9 October, 2025
Nearly 4 years have passed since my last post summarising my solo sail from Singapore to Darwin. After arriving in Darwin in November, 2021 I had to wait out the cyclone season before sailing the boat around to Mooloolaba. I left Darwin with crew on 9 May, 2022 and sailed via Gove, Thursday Island, Lizard Island, and Cooktown to Cairns, arriving in Cairns on 1 June, 2022. Following a crew change and holiday in Cairns I sailed the boat with new crew to Mooloolaba via Murilyan Harbour, Townsville, Airlie Beach, Island Head Creek, Rosslyn Bay, and Bundaberg, arriving “home” on 13 July, 2022. Since then, sadly, I have done very little sailing whilst Sue and I have sorted out our medical issues. I have also been sorting out the boat. I learned a lot about the boat during these voyages and also about me and my limitations, and I have been re-jigging things to make solo sailing a bit easier next time around. Top of the list of things to fix, of course, has been the hydraulic steering, autopilot and navigation control systems. I was nearly there with the improvements and had pencilled in January, 2026 for my next adventure, only to have some heart issues last week! My departure date sadly, has gone back now to a date to be advised!.