Fog crept in during the night and is just beginning to lift a bit as we pull the anchor, headed for Booker Lagoon, where we’re hoping to get the first prawns of the season.  We’re having to leave early so that we will arrive at Booker Passage, the very narrow entrance to Booker Lagoon, at slack tide.  The seas are flat calm.

We arrived at Booker a little early for slack tide, so we anchored in Cullen Harbour and had breakfast.   About 30 minutes before slack, a dive boat sped by us, headed for the entrance.  It’s hard to believe, but divers seem to fancy Booker Passage.  At slack tide, we pulled the anchor and headed for the entrance. We found the dive boat anchored just inside the entrance, with a diver in the water. These people are crazy!  We were practically in the trees trying to maneuver passed them.

There were no boats inside the lagoon.  We had the whole place to ourselves.  Al said, “I guess Booker isn’t so popular anymore.”  Well, about an hour later, a whole flotilla arrived.  This was the lead boat.

With all the various coves in the lagoon to choose from, this guy anchored just ahead of us.  Then four of his pals arrived and rafted to him.  “Jubilación” is on the far left, just behind the raft.

We lowered the dinghy, first thing, so that Al could set the prawn trap.  I’m really looking forward to our first prawns of the season.  

Late afternoon,  I spotted some mergansers swimming along the shore.  As you can see, they were a little too far away for decent shots.

I decided to go for a paddle, hoping to catch up with the mergansers.  While I was suiting up, Al said, “Look.  There’s a bear on the beach.”  So, I grabbed my camera and headed for shore.  The wind was blowing against the tide, creating very choppy seas.  I took lots of photos, but they were all throwaways, except for this one, which isn’t exactly in focus, but it’s the best I could do.  Very frustrating.

The bear eventually saw me and headed for the trees.  So, I paddled in the direction he was headed, hoping he would appear again in the next cove.  Paddling with all that chop and wind was not fun, but I persevered for about an hour and then gave up and headed downwind, back to the boat.