We had an excellent reach from Steamboat to the Montibellos. Setting off at 2:00am and sailed through the early hours. Daylight brought us within sight of the islands and the SE passage waypoints. Its a bit of dog leg to get in, up between the outer reef (SE side) and the islands, then sharp to port and through the deepish gap between Daisy (south) and Dot (north). Once through its a slow curve round towards Trimouille Island and Main Bay anchorage.

Up till now we have come across good protected anchorages on one side of an isolated island or another, like Long Island - part of a small group, but the focus is on the single island. The Montibellos are completely different! The islands all seem (and are) connected and encase many stretches of protected waterways and lagoons. Despite the lack of trees it is a complete and connected environment with an abundance of marine life and (to me surprisingly) a number of island animals, although I only saw tracks as evidence of this, all the islands we stopped on had some form of wallaby on them. DEC it appears has done a good job in eradicating rats! they have even put up a memorial to that event on Hermite Island.

We stayed three nights in the Montibellos. The first in Main Bay off Trimouille Island then, as the forecast was for continuing strong easterlies we moved into inside the protected arms of Hermite Island, trying, in vain, to anchor in Willy Nilly Lagoon (book should perhaps read 'small shallow draft cats only!).

Our anchorage was between Willy Nilly and Brandy and it provided a good base to explore Hermite and the DEC camp. Interestingly Hermite has a profusion of spiders on it, whereas Trimouille does not appear to have any (at least not the large variety seen on Hermite). I can only conclude that this is perhaps the only positive outcome of the atomic testing done in the 50's. One of the explosions was just offshore from Trimouille and the other on the island itself. (photo of me at cairn).

The scenery of the place, its rocky outcrops encasing delightful beaches, is quite unique (at least in my experience). Its a welcoming sort of place providing visiting yachts with plenty of options for protected anchorages and a plethora of islands to explore. One of the few downsides is that it is difficult to find a spot where you do not have the view of one of the many gas rigs surrounding the place.

Another downside was the sharks! I was psyching myself up for a snorkeling expedition in turtle lagoon when I spotted a 3 metre shark cruising backwards and forwards in the shallows. My temerity was further reinforced when a passing Fisheries officer told us that there would be plenty more, including bronze whalers and (my personal nightmare) bull sharks. The other fisheries guy also added that there could also be great whites about!

On the last day we moved back across to Trimouille, this time anchoring off Gladstone Point, to view the test site there. We had a small incident with a rope round the prop which necessitated my doning wet suit and entering the water to free it. Not a worry really but I could not shake off the Fisheries guys comments and had nervous eyes everywhere. I didnt take my time on the job, or go for a cruise in the shallows afterwards!

After taking the requisite photos standing next to the Atomic cairn, we set sail for an overnight run back to Long Island.