A calm sea, no wind, sunshine. This is not what people imagine of the notorious Bass Strait. It’s as if we took the wrong turn-off and ended up somewhere else, somewhere quite delightful.
It’s actually what we hoped to find when we planned this voyage. We’ve been watching the weather forecasts closely for over a week and made every effort to take advantage of this window of calm weather.
At first, we had fresh winds up to 25 knots for a while last night. However, they were from the north-northeast and quite manageable because they came from behind us. We also kept close to the coast where the waves were smaller. The wind eased during the night and by sunrise there was barely any breeze.
It was a perfect star-filled night. We were surrounded by the sea with no land in sight. The stars were bright enough to dimly light the sea so we could see the gentle waves.
Before dawn we were enveloped by a thick fog and lost all sense of direction. We relied on our autopilot and electronic navigation to keep us on course.
The sky soon cleared to reveal a warm, sunny day. All around us the distant horizon met deep blue sea. All the crew are relaxed, well rested, over-eating and enjoying the trip.
We cruised past the oil platforms this morning. This afternoon a light easterly breeze developed and we hoisted the mainsail. Tonight we will pass Wilsons Promontory and then turn right towards The Rip.
Debonnaire 