Sailing with a Black Snake!

A couple of weeks ago we all headed out to Rumbo, the Holbert brothers Mumm 30, to set up and rig the boat for the Saturday afternoon race with Port Stephens Yacht Club. We had a bit of a surprise waiting for us onboard. A Black Snake had decided to curl up inside one of the sheet bags! Michael Lee had been pulling ropes out of the bag just before i went to stick my hand in there and noticed something moving...

We locked up all the hatches with the kids safely down below decks and out of the way before discussing what next?!?! Clarke Holbert gamely used a big stick to tip the snake out of the bag and it slithered off down the cockpit and dived into the water and swam off. I was surprised it wasn't pissed off at us. Needless to say we'll be checking those sheet bags every time we sail. What the hell would we have done if the thing had appeared out of the bag while we were sailing? How did it get in there in the first place? Rumbo is on a mooring! When Gibbo checked in with the race starter he called 6 POB and a black snake, so we were covered just in case!