We left Exmouth Wednesday morning and finally arrived at Turtle Bay Friday afternoon after more than 340NM on the log. The wind slowly died out on Thursday evening and swung to the north west with the low pressure system moving in. We even experienced our first WA rain as we approach the bay. Friday we sailed into a glassed over Shark Bay and lost count with the number of whale encounters, the most we have seen yet! Thankfully the majority were at a comfortable distance but two occasions the heart started racing as we once again crossed these massive mammals too closely and watched as they skated away from under the boat in the clear West Australian waters. We arrived around 2pm feeling comfortable in the gentle seas and well rested with the 2hr watch system during the night working well between the three us. Not long after we had the anchor set and Bryan announced that it was his birthday! We had been trying to find out which day to no avail so we set to work at making the remainder of the day as pleasant as possible for Uncle FOS. Kieran went forward to try his luck at fishing while we shared a drink, and then it was on - Kieran had hardly let his line hit he water when he was pulling in a snapper. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the foredeck with Kieran and Drina pulling in, measuring and filleting snapper. Dinner was beer battered snapper fillets followed by lamingtons with jam and cream as birthday cake. Happy Birthday Uncle FOS J.

The next morning we woke to find Illusion had arrived during the night and had anchored nearby. A day of rest was in order after the long sail from Exmouth so we went ashore to explore, search for more shells and a swim (or in Drina's case a quick body surf). Kieran finding the hugest and most perfect Carrie shell we have ever seen. Later that day Kieran was fishing from the stern off Bella and caught a huge Blue Bone using the crabs he had caught on the beach as bait. The boys then went off in the dinghy and returned with a couple more snapper to add to our Blue Bone dinner. We decided to share the feast on the beach that evening so we set to work at getting a bon fire going. We had a most enjoyable evening on the beach around the fire in the company of Illusion. This is definitely one of our more memorable evenings of the trip yet.