Lady Musgrave - A departing gift 'Whales off the port bow'

We left Lady Musgrave an hour before high tide on the morning of 3 August. As soon as we had motored out of the lagoon a pod of three humpback whales swam leisurely past the boat within metres!

Just minutes later there were another two or three whales off our port side, leaping and frolicking in the water.

We watched them for about an hour or so before setting course for Percy Island approximately 180 nautical miles to the north. The kids enjoyed the whales and had fun in the sailbag for another few hours...

Lady Musgrave - Our last days this time around...

We spent the last few days at Lady Musgrave in perfect conditions - virtually zero wind, glassy seas, warm sun and plenty of blue sky.

Sam went kayaking most mornings around the sand cay, occasionally climbed the mast to 'check things out', continued to cook delicious delights and entertained the crew with some radical dance routines.

After school - usually by about 0945 each morning as the kids were keen to complete their work - we would explore the lagoon or island.

Emily broke her fishing drought with two beautiful (if tiny) Doubleline Fusiliers and spent time baking and working on her clothing design skills.

More often than not someone would take Dad out snorklling at least once a day to make sure he remained happy and on one occasion Emily found the remains of a huge Helmet shell.

Several yachts entered the lagoon as the condtions improved and we spent a pleasant night aboard Giselle - another Middle Harbour yacht and one also fitted with Scott Sails!

The sunsets capped off perfect days, but as time ticked by we kept an eye on the weather and planned our departure for the north.

Lady Musgrave - Eric learns to snorkel...

Eric wants to be involved in all the activities aboard Lucey Blue and while he loved his underwater spy glass and scenic kayak tours he was desperate to be in the water. The only problem is he is still learning how to swim!

While this fact was a minor obstacle to Eric's aquatic ambitions we decided to take him out to the turtle pool and see if he could use his new googles and snorkel with support from Mum and Dad.

We suited Eric up in a full wetsuit and took the plunge. Eric was like a baby koala latched onto our backs while looking over our shoulders to see underwater.

Eric was so excited. He was wiggling, pointing, jumping up and down, exclaiming and carrying out lengthy monologues with his snorkel in his mouth! Who said you can't talk underwater?

Eric was in seventh heaven looking at turtles, fish, seahorses and starfish, but he eventually got cold and started to turn blue so despite his protests we headed back to the boat for warm showers.

Nick took Eric with Emily and Ryan out the next day to a shallow section of the lagoon and took the next step. With a lot of words of encouragement and support, a pair of blue fins and an extra wetsuit for added warmth and flotation Eric was away.

The look in his big wide eyes as he realised that he could swim and even snorkel is one that Nick will never forget - apprehension, doubt, confusion, amazement and then finally pure joy. There was a lot of cheering as Eric waddled along through the water half dog paddle, half moonwalk.

Eric swam by himself for over forty minutes that day at Lady Musgrave. He was so proud to be able to share his own special treasures with Emily and Ryan just as they had with him on our earlier adventures. He would swim this way and that, stop and point to share his excitment and when required tug on someones wetsuit to get them to see what he had found!

Emily and Ryan shared in Eric's joy. But on the way back Emily told us all that it was not fair that Eric had learnt to swim at Lady Musgrave given she had to learn in a "normal pool''. We all laughed while shivering on the dinghy ride back to Lucey Blue.

Eric then explained his swimming adventure to Mum and asked why his hands had gone wrinkled or as he said "all donkerly". Our youngest duck is growing up fast...

Lucey Blue - Emily and Ryan fishy tales...

Ryan and I have decided we like fishing, it's a long story...so here goes...

Recently we met some other sailors who had been fishing off the back of their yacht. They had caught all kinds of fish (and a seagull) and Ryan and I were eager to join in the fun. 

At first Dad only let us have one rod and Ryan caught two fish (in an hour!) He caught them with the bait the friendly yachties had provided for us. The first fish was a Sooty Grunter and the next was a Bream. Unfortunately they were too small to eat. 

Finally Dad let me get a rod and after a loooooong time with nibbles and stollen bait, but no fish, I finally had success! A huge Dusky Flathead (or as Eric called it...'a fathead')! It was over 50 cm long and big enough to eat, but I decided to let it go, the next one I catch isn't going to be so lucky. 

I have been fishing several times at Lady Musgrave - from the back of the boat and even the dinghy, but I haven't caught anything that we can eat. I nearly caught two awesome fish, but one broke the line and the other swam into the reef and THEN broke the line.

Finally on the 29th of July I had success - well kind of success. When Dad and Ryan were out snorkelling I caught a fish. Mum and I ran around squealing because we had no idea how to deal with fish hooks. I found some pliers and we eventually unhooked the Remora, otherwise known as a sucker fish because it has a large suction cup on its head that helps it stick to things. Despite my earlier promise I let the Remora go as they're not good eating. The next day Ryan caught another Remora. So we are all still waiting for a good fish dinner...