It is Wednesday morning and I have had a decent sleep after arriving at West Moore Island, which is between Port Hedland and Port Walcott, at 11 pm last night. The sail from Broome has taken three days and covered some 321 NM. I set out on the 17th in company with Keith and Ray on Classique, the weather looked favourable so time to go. We had a lovely easterly heading out but after about 3 hours it dropped out and suddenly we had head winds. The forecast was for easterly winds throughout the night, at about 9 pm they started and by midnight it was howling, it was then that we received a strong wind warning. It was in excess of 25 knots and the sea was sharp and breaking, the yacht took several waves on the cabin top and the cockpit was filled numerous times. I had three reefs in the main and a very small, handkerchief size, jib out and still sitting on six knots. At about 8 am the wind eased to a nice 15 knots and remained until lunchtime, at which time it dropped out to only 5 or so knots. Around 4 pm the wind would gradually start from a SE direction before slowly swinging around to the east again for the nightly hammering. This repeated each evening but thankfully the next night wasn't as strong as the first. I lost radio contact with Classique on the second day and assumed they were far out in front, eventually I rounded Bedout Island, which is off Port Hedland, at about 3 am and was able to head in towards shore and seek some relief from the sea conditions. At around midday the conditions were perfect so I cruised along the coast, 3 miles off, towards West Moore Island. With about 30 miles to go I had a call on the VHF from Classique and there they were, 5 miles to seaward. We both arrived at the entrance to West Moore within 5 minutes of each other after 300 plus NM. From this trip I learned what a great build these yachts were, the yacht was smashed by so many waves yet she just kept on going with out a creak or groan, I realised it is not the yacht that is the weak link but the poor tires sailor trying to maintain a decent lookout, without getting severely drenched each time you expose yourself, trying to eat something somewhat healthy and balancing this with a bit of rest. As to the sailing part, I have no idea how many times I went from zero to three reefs and back again but thankfully the system on this yacht is simple and quick so I am able to put a reef in in a matter of minutes. As to the idea of three reefs, no way would I be without it, with two reefs and the breeze up we were really pounding over the sharp waves and the autopilot was having a hell of a time, the third made it so much easier on the boat and crew.