{"id":804,"date":"2019-09-25T22:27:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-25T22:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trypod.co.nz\/imagine\/?p=804"},"modified":"2020-09-20T04:24:57","modified_gmt":"2020-09-20T04:24:57","slug":"hull-diving-swimming-with-dugongs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trypod.co.nz\/imagine\/2019\/09\/25\/hull-diving-swimming-with-dugongs\/","title":{"rendered":"Hull diving & swimming with Dugongs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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GPS: 16 32.310S 167 50.181E<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Run: 4.4nm (8km)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The morning started with fresh grapefruit for breakfast that Jocelyn (Chief Sofren’s wife) had given Cindy. Then it was time for boat chores. Andrew retrieved the pro dive from the black hole. A few minutes later it was set up ready for diving the hull. Wolfgang armed with a paint scraper attacked the growth on the bottom of the keel whilst Cindy floated around the boat in the dinghy cleaning the growth around the waterline. All this is in preparation for the trip to Australia as Australian biosecurity require us to have a clean hull. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When that was done we hauled anchor and moved to Uliveo Island. With Wolfgang up the mast we navigated through the reef to a safe anchorage. Unfortunately it’s not as protected as our previous bay so a little bit of rocking and rolling tonight. After lunch of more of Wolfgang’s great freshly made bread rolls Andrew, Sue and Wolfgang headed ashore. They were greeted at the shore by Philip in his newly built yacht club. He organised for his nephew Kalkura to take us to swim with the Dugongs. Kalkoura dropped us over the side when we reached the spot where we were likely to see Dugongs. We drifted with the tide. On the edge of a beautiful coral reef we saw numerous fish and about 8 Dugongs. Upon returning to Imagine we discovered Cindy had not only finished reading her book but had vacuumed and made a wonderful meal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n