May 30 – June 1
Hi All,
We left Nara Inlet around 9:30amish and arrived into Cid Harbor about an hour later….it was about 8nm….a big passage indeed:))) We were going back to Stonehaven but Brett called and said a boat named Exit Strategy, another one from our Pacific Crossing class of 2013 was coming into the area and wanted to meet up in Cid Harbor. So, we turned left instead of right!!
Cid Harbor is another gorgeous anchorage…….the anchorages just seem to be getting better and better. I did a very nice snorkel over at Ross Inlet…..Kathy didn’t want to snorkel but she came in the dinghy as we did some dinghy exploring after the snorkel. The corals were outstanding and very healthy…..mainly all different kinds of soft, spongy colorful corals. But, the water was very murky. There seems to be a huge algae bloom going on so the waters are full of nutrients….great for whatever is eating them but no so good for water clarity.
The next day Kathy, Stacey, Kalle and I went on a short hike from Sawmill beach to Dugong beach……we saw 5-6 Goanna’s…….3-4′ long big monitor lizards. We had searched in vain on Kangaroo Island on our Road Trip and here we saw several close by…..incredible!!!
That night we had a HH on Bella Vita where we all got caught up with Tom and Kim from Exit Strategy. We had not seen them since New Zealand days 2 years ago!!
The next day we went 16nm to Butterfly Bay on the north side of Hook Island……wow, wow, wow……just another drop dead gorgeous bay. ….it is hard to choose a favorite but this one ranks right up there…..steep lush hills all around us….a few wind bullets but nothing too big….and very calm….no flopper…..and the water seems clearer than Cid……but alas no internet which actually has been good…..like a Betty Ford day from being plugged in all the time.
When we got here around 11:30ish we were the only boat….but by night there were a total of 5…..there are 9 buoys all pretty much spread out!! It was mainly cloudy and a bit cool so we just stayed on the boat and relaxed…..for whatever reason we were both pretty tired.
The next 2 days is why we work so hard at this cruising lifestyle for days like this…….sleep in (we made it to 7am one day….haha), coffee, download emails/weather using the Sat phone, more coffee/tea, read, breakfast, read, go diving, clean the gear, after dive beer, lunch, read, nap, read…….then cocktails, sunset, great tunes and a nice dinner/wine and a movie……we had ribeye steaks one night, popcorn the next and bbq pork chops the 3rd night, with a 1998 Murieta’s Well Zinfandel which was outstanding…..almost a 10…….it was a pre-birthday dinner for the Admiral…..we had 3 perfects nights….we are very blessed indeed!!!!!
We did 2 dives…..one great and one we aborted. The first dive was at Manta Ray Bay and it was spectacular…lot’s of very healthy coral and pretty good fish life. It was a shallow dive….20-40′ so we had almost an hour of bottom time……water temp is now 77 deg F so neither of us got cold, but, we had trouble with the navigation. We went around so many huge coral bommies that it was hard to stay on course and since we had timed the dive at slack the current changed directions. I had to surface several times to keep our bearings……not the safest thing to do while diving, but since it was shallow and through out the dive I actually did 3 safety stops, I didn’t really have much nitrogen load……so it was all good!!!
The second dive was at Maureen Bay…….we did have a current so decided to do a drift dive but the visibility sucked….like maybe 5-10’….the worst we have been in yet…..and, the current was too strong to pull the dinghy and stay on the course we wanted…..so after 15 minutes we aborted…….whaaaaa!!!! And probably for the best…..it was a partly cloudy day but when we surfaced it was dark and stormy and remained so for the rest of the day!!!
Boat Stuff:
AIS: Brett indeed had a different BNC fitting that we could use w/o the special crimping tool. So, we spent several hours taking ceiling panels apart and replacing the fitting and viola we were back in the AIS transmission business. We will have to do some more testing to see how far we are transmitting but all seems fine for now. Although, we are still not showing up on the Vessel Tracking webpage……but then neither are about 4 other boats we know, like Bella Vita and Exit Strategy….very curious?????
Watermaker: Hmmmm…….the unit has gone out on High pressure a few times. A quick email to Spectra and they replied with a series of tests. It’s either bad or dirty membranes or the Clark pump. We have checked out the backwater flush…..all ok. The other tests are indicating a problem with the Clark pump……ugh, ugh, ugh……not only expensive to replace but a logistical nightmare to ship it somewhere. But, the High pressures are inconsistent. The unit has been running the last few days just fine…..pressures in the 215-225psi range, normal is 190psi and it cuts out @ 250 psi……I also spent several hours in the “hole”…..what we call the lazerette……trying to fix a pesky leak on one of the high pressure fittings going into the Clark pump…..finally got it but whoa that one made me work way too hard!!
Today we are moving back over to Stonehaven Bay, about 4nm…yep, barely get the engines warm…..we were there about a week ago, for one night….we loved it and that is where we will have Kathy’s birthday celebration tonight with freinds……she finally is joining the CLUB:))))
Hope all is well,
John
Mystic Moon
GO MYSTIC GO!!
