Sunday 7 September 2008

The Cruising Mecca – West Bay, Middle Percy

Every cruiser dreams of visiting West Bay, with it’s beautiful beach, the A-Frame hut filled with yacht memorabilia and the endless stream of visiting cruisers for company. We arrived to a packed bay and an invite to the yacht ‘Imagine V’ to share in the huge Queen fish Des caught on the way across.



We suffered a few rolly, miserable days in West Bay, before the weather turned. Simon took full advantage of the professional fisherman who set up camp in West Bay, using their bait and tips and following them miles up the island in big seas and foul weather in our little dinghy in the hope of catching a 8 foot mackerel. Luckily he didn’t catch any as it might have sunk the boat, but he did become very skilled at catching the Queen fish.

Given Simon’s new found skill, Des from Valkyrie decided Simon should go out in the morning, catch a huge haul and invite every boat in the bay to a big BBQ on the beach. Always up for a party Simon willingly obliged and returned at 6am with a dinghy filled with fish and blood. All day was spent preparing and marinating the fish, collecting firewood and cleaning the BBQ area.


A great night was shared with over 30 cruisers and will always be remembered by Simon who received a loud “3 cheers Simon” for catching the fish. We still catch up with many of the boats who came that night and relish the friendships that were formed.


We lingered a while, enjoying the company, the beautiful walks filled with butterflys and birds, snorkelling on the reef, the great fishing, netting for bait and whiting and racing up and down sand dunes. We finally hung our boat memorabilia in the famous A-frame and headed off with a gale warning imminent.



1 comment:

Secret Squirrel said...

Now I'm REALY REALLY jealous....
Thankyou for writing about all your adventures I am loving every minute of it.
Love to you both,
xox eve xox