On_Board_553_Decembe.. - Mana Cruising Club

So Rob dropped me off to another gully and I started off on my afternoonwalk. I had a cunning plan and it was all going extremely well until the windchanged direction and my only option involved some steep bluffs that didnot look great. Plan B was quickly decided and it proved to be a good one.I managed to get a hind and a spiker on the way back to the beach, leavingonly a 20 to 30 metre drag.Rod picked me up on the beach as arranged, only to inform me that Brookhad not made it to hispick up point and wasnow an hour late. All ofour thoughts were nowon Brook and his $6 headtorch. Rob went off foranother look and againcame back alone. It wasdecided that Martinwould stay on board whileOrton and I would getdropped off where Brookwas supposed to end upand walk the oppositeloop. Luckily as we rounded the point we could see Brook’s head torch and I-Phone glowing. He was trying Google Earth to see where hewas! A quick trip back to boat and SHOWERS! Great thing to have on a boat. Dinner was a lovely lasagne that I had made in the afternoon(see it wasn’t just bad weather that kept me in, I was making dinner for our guests).Then off for an early night and an early morning start thanks to Orton having left his alarm set for 4 am. Friday’s weather didn’t improvemuch so we stayed close and had a go at white baiting, catching a whole 6 fish! We tried to get a decent dive in but the water was filthy andhad a reasonable swell still. The afternoon saw the intrepid hunters off again, this time in groups of two. The new spots were not as good andOrton and Martin didn’t see much of anything. Brook and I managed to spook a deer at close range and then had pigs very close but we justcouldn’t see them. It was an exciting ten minutes listening to them though. We came across a heap of fresh pig sign on the way down and itwas obvious they had been there for a while.Another good night on board and a few two many rums saw a slow start to Saturday. Another go at white baiting saw another 3 fish addedto the tally. The weather was good so we headed off to Stephens for a dive then off to try to catch a groper on the way home. The crays andgroper weren’t forthcoming but the deer were. What a fantastic trip! The weather wasn’t great but the trip was well worth the effort. A fewnew activities were tried and it gave us options and ideas for the next trip .....Thanks Rob and Southern Cross for a great trip and we look forward to the next one - and of course those tuna are still there!11