12th Roslyn bay to Pancake Creek 76nm

Another early morning departure and a bit earlier than we wanted!! I went to sleep setting the alarm on the phone (as I always do) for 4.30am. We wanted to be away at 5am. However the phone automatically went over to daylight saving NSW time as the phone is registered in NSW. When the alarm went off and I bounded out of bed to check the weather etc I looked at the ships clock and it was 3.30. Oh well we are up - we may as well go. It took awhile to get the brain functioning and all the other body functions that are required before departure and eventually we pushed off at 4.30am trying not to wake the neighbors with the engine noise.

It was a long day and not enough wind to sail unassisted without the motor. Never the less it was pleasant. The trolling lines went out early and by 7am a spotted mackerel was filleted and in the freezer.

10am the line went off again and this time I knew it was a big fish. I immediately put the engine into neutral and we sailed slowly while trying to retrieve the fish. It was a long battle that lasted 20 minutes because it was caught on a very small lure and I did not want the hooks bending or the split rings holding the hooks to let go. We finally sighted the fish near the back of the yacht and it was a Cobia. These are a prized catch and not often caught. They are big and very heavy and can grow to 65kg. Thankfully this one was not that big but still it weighed over 20 kg’s. I was extra carefull and waited until the fish was really tired before finally I was able to gaff it and bring it onto the yacht. The battle was over and it was high fives all round – my first Cobia.

Cobia - great fighters and delightful eating fish.

This was more than enough fish so I pulled the lines in.

It took nearly 2 hours to clean the blood off the boat and fillet it but it gave me something to do and pass the time on this long days passage.

After lunch we had 2 dolphins come and play with us for 30 minutes. These were very big dolphins and they rode the bow wave and had a great time. We had a great time watching them and taking video and still shots. It really capped off the day.

 Playful dolphins riding the bow wave

We arrived at Pancake Creek at 3.30pm on the last of the run in tide so we were able to have an easy bar crossing and go straight into the inner anchorage. It felt good to be there in the safety of Pancake Creek as they were forecasting 20 knot NW winds that night and we had no idea if we would have a comfortable night sleep. Thankfully the strong winds did not eventuate and after cooking a couple of big pieces of Cobia we retired early. It was a long day but what a delightful day. It ticked all the boxes for a great days cruising.