Light Head Winds

Where Next?
Bob Williams
Wed 9 Oct 2024 02:09

Noon Position: 15 52.1 S 145 28.6 E
Course: SSW Speed: 4 knots
Wind: SE, F3 - gentle breeze
Sea: slight Swell: negligible
Weather: mostly sunny, warm
Day's run: 92 nm sailed, 64 nm made good

The last 24 hours have unfolded pretty much as expected and as I had hoped. The wind gradually eased overnight, though has remained firmly in the SE. This has made for mostly pleasant sailing, despite being a headwind, and I am happy with our progress, despite being overtaken this morning by another yacht, Comfortably Numb, that left Lizard Island six hours after Sylph. I had a chat with Leonie, one of her crew, on VHF as they closed with us and was comforted (though not to the point of numbness) by the fact that they had motor sailed the whole way, whereas we have sailed the whole way.

The forecast is for light SE winds for today and tomorrow before picking up to moderate to fresh on Friday, so I want to find somewhere to shelter before then. At the moment the best plan (suggested by Leonie) appears to be to pick up a public mooring off Low Islets for the night then proceed into Port Douglas tomorrow morning. We won't arrive off Low Islets until late tonight but at least I should be able to get a good night's rest. Sailing among these reefs, especially when working up wind, and crossing paths with merchant ships means I get very little sleep, so I don't want to push my luck and allow myself to get overtired. (I wonder how much sleep James Cook had to survive on while trying to keep the HMB Endeavour safe in what were then totally uncharted waters - not a lot I suspect.)

All is well.