Captain’s Log: Hamilton Marina, Stonehaven, Hook and Bait Reef, Nara Inlet

Hi All,

The Hamilton Island Marina was very nice indeed….back to civilization for 2 days!!!! And it was super calm and quiet….we had 2 nights of “heavenly” sleeps!!!! Of course, the best part for the Admiral was running the AC. Besides the obvious creature comfort, the Admiral likes that it dries out the boat and all the salt crystallizes and then she vacuums it all up…..so we left with Mystic all washed on the outside and all clean on the inside…..she was definitely strutting her stuff leaving the marina!!!!

So what all did we do……well, unfortunately it was mainly all work so we did not really get to enjoy all the amenities….like going to the beach and enjoying all the resort stuff. But, we cleaned the boat, did a provisioning run….they have a small but adequate grocery store where some of the vegies were fresh and some old….but it should keep us for a few more weeks……a great bakery for some delicious sourdough bread, and we stocked up on more beer!!!

And the good news, the compressor part was there…..the bad news it was a different model and will take some new configuration to make it all work…..JOMT……just one more thing…..ugh!!!!

I was informed by the Admiral that the galley was closed while we were in the marina. So, the first day we had our traditional cheeseburger in paradise at the local tavern and since we were so tired for 2 nights of not much sleep at Whitehaven, it was early to bed for both of us. The 2nd night we had some excellent Italian food at Romano’s and a fabulous bottle of Robert Oatley Finisterre Pinot Noir!!!

We left the marina mid-morning and caught up with Bella Vita at the Stonehaven anchorage on Hook Island, about 17nm away……where we were staging to go out to the Reef the next day. The weather was still looking good for several days out on the Reef. Stonehaven anchorage is beautiful and we will be going back for sure!!!

The next day we left around 9:30 am for Hook Reef, about 25nm away, trying to time a pass right after high tide so we will have wind with current. We fished but alas caught zip:(((( We made it to Hook Reef safe and sound and had the anchor down by 1:00pm. But, we were initially disappointed. It was cloudy so trying to see the reef and bommies was impossible and all the reef was covered. You are in essence anchoring in the middle of the ocean….a very surreal feeling. The book made it seem Hook Reef was the main attraction but no one was there….and it was blowing 10-15 kts so it was a little choppy…..not the ideal setting we expected. As we looked around asking where everyone was, we saw several boats about 7 miles away at Bait Reef and a few boats at Hardy Reef near the Fantasea Pontoon….3-4 miles away. I tried hailing people on Bait Reef with no joy but did talk to the Cruise Whitsundy catamaran that brings people out to the Pontoon…..hi mate, how’s it going, well, this is our first time out here and we were looking for some good dive and snorkel spots…..well mate, we have all that at the Fantasea Pontoon but unfortunately it is private for our guests only, but you are welcome to snorkel the reef anytime we are not there…..hmmm, thanks but no thanks.

We noticed 2 sailboats stayed the night at Bait Reef so we decided to go over there early the next day……7nm away. And, oh yeah, this is what we have been searching for…….many dive sites…….the reef was still covered but you could see it right under the surface…..AND……it was calm the whole day……like 5 kts of wind……sweet as…….finally we get to dive on the GBR. We took the dinghy for a tour and talked with the 2 boats there…..one had been there for several days and confirmed this is the place to be!!! We decide to dive the Stepping Stones…..a series of bommies going down to 10-150′ that were alive with soft and hard coral, very colorful and with pretty good fish life…..Kathy thought is was and excellent dive!!! There is current however, so it required us to tow the dinghy while diving…..ok, no big deal, we have done this before. So we got all ready……timed it 30 min before slack and jumped in……we start going and after 10 min it is getting shallower….ugh…..I signal Kathy I’m going to surface and take a look….yep, in all our haste I forgot to take a compass reading and we were heading the wrong way…..ok, get my bearings and down we go and soon find the bommies and LIG….well, except we tried a new tow line which decided it liked every part of my gear and by the end of the dive I was wrapped up like a mummy…..hmmm……saw it going differently……will go back to the old tow line next time!!!!

Bella Vita made it to the Reef just after we finished our dive and they went for a long and fabulous snorkel over what we dived. We had a fun happy hour and then it was pizza and some Game of Thrones and night nights…..but, this is cruising……so about midnight we hear the wind…..ugh….it was supposed to stay calm until mid-morning….we were hoping to get in another dive….but Mr Weather said nope, not going to happen…..by dawn it was blowing 12-16 kts out of the NNW where we had no protection and the waves were already 2-3′. There were 6 boats there and we were the 5th to leave about 30 min after dawn…….whaaaaa!!!!

We are now in Nara Inlet on Hook Island…..a well protected inlet from all the North winds. Tomorrow the winds shift back to the trades….SE…..so we will move over to Stonehaven……should be some good snorkeling and hopefully diving there!!!

Boat Stuff:

AIS: For whatever reason we did not seem to be transmitting very far…..like maybe 0.5 – 1.0 miles. Stacey had looked on the vessel track site on the internet and it showed us @ Percy Island….like 150 miles south. I thought maybe the serial connection on the Lenovo navigation computer was acting up as it had done in the past so I changed it out for a serial-to-usb connection. I turned everything on and we were receiving like 50 vessels but nothing on the vessel track site……ugh. BTW, if you are interested here is the website……you can type in the vessel name and see where the vessel is located. Some people have Mystic on alert and get an email saying we are moving!!

http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/shipid:688996/zoom:10

So, the next thing I checked was the antenna connection on the pilot house deck. Well, when I started to unscrew things the connection fell apart……hmmm…..maybe found the problem. This is a BNC connector and we do not carry any. I went to the chandlery at the marina and they did not have any but gave me the name of an electrician on the mainland. So I called Kenny and he said no problem mate, I’ll send over 2 connectors on the ferry tomorrow am. So, I met the 9:30am ferry and had my 2 connectors. Now, I just need to find someone with the special crimper tool and we can get back in business…..Brett may have a different style BNC connector and has the crimping “tool” so hopefully we will be back in business in the next few days!!

ER lights: About 2 years ago the Chinese florescent light fixtures in the engine room, which lasted 10 years, went out so I replaced with 2 USA fixtures that we shipped into New Zealand. Well, one unit lasted 12 months and this last one 18 months….WTH……arghhhhhh. So, while in the marina I took out the last florescent fixture and will replace with a flat panel LED we brought over in our suitcase from Home Depot. I had installed this same unit in Sydney on the first fixture and so far so good!!!

Hope all is well!!

John
Mystic Moon
GO MYSTIC GO!!