Start Loc: Keswick Island (20o 54.78'S, 149o 25.08'E)
Narrative: We spent yesterday off Keswick Island, and ran the engine for 23 minutes for hot water.
We decided that today we would move to Scawfell Island (about 10nm NE) and anchor in Refuge Bay. While the forecast was for SE to NE winds and Refuge Bay is exposed to NE weather, the forecast was also for 5 to 10kts, so we decided to chance it. We set off at 2:05pm in winds less than 5kts, so we motored the whole way with no sails up. Given the weather, the solar panels have not produced much over the last couple of days, so we needed to put some charge in the batteries anyway. With the lack of wind, the water was so smooth Heather was able to take a photo of her reflection in the water at the bow of the boat.
When we were about 2.5nm ENE of St Bees Island, Heather spotted a whale about half a mile off our starboard bow moving north. We maintained our course and ended up about 100m west of what turned out to be an adult humpback and her calf. We paralleled them for a while and got some reasonable photos and video footage, before letting them get ahead and continuing on our way.
As we came into Refuge Bay to anchor, we were amazed at the number of turtles we saw in a short amount of time. We were securely anchored by 4:30pm in plenty of water off the fringing reef, with the anchor in sand.
End Loc: Refuge Bay, Scawfell Island (20o 51.65'S, 149o 35.89'E)
Distance run: 13 nm (cumulative: 763nm)
Engine hours: 2 hr, 47 min (cumulative: 78 hr 20 min)