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Wednesday 21st July Yesterday there was another change in the wind so we decided to move to Shaw Island. For the past two days I have had to use a crowbar to pry Sue and Lydia’s heads out of their books, long enough to eat. This bay has grown from 5 to 17 boats in the past two days. Too busy, so we are heading off in the morning for quieter bays.

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Monday 19th July
Today we were so busy we hardly had time to take photos of the bay and the turtle swimming around Imagine. Sue and Lydia spent the morning in the sun on the deck removing their tan lines, while Andrew put up the shade on the foredeck and tried out the hammock.
By the time we had lunch we were so worn out we snoozed the afternoon away. By afternoon we needed to replenish our energy by partaking in the devouring of the last of the choc mint icecream.

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Sunday 18th July
Another busy day of doing nothing. The wind had increased as expected, but we were sheltered from most of it. To mix it up a bit, today we had breakfast then went for a swim.
We heard on the radio that Serenade and later Casana had had enough of Thomas and headed off to Lindeman Island. We WILL stay here another couple of day according to Lydia.
Lydia headed to shore at low tide to harvest a dozen oysters, as an appetizer for lunch. After lunch Lydia stitched up her dive socks, hoping they would last till we get to Airlie where she can buy some more.
Everyone snoozed the afternoon away.

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Saturday, 17th July 2021 6:30am and another calm morning. The wind was going to swing around to the south in a couple of hours, so we hauled anchor ahead of the other boats. The sun rose behind us as we motored around to one of the northern bays. We anchored in the bay we have before, knowing all the other boats would head into Naked Lady Bay.
It was time to get out the kayaks. Andrew pumped up the inflatable kayak while Lydia assembled her kayak. Off we went exploring our bay, then the next (Naked Lady Bay).
Serenade and Casana anchored in this bay and we met them on shore. After Lydia and Waty posed for a photo in front of the sign we headed back for a swim in our bay.
We had sundowners on the foredeck before Lydia made dinner. The competition is on for the best spag bol!

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Friday 16th July This morning nice and still. The calm before the storm, or high winds. We took advantage of the calm conditions and hauled anchor. While just bobbing in the bay Andrew and Lydia fitted a swivel to the anchor to stop the twisting of the chain. Once that was done we were off.
Under motor we headed for Thomas Island only a few hours away. As we went the wind increased. Casana and Seranade were in hot pursuit.
Sue and Lydia spent most of the short trip sitting on the foredeck enjoying the sun and the waves. Anchored in the bay sheltered from the northerly wind, it was time to explore. We all piled into the dinghy and headed off to where it looked good for snorkeling.
As we returned to Imagine Steve called out “Fire and bbq on the beach in 1/2 an hour”. Sue was cold after snorkeling so Lydia and Andrew went ashore to represent Imagine. There were three other couples from three other boats in the bay. After a few hours it was dark and Lydia was eager to head off.
It wasn’t to get back to Imagine. It was to do a night dive. Andrew was in the dinghy following Lydias torch light, for safety. Knowing Lydia was going diving Sue was in the cockpit next to the radio on the emergency channel. It wasn’t needed.

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Thursday 15th July Goldsmith Island
We awoke to another beautiful day. The water had cleared and you could see the ripples in the sand below the boat. When Andrew was telling Sue this, Lydia jumped out of bed (we thought she was sleeping!), ran up the steps, her eyes glistening and ran and jumped into the sea. After a nice swim and quick look at the nearby reef, she was back!
First things first. After breakfast Andrew got stuck in to fixing the dinghy wheels. He found some tubing that he could make a bush with. Then drilled a hole through a stainless steel bolt to fit a split pin. Hey presto, the wheels were working again. They just needed a quick pump up and we are away.
The Mackay water police came around to check all the boats. It was funny, most of the boats said they were trying to keep out of Covid’s reach (all of them had departed from their ports well before the latest outbreaks and lockdowns), whereas Andrew said we were trying to get out of the Brisbane winter! The border patrols are hot on people not trying to cross borders during these restrictions.
Next job see why the anchor winch chain keeps jamming. A quick look revealed the chain release bar was bent. Nothing a 4 pound hammer and a large rock on the beach wouldn’t straighten.
With the jobs of the day out of the away it was time for a skinny dip. Well a skinny dip for Lydia more of a chunky dunk for Sue and I.
After lunch Steve and Waty came over to pick up Lydia to take her diving. We were so lucky to see quite a few turtles today, including a couple of big ones who poked their heads out of the water and had a gander at us before continuing on their journey. We also saw a couple of whales in the distance.
Evening and time to relax with a wine before dinner.

