Sailing in Moreton Bay

We've been sailing! Our friends Derek and Sheree have a yacht up in Brisbane, and they invited us up to go sailing with them. Their yacht is a Seawind 1160 Catamaran. We spent four days sailing around Moreton Bay.
Day 1
We left Manly Boat Harbour and headed towards the Sand Hills on Moreton Island. We decided to hoist the spinnaker as a trial and it made us go with such pace that we got there and found that it was only early afternoon. We therefore decided to continue north to Tangalooma where there is a resort and some wrecks which make for great snorkelling. After snorkelling around the wrecks for while, we anchored off the beach and put a lamb roast on before heading ashore in the dinghy. They have a dolphin feeding activity at the resort and we lined up on the wharf along with many others to watch the dolphins being fed by the tourists. We decided that the dolphins were the more intelligent of the two species on display in the water, as both were lining up but it was the dolphins that were getting some fish out of the deal whereas the humans walked away with nothing. Hmmm...
Day 2
We ventured ashore again and took a walk around the resort. We just missed the breakfast sitting, but decided that we could create something better on the boat anyway. We did pick up some essential cocktail-making supplies ashore, then headed back to the boat and cooked up a feast of bacon, eggs, tomato, zucchini and eggplant on the BBQ, with toast. We then set sail for the Sand Hills where we anchored for the night. But first, a hike to the top of the "Big Sand Hill" and then a rather more rapid descent back to the bottom. We really needed a skim board or similar to take full advantage of the slope though. Perhaps an old pair of skis or a snowboard would have worked well? Then BBQ salmon for dinner -- yum!
Day 3
Heading south, we had a good sail down to Peel Island, with some more experimenting with the spinnaker getting us up to around 9 knots of boat speed with the nor-easterly behind us. After lunch and some snorkeling and then a walk on the beach, we decided we may as well stay there for the night (along with around 40 other boats that had the same idea).
Day 4
We awoke to the realisation that we would have to go home today. Not to be discouraged, we had a hearty breakfast of poached eggs on a vegetable stack and then headed further south to Blakesley, where we attempted to make up some new ball games to play in the water. Then it was time to head back home, and we were delighted to find that the wind had gone round to the north-east and so we were able to sail all the way home (cooking some steaks on the barbie en route).

All in all, a wonderful trip. Here's a video of us under sail on day 3:

Thanks so much to Sheree and Derek for their hospitality!