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We weighed anchor at 1100 yesterdayday, 11 July [I get a bit confused about dates with them the other side of the dateline - Harry]. We left with rather heavy hearts, as we could happily have stayed a couple of months.

Our route to Fiji is straddled by the Lau group of islands, a mass of small islands and reefs through which we must thread a path. We're going through Oneata passage, a few miles north of Bounty Boat Passage - this whole area is heavy with history. The Bounty mutiny took place in Vava'u, and our route is precisely that taken by Bligh. Last night I was thinking of them - 14 men in a small pinnace with only 4" of freeboard, and with a couple of barrels of foul water and some salt-pork. And of course, Bligh's sextant & tables. They then went north of Viti Levu, and thru the Yasawas, where they were nearly captured. It's an amazing story.

We have Mazy about 100 metres on our starboard beam, and will probably stay together as we're both going at a speed which will allow us to approach the reefs in daylight tomorrow morning so we can con our way through using our Mark 1 eyeballs. We're in good order, although Mie has a touch of sciatica; her toe is settling.