With the battery in place, on Thursday we motorsailed and motored to Port Clinton, a new anchorage for us. Although others were heading north, we had the anchorage to ourselves. No one else, and no fish either.

Next day, the conditions were very light and we had to motor for a few hours past Pearl Bay and on into Island Head Creek. It was a beautiful morning and the scenery was too, with the first stands of hoop pine on the slopes. But when we looked more closely at the trees, we could see the effects of Cyclone Marcia early this year in stripping the leaves. If we had been able to sail instead of motor, it would have been hard to beat as a day sail.

We had had a tense time in Island Head Creek last year because of the unsolved propulsion problem and so we were keen to see it again in better circumstances. We joined about ten other vessels, including two whose crews we had met earlier. We had a wonderful view to the west over the mountainous terrain, but it was a little windy to make dinghy exploration pleasant. So we confined ourselves to socialising with our friends nearby.

We had a schedule we wanted to follow: to catch up with a friend from last year in Mackay and to take her sailing on Tuesday for a day or two. So now, with no mobile reception, the sat phone and grib files came into their own, and we decided we would be able to leave on Sunday, and take two days getting to Mackay. Our friends left an hour or so before us but they, without any schedule, decided the seas were too unpleasant to carry on. We found them returning while we were still on our way out. Hmm. Indeed, the seas were quite unpleasant and "broach-inducing" and we did not feel confident hoisting the main and poling out genoas. All in all, it was an uncomfortable day getting to the Percy Isles where we took the extra hour to get to Lucas's recommended anchorage at NE Island.

Next day we were in for 12 hours more of the same. But the sea state was marginally better and our course more comfortable, and most of the time the sun was out and the engine was off. But we had had enough by the time we arrived off the harbour at 1900. The following wind of 20-25 kts had allowed us to average nearly 7 kts with two reefs in the main. So not too bad a day and at last we were sailing, not motoring.