This morning when we got up, it was a remarkably beautiful day. The skies were blue, the sun was just coming up over the ridge that plunges into the anchorage, and the winds were behaving themselves. It certainly looked like the perfect day to motor the three nm over to the western side of our island so we could start enjoying the various dive spots there.

As my coffee was brewing, I fired up the shortwave radio and my computer so that I could download the latest weather report from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. I do this religiously, every morning. It is a text report and gives a large scale synopsis as well as a local three day forecast. Today’s report mimicked the report it gave yesterday. It said: Weather Situation. A high [1028 hPa] near Victoria will continue to move slowly eastwards over the next few days and weaken a little. The high will maintain a ridge along the east. Northern Queensland coast: Central Coast Waters, Bowen to St Lawrence: Wednesday until midnight: Winds: SE 15 to 20 knots, reaching 20 to 25 knots at times offshore during the afternoon and evening. Seas: 1.7 to 2.2 metres. Swell: Less than 1.5 metres. Scattered showers. Thursday: Winds: SE 15 to 20 knots, reaching 20 to 25 knots at times offshore. Seas: 1.7 to 2.2 metres. Swell: Less than 1.5 metres. Scattered showers. Friday: Winds: SE 15 to 20 knots, reaching 20 to 25 knots at times offshore.

By 0900 we were the only ones in the Butterfly Bay anchorage and the winds had stopped and it was just a beautiful day. We sat there enjoying our views and solitude until 1100 when we too said goodbye to our beautiful spot. As we rounded the northern part of the island and made for the channel that runs between Hayman Island and Hook Island, the winds picked up and were blowing against us at 30 knots. We fired up the second engine to keep our speed up at 6 knots.

As we rounded the top of Hook Island, Langford Island came into view just 2 nm in front of us. It has a long reef with a beach that forms a spit trending SE from the island. It is over ½ mile long and it is supposed to have beautiful coral to snorkel on. My mouth was watering with the anticipation of spending hours drifting along the reef with the current.

In no time we were at Stonehaven anchorage and tied up to a free mooring buoy. The winds were still blowing and the waters were rather rolly. Mary Margaret did a great job easing us up to the buoy and holding our position despite the strong winds and choppy seas. Even though it was sunny, the winds and seas ruled out our taking the dinghy over to Langford Island to go diving today. Plus, Mary Margaret’s ear really needed another day of staying out of the water.

Oh well, we thought we would just enjoy the sun and this anchorage today and go diving tomorrow....NOT!

In an hour, dark clouds were swooping down from the mountain peaks in front of us and this wet stuff started falling from the skies, pelting our boat with water. Darn! The scattered showers had arrived. However, as it turns out, they were not scattered at all. Since the rain started, it has been just about non-stop and, at times, heavy. Now, we really don’t usually mind the rain (however, I do get a bit antsy after a few days of being cooped up on the boat) but we were so looking forward toward some nice diving. After all, that is the main reason we are spending so much time in the Whitsundays.

As I write this, we are getting ready for bed and the rain continues to pour down. I am not hopeful that we will be diving anytime during the next few days… Boo Hoo! On the positive side…we do have great Internet access here. Hooray! I will spend some time catching up on posting the pictures we have taken so far.