chat’s crew – we fell into bed after doing all our jobs and a nice meal with Paul and Marg at the Yacht Club. Saturday, after we went to the famous Airlie Beach Markets, we left Abel Point to sail to Hamilton to dock there and await the arrival of the kids. We were later than we thought and only just got there as the plane landed. We have had a great time with the Lisa, Mark and Sophie. Chris insists on carrying Sophie everywhere, it a wonder she can walk as Nanni does all the walking for her. Sunday we went to the beach at Hamilton and Sophie had a great time playing in the sand. Tomorrow, Monday we plan to sail to Whitehaven to give the kids a taste of life away from the marina. Lisa is not a great sea farer so it will be interesting. On Tuesday we will drop the kids back to Hamilton where they will spend a few days relaxing.

Wednesday Woke up at Nara and left for the trip to Hamilton to put James on the plane back to freezing Sydney. The weather was perfect (but not quite enough breeze for me!) so we motored down to Cid Harbour for a swim and to watch the turtles for a while. We then trundled down to Hamilton, arriving at the public mooring opposite the harbour entrance about 1300. Just as we were getting organised to take James ashore to the airport, who should turn up the long lost team of Paul and Marg on “While Your Down There”. They had just arrived in the Whits and decided to come up Dent Passage and lo and behold there we were! What a fluke, it was great to see them FINALLY! We took Jimmy ashore and walked with him to the airport. Mum was pretty sad to see her little boy leaving, and we think he had a pretty good time of it. We motored into Hamilton Harbour in the dinghy to look around as we are staying there for a few days from Saturday. Then back to Phlat Chat and a motor to Cid Harbour to catch up with Paul and Marg. Had a great night chatting over spag bog (and one or two reds!) on Phlat Chat last night – all good and a walk this morning.

Monday / Tuesday Monday we woke at Macona and sailed up to Manta Ray Bay on the north side of Hook Island and had a snorkel. It was fantastic! There were lots of fish , some huge Maori Wrasse ( like 1 m long) and a host of smaller brightly coloured fish. The coral was wonderful, blues, reds, yellows and every colour in between. Benetta sailed to Stonehaven for a less rolly lunch, we stayed on at Manta and managed to find a school of Batfish who hang around the back of boats for a free feed. It was great fun to watch them come up for food like tame chooks. That night we spent at Stonehaven and after drinks on Benetta the three of us had a meal on Phlat Chat. Murray et al had to go back to Airlie in the morning so we headed up to Blue Pearl Bay for a snorkel. Blue Pearl is on the western side of Hayman Island. The snorkelling was great with lots of fish and coral almost as good as Butterfly Bay. We decided to go to Langford Island for a walk on the sand spit but before we left – another mob of Batfish descended on us for a feed. But as we left Blue Pearl Bay we saw two Humpbacks slowly heading north about 150 m in front of the boat – as we had nowhere to go we stopped engines and waited so as not the scare them. We saw nothing for about two minutes and then one of them appeared only 15 m behind the boat. Chris got a picture – it was amazing and we can all vouch for the fact that they are BIG animals. It was awesome (in the literal sense!). Tonight is Jimmy’s last night with us so we in Nara Inlet and looking forward to a nice meal and tomorrow we will sail down to Hamilton via Cid Harbour. Today was another great day and great weather.