08 May 2012
Day 3 on the slow boat to Lord Howe. Master Chef Animal is excelling himself – papaya with lime, tomato juice, muesli and posh coffee for brekkie after the roast chicken-with-everything dinner last night, with candles and tablecloth and white napkins and last but not least the (very practical) crystal decanter…. I kid you not.
The Tasman Sea is not living up to its reputation (yet) – we’ve glorious sunshine, bluer-than-blue flat seas and about 5 knots of wind. This morning was Pilates on the foredeck, and now the boys are chilling out on the trampoline. It has not been a completely trouble free trip, though. We’ve bled the autopilot and swapped to the spare arm, we’re investigating a slow gas leak, we had to replace a batten car on the main, and now we’re replacing one of the porthole screws – disturbingly rusty stainless steel! I am starting to appreciate all those spares….
The slow trip so far means our ETA to Lord Howe is Thursday evening. It’s a difficult entrance, so it is looking like we will need to hold off until Friday morning. The plan is a couple of days there, then on to Fiji!! Weather dependent, of course!