After a fairly uneventful sail from Stanley to Three Hummock Island, we anchored in Coulomb Bay on a fairly pleasant afternoon. The weather settled and we had a beautiful evening, testing out the new BBQ and enjoying dinner in the cockpit. After the windy weather in Stanley we were so relieved when the wind dropped altogether and we headed to bed anticipating a very peaceful night. Unfortunately later in the night the rolling started due to tidal movements and we ended up yet another interrupted night's sleep. Next morning, as planned, we started the day by moving the boat up to the other end of the bay when the wind changed direction as predicted. However, just after we got the anchor up and got underway, the engine overheated so we immediately dropped anchor again so we could sort out the problem. Phil ran through his list of possible issues but ruled each one out, and we were facing the prospect of having to sail back to Melbourne and get into the pen without the engine. There was one other boat (Sooty Petrel) anchored up the other end of the bay, so we radioed them to see if they might be able to come up with some other ideas about what our problem might be. It turned out the at the owner, Peter, was a retired mechanic and so between them he and Phil diagnosed the problem and mangaged to fix it so that the engine would function and get us home. Peter had all sorts of tools and spare bits and pieces that came in very handy. Fixing the engine and then re-anchoring the boat took the best part of the day, but I still manged to bake some cup cakes so that we could at least celebrate Phil's 55th birthday in some way. The best birthday present though was a ride around the shores of Three Hummock in Peter's dinghy. We were very relunctant to test out our dinghy as we did not want to tempt fate. The island is just gorgeous. We were of course very grateful to Peter and the crew of Sooty Petrel for their assistance.

After 8 nights, most of which have been very windy (last night had gusts around 45kts which is about 85mph), we will finally be getting off this jetty in Stanley and heading to Three Hummock Island. Our plan is to stay there until Thursday lunchtime when we will leave for Melbourne. This trip has been not what we had imagined and ŵe are hopeful that some better weather and a different location might help to end it on a more positive note. Likely no reception after we leave here so will be off the air until somewhere near the heads on Friday morning.

We are starting to tire of this windy weather! Had a bit of a broken night last night as we had to get up a few times to check and alter the lines to keep us off the jetty and avoid damage to the boat. Windy conditions also make land based activities a bit unpleasant. Spent the afternoon in the pub thinking we would watch the cricket but their reception was no good so had to get score updates via the phone. Have some yummy fresh fish for dinner tonight. Wind settled down now but more coming tomorrow. Having trouble loading photos with the blog so no pictures today

After a night and morning of relative peace, the wind is back and forecast to reach 30-40kts by early tomorrow morning. Three other yachts made a run for it in the break but we decided we would rather be here on this wind than hanging off the anchor over at three hummock island. Phil had a major win this morning when he continued to work on the autopilot. When he got it apart he found that the magnet that engages the clutch was not releasing. He tried various solutions to no avail and then hit on the idea of reversing the magnet as it has become polarised. It therefor released when it was reversed. So with the work done we had a closer look at Stanley's cute heritage buildings, the cemetery and museum. We have pretty much done the town now so the next few days might be a challenge. No picture with this blog as can't get it to load.

Thursday Jan 2

After a very windy night, at least the rain had disappeared giving us the chance to do some more sight seeing around Stanley. We got the obligatory load of washing done at the local caravan park and organised to get access to power at our jetty. This left the afternoon free to walk up the Nut. What a wild walk that was-there were some parts where I thought I might actually get blown over! But it was worth it for the spectacular views. Pity I can only post one with this blog. When we for back Phil decided to check the auto pilot which had seemed a bit out of sorts by the time we got here. There does seem to be some problem with it and so on the advice of the very helpful Raymarine office in Sydney, phil will work on it due the tomorrow. We really don't want to have to hand steer all the way back if we can avoid it.

Arrived in Stanley yesterday after a fairly average Bass Strait crossing. Bait performed very well: nothing broke, great boat speed, auto pilot ran all the way no problems and our batteries supplied all the power we needed. It is just that we were uncomfortable due to the wave motion. After a huge sleep last night, we have tidied up a bit and phil made a loaf of bread for lunch. Internet connection from the boat is not great which is a bit of a nuisance so sitting in the Swinging Anchor cafe. We expect to be here until at least Saturday but there is quite a few things to do so we are looking forward to the next few days. Happy new year to everyone.