Each day the predictions on the 7 day forecast change slightly and you can see the changes from the Sunday picture I posted on the 16 June, very subtle but to the trained eye I see a better slant on the wind (more Westerly at the top). I will look at it again tonight and in the AM and see if there are any new changes and base our 1200 departure on that and the Sailmail grib files as well.

We will most definitely see some heavy going to start the voyage but we will punch through the 25-30kt stuff to the NNW and we will see some light and variable then SW winds for a short period, until another low pressure comes from under us with North winds!!! But only for a day and then we will see the influence of the High coming over Australia, and then things should turn to a more predictable south easterly flow. These are my predictions based on available info, anyone else on the same trip should do their own predictions. Crusoe is a big strong steel boat, built for heavy conditions, we also take that into account when planning this type of routing. We know from previous experience that crossing the ditch is always a challenge, but soon enough we will be in the tropics and the Tasman becomes a distant memory.

With any luck this will be the last posting for a few weeks. We have an appointment to clear customs at 1200 tomorrow, and we will get what we get weather wise, enough of this cold and wet winter weather, batton down the hatches…..we are headed to the tropics!