Our little group went south east to Peel Islands, (as forecast was NE 15-20 kn.) last month (November). This has a beautiful sandy bay on its southern side. Four boats ventured forth and even with a reef in the main, my Mirror romped along on a broad reach, planing most of the time. We reached Horseshoe Bay about 11.30 am, some two and a bit hours after launching. The other boats had families of children aboard, so we all had a lazy afternoon, sunbathing or resting in the shade or cooling off in the water when the sun was too hot! On the radio we heard a warning of a thunderstorm building up in the ranges west of us and were able to enjoy, from a safe distance initially, the sight of this great blanket of turbulent black clouds spreading right across the horizon.

We had dinner safely cooked on our communal camp-fire on the beach before the rain eventually reached us and had the unusual experience of lying on our beds in our hikers tent with the door flaps wide open watching a tremendous and awesome display of nature's power - great flashes of lightning, claps of almost deafening thunder, and the rain pouring down, but, oddly, no wind with it. A southerly change was forecast for the Sunday, but that was not to be. The north-easter persisted, but weakened with the day, and we had a fairly easy course, full and by, back to our launching spot, once we had made enough northing along the South Stradbroke Island shore.

A G Loveday Toowoomba, Queensland