Fri 24 Aug

Today started like the proverbial calm before the storm. There are some crazy winds forecast for tomorrow, so we decided to use the calm of the morning to do a beach workout. We’d read in the pilot book that there might be cows on the beach here, and we definitely saw some smelly evidence of cow presence, but no cows for us, unfortunately.

With flat seas we took the paddleboards to the beach and back, and after a delicious breakfast it was time to get some work done. The wind picked up around lunch time so we decided to test our newly found paddleboarding skills in the waves which were now rolling through the bay. Paddling through waves is definitely harder, as evidenced by both of us wobbling and taking a dive on more than one occasion. During one of our attempts to battle through the swell we saw something in the water that first looked like one of Camilla’s flippers. Could it be that the wind had picked up one of her flippers and flung it in the water? We went back to the boat to get the ever important snorkeling gear and headed out together on my board. One of the advantages of being a big guy like me is that you can get a massive paddleboard that happily carries two people.

Back at the spot where we saw the USO – unidentified submerged object – Camilla took a dive and came back with a pair of children’s water skis that had been weirdly sticking out of the seabed. As Camilla handed me the skies and tried to climb back onto the board, I saw her eyes widen in considerable panic as she slid back into the water shouting “Oh my god, oh shit, there’s a …” I still had no idea what was going on, and thinking that she had hurt herself I dropped the water skis back into the sea and readied myself to rescue her out of the water. All of this unfolded in a matter of seconds then finally I heard the reason for her bewilderment: “There is a massive octopus next to your left knee!” By the time her words registered in my head and I’d managed to look down the octopus had already made it back into the water, but not before leaving an ink trail across my board. Apparently the skis had been used as a hiding spot for the octopus, and it had not been amused by us lifting it, plus its house, out of the sea. We both laughed so hard that I had problems keeping myself from falling in!

We made it back to the boat, exhausted and still giggling about the odd encounter. The wind continued to build throughout the afternoon, and so did the waves, making staying on board pretty uncomfortable. It’s good that we go into the marina tomorrow as I can imagine it being pretty horrible out here in 50 knots gusts. The rest of the afternoon was spent getting more work done as the sun set and the waves finally calmed down. I wonder if the octopus made it back into it’s ski-house by now?

Oh, and there was this guy flying around in his dinghy cross glider. As you do.