Some confused minutes were spent cruising the Queen Charlotte arm wondering where our fellow boat team had gone – however this was not for lack of power and speed!  The new boat is a great mover.  Had we tuned in our VHF to Marlborough we would have heard Stu M’s directions loud and clear.  Got it sorted with a quick stop at a salmon farm for directions. 

After our first dive everyone had their quota with Stu M dropping us onto a very fruitful location.  Awesome!  John had discovered his dive bag held less than the required dive suit needs for our chilly southern waters!  (Too much of the tropical high life John?)  He had to borrow Stu P’s one piece suit and then Stu M’s top later in the day otherwise he would be going in topless. Ha! Ha!

Jay got into his first scallop dive with vigour and was lucky enough to view a couple of elusive seahorses.

Moved on up to Cape Koamaru for a cray dive but found seas too rough so settled into Onehunga Bay south of the Twins. Diving along this stretch of coast gets you into some serious seaweed forests.  As a new diver I was cautious about getting amongst the wrapping tendrils of these forests.  John had no such qualms about delving into it and came out looking like a sea monster. I hovered above and followed him, venturing in whenever he pointed out something worthwhile to look at or catch. We bagged a few crays in a beautiful stretch of water, on a superb sunny day.

We arrived back on land reasonably early for a debriefing at the Jolly Roger, a successful day had by all.

Cheers
Pauline