airlie to macona inlet

Birds nest,(fairy martens?) weighs about half a kilo, mud and grass stalks.

mon 23rd august
Decided to sail out to Whitehaven beach and Hill Inlet for a few days. Got a late start on Monday and plodded across toward Hook Island. Although I have only been at anchor at Airlie for a week or so there was a fully formed nest hidden in theinner staysail. The amount of work involved in carrying out all the mud and grass needed to make the nest by such small birds defies description.

There was very little wind at first and I was about the only yacht that decided to keep sailing. Eventually the wind began to pick up near Pioneer rock and "Zen was doing 5 knots in about 8 knots of breeze. Not too shabby for an overloaded cruising cat. "Sasu" came motorsailing up behind and kept me company for a while but dropped back as the wind picked up. Finally decided to call into Macona Inlet as I would not be able to reach Hill Inlet with both a full tide and enough light to navigate my way in. Took some photos of "Sasu" under sail and printed them off to give to Alan tomorrow as I sailed out. Had a peaceful night though the anchorage was full of yachts. It was here that a mackeral leapt on board "Zen" on a previous visit, no doubt being pursued by some predator, and provided a good meal for 4 people. No such luck this time.