We upped anchor early after breakfast with no trouble and headed out of Cid Harbour (with some slight apprehension) North North West to head up the Western Side of Hook Island to Butterfly Bay for lunch. Again if the weather is good, we might stay the night, otherwise, we plan to return to Cid Harbour, where we know it is safe and protected, for the night.
It was an absolutely beautiful day and relatively calm. Seas were less than 1m as we rounded the point in the Whitsunday Passage for the short trip up the side of Hook Island. No-one was sea sick thank goodness. Wind was 15knots with the occasional gust to 20knots. It was quite pleasant and a comfortable trip (approx. 15n) to Butterfly Bay past Stonehaven Anchorage and through the small gap between Hayman Island and the North Western tip of Hook Island. The roughest part was that passage, and it was not too bad or too rough.
There was good protection from the wind and waves when entered deep into Butterflybay (which we had surprisingly all to ourselves initially) and picked up one of the moorings. This was the first mooring we had picked up since leaving Sydney.
The mooring was less than 50m from the edge of the coral, so we all put our snorkeling gear on and swam over to the edge of the reef. We brought along the old foam boogie board that Jasmine had found at Molloolabar and kept so far to provide a point for everyone to rest on.
The coral was again covered in quite a bit of silt as a result of the Cyclone, but there was plenty to see. There were many schools of fish of all different types and the rocks had heaps of small clams. The Nicholas and Jasmine by this time were quite proficient snorkelers and they dived down looking into all the nooks and crannies at the fish and other aquatic life. The water temp was only 22 degrees and was not as high, surprisingly, as the 25 degree water off Lady Musgrave. We all soon were cold and headed back to the Yacht.
Daddy unstrapped the scuba tanks from the deck, put on his wetsuit and set up his gear for a scuba dive. While everyone else had some lunch, Daddy snorkeled over to the coral reef and started a dive heading deeper into the bay following the edge of the reef. The water was quite shallow, only 9m under the keel.
Daddy saw lots of fish. The bottom was sand but covered in a fine silt from the storms. Under a large outcrop of rock, was a large crayfish. There were hard and soft corals and many schools of fish. The corals and fish were wonderful, however were not as plentiful as those on Lady Musgrave.
After approx. 45min, and feeling a bit cold, Daddy finished off his dive, snorkeled back to the yacht and after putting all the gear away, enjoyed lunch with the rest of the family.
While we were in the bay, three other vessels arrived. A large sailing yacht, filled with tourists, a 42 foot hire cat and a scuba diving boat, who also dropped divers down to explore the reef.
Daddy and Mummy decided to head back to the central protected Cid Harbour while the weather was good, as higher winds were predicted for the next few days. In Butterfly Bay you are only permitted to stay for a short period on the moorings.
It was again a beautiful trip back, wind was in the low 20's with an occasional gust in the higher 20's, waves were under 1m. It allowed everyone to enjoy and relax as we made our way back into Cid Harbour.
On the way, we took a small detour to the East along the Southern edge of Hook Island up to the passage between Hook and Whitsunday Island and arrived just as it fell dark and anchored near a couple of "party" boats full of tourists all obviously anchored for the night with their loud rock and roll music clearly heard across the water. It must be admitted, Daddy and Mummy did not recognize any of the songs, but the passengers all seemed to enjoy it based on the yelling and laughing.
We pulled out the last of our fishing bait and once again settled down for a fish; Jasmine again wanting to do the baiting with Daddy and Nicholas fishing. We pulled in the same three types of fish we had caught in Cid Harbour but we also caught a long "gar" style fish and a good size pink brim (edible). We let them all live another day. It was now getting late and we had to do approx. 8nm to get back to the anchorage for the night in Cid Harbour (away from the party boats). Young people and their loud music! Chortle chortle.
Once again we arrived in the dark, and we anchored as close as we could to the shore and the other vessels.
A shower, dinner and quick show before bed.