Sailing to Chuna island for the weekend

Friday morning Shahzad sent me a text message asking if I was interested in an overnight fishing/sailing trip. Silly question really "of course" was the returning text message! So that was agreed. "Great, We'll pick you up Saturday afternoon from your apartment".

We went in 2 boats. They are both MacGregor 26's and are well adapted for both power and sail. The idea was to get to Chuna Island about 39 Nautical Miles from the marina club. Shahzad organized for the boats to be sailed from the marina club to Hawks Bay (there was not enough time for us to sail the whole way in such light winds).

We all got on board at Hawks Bay. Loaded all our gear and had a comfortable evening/night on board. Setting off very early next morning. Beautiful weather. Only complaint there was no wind so we had to motor. You can see from the pictures how flat was the sea. We bought some fish of local fishermen at sea. And managed to film a quick video of a local fisherman netting a good catch.

Had super grilled barracuda, squid and a massive assortment of breads, cakes, sandwiches etc etc plus some real coffee. For those of you who have not experienced life at sea, a really good coffee is something not to be missed. Shhzad';s son Afnan caught a Parrot fish. We went in the kayaks, had a swim and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The water was clear and visibility over 5-10 meters. Lots of jelly fish as one of the young kids found out to her dismay!

Unfortunately like all good things it had to come to an end. Going back we returned in a speed boat. Belongs to Ifran who kindly took us all back to Hawks Bay and sadly reality. Hes the one with the shades. (I told him he was going to appear in this posting. He's also a keen diver. If I'm still here in September time I'm off wreck diving for sure.

We got finally home about 6pm on Sunday evening. Real fun and I know there is more to follow.