The ocean will always leave us in awe! Our longest sail yet, and such a roller coaster! Day 1: As we said goodbye to Yamba/Iluka, we greeted 2m rolling seas with no wind. It was eerie, but so beautiful! There were whales and dolphins everywhere! Our night sail was relatively uneventful, except for one cargo ship that kept turning in towards us. Day 2: Emily woke up to Rob saying ‘oh my god, oh my god’. She looked out the bedroom window to see a waterspout behind the boat (tornado over water). What an incredible (and slightly terrifying) sight to see! The winds quickly picked up from 15 knots to 27 knots and we took down all the sails, motors on! There was rain pelting down all around us. There were three storm cells that had just randomly appeared in the area we were. Something we’d never experienced! We watched their trajectory and tried to move around them as best we could. Once we were out of the cells, the day was stunning! Flat seas, wing and wing sailing. Dolphins surfing off the wake of our bow. We went swimming off the back of the boat, in the middle of the ocean! Day 3: Then we started close hauling in 20 knots of wind, with the swell right on our nose (more like wave bashing). As we reached Newcastle, the wind died down. A whale then full breached 10m off our port side! Incredible! Soon after, we were dodging cargo ships left right and centre. Then finally at 3.30am, we took a mooring in Sydney and got a full sleep in. This why we love sailing so much, and are so grateful to be out here! Sailing has brought some of the scariest moments of our lives, but also some of the happiest, most awe-filled moments. It really feels like we are truely living. Stay salty friends!

Headed back to Iluka to anchor! We absolutely love it here. Such a cute town with such a friendly community! Emily has been getting all the crochet tips from the ladies running the local co op craft shop! How we learnt to anchor: We learnt to anchor in Sydney. It was definitely trial by fire, as the anchorages there are quite tight and deep. We also had plenty of opportunity to pick up public mornings if we were unsure of anchoring, or wanted to have some peace of mind. We mostly learnt by doing! (And YouTube!) With anchorages on our trip north in Zen, we would mostly dive on the anchor. This gave us peace of mind, helped us understand the bottom better (I.e. sand, coral rubble/bombies, mud), and allowed us to move the anchor into a better position if it hadn’t grabbed well. We also use an anchor alarm which is an app on our phones called Anchor Pro. If the anchor drags, it send a message to our phones via Telegram (another app). It also allowed us to check the status of our anchor when we were away from the boat.

Quick little trip to Yamba today, just to remind Zen how it feels to move and fill up with fuel and water. How we learnt to dock: Docking and entry/exit into marinas was quite a daunting process when we first set out on Zen. On our previous monohull Katoura, we really didn’t do much docking. The way we really learnt, was booking an easy entry marina berth in 1770 and of course, YouTube, Rob’s dad and liveaboard yachties at the Marina. We then practiced and practiced in different wind, tide times/current. Emily got abandoned at the dock multiple times, there was definitely a time we couldn’t get back on the dock and had to anchor for a bit, and many many times we would completely miss the entry all together. It was great to understand when a reverse entry is better than a forward entry, with winds and currents. This was a game changer, and really helped with control of entry/exit. We eventually managed it though! And we no longer dread fuel and public wharfs and marinas!

