Cape Cod girls they have no combs
HEAVE AWAY! HEAVE AWAY!
They comb their hair with codfish bones
WE’RE BOUND FOR AUSTRALIA!

That's the best mainsail hoisting chantey I know. And being sore of literal minded as I am, I have always wanted to sing it while hoisting the mainsail on a boat that is bound for Australia. Today, I got my chance in the channel of the Whangerei River on our way out to sea. WE'RE BOUND FOR AUSTRALIA!

Out past Bream Head we found heavy seas and light winds again - an awful combination. We broad reached out towards Poor Knights Island with the drifter set - I still wanted to see the islands, with stone arches big enough to sail a sailboat through. But the fog set in when we were still ten miles. And the wind died by six pm (new ships time is GMT plus 12). So we ran the engine some more, and the radar, and by dinner time we passed close to the cliffs of Poor Knights just as the fog cleared just enough. We didn't get to see the giant arch, but the other rocks were worth the angst of sailing in close to the rocks in the fog.

The weather for this passage is uncertain, as a series of lows seem poised to cross the south Tasman Sea. Met Bob recommends staying well north to avoid the stronger winds and bigger seas accompanying these lows. But that means frequent calms and shifting winds for us. Bob thinks it's a 12 day passage, I think it is more like 14. Our goal is to reach Sydney a day or two after the craziness of the Sydney Hobart race start on Boxing Day.

We've been able to sail on and off tonight. But we'd like to make it around Cape Reinga before stronger winds and waves kick in, so we are a little less reluctant to run the engine than usual. Running under power now at 0200, with an eerie moon-fog bow in the sky.