In a few days time we plan on starting our final offshore passage to Australia. We decided it'll be best for us to aim for Townsville which is about 100nm further East than Cairns. It means sailing closer to the wind so the boat will heel (lean over) more which will make sailing more uncomfortable, but if we go to Cairns we'll have to go the extra distance tacking upwind inside the reef (for 250nm to the SE) which will also be hard work and will probably take us a couple of weeks. We want to get south quickly to avoid any cyclones as the season is fast approaching so time is limited. Although if things don't work out as planned lots of Aussies here have given us good tips on where we can hide out during a storm.

The weather at the moment is fairly typical of the South Pacific Islands. There is a large high pressure system to the south which is blasting us with 20-25kt winds. We can deal with that much wind but the sea state tends to be rough and that makes for very uncomfortable sailing and if were unlucky that wind could be gusting to higher wind speeds. When we left Fiji, we caught excellent weather, the week before 20-25kts were predicted, we spoke to a couple of boats who left earlier and they said they'd encountered 60kt gusts - call us wimp sailors if you like but 60kts is not on Ul 's cool list (although some strange things are!) and I don't like it when she's green and miserable. So anyhow, caution reigns - we would rather be becalmed, not that that is at all likely here.

What were looking for is a break in the trade winds and that tends to occur when a low pressure system (storm) passes south over Australia, because the wind travels clockwise around a low here the trade winds are sucked into the low pressure which slows them down and bends them to to East and maybe even to the North East (less heeling over). It'll be like that for a few days which will hopefully give us enough time to cross the majority of the coral sea as long as another low doesn't form to the North West and disrupt this effect..hmm it's a bit of a chance game but with good weather forecasting at least we can stack the odds in our favor. The rest is just being prepared for the worst.

Some sailors say they love long distance passage making. I can kind of understand the romantic allure, but I guess it's a bit like climbing a mountain, absolutely knackering but when you get to the top it all becomes worth it. The difference for me and Ul is that the top of the mountain is actually a pizza takeaway in Townsville....mmmm cheese! A month with no fridge (nothing cold) and only healthy fresh food to eat (bannanas, mangoes, paw paw, yam, sweet potatoes, cabbage....it makes you dream of chocolate, cheese, burgers and beers, ahhhh the nectar of the western world!

Wish us luck with the wind!