Well the ocean definitely humbled us this leg. This was our most challenging and scary sail we’ve had yet. Broadwater was stunning to navigate through. It started off as thick thick fog, which eventually opened up to a beautiful blue sky day! We then came across transmission lines that were 20m high and we were completely unsure of how tall we were. Rookie mistake number one! We did a quick emergency anchor, ran rope up the mast from a halyard and ran it to the water. We were 17m (with a bit of fat), so we passed under just fine (although nervous). We later passed through the Gold Coast seaway. A popular bar crossing that we didn’t have any qualms about… until we were in it. We misjudged our path (second rookie mistake) went up a 5m wave, flew down a 5m wave and had a 5m wave crash over the boat and into the cockpit. It was terrifying. The dinghy, which was on the deck, got an absolute flogging. The force of the wave snapped the ropes, the attachments of ropes on the dinghy itself and even the nets metal framework. We were then met with 3m swell for the next 17hrs of the journey. Bigger than what we anticipated, and scary after our bar crossing experience. We were safe, but on edge the whole night. Rookie error number 3… we also found out we didn’t have B&G charts downloaded south past Tweed, so we were completely reliant on Navionics. It wasn’t all bad though! After these experiences a Booby bird perched on our starboard railing, and hung out with us for hours and hours. We also saw whales and dolphins. It was like the ocean was trying to get us back in it’s good books! We then crossed the Yamba bar, which was whipped up by the big swell coming through. We logged in with the coast guard this time, talked to the VMR radio operator and skipper on duty and we waited outside the bar and counted sets before coming through. This was a much better approach, and we got in safe and sound! NSW bar crossings are not to be underestimated. We are sooo happy to be back on anchor! Our learnings from this trip: - Know how tall your mast is - Contact VMR and get tips or coordinates on every bar crossing. Just cause it’s popular, doesn’t mean you should be complacent. They can help you make an informed decision. - Check in and out with the coastguard for peace of mind. - Always have your charts downloaded for the areas you are going.

Shiver me timbers! A chilly and rainy day travelling south. Today we did a lot of close haul sailing. A skill we had to learn quickly when we started sailing south from Dunk Island. No amount of YouTube could have prepared us for the frustrations accompanied by close hauling and wave bashing. Through trying and failing and trying again, we finally understand how Zen responds at different wind speeds and angles for close hauling. We are by no means experts, but at least we can continue travelling south in SE winds! Thank you Mark for letting us know about the leech lines! What a world of difference that’s made! Winds SE 15-20 knots. Seas 0.5m.

Champagne sailing today! We’ve been so keen to get back out in the big blue, and what a stunner of a day! We had a bit of a longer stop over in the Sunshine Coast to visit family, friends and do some boat maintenance. Sunset over the glasshouse mountains was chefs kiss! Emily got back into her passage granny squares, making a (much needed!) hot water bottle cover. When we first hopped aboard Zen, we hadn’t done much in the way of night sailing and anchoring. This was a skill we had to learn along the way! Rob’s dad taught us how to set up our safety line and use our harnesses. Sailing books, navionics and YouTube refreshed our knowledge on night sailing with ship horn blasts, light house sequences and cardinal markers. The rest just took repetition! Our confidence in our ability to do this has come a long way! Winds westerlies (yay!) 15-20 knots. Swell 0.5m.

Our longest sail yet! Wow! Our original plan was to hang out at K’gari with Em’s dad however, the weather had different plans predicted. We ended up sailing straight through to Mooloolaba. Lovely sea state 0.5-1m, 1m swell. Westerlies 10-15 knots.

Quick drop into 1770 to drop off our rubbish and pick up Em’s dad! Stunning day today. Blue skies, crystal clear water and low winds.

Lovely little sail from Fitzroy Reef to Bustard Bay today. Saw a pod of dolphins on our way into Bustard Bay! It looks like all the whales are enjoying some warmer waters, as we didn’t spot any today. Great to have a break from the trade winds! Winds 10-20 knots NW. Seas starting 2m (coming out of the reef) ending in 0.5m. Wasn’t having much luck with the anchor dragging this afternoon, so it looks we’ll be sleeping with one eye open tonight… Photos mostly from Fitzroy Reef glass out day yesterday!

We did it!!! When we were coming north, we tried to get into Fitzroy reef, but Zen said no just as we were approaching the channel (I.e. hydraulic steering blew up, depth sounder went faulty, throttle cable snapped etc. - just boat life things!). This time, coming south, we made it! Keen for some diving and to listen to some whale song out on the reef! Winds northerlies, changing to westerlies 10-20 knots. Seas below 1m. Rainy with minimal moon.

Low wind day today, but managed to ride the currents and do some sailing! Whales everywhere! We had the most incredible whale experience, with a couple of whales swimming right up to the boat and spy hopping! Captain Rob very tired! Winds 4-5 knots NW, nil seas, 0.5m swell. Slightly overcast, but lovely!

