Billabong: 10th Oct Lady Musgrave

Because we went to bed early we were up early to see the sunrise. It was shaping up to be another beautiful day in paradise. Cannot believe how we have been blessed with such great weather on this entire voyage so far.

After breakfast we took the dinghy to the inside of the outer reef for a snorkel. Eric and Maureen were with me in the dinghy and we found a spot to put the anchor down in a sandy spot. We were getting ready for a snorkel when Maureen decided to do as they do in a dive boat exit with a backward summersault without warning. Eric and I were sitting on one side of the dinghy and of course with our weight the whole lot tipped over. We had the motor upside down. We were trying to right the dinghy but it was too difficult. I grabbed the SUP and knelt on that and got the dinghy back up the right way. Of course, the motor was full of sea water. Lucky Martin and Judy were with us and came to the rescue and towed us back to Billabong. We lost Eric’s mask and snorkel as that went to the bottom. Luckily, I retrieved my hat and sunglasses and my underwater camera was around my neck.

Back at Billabong we quickly took the motor up to the back of the yacht and rinsed all the salt water out around the engine. We drained the fuel tank and that had a heap of salt water in the fuel. We undid the fuel line and filter and got as much water out as we could. Took off the air filter on the carburettor and cleaned that out. Sprayed Inox over all the electrics and waited for it to dry out a bit. Eric suggested to put some small amount of methylated spirit into the fuel tank as that assists in drying up the water.

We sat back for half an hour and had a cup of tea. Maureen was very upset about what she had done to us and we consoled her that everything would be ok.

After many pulls of the cord it finally sputtered into life. Hopefully the engine will be saved.

We put the motor back on the dinghy and took it to shore for our lunch time BBQ of chicken sausages. I was hoping that leaving it in the sun on the beach will dry it out fully and I will spray more Inox into it.

We had a lovely walk through and around the Island. It is much smaller than North West Island.

Under the shade of a tree we had our BBQ sausages. It was warm in the sun and the breeze was gentle and cooling under the tree. We could observe the Turtles and Rays going about their business.

Lady Musgrave Island

At 2 pm we went back to the yachts to prepare for an afternoon snorkel. This time better prepared.

We went to an inside reef in the lagoon and it was pretty. Full of fish and coral. A rather large reef shark circled me so I was able to get a good photo.