Australia

Here I am in the navigation station where I write from. This photo is from another trip.

We’re still doing great on our passage to Australia. We’ve slowed down just a little and should be in Bundy at first light on Friday (Thursday for you). Alphie the autopilot is fixed. When Gerard opened up the floorboards under the bed to look at it we got quite a surprise. The boatyard had replaced the hand bilge pump hose, but left the old one in. This crammed everything together and made Alphie very unhappy. In addtion the arm where the autopilot attaches to the rudder post was completely loose. Gerard tore out the old hose, put everything back together and then Alphie was happy.

Night watch for Gerard was pretty wet, as was it for Susan. I got lucky and only had a few sprinkles at the beginning of my watch. Still, everything in the cockpit is wet. The Sunbrella fabric that the cockpit cushions and pillows are covered with dries very quickly. Gerard was saying it’s about $12 per yard, but boy is it worth it. It’s very tough.

The sun is up and we’re rolling along. We’re eating all the meat and veggies we can, since the Aussies will take it all. The cruising guides say they will even take some canned meats. What’s up with that?