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Saturday 14th August.
Freya and Vito were in the water before breakfast. Then it was back to playing chess while eating fruit cinnamon toast Andrew had made. After breakfast it was back in the water for more snorkeling.
It was after 10am when Lydia decided to grace us with her presence. Although she had a great time she was glad to be back on Imagine.
We all just chilled out. Even after lunch the enthusiasm was so overwhelming that we all went for a lie down. Later in the afternoon Lydia, Freya, Vito and Andrew jumped into the dingy and went across the bay to do some snorkeling.
Upon returning the great chess tournament commenced. Lydia put her logic and programming skills to work and with a few close games took out the trophy (she had to make dinner)
Dinner was finger licking good.

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Friday 13th August.
We got up early this morning as we had new crew arriving. By 8:30 we were ready. Andrew went ashore to pick them up, but not before dropping Lydia at Casana. She was deserting us! Jumped ship!
Georgie and Ross had invited her to sail with them to Butterfly bay on Casana, which we also were going to. It gave Lydia the chance to experience sailing a catamaran and sailing with another skipper.
We are sure she hated every minute of it and cant wait to get back on Imagine. She is staying on Casana tonight to experience how awful it is to sleep on a cat. I’m sure she will be back in the morning wanting her cabin back.
We picked up a mooring in East Butterfly bay and no Lydia to quickly jump into the water, so it had to be the new crew. It only took a few minutes and Freya and Vito were in the water.
We had eaten lunch by the time Sernade followed by Casana came around the point and into the bay. Not long after Casana picked up a mooring we saw Lydia jump in the water and start swimming towards Imagine.
She climbed aboard and started telling us what a great time she had and how fast Cassana sails and how they were tacking. We are not sure if she wants to come back tomorrow.
Freya and Vito spent the afternoon enjoying more swimming off the back of Imagine, inbetween games of chess.

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Thursday 12th August.
Today was a quiet day, getting ready for our next lot of crew. We went ashore and while Sue did the laundry Lydia and Andrew went to see if they could help Manuel sort out an electrical problem with his van.
No, we were no help at all. We suggested a marine electrician in Airlie.
Next was the shopping. Stocking up once again. It took most of the afternoon to find places on Imagine to put all the groceries. But we got it all packed away.
Lydia had picked up her delivery of new paints and is in art heaven.
Sundowner time and Andrew gave both of the girls an orgasm. Butterscotch, Bailieys and Cointreau, layered in a glass. It should also have fresh cream but we forgot to buy some. 00a

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Tuesday 10th August. Today we said goodbye to our temporary crew. After a week of learning to sail, snorkel and dive, Manuel and Heidi had to return to the mainland and civilisation (get a job).
This morning we motor sailed back into Airlie Beach ahead of the predicted high winds. Our regular anchoring position was next to where Serenade has anchored. It is the first time we have seen them for a couple of weeks.
This afternoon is just chill out time for the three of us.

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Saturday 7th August. The morning started with Lydia teaching Manuel and Heidi how to dive with the Huka system, while Andrew stayed in the dinghy making sure the compressor kept going. After half an hour of diving we headed back to Imagine and Sue.
After a cuppa and biscuits we released the mooring and set off for Blue Pearl Bay. With Lydia at the helm first she set the pace at 7.2 knots. Manuel helmed the second half of the journey, only reaching 5.2 knots. Pretty good for a novice.
We arrived in bay and found we had the bay to ourselves. Possibly because the wind was whistling around the point. The wind died later this evening which made it more comfortable.
Sue had just made us all lunch when we saw a kite surfer come around the point, not doing too well in the high winds. Then he went over. We could hear him shouting out. So Manuel and Andrew quickly lowered the dinghy into the water, while Sue and Lydia got the outboard motor ready to lower onto the dinghy. In minutes Andrew and Lydia reached the surfer in the dinghy. Lydia jumped in the water to help the guy untangle his kite. Andrew hauled the board into the dinghy then towed Lydia, the guy and his kite to Imagine.
Once everyone, the kite and board were onboard Imagine, we quizzed the guy. He and his mate had come from Airlie Beach (28km) in a dinghy with 20knot winds gusting 30 so he could kite surf. They had no lifejackets. No vhf radio, and his mate in the dinghy was nowhere in sight, so we couldn’t contact his mate to say where he was. His mate turned up about 5 minutes later. They piled everything in their dinghy and headed back out into the high winds to go back to Airlie.
After all that Sue, Andrew and Lydia needed a rest. Manuel and Heidi went for a walk finding a track over the hill. Unfortunately they didn’t find the same track when they wanted to return. Four hours later they finally made it back to the beach for Andrew to pick them up. They enjoyed the views of Hayman and Hook Island and the small kangaroos, not so much the snake that slithered out in front of Heidi!
What a boring day!

