Finally the weather started behaving, and it was time to head home. We set sail for Australia on Tuesday morning, planning break the seven day trip into two, by stopping for a while at Chesterfield Reef.
On the way, Matt managed to catch Mahi Mahi #2 – this time a slightly more manageable (i.e., smaller one), and he (the fish - not Matt) was vacuum packed and in our fridge in quick time.
The four day passage to Chesterfield was probably the best sailing we’ve done. None of this battling big winds and seas. We cruised in a very civilised fashion in less than 20 knots of breeze, and seas below 2m, often less than 1. Plus we had a full moon. Couldn’t we get used to this!
Each night, we had an extra passenger on board – a boobie. It seemed quite challenging for the birds to find a suitable landing strip, as we watched them skid off the top of the solar panels, or fly straight into aerials on the back of the boat. The boobies were completely unphased by us shining a torch straight on them. We later realised we probably had multiple passengers each night, spotting a bird right at the top of the mast, and another on top of the jumper strut on front of the mast. Each morning the birds flew off as the sun came up.