Morris Island - a traveller's impression

We have been here for 26 hours. It's now 1845 on the 28th. Today we managed to do all our jobs. The main one was getting the spare genoa on the forestay which is easier said than done in gale force winds. The weather pattern seems to be that the winds are a little less mid morning and so it proved again. We managed to get it hoisted and rolled up in 16 knots instead of 22+! Then it was a struggle to get the damaged sail flaked (folded)on the confined area of the foredeck of a 38' yacht. But we managed it and even got it into a bag so that it didn't take up so much room down below. We've also put a double reef in the main in preparation for tomorrow when we plan to leave at 0400. These early starts are very wearing but necessary as we have just over 60 miles to travel tomorrow - again! At least it's all downhill (downwind). The next anchorage will be Portland Roads (on the mainland) with the promise of a beam swell which should make the old girl roll quite nicely. Just what you need at the end of a long 12 hour day.
It's a pity that our all too short stay here should have been blighted by our operational problems and the weather. Last night for example we maintained an anchor watch because we were so anxious about the high winds, although both cruising guides and other people who have been here all wax lyrical about the security of the anchorage. But we needn't have worried because we never moved in spite of the winds howling across the unrestricted reef at upwards of 25 knots all night. There were 4 other yachts anchored here last night - all destined for the Sail Indonesia rally. They all left this morning leaving us feeling quite lonely but we will catch up again soon.
We are watching our diesel consumption but we have been doing well. So far in 16 days we have used an estimated 84 litres out of our total capacity (including what we carry on deck) of around 440 litres. So, not so bad and we will replenish that in Seisia in a week or so. Our total engine hours since leaving Cairns have been 42 hours - 2.6 hrs/day. Considering that we need to run the engine to make water and power we think we're doing well.
We would have liked to get ashore and explore but time and weather has been against us. And there are high winds forecast for at least the next 5-6 days. Time is the enemy as always. Morris is a sand cay with a very extensive reef system although a major part of the reef submerges at high tide - particularly with spring tides as at present. When that happens there's an annoying jobble but it's short lived. The island is known for its lone coconut palm tree which is even referred to on the charts. However, we noticed that there are some juveniles now coming up fast. There is apparently a diver's grave on the island - no-one seems to know the details but it could be that of a Japanese pearl diver. There is absolutely nothing else on the island except tangled scrub. No doubt the snorkelling around here is great but again no time. It takes us about half an hour to get our dinghy in the water and getting the outboard set up and the same at the other end but with our state of tiredness after yesterday and our jobs necessitated by the genoa change we gave it a miss. And in any case apparently in 2001 a large crocodile was observed here so there could be others by now. Not good for swimming!
Portland Roads has the promise of internet so we'll wait until then before sending this and some more latest news. We're looking forward to a slightly gentler sail tomorrow as all the forecasts are predicting about 5% less in windspeed. Let's hope they're right - we'll let you know.
Lotsaluv from us........
xoxoxoxo

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