Yesterday the stove came good under my hands - full blue flames flowering - and to celebrate I cooked bacon, eggs, toast and coffee for breaky this morning. Had my daily HOT! shower - just like you - and chose as my next job the contaminated fuel in the main tank. Back in Vunda Marina, in Fiji, I set up the water hose and turned it on, only to realize Adrienne had mistakenly shoved it in the fuel deck intake! Not much water went in, but I used fuel from two other tanks from then on. But 230 litres of diesel,, sitting there, had to be cleaned up and used.

I don't know much about diesel but I do know it floats on water, so I lifted the floor, took a hand pump joined to 60 cm of copper tube and kept it vertical and touching the bottom of the tank. The fuel went into a clear glass empty wine bottle which Michelle had brought aboard full of chilled Wolf Blas Red Label Semillon Sauvignon Blanc the other night - I could easily see the rusty water at the bottom, and the cloudy diesel above it. Several of these. Discard the fuel. Raise the copper pipe 15 cm, draw off more - clear! Ah! - so let's pump out that layer at the bottom.

And so on ... After lunch I will use the electric pump and the Racor filter to pump out maybe 80 litres into jerry jugs, and check it.

Last night we went to dinner on board Victoria, at the invitation of Kim and Pierre. Wonderful people. The twin boys met us at the gate of the East Coast Marina, and we walked and walked and walked, along maybe a kilometre of the floating connections between the docked boats. We had a lovely time.

Squally rainy weather today. Forecasts have it calming down by Monday, And we plan to leave on Tuesday or Wednesday, for Sydney. The dinghy should be repaired and back on board by then.