Lizard Island Day 14

Where Next?
Bob Williams
Mon 7 Oct 2024 04:46
At anchor Watsons Bay, Lizard Island
Wind: SE, F4-5 - moderate to fresh breeze
Sea: rippled Swell: nil
Weather: sunny, warm

We are still here at anchor off Lizard Island waiting for the relentless SE trade wind to start to break up or at least to weaken. Sunday came and went with no significant abatement in the wind and looking at the weather prognostications the next opportunity to start heading south might be tomorrow afternoon, though according to the forecast this will merely be a slight easing in the strength of the wind, not a shift in direction. Local sailors have told me that in the last few years they had experienced several days of light winds and calms by now; however, I have also been told that the BOM had predicted a longer period of strong trade winds this year.
My plan is to assess conditions tomorrow morning and if there is any easing in the wind then to get underway, probably in the afternoon, for an overnight sail to Cooktown. And if this opportunity to head south does not materialise then we will likely be stuck here for at least another week. On the bright side, one could be stuck in worse places.
All is well.