Luna Quest - Saturday, 15th August, 2015

Noon Position: 12.48S 143.36E

Daily logged miles: 158

Near gale force winds and a reefed poled-out genoa to port as her only means of propulsion, Luna Quest powered her way through the Great Barrier Reef at speeds of around 7.5 knots. The autopilot is doing all the steering and despite its hungry power consumption, the new wind generator and the now properly connected water-towed generator, have kept the power level in the batteries at 100% throughout the night. The Hydrovane has been made temporarily redundant with the vane stored down below. It will be used again for crossing oceans when cloud cover inhibits the solar panels from working efficiently and a lack of wind constrains the output from the water-towed and wind generators. The seas of the Coral Sea have been quite rough despite being protected by the Geat Barrier Reef, although there is no noticeable swell. We have about 150 miles to go to the top of Australia where we shall enter the Torres Strait, one of the busiest shipping areas in the world. Ships are no longer allowed to go through the Torres Strait without a professional pilot. Our arrival time is likely to be at night, which will demand cautious sailing and a good look-out.

Eric