1 August 2011
Whit and Eric camped out on the beach for the night, fighting off the hermit crabs and rain, whilst we had a lovely night on board Pegasus, just the Jackson Four. We lay on the trampoline and watched 6 or 7 shooting stars before heading to bed. In the morning, we didn't see the manta rays, but there is always tomorrow! Eric and Whit were invited by some fishermen to go spearfishing with them and were in big boy heaven, hunting and gathering for the day. We told them not to come back unless they had something for dinner, which they duly did - red snapper, parrot fish, grouper and an octopus for dinner. The boys gutted, scaled and filleted the fish (definitely a blue job) and then went about cutting up the octopus. Not an easy job. I was rapidly running out of cooking books and none of them said how to cook an octopus. When they gave up the task because the octopus was just too damn slippery, we chucked it overboard and quickly attracted a couple of reef sharks. Exciting stuff. We spent the next hour or so baiting the sharks and got some good close up encounters (all from the safety of the boat!!) Then, another evening with a fire on the beach, fish, wine, bread, hermit crabs (they were the entertainment not the food!) Another perfect day. I felt truly privileged to experience what I did today. No other boat in the anchorage, just the sound of the waves on the beach and the sea birds. A beautiful bay.