The Baynhams

It's Saturday and we woke up at 7am to blue skies and a flat calm lake!

What more could we ask for to take the boat for its first spin around Lake Maquarie. It took us 2 hours of running around dressing the kids cozy, making flasks of coffee, packing spare hats and blankets, phone calls back and forth to Anne and Kel. Then finally we were on the road!

We found a really calm deserted boat ramp in Styles Point where Byron and Kel were able to take their time working out the finer points of reversing a six metre trailer in a straight line (easier said than done!) The boat floated off the trailer without a murmur and we were afloat. There was blue sky in one direction but grey clouds in the other so we prepared ourselves for a short spin around the lake.

Byron looked so chuffed behind the wheel. The adrenaline was pumping as we spent the next couple of hours breaking the boat in. We stopped at Rathmines and got a big bag of fish and chips. Just as we were about to tuck in we saw the most unexpected and amazing site...A dolphin swimming around near the boat.

We started the engine up as we know that there is a dolphin in the area who loves to swim alongside moving boats. Sure enough the dolphin spent the next hour chasing in the wake of our boat, twisting and turning in the water so close to us we could almost touch him. Every time he jumped clear out of the water the kids squealed in excitement. It was magical. We finally slowed down and tucked in to the fish and chips washed down with coffee and beer and decided to head back to shore. Byron and Kel did a marvellous job getting the boat on the trailer almost effortlessly! What a brilliant first day on the water. Hopefully the first of many more to come!