12th Sep Gloucester Passage to Olden Island to Grassy Island 14nm

The morning sun was hot on a flat glassy sea. After a few morning chores and breakfast we raised the anchor and passed through the passage and on to Olden Island. We spent the midday there and had lunch on shore followed by a swim. The days are hotting up and it is certainly cooler on the water than on land. The north wind increased and we decided we should find a better anchorage. 4nm further on is Grassy Island. It has a good anchorage protected by fringing reefs on both sides. Graham and I decided we should get rid of some mackerel carcasses that we had been storing in the freezer for mud crab bait. The only issue is that the mangrove creek is 3nm away. We took off in the dinghies on quite a rough stretch of water and set the traps right on high tide. It was a big tide too and not thinking that the morning high tide would be any different we were making a big mistake. The high in the morning was at 4.50am and about a meter lower. We knew we had made a mistake discussing how many crabs we will get over 5 o’clock drinks.  Chasing these mud crabs had led us to do a stupid thing without planning it first. This meant we would have to go at 6.30am to have any chance of getting the crab traps out or we will have to wait for the next afternoon high tide. I said to Graham it will be all worth it when we get a feed of crabs. It is the crocodiles that make us nervous.