Middle Percy to Hoskyn Island...

We left Middle Percy Island at 0730 on 10 November. West Bay was empty after our departure - everyone else had moved around to Escape Bay the night before due to the arrival of gentle Northerly winds.

The conditions were light during the morning and we sailed under spinnaker and full main with a number of other yachts - including Nimrod and Duet. By late afternoon we lowered the spinnaker and hoisted the code zero. Lucey Blue was still sailing nicely at 8-9 knots, but before dusk we lowered the code zero and reefed the mainsail as thunderstorms were predicted along the coast and we wanted to time our arrival to coincide with high tide.

At around midnight with low cloud, no moon and storms along the coast we sailed between Mast Head Island and Erskine Island. There appeared to be five to six yachts anchored in the lagoon at Fitzroy Reef when we sailed past and as we approached Hoskyn Island we watched  - on our AIS - more than eight boats leave Lady Musgrave. The outer reef was amazingly busy, but our destination looked peaceful enough...

Middle Percy Island...

We stayed a few days at Middle Percy in West Bay swimming, visiting the homestead and generally having fun.

The hospitality of the island leaseholders remains a highlight and much to the delight of the kids we were lucky enough to arrive shortly after the arrival of several baby goats!

One sunny afternoon Ryan, Eric and Dad went around the corner of the bay to a large sand dune. Ryan and Eric had a ball running up and down. Despite a few spectaular stacks everyone made it safely back to Lucey Blue.

                                   

Thanks for having us again Kate! We hope to come again sometime soon... 

A busy day sailing south to Middle Percy Island

After a few weeks in the Whitsundays we decided to continue our journey south. On a still morning we left Hamilton Island and motor sailed slowly down the coast to Percy Island.

The conditions were nice and we spent most of the morning reading while the kids played or slept in the cockpit.

A Spotted Mackerel interrupted our busy schedule at around lunchtime.  But no one complained too loudly!

We arrived at West Bay at around 2230 that night and anchored alongside several other yachts.

Sailing in the Whitsundays - A view from above...

After several successful flights of our Mariner Drone from a stationary platform it was time for the next step - aerial images of Lucey Blue sailing.

The task of sailing while flying the Mariner Drone was a little daunting, but the promise of unique photographs helped us overcome our concerns. With Lucey Blue gently sailing out of Cateran Bay we launched the Mariner Drone from the flight deck – our rear solar panels.

The images of Lucey Blue underway were nice and we landed safetly back on the forward trampoline after about 10 minute in the air. However, the majority of the photographs were taken from too far away for the wide angle GoPro camera to show much detail.

Given our partial success the decision was made to haul up the spinnaker and try a second flight. This time the plan was to fly the drone right alongside Lucey Blue. The images from the second flight were substantially better, but there were a few tricky moments - including when the Mariner Drone disappeared from view behind our spinnaker!

Flying a drone blind while sailing towards your airborne position certainly adds to the excitement level. I am glad to say we experienced no mid air collisions and despite running out of battery power before landing back on Lucey Blue we declared our mission a success.

After the Mariner Drone adventure we decided to take a few photographs of Lucey Blue under different sail configurations from the dinghy. Have we ever said we love our new radial sails?

The kids all enjoyed the dinghy ride – you don’t often get to see your own boat sailing and even though we never cracked five knots it was a great way to spend a morning!