We had a disturbed night’s sleep due to the occasional patter of rain, which means closing the hatches, but the rain being very light and only lasting long enough for me to close the hatches, following which the hatches need to be opened again for fresh air. We also had trouble with light wind against tide, meaning that a couple of times we drifted up to the mooring and banged against it for a while.
The plan for today was to go to Yanks Jetty for some snorkelling around low tide at 0930. The last time we’d tried this was on a SeaLink ferry trip and it was very windy and rainy.
A northerly wind of around 10 kots came up as we left Little Pioneer Bay and motored down to Yanks Jetty. It had built to 15 knots by the time we arrived, then 20 knots as we tried to pick up a mooring. We gave up on the first one and moved to the second , which was slightly more sheltered and therefore flatter water. After a bit of a struggle we were able to moor, but the mooring was rated for multihulls up to 9m in 24 knots of wind and we were a bit too big – also, the strong wind made it unlikely that the snorkelling would be any good. We decided to abandon the snorkelling idea and head back to Little Pioneer Bay, which seemed likely to have the best shelter in the prevailing conditions.
It was a long slog back in 24 knots of wind, making only 2 to 3 knots across the ground, but we were quite comfortable. Arriving back in Little Pioneer Bay, we were very pleased to find how protected we were at one of the moorings.
After lunch, we decided to go ashore to try some snorkelling here. The water was glorious, a lovely temperature and reasonably clear despite the wind outside the bay. However, the coral and fish life were disappointing, being few and far betweeen. We walked along the shore, seeing some interesting plants in the water which looked a bit like zucchinis, plus an amazing huge orchid on one of the trees.
On the way back out to Jasmin we paused over some lovely looking coral that at this stage was a few meters down – maybe something to look at later.
We had a rest during what remained of the afternoon before cooking lamb steaks on the BBQ for dinner while we watched another spectacular lightning display – this time out to sea rather than over the land.
The wind died out a lot during the evening, apart from the odd strong squall associated with a lightning cloud passing nearby. Hopefully there will be enough to keep us from banging into the mooring tonight!
From the ship’s log:
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08:20 Left mooring in Little Pioneer Bay
09:15 Picked up mooring at Yanks Jetty but very rough – winds 17 knots.
Returned to LPB towing Jasmini. Wind up to 24 knots, SOG only 2.5 to 3.5 knots.
11:20 Moored at LPB – wind 3.5 to 4 knots!
Intriguing plant in the shallows 
This one was on the beach 
The orchid was taking over this tree! 
From the ruins of the shepherd’s hut?
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