Yanks Jetty to Herald Island

A light easterly came in as we were ready to leave, so we put the main up and motor-sailed south. We turned the corner at the bottom of Orpheus Island to go for a closer look at Juno Bay on Fantome Island – it looked like a nice spot. As the breeze gradually increased we pulled out the jib and killed the engines, enjoying a lovely sail south in about 10 to 12 knots of breeze.

We sailed west of the straight-line course to have a look at Havannah Island, which has a nice beach and anchorage on its NW corner. It looked like it would be good in the right conditions but otherwise quite exposed.

Heading south from Havannah, we had lunch while the breeze built to 15 knots and boat speed to over 7 knots – great sailing. A little later the breeze built to around 17 knots so we furled the jib to quieten things down a bit – we still managed well over 5 knots with just the main.

We sailed to the western end of Rattlesnake Island, where we had anchored previously, and consiered staying there. However, there were some inconsistencies in the weather forecasts from BOM and the computer models, so we decided to carry on to Herald Island instead. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the anchorage was empty.

We anchored at 15:55 and were pleased to be greeted by a turtle.

We enjoyed some quiet time during the rest of the afternoon, swimming and reading books. We finished off the spag bol for dinner.

From the ship’s log:
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10:40 Left mooring, main up.
11:30 Jib unrolled as breeze picked up. Passed Orpheus and Fantome, nearly abeam Casement Bay on Greater Palm.
13:50 Furled jib to quieten things down.
15:15 Engines on at Rattlesnake Island to check anchorage.
15:55 Anchored at Herald Island, engines off.

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