Had a little dance party this morning to reset our ‘going south’ mindset! It must have worked, because we sailed the whole way to Percy. Super grateful that this is our life right now. Lots of whales out today and breaching! Winds SE 15-20 knots. SE seas 1m. Blue skies!

We’re glad to be on anchor earlier today! Today’s motor sail wore on us a little. Multiple days of close haul motor sailing with choppy seas calls for a rest and a beach explore! Saw more whales again today! Winds SE 15-20 knots. Seas 1m SE. Blue skies!

What started out as quite a choppy sail, slowly got better. We saw some whales (though harder to see in the chop). Interesting sail through some large areas of anchored cargo ships! When Rob dove on the anchor, there was whale song everywhere! Winds S to SE 15-20 knots, seas 1-2m. Blue skies!

Looks like we’re following the whale highway back south! Lovely little motor sail today, until we hit just outside of Mackay. Thick fog everywhere! Our first foggy sail. It was something else seeing two tug boats just materialise from nothing… Seas below 0.5m. Winds approx. 8 knots SE, sometimes W.

Whales whales whales! Another great day to be out on the water. Exploring some less mainstream anchorages today! Winds sub 4 knots SE. Glass out.

Two grotty yachties just keen for a beer and a good feed! And of course… to watch their boat from the bar.

What a washing machine of an overnight sail! So lovely to be tucked in behind Gloucester Island and dreaming of sundowners at Monte’s. Winds SE 20 knots, seas 1.5 to 2m SE.

Lovely overnight full moon sail. Glass out for the beginning of the journey. Winds SE sub 10 knots. Nil seas. Perfect conditions for reading whilst on helm!

Teamwork is… dumpster diving while the other fills up with fuel and water! Long motor sail day today and we are still very much learning how to close haul. We also saw our first whale of the season today, which was very exciting! Winds were around 10 knots in the exact direction we were headed (SE). Nil seas, beautifully calm sea state. Now off to disguise ourselves as landlubbers, and catch up with some friends!

Feat. single handed sailing with Rob! Meanwhile Emily had the important job of moral booster, supervisor and passenger princess. Very smooth sailing! Approx. 6 knots SE, nil swell. Great day for a fun little sail!

Holey Mackerel! Teamwork makes the dream work! By our 3rd attempt, during the passage, we finally were able to land our Spanish Mackerel! Lovely sail with 15-20 knots SE. 0.5-1m seas.

Catching up on the reef with friends! Beautiful sail (plus motor sail) with 9-12 knots SE, 0.5m seas. Blue skies!

Beautiful day to be out on the water. Close hauling it in 10 knots SE. Seas 0.5m.

Couples who fish together, starve together. Beautiful weather today for our motor sail south. Sun 10 knots SE, nil seas. Caught a cute little reefy (which we sent back in his way). Made anchorage at this stunning spot at Hinchinbrook Island. Now for some more fishing and croc spotting! 🐊

We reached our northernmost point of our trip! Time to turn around! We had a great time visiting markets and celebrating with friends, in mission beach. The trip back over to Dunk Island started out dark, squally, rainy and bashing into into 2m seas. Ended with blue skies, no swell and a beautiful protected anchorage. We had 15-20 knots SE.

Spent the journey detangling Rob’s hard earned sailor dreads! Tucked into anchorage, in preparation of the markets tomorrow morning. Genoa sail, 20 knots SE. Following seas 1-1.5m.

Unpopular belief… but an overcast, grey day sail is a real vibe! Blasting the Twilight soundtrack over the journey. Wing and winging it for most of the trip in 8-12 knots SE. Seas around 1-1.5m.

Beautiful sail day! Wing and winging it in 22 knots. Approx. 1-2m seas. A big solo dolphin came and surfed with us for a while. Keen to spend some quality time with cranky croc! 🐊

Wind and seas were, up on our way to Fantome Island, so we decided to head back to our little bay again on Orpheus. We were hoping it wasn’t going to be exactly what was predicted on the weather forecast 😎