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Friday 6th August
This morning Lydia was almost beaten into the water by Heidi, but Lydia was having none of it. Barely awake, eyes semi closed, she took off at a run and leapt into the water first! After breakfast Lydia took Manuel and Heidi back around to Manta Ray Bay for some more snorkeling. When they returned we relinquished the mooring and headed to the next bay Maureen’s Cove.
After lunch Andrew and Lydia got stuck into servicing the Huka Dive system. Low tide was mid afternoon, so Lydia, Manuel and Heidi went ashore to gather oysters. They returned an hour later after having had a feast for afternoon tea.

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Thursday 4th August. At 4am this morning the wind gusts started coming over the hill into the bay. Even though we had gusts up to 30knots we knew we had chosen a sheltered bay. After breakfast it was off to shore for Manuel, Heidi and Lydia.
Manuel and Heidi went off exploring, straight up the hill into a field of butterflies. They had a look on the map to see how far they’d crossed the island and realised it was a lot bigger than expected. So they turned back to the coast to explore the rocks. Lydia stayed with the dinghy and had a swim (shocker) and a lovely nap on the beach.
A couple arrived in the bay and had also gone ashore. Lydia met them on the beach and discovered they had just rented the boat with only 5 hours of training. They had just come up the eastern side of Hook Island sailing with the wind we were sheltered from. They asked Lydia if she thought they should have been wearing life jackets?
Thats why we stay away from charter boats!
This afternoon we went for a swim off the back of Imagine.

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Wednesday 4th August First thing this morning we picked up two new crew, an English and an Italian, Heidi and Manuel. As we were leaving Airlie, Andrew’s hat went overboard followed by Andrew as he went to retrieve it. So we practiced Man Overboard. Sue rapidly did a 180 and turned the boat back to where Andrew was now swimming with his hat on. Andrew safely back on board we left Airlie and had a great sail across to Hook Island and one of our favourite bays, Luncheon Bay.
We hadn’t even got on the mooring when Lydia was in the water. Her excuse was one of the floating boat hooks went overboard and she didnt want it to foat away. Minutes after the mooring was tied off we were all in the water. Everyone thought the bay was great with good snorkeling and good visibility. They didnt know what was still to come.
After lunch the dinghy was lowered into the water and we all piled in with the snorkeling gear. A short trip around the corner to Manta Ray Bay. Jumping in the water we were greated by Mauri Wrass, Tuna, Bat fish and an assortment of other fish. “I’ve never swum with such large fish” Manuel called out. The fish swim up to you, they are not afraid you can even touch the Mauri Wrass. I dont think you could do this if it wasn’t a marine reserve (no fishing).
Lydia’s turn to cook dinner tonight.

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Over the past few weeks Lydia has been mastering the dinghy, so today we promoted her. Lydia is now “Captain Dinghy”, in charge of making sure everything is ready to go when we are.
Her first deployment as Captain Dinghy was to ferry us around to another bay where it was a short walk to get the gas bottle filled and the supermarket. They we went for a run into Airlie for a few things.
The shortest Captaincy ever. Promoted in the morning almost demoted by the afternoon. The power must have gone to her head and she forgot all she had been doing. Upon returning to Imagine the first time Lydia left the motor in gear while we were trying to get off. The second time she ploughed nose first into the side of Imagine (she had remembered to take it out of gear).
We will have to see if she improves!

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Sunday 1st August The alarm was set for 7:30 am for Lydia and Andrew to head to the Sailing club, it was time to really learn how to sail. Couple of youtube videos later she was ready. They hired an open bic from the local Sailing Club, which is basically a dinghy with a sail attached. Andrew stayed in the safety of Imagine’s dinghy and towed Lydia out of the marina. Out in the water and detached from Andrew, there was a howling 2kts of wind. Finding what direction the wind was coming from was the hardest part of putting theory into practice. With direction from Andrew, Lydia found enough wind to get out to Imagine and back. After a couple of hours the wind picked up to ~5kts and she could really get going.
As well as being a bit of fun Lydia was able to see how to set the sails as she moved the boat to different positions against the wind. She also discovered how much pressure was on the rudder, as it was a tiller not a helm. It was far easier playing with wind angles in a 2m Bic instead of a 17m Imagine.