Continuing North

Where Next?
Bob Williams
Sun 1 Sep 2013 07:25
1700 Position: 27 30.35 S 153 21.55 E
Course: North Speed: 5 knots
Wind: East sou’ east F3 gentle breeze
Weather: sunny, mild

I woke up at six this morning. Despite having enjoyed the evening with Chris and his family aboard the good ship Equinox the previous night, the sound of the flag flapping to a wind shift into the south seemed to be sufficient to wake me up. I had breakfast, started securing Sylph for sea, and, once it was a more reasonable hour, rowed over to say farewell to Chris and Cathy (their daughters were still asleep). Thence it was back to Sylph, hoist and secure the dinghy, weigh anchor, set sail, and we were under way just before nine o’clock. By this time the breeze had picked up a little more. We sailed around the eastern side of Peel Island so as to avoid having to beat to windward, negotiated the bars that encumber the southern part of Moreton Bay, and, once clear, bore away on a broad reach to the north.

Now we have just cleared the shoals at the northern entrance of Moreton Bay, and, now that we are back out into open ocean, Sylph is rolling gently to the long low swell that is coming around the top of Moreton Island. A strong wind warning has just been issued on the radio for tomorrow afternoon, so I expect we will make good quite a few miles over the next couple of days or so.
All is well.$