Jan 30, 2006 When we left Cape Town Jan 1, we decided that we would use our sail to provide assistance if fuel supplies became low. We also planned to go as far south as required to get westerlies. After we went to Mossel Bay and fixed our motor mount we decided it would be nicer to stay farther north to avoid the stronger low pressure systems and their higher winds if we could. In order to do that we followed the coast