Well, I am as ready as ever I will be. Digital Yacht in the UK who made my AIS were useless so it was a case of buy another. The new one is a beautiful shade of blue - beyond that its workings are a mystry to me. There are six of us on the quarantine dock awaiting clearance tomorrow morning. A cold front is approaching and the received wisdom to to leave on the back of it - wet and blustery but with the wind in the right direction and the weather improving all the time.

Six months here were not enough so I am not ruling out coming back. But I have had my chest X-ray to prove to the Aussies that I do not have TB and that is still the planned destination for the next cyclone season.

It is a long time since I was at sea so there is the usual mixture of nervousness and excitement with the prospect of a 1,200 mile passage. But with a water and air temperature of 20 centegrade I am looking forward to moving both of these numbers up to 30.

Wild Fox likes 30 centigrade...