They mate on the surface with the male behind and above. Thus the female is pushed under the water. She has to struggle to get in a breath from time to time. Try doing that at home! We closed right in. It was an incredible, ungainly sight. How many people can claim to have seen a turtle’s penis? (surprisingly large!).

They finished their business. I was shocked when the normally docile male swam straight at me, his huge beak open and threatening. I turned and swam quickly away. He followed. I got really scared, but eventually he broke off and went his own way. They are so fast under water he could have mowed me down if he had wanted to. Next time I won’t get so close.

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TO THE REEF...continued

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We approached the south west corner of the island, recommended as an anchorage in NE winds. Again there were no other boats to be seen. I was standing on the bow looking into the water, Leanne was on the helm. We closed to within a boat length of the coral walls but the water depth never fell below 20 metres. It was inky dark and threatening, and I couldn’t see what was on the bottom. Too intimidating. We turned to the north and motored carefully along the western edge of the reef, close in. The bottom rose up to meet us. Eventually, when directly opposite the island, we crept over a sandy promontory six metres down and in water clear as a bell. Gratefully we dropped the anchor.

After two days at Wistari we moved to Masthead Island (below). This is a small sandy island with trees and an attractive fringing reef. A feature of the island is the birdlife. Because it has permanent land, the place is a massive seabird rookery. At times the sky over the island is dark with birds, mostly Common Noddies.

The snorkelling around the outer walls at low tide was terrific. Very easy and accessible, in only three to four metres of water. There were many lovely underwater overhangs, ledges, arches and chasms, all teeming with colourful fish.

It was late in the afternoon when we returned to Masala. A strong southerly front was forecast for next morning, so we knew we had to get out of there and sail to Gladstone for shelter. The tide was beginning to turn and Masala had started to swing with it. This made me nervous as I was worried about the chain wrapping around a coral outcrop. So we motored the dinghy forwards from Masala’s bow to check for any problems, easily following the lie of the anchor chain in the sand six metres down. Sure enough, the way Masala was swinging, the chain stood a chance of getting caught. There followed a controlled panic to get back to the boat, get the snorkel gear and wetsuits on board, get dressed, get the dinghy up, retrieve the anchor and get underway. Done in record time, departure at 5pm.

Now we had another problem. While Leanne sailed Masala I rapidly calculated distances and tides. Although Gladstone Harbour is large, the channel we would be using was narrow with lots of obstacles, and with very strong currents. We had never been through it before, so I wasn’t game to risk it in the dark. Plus the tide would be ebbing, a bad thing since it would be difficult to motor against, as well as making the seas stand up. Again not something to chance in the dark.

Sufficient daylight and suitable tides would not occur until 5am in the morning. Thus we had 12 hours (ten hours of darkness) to kill and only 25 miles to sail. We had no choice but to sail around all night.