Tuesday August 18th

Sunday we sailed around between Hook Island and Hayman Island to take a mooring at Butterfly Bay anchorage #1. We met some friends from Mooloolaba there. Did a bit of snorkeling there, but weren't impressed with the reef. This anchorage wasn't as rollie as the previous one in Butterfly. From Butterfly Bay we left on Monday to sail on the outside of Hook Island down to Border Island. It got pretty rough coming around Pinnacle point. Must have been the winds against the current! Got to Border Island (Cateran Bay) and there weren't any moorings available. We circled around a couple of times and decided we didn't want to anchor here as the depth is deep. We were just about to leave when Bruce noticed a Lagoon 420 leaving the mooring. We pulled up to it and it was the closest one to the reef! Which was good as we just got on our gear and swam from the boat!! This was by far the BEST snorkeling we have done yet! It was beautiful with live corals and lot's of fish. Here are a few photo's. Check out the one with all the bait fish. As Bruce and I swam into this spot we got surrounded by bait fish. Kind of a eerie feeling as you wonder what's around that wants to eat these fish. Sure enough there were a couple of big fish there. Bruce pointed one out to me and I said through my snorkel "Oh MY GOD". You can see it in the back ground behind the bait fish. I think it is a Giant Trevally. There was one more fish (actually two together) that I haven't been able to identify in the 4 fish books I have on board!!! They were big as well. Tomorrow we will go over to Margaret and Peter's a couple we know from Mooloolaba and have a look in their book. We are in the same anchorage ( Cid Harbor) along with about 100 other boats. Seeking shelter from the strong wind warnings predicted for tonight and tomorrow! On Friday we will sail over to the main land for the Saturday markets there in Airlie. To all our daughters who may be reading this we will call you over the weekend.  We haven't had reception for over a week.