We left Bali during the afternoon of Monday the 15th and soon as we put our bags away we were out into the blue. We began the crossing under motor power as there was not enough wind for sailing. We were straight into our watch routine with Don and me together this time. Had to motor all night and most of Tuesday. Finally the expected wind came and we changed to sailing mode, the day was otherwise calm with a side swell.

Christmas Island is our next destination. This is the island that houses the Asian boat refugees that try and get into Australia.  We only have mooring buoys to use if we do decide to stop, but it’s not ideal. The option is passing a waypoint offshore to register our position with ARC and then moving directly to Cocos Keeling. We use the SSB radio daily to report our current position and this is something we will do daily from now on as we have now officially joined the rally from Bali all the way via Cape Town to St Lucia. They control and coordinate the 25 or so yachts participating with the emphasis on safety, equipment and advice particularly when customs, immigration, supplies and recommended moorings and marinas are concerned.

On Wednesday we were doing very well with a strong SE wind combined with a favourable current pushing us along at 9-10 knots. We are very happy with this progress. We had some fun in the afternoon when Ted brought in a Skipjack tuna on the fishing line. It weighed 15kg and was soon filleted and in the fridge for our lunch tomorrow. Nothing like fresh fish.

Thursday was particularly good from a sailing point of view and we were around three hours earlier than expected at Christmas Island. We have decided not to stop and travel directly to Cocos Keeling which is 525 miles away, approximately 2.5-3 days away.  As we passed Christmas we settled down to the fruits of Ted’s labour which was a delicious trio of tuna including a salad ceviche version, a seared version and then some sashimi. Absolutely perfect and the best tuna we have had to date. Tom is a master.

Thank to Teds grandhildren Sophie and Aex Jones for our wrist bands specially made for the crew which we all proudly wear.

My Gail’s birthday today. She is in Perth with her brother and family and we all wish her a very enjoyable day!

Thats all for now folks.