Elcho to Malay Bay

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I believe the weather has turned!! On the 17^thwe departed Cape Stewart at 12pm to do an overnight sail to Golburn Island. We started off at a leisurely 5kts and flat seas...perfect sailing conditions. We went straight into our watch system so that it would be in place overnight. I was on first watch and really enjoyed my 3 hrs. Phil came to take over and during his 3hrs, the winds died and we were only doing 3kts for quite some time. However, during the night, the predicted 25kts came in and with them, the larger seas!! Of course this happened while I was on watch!! “I found the winds and seas” were my handover comments to Phil at the end of one of my watches. We had gusts up to 30kts and the seas were quite sloppy. Nothing like the Gulf conditions, but not exactly comfortable either. The other thing....it was cold!! I had on my wet weather pants (well overalls really, like a bib and brace style) and my flanny and I was still cold. My feet were freezing. If our watches were longer than 2hrs, I would’ve had to get more clothing on, however, I figured I could last 2 hrs and not suffer from hyperthermia!! The seas and wind stayed in all day and we arrived at Malay Bay almost 24hrs later. During the night, we decided to continue on past Golburn Island as we arrived there at 4am and it was still dark! We had planned for this in case the winds did pick up. We ended up doing 6-7 kts with a reefed main only during the night! Malay Bay is massive and we had to continue on for 3nm to get right into the bay. It was very protected and we could’ve stayed out further, but we figured we may as well come right in as we were going to stay here and have a lay day. Last night the wind died down to a very gentle breeze and so we sat up on the foredeck watching the sun set. The sea was flat and it was beautiful. Wilbur was silent (as there was no wind) and the peace and quiet was just amazing. Such a lovely spot and great conditions – I want to stay here for a week.

This morning there is a light cloud cover, the wind is blowing and I’m cold. I will have to consider finding my track pants and ‘winter gear’ that is stored somewhere handy. As I said...I believe we’re finally in our winter!!! Well, that’s what I discovered when I finally dragged myself out of bed at the crack of 9am!! A lovely way to start a Sunday I believe....especially after an overnight sail. We actually passed 3 stops that we were going to anchor in, but this way we were in surveyed waters the whole time and have a guaranteed protected anchorage

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