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Wednesday 14th July
Today we had another loss. We awoke to a foggy morning and low cloud cover. We thought we would check out the other side of the island so we hauled anchor and motored to the southern side. There was a light wind and a small swell coming in the southern bay. We dropped the anchor and drifted back till the anchor dug in. We could see bommies off the back of us on each side so we sent our depth sounder (Lydia) off to scout the area. Yes we were too close. Both bommies were only 2 meters below the water. Lydia had a quick look around and thinks its a good place to snorkel.
We had to haul anchor and reset it further away from the bommies or return to the northern bay. That’s when we saw Casana and Serenade heading to Goldsmith and the northern bay, so we decided to head back that way too. Tomorrow the wind should be changing to northeast so we are looking at going back to the southern bay then.
Safely anchored on the north side we had lunch on the foredeck in the sun. Lydia and Andrew thought they had a way of fixing the problem with the dinghy wheels. They took the wheels apart and while shaving a little off the nylon bush, it got dropped and went over the side.
Lydia was in the water in an insant but couldnt stay down long enough to search in the 7m of water. The Huka dive gear came out and Lydia spent 20 minutes in search and rescue mode, but couldnt find it.
We had a subdued afternoon, it was drizzling just enough that it wouldn’t have been pleasant going ashore. Lydia is making chicken peach curry for dinner.

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Tuesday13th July
Lydia hopped in the water to explore the new location. It was quite silty but she found a section near the rocks that had some cool gorges, swim throughs and abundance of fish. Unfortunately, she needs to wait until Airlie to get her own speargun, so the fish were safe today. We had special lunch today, pancakes, bacon and blueberries – nomnomnom. So an afternoon nap was in order. Afterwards we decided to cross something off the ever present maintenance list – dinghy needed a bit of love.
We had a funeral for our trusty friend who always saw the best in us, the gopro camera. Water got into the mechanism through the rubber seals, a hazard of the job. So no more under water shots.

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Tuesday, 12 July 2021
2am we all get up and quietly motor out of the bay in the dark just far enough that we can put the sails up. Weather was good but winds and swells just not playing the game so it was a slow sail.
After dodging all the cargo ships and tankers anchored just outside Mackay we sailed on up the coast until it was decision time …. jibe back and forth and arrive during the night at Goldsmith Island or turn the motor on and head directly over in a few hours and arrive just before dusk. We chose the latter as we were all pretty tired by then (might have been due to Andrew and Lydia boogying down to the music whilst helming and trying to get the boat pointing as high as we could without letting the wind out of the sails)!
We arrived at Goldsmith Island just before dusk, anchored, then Lydia jumped in the water to wake herself up. Nachos for tea then bed as we all could hardly keep our eyes open.

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Sunday 11th July

This morning Ross and Andrew headed across to Serenade. It didn’t take long to find the problem, but a couple of hours to fix it.
Waty being the smallest was the one that crawled under the genset and across the engine to get to the gearbox and prop shaft. Serenade had a hydraulic brake similar to a car brake and callipers on the prop shaft to stop the prop rotating while sailing. The brake pads had worn down to the steel making a screeching sound which is what made Steve think the gearbox was playing up. Waty and Ross were able remove the whole brake system. They couldnt have done it without Andrew and Steve pointing out which spanner to use. Now if Steve wants to stop the prop from turning he can put it in gear when the motor is off.
Serenade were about to throw out their damaged rice cooker so a bored Lydia repaired it for them.
Today is Steve’s birthday and we were invited to Serenade to help celebrate. Andrew baked a spicy fruit loaf as a birthday gift! After a few hours, much awesome food cooked by Waty and a yummy birthday cake cooked by Georgie and some singing to Abba and Aqua, everyone headed to shore to stretch their legs. Andrew and Sue headed back to Imagine to make the boat ready to set sail early tomorrow morning and Lydia joined Ross on the beach finding, shucking and eating oysters. Early to bed for a 2am start tomorrow morning.