First order of the morning was to complete the reassembly of the hookah and test it out. Just before Ben and I were were planning to get in the water we received a call from Sea Mist. They were planning to head round to the east side and wondered if we were planning to go too. Our original plans were to head over that way but at that point we weren’t sure.
We fired up the hookah and Ben and I headed over to a nearby coral outcrop. I can’t remember the hookah working so well. It ran smoothly, the air tasted fresh and the pressure remained constant down to 40ft. We spent about half an hour rooting around the outcrop before heading back to the boat. I hadn’t topped up with gasoline/petrol so I didn’t want to run out.
Back on the boat we agreed that a midday passage to the east side was on so we contacted Sea Mist and arranged to stay in touch. Their Oyster motors a little faster than Dignity so we suggested they go ahead but we’d report any findings to each other. They also have an AIS transceiver which meant we could not only see their position on our chart plotter we could also see their track.
The first tricky section was near the cardinal marker in the NE corner of the reef. Sea Mist had traversed this section ahead of us and drawing 8ft rather than our 4ft their experience gave us a lot of confidence. The charts we both have suggest a snaking path around the south of the cardinal marker and to the north of the red marker. The local charter guides suggested something different so it was good to know a path that was clear of really shallow water. That being said it was all around 10-12ft deep with the occasional coral outcrop.
About a mile to the SE was a very tight marked channel through the reef. Sea Mist had opted to stay east of the reef and find a way through the shallows to the south. I decided to try the channel as the visibility was excellent. It was a little scary as the bottom was rock, not sand, and with the crystal clear water it looked shallower than it was. The navigable channel was narrow but even with our beam we squeezed through.
Once through we were back in deep water and were able to ramp up our speed again. Sea Mist, at this point, were now running quite slowly trying to pick a way through the shallow waters around them. We could see where they’d abandoned one possible pass into deep water and were trying alternates. All through this we kept in touch.
Sea Mist’s progress had now dropped them way back and we arrived at our planned anchorage before they found their way out of the shallows. We radio’d them to make sure they were ok. John reported that they had just reached the deeper water and were on their way over to where we were. Knowing they were ok we dropped the dinghy and headed out to go snorkeling on the reef a mile or so to our SE.
The area we chose to snorkel was in 4-8 feet next to extensive ranges of coral. The water was crystal clear which meant it felt like swimming in an aquarium. The sea life comprised only small fish and not too many at that so in that respect it was a little disappointing. We spent nearly two hours away from the boat so we must have enjoyed ourselves. Back at the boat I spent a little extra time snorkeling around a coral head about 100ft off our stern while Ben and Helen warmed up.
Once I was done we noticed that Sea Mist was not in the anchorage. We first thought they may have chosen an anchorage around the corner. We hailed them to make sure they were ok and discovered they had been stuck in the sand since we last spoke to them. I immediately offered assistance. They had called a few times while we were away from the boat and welcomed the offer. They had been using their dinghy to try kedging as well and/or extra thrust and were almost out of gasoline. I took Ben and some spare gas over to them as well as our snorkeling gear in case we needed to get in the water.
They’d had plenty of time to work things out. They had sounded around the boat and knew their way out. They’d managed to turn the boat around and had the sails out to help tilt the boat. Having refueled their dinghy we first tried using both dinghies to kedge the boat sideways and slightly forward. Ideally we would use the dinghies in reverse but our tilt lock was not working so we had to try forward. Each time we took the strain we ended up turning in the wrong direction.
We next tried with Ian kedging and me assisting from the bow. By now I’d figure out the directional problem. As soon as the dinghy took the strain the steering reversed. We began to make progress. Inch by inch Sea Mist began to work her way out of the sand. After about 15 minutes of slow progress Sea Mist was free. They quickly dropped their sails and started heading for where we knew the deep water would be. We’d brought the portable depth sounder so we stayed ahead of them sounding the water. At times there was only a foot or so spare but there were no show stoppers. Soon they were in the deep water. Knowing they were now quite safe and sticking to the deep water we dinghied back to Dignity where we dried off and cracked open well deserved beers.
Sea Mist had planned on inviting us over yesterday evening but for obvious reasons this has been postponed until this evening. We’ll have much to discuss, most certainly in good humour.
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