We’re heading for 1770 today (named after the year of Captain Cook’s first landing in Queensland).

Gerhard weighed  anchor shortly after 4.30am after a rolly night at Monkey Beach. He didn’t sleep well due to the wind and rolling boat, and debating with himself whether we should sail today and, if so, how far? We passed Cape Capricorn shortly after 8am in relatively calm seas and little wind. We caught a Spanish Mackerel mid-morning so we’re all set for fish for the next few days: that smoking kit for the BBQ was an excellent purchase.

Dinner, breakfast, lunch…

We are though trying to beat the southerly change and strong winds forecast for later today. We haven’t been into 1770 before; it’s a river anchorage so we need to go in on the high tide and be safely anchored before dark – hopefully whatever strong winds they forecast will come after that. However, at the moment the air is warm, thick and oppressive; there’s a haze across the mainland and the clouds are thick. I feel nauseous with a headache – maybe not from the rolling of the boat but the apprehension that we’re about to have another horrid sail for the second half of this passage. We’ve poled out the headsail to make the most of the wind from behind.

So now we’ve popped back to Great Keppel waiting for the wind to change.

This time we are at the aptly named Monkey Beach – to match our on board monkeys. Wild goats on the headland; clear water at 29 degrees and a mooring at the edge of the remaining bit of reef on the island. Before brunch our school day started with a couple of hours of snorkeling. The coral’s not so great here but the fish are beautiful ( and it all feels a bit less intimidating and reckless for the parents!!). We had great fun swimming through schools of tiny fish, brightly coloured parrot fish, clown fish hiding in amongst the anemones, rays gliding through the water, some gorgeous fish that looked as though they were camouflaged to look like something between a snakeskin or a leopard – all fabulous.. ( think shoes and handbags!!).

After struggling our way through some more home-schooling (the bane of my flipping life!!!!) we took off to the beach again – more snorkeling and fooling around with a ball in the water. As I said to Gerhard (whilst we had drinks on the deck, watching yet another stunning sunset) “thank goodness it’s Friday – another tough week!!”. Night!

We’d anticipated our leg from the Swain Reefs to Rosslyn Bay would be a long and tedious day. It was, but not quite how we’d imagined. As we set off from the reefs the seas became a bit confused; short waves which were steep and coming from all directions. There was no regular rhythm to them.

To ensure that the Admiral didn’t succumb to seasickness I was allowed to sit like Lady Muck whilst Gerhard managed the boat and ran between the galley and cockpit preparing cooked breakfasts and freshly brewed cappuccinos. Just as well we did eat then – because it went haywire after that…

The 10-15 knot winds went out the window, instead going in excess of 30knots and the waves whilst not big were just all over the shop. The autopilot (aka Brittany Spears) couldn’t cope and Gerhard spent the next 10 hours at the helm managing the boat, putting in reefs and remaining unflustered. He said afterwards it wasn’t the wind or wave size that made it tricky, just the state of the ocean crashing us over each and every way. A couple of times we were bowled over on our side as the second or third wave in a row caught us off balance. It was grim, and went on for hours. We arrived at Rosslyn Bay after dark, and even then just as we entered behind the breakwall of the marina, in the darkness, the waves gave us a last bashing and I thought ‘oh lordie, we’re going to end up on the rocks!’ as Gerhard cranked up the throttle and went for it. Clearly we didn’t end up on any rocks but poor Gerhard must have been exhausted – I was completely over the battering after the first 5 or 6 hours. He still had to focus and zigzag us a way through the waves for a total of 11 or more hours.

As for our little ocean-going boys? Oscar went to sleep and Hugo listened to audio books. They watched a couple of movies, requested snacks and were completely un-phased by the fact that the boat was crashing about at an angle of between 30 and 80 degrees! They were banned from the cockpit – waves crashing over the deck and a chaotic sea may have terrified them. As it was they were totally non-plussed.