10 49.9 S 141.48.1 E

Left Possession Island anchorage at 10 am….sailed under light winds until 2 pm….and then no more. Had to turn on the engine….now at 3:30 pm  we are still stuck with burning diesel.  True wind speed is less than 2 kts…..nothing sailable in that. At least the wind direction has returned to the South East so now we just have to hope for the strength to build.

Another member  ( Frank – S/V Tahina) of our close friends sailing community has a medical issue: somehow he developed a bad eye infection that seems to have advanced to an ulcer like condition. He had to catch a plane from the Lizard Island airstrip this morning to get to a hospital in Cairns for an assessment of what needs to be done.  The expectations are that he will need specialized antibiotics and may , in fact, need surgery. If the surgery has to be done, the recovery time may cause him to abandon the plans that he and Karen have had to be in the Sail Indonesia rally with us. http://www.tahinaexpedition.com/blog

No new reports from Helen re Steve (S/V Dignity). http://aboarddignity.com/blog/?page_id=1336

All is fine with us; flat seas ….easy going…only problem is burning diesel….and the noise of an engine running instead of the normal peace and tranquility of sailing downwind. 

All forecasts show the wind settling in where we want it this evening and then we will have to find something else to complain about.

From the briny deep….your Seamisters