Windbound

We awoke this morning to a 20-25kn sou' wester, with the forecast promising higher wind speeds with more west as the day progresses. Considering our line to Musgrave is nor' west we didn't fancy a day battling wind of that strength on our beam for 45km, with the best part of 80km of fetch whipping up steep breaking seas. Looking off to the west from the island it's honking & pretty steep, with whitewater dancing across the horizon, so today is another day on Lady Elliot.

Forecast for the next three days is for more of the same, so we're relying on the good people at the BOM to get it dead wrong on the long ranger. Yet to sight the fabled trade winds up here, maybe we'll do our penance these next couple of days & then have the weather gods smile for the rest of the trip.

The island is a beautiful place, even if we seem to have had our heads stuck in boats or sorting gear since we arrived. The resort has an old world feel about it, very simple & down to earth, but obviously well run & with a bunch of staff who clearly love their jobs.

The staff are incredibly friendly & helpful & the guests have been showing us pics of snorkelling with manta rays & big old turtles.

We interrupted our running repairs yesterday to watch a pod of whales 300m off to the west, swimming up & down the outside of the reef, so being stuck here isn't the worst thing in the world. I joked with Rob this morning that only a kayaker would grumble about not being able to leave the joint!

Camp NRX

Fingers crossed for that breeze to swing a few degrees to the south….

Mark, Rob & Chris