Start Loc: Fitzroy Island (16o 55.78'S, 145o 59.29'E)
Narrative: Today was another long, slow day. I wanted to get a reasonably early start, and it was 7:48am that we raised the anchor. We motored down the west side of Fitzroy Island so I could confirm the wind direction before setting sail. It was blowing basically from the south at 10-12kts, with seas around 1.5m. I figured that the wind would bear more to the SE later in the day and the further south we got, so I decided to head out. We set full sail and sailed SE towards Stagg Patches. I had to tack back in to get around Scott Reef, but then continued SE until past Flora Reef.
It was a little after 1:00pm that we tacked back SW. The wind had dropped to around 8kts, so we motor sailed to keep some speed. By mid-afternoon the wind had swung SE and picked up to 12kts again, so we had an hour and a half or so of great sailing before the breeze dropped to less than 10kts again and we had to motor sail. We maintained this tack until we were close to the coast just north of Mourilyan Harbour, then dropped sail and motored the last few miles. We got in just after sunset, and anchored at 7:08pm. Heather started dinner while the kids and I got set up for the evening.
Fitzroy Island to Mourilyan Harbour is 42nm by the rhumb line. We covered 44nm in a little less than 8 hours on the way up, but it took us 57nm and almost 12 hours on the way back! I look forward to northerly winds.
Speaking of which, the forecast has changed. There is some uncertainty with the trough and the wind should now change tomorrow afternoon rather than overnight tonight. It suits me as tomorrow is a reasonably short hop to Stephens Island, but some northerlies would be nice after that.
End Loc: Mourilyan Harbour (17o 36.14'S, 146o 07.30'E)
Distance run: 57nm (cumulative: 2093nm)
Engine hours: 3 hr, 44 min (cumulative: 38 hr, 29 min)