It was a relief to depart the Boat Works this afternoon after being held up by some last minute repairs to our companionway and new generator exhaust sea cock. After repairs to the mainsail by Evolution Sails, 7 of us refitted the mainsail to Silver Fern.

We filled our fuel tanks and additional jerry cans with diesel, taking the total onboard to 1,400 litres. This will help increase our motoring range, if we are without wind crossing the top half of the country.

With some final tidying and stowing of gear we motored off down the Coomera River right on low tide and made our way to the Southport Seaway. We the breeze at 6 knots and falling, we elected to motor into the setting sun as the full moon rose to the east.

It was a comfortable first night on watch, but with the coast littered with 20+ cargo ships and fishing boats, the crew were kept busy on AIS and radar, picking up vessels before the could see them visually.

With everyone feeling great onboard, its nice to ease into a long passage by kicking it off on calm conditions. We awoke to sunshine and silky blue seas, with whales playing in the distance. After almost 3 years of planning, it’s great to finally be underway on this epic 10,000nm adventure.