Passengers:
Shaun Rosen, David Rosen, David Ranvernscroft
Early, heading back out again, 12 miles from nowhere. Stars splattered across the sky. No real wind except a bit of land breeze luffing the sails. Looks like swell coming. Barrenjoey is very quiet with only 3 passengers.
We roll into the anchorage under glassy 4-6' waves and no boats. A supposed rarity these days. We surfed and hardly talked to each other. There was only 4 of us out. It became crowded later, we ate Indian food and bolted.
Ended up at a beautiful left where Lofty, Shaun, and Davey surfed themselves out pretty quickly. I remember looking up watching waves peel perfectly and no-one around. Thinking that something is not gelling as all we have heard lately is about how crowded the Mentawais are. This just proves there are still those magic moments.
The simplest solution is for the boats to use their radios and TALK. Compromises can be found at every break. We are the ones on the spot. When the twisters develop, the dark clouds erupt and anchor chains snap, or engines break down, it is comforting to know that some of the other operators are there listening, when some-one calls for help.
Shaun dislocated his finger and had to surf one-handed. But Belinda went down with suspected appendicitis. We had already scored the waves, and decided to go in a day early.
B spent a night in hospital where they wanted to open her up. Maybe that was enough to set her better. She healed and we headed off to an island retreat for much needed maintenance.