Start Loc: Little Pioneer Bay, Orpheus Island (18o 35.73'S, 146o 29.26'E)
Narrative: Last night was a comfortable night and we all got a good rest. It didn't rain either! It was well after 8:00am when I managed to get the crew out of bed. We dropped the mooring buoy at 9:20am and motored out of the bay.
The BoM has really had trouble with this trough, and normally their forecasts have been pretty good. Despite the northerly winds that were forecast last night, we had southerly winds at about 8kts so we motored south down the western side of Orpheus Island.
As we rounded the bottom of Orpheus Island and turned SE towards Steamer Passage, the passage between Great Palm Island and Eclipse Island, the wind made a corresponding course change and we still had it on our nose as we motored through the passage. Once south of Great Palm Island, the wind was E at around 8kts, so we set sail and motor sailed close hauled on our SE course towards Magnetic Island.
After lunch the wind had freshened to around 11kts and swung NE. We had switched the motor off and sailed happily on a beam reach making 6-7kts over ground. It turned out to be several hours of pleasant sailing, and we sailed into Horseshoe Bay and had the anchor set by 3:52pm.
We took the dinghy ashore and had a drink, and the kids had a play in the park. I have promised to take the kids for a swim in the swimming enclosure tomorrow morning, and then we will sail to Townsville.
End Loc: Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island (19o 06.78'S, 146o 51.68'E)
Distance run: 40nm (cumulative: 2235nm)
Engine hours: 3 hr, 24 min (cumulative: 54 hr, 32 min)