Noon position: 36 20.9 S 150 16.4 E
Course: S Speed: 9 knots
Wind: ENE F4, moderate breeze
Sea: slight Swell: NE 2 m
Weather: sunny, mild
Day's run: 151 nm

The fair NE breeze freshened during the afternoon and slowly backed into the north. At 1300 I handed the code zero and at 1600 put a reef in the main. At 2200 I reduced sail further to two reefs in the main and 80% of the jib - still poled out to port. We were off Jervis Bay at 2300 and with the wind more in the north were being pushed out to sea, so at 2325 we gybed. We continued thus until 0600 this morning when, with the breeze easing, I unrolled the jib and shook a reef out of the main. By 1000 we were back to full sail and 45 minutes later, with the wind veering more into the NE again, we gybed just off Montague Island.

We have made an excellent day's run for an average speed of 6½ knots, helped again by the East Australia Current - at the moment I reckon it is running at close to three knots. The wind is forecast to remain fair until late Saturday when a trough will pass through Bass Strait, behind which we can expect some fresh headwinds. However, these are expected to be of short duration so my intention is to push through them with a view to continuing on to Port Phillip.

All is well.