Aaahhh....The Bustards!

The forecast for today was for overcast and showers. They were wrong.
It was one of those days where it looked nasty over the mainland but sunny out in the bay.
After several less than summer-like days we took advantage. Winds forecast light from the north in the AM  and 10 kts from the west in the PM. 
A perfect day to take the inflatable canoe out to the Bustard Islands and enjoy tailwinds both ways, theoretically.
On the way out we cut across in front of this guy. (We had right of way). A catamaran of unimaginable beam. Had to be 20 ft wide.

Once again, the water levels allowed us to get into places previously inaccessible. We had to tilt the motor and paddle in some channels. Here are a few of my favorite pics of the day.

We cut through a channel and ended up at the south western tip of the islands. 

Here's view of the lighthouses and the Killarney mountains, looking north-west.

The wind was coming up so we turned into Wicks Channel and found a shortcut to the Gun Barrel anchorage. It was a strange feeling, after several hours of not seeing a soul, in pristine wilderness, and then finding half a dozen yachts in a bay.

The trip back was wild! With the wind from the west now, the swells were up to 2 ft. but, as planned, were from behind. Canoe surfing, oh yeah!

Here's a shot of the GPS screen, showing our track on today's trip. If you're familiar with the Bustards, it will make sense. We covered about 15 miles today, burning about 3 litres of gas on the Tohatsu 6 HP four stroke outboard.

Mary and Bruce are up tomorrow. Looking forward to it. I always catch fish when I'm out with Bruce.