Moon Point Hawkes nest beach

Rick enjoying the Sandy atoll of Pelican Bank

Thursday 28th July 2022

We were up early and ready to leave the marina but first we needed to top up water and refuel. Water is easy as it’s just on the dock but for fuel we have to negotiate the anchorage and redocking at the fuel dock. This involved a smart 360 and backing up into the dock with out hitting the ferry on one side and the pylons on the dock on the other. I managed fairly well although had to push boat off the pylon as Rick tied us up.

All fueled up we headed out and had an awesome sail across the bay in about 15-20 kn of wind so it was nice and brisk. So lovely to be back on the water again. We anchored at Hawks beach just north of Moon Point by about 11 am. We spent the rest of the day enjoying the sun, scenery and fishing from the boat. It was so relaxing and enjoyable with perfect weather conditions. It would be wonderful if everyday was like this.

Friday 29th July 2022

Wow what a day of adventuring. We packed a picnic lunch, tea and coffee and took off exploring in Little Puss. We headed down toward moon point and maneuvered our way through a multitude of trees and logs washed up on the shore and in the mouth of a creek or estuary which meandered around a lovely white Sandy islet. We pulled Little Puss up to the beach and went for a wander on squeaky white sand where the washed up sun bleached tree debris created magical shapes that framed the scenery. It was so peaceful here, we could have stayed for hours but unfortunately the tide was receding rapidly and we could have ended up stranded there until the next high tide so we decided to head out . With even less water the negotiation around the trees was even more challenging especially when the driver decides to try and fish under the mangroves at the same time. No fish were caught and we did get out unscathed so all in all successful.

Pelican bank

We headed out to Pelican Bank which was a Sandy atoll we had seen about 2 weeks earlier when we first went to Big Woody island. This was your classic lots of sand with small amount of vegetation out in the middle of nowhere. Times like these I’m so grateful for Little Puss. She is a great tender and will take us anywhere and she made short work out of getting us out there despite a bit of wind and chop.

A brothel of Shags

This little atoll was obviously home to a number of birds with their foot prints everywhere. We arrived at almost low tide so we had a nice long Sandy spit coming out from the central atoll which obviously got covered at high tide. In fact the high tide mark left very little of the island exposed, which is awesome as it washes away all the bird poo! We left little puss on anchor as tide was still heading out and we walked the whole perimeter. What a stunning little piece of paradise. Rick said the flock of birds sitting on the outer reaches of the spit was a “brothel of Shags!”

By the time we got back to Little Puss she was almost high and dry. It takes quite an effort to get her back floating but it wasn’t too bad today and we were soon on our way again.

Sand bank that disappeared at high tide

We headed to the channel to do some fishing and we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying our cuppa and lunch on the drift catching fish every now and then, nothing of size or worth keeping but it was great fun. We even had a pod of dolphins pass by us and a turtle. As we headed back to Nauti Kitty in the late afternoon there was still some sand bank exposed as the tide was not fully in so we went exploring on it and found these awesome crabs that could bury themselves in a matter of seconds. It was so pretty with the sun low in the sky and the ripples of sand causing distinctive shadows across the bar.

Sunset Hawks nest beach

Once back on Nauti Kitty we enjoyed sundowners while watching a magnificent sunset. What an awesome day.