Nara Inlet - again!!

We left Airlie Beach in light winds this morning and on the way out had a brief conversation with "Illusion". We said we'd see them out at Nara and they duly turned up. We had a very boisterous sail in up to 28 knots - single reefed main and reefed genoa. And not far out of Airlie a HP hosae on the watermaker ruptured (another relic of Opua). This means that we won't now have a watermaker until we get to Cairns. It just seems never ending. Still, it's not too far and we've got plenty of water if we're careful.
We're again not confident of reaching Darwin in time if these diabolical conditions continue. There are lots of issues. Sailing at night which we will have to do in waters where we haven't been before in these nasty squally conditions coming from dead astern is daunting to say the least. We are seriously again thinking about the Louisiades (PNG) leaving from Cairns in August. And then taking the north PNG route to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah. Everything's up in the air at the moment - we'll see what the morrow brings; maybe we'll feel a bit more optimistic, but instead of trying for Magnetic Is. direct we'll probably stop at Cape Upstart (named by Capt. Cook) which will be far enough as it's 70 miles from here.
However, this NE coast of Australia is proving to be an endurance test. The sail from Bundaberg had its good moments but mainly it was characterised by poor, rolly anchorages, strong tides and very strong winds from dead astern which might sound good but that is far from this boat's most comfortable point of sailing. The scenery is very uniform and uninteresting in the main with the possible exception of the northern Whitsundays where we are now. Economically it's not good for us either with the Aussie dollar being at the moment 23% stronger than the Kiwi and with the economic saboteurs currently running NZ this won't change anytime soon. So, we need to leave Australia but at the moment a decision as to the best way is elusive. However, things will clarify as we sail further north we're sure.
As always watch this space.
Jim and Jean (Gina)

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