We left Lady Musgrave Island at about 7:30AM this morning. It was a bit of a mixed bag sailing wise, with some motor sailing and some sailig, but as a passage it was lovely and very relaxing.

There is very little swell behind the reef, which makes it almost like sailing in closed waters. We easily get 6 knots boat speed out of 10 knots true wind on the beam, and motoring is also quite comfortable.

We saw whales! Really close. For a while we had a little race on with two humpbacks cruising north and us heading north-west. We overtook them and at their closest point they were about 100 meters away. A bit scary when you’re in a little 33ft sailboat…

We’ve seen so many whales since coming around Sandy Cape. The previous day they were breaching, throwing those massive bodies halfway up in the air – truly spectacular.

The crew took extra special good care of me on my birthday and breakfast (bacon and egg sanwiches) was fabulous, again!

George and I put our trolling lines out and were delighted when we each landed a smallish mackerel. At least the ice is broken now and we know it IS possible to catch something. The fish was grilled on the barbie that evening, along with some pan fried potatoes and onions and grilled garlic zuchini – a great way to top off a perfect day!