Start Loc: Thirsty Sound (22o 08.63'S, 149o 59.76'E)
Narrative: Heather got up at 5:00am and took anchor watch through the slack tide, checking bearings and depth to make sure we weren’t dragging. We left our anchorage at 9:15am and motored against the incoming tide back to the township of Plum Tree (22o 08.10'S, 150o 01.77'E) where we picked up a swing mooring just off the boat ramp. After picking up and stowing our resupplies we had lunch, before departing at 1:20pm for the Duke Islands. High tide was at 12:15pm, so we had a favourable tide for the sail to the Duke Islands.
Outside the sound we had an ENE breeze of 10-15kts, so we were close hauled on a starboard tack as we sailed on our NNE heading. It was a good sail up to the group of islands, but we had to drop sail for the last 1.5nm and motor into wind to our anchorage on the west side of Hunter Island. There was one cat (FaPeteSake) in the anchorage already, but plenty of room and we were securely anchored by 3:30pm. We managed to get mobile reception ashore, so we should be able to update the blog tomorrow. I am also expecting an email from Nick and Sam from Lucey Blue with some hot tips on the Percy Islands. They went straight to the Percies after we caught up with them at Island Head Creek.
From observations so far, the Duke Islands tides are pretty similar timings and range to Thirsty Sound.
At this stage we will spend tomorrow here as well, and then maybe move to Marble Island, depending on what the winds do. We will then leave the Duke Islands and head up to the Percy Islands.
End Loc: Hunter Island, Duke Islands (21o 58.53'S, 150o 08.37'E)
Distance run: 15 nm (cumulative: 634nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 42 min (cumulative: 68 hr 58 min)