As the end of our adventure draws closer I find myself struggling to comprehend and process everything that has happened over the past 17 days at sea – and every now and then I have to pinch myself just to make sure this is really happening.

I dare say each and every one of us on board has had his or her own challenges to tackle, small or big, visible or not – and we have all pushed our boundaries, gladly helping each other out and encouraging each other to go on.

I am happy to report that night watches are much more enjoyable without seasickness for various reasons: One of them obviously being the fact that one can actually look up at the night sky, another one being snacking on Tim Tams and Caramello Koalas in good company. So although I have formed an intimate bond with my buddy, the bucket, I am by no means sad to see it go. (At one point we actually lost it in the sea. I had nothing to do with that though.)

It is getting warmer with every mile we leave behind us, which means we were able to swap the foul weather gear for bikinis and bathing shorts a couple of days ago. (I am going to spare you the mind-bogglingly beautiful details about how magnificent today’s dinghy excursion was, as I am sure attached photos will give you a pretty good idea.) We are scheduled to arrive in Cairns in the morning of the 18^th of June, wearing sunscreen, shorts and smiles.

Right now, I refuse to think about having to say goodbye to all the great people I have met on board (= denial stage.)

Report from Bosun Bertram:
Cairns in Queensland - we have completed another leg of our circumnavigation putting behind us 1200 nautical miles since leaving Sydney early this month. This morning was emotional as we had to say goodbye to our crew flying back to Austria, Norway, Denmark and the US. These goodbyes are never easy, but it is with a tear and a smile that we say "See you" rather than farewell. The next couple of days in Cairns we will be preparing the boat for our new crew for the next leg of the journey, going from here to Darwin, and whilst preparing we will take local people with MS out for a taster sail on the water.

Local time onboard is 10:30 and our current position is 16,55.4S , 145,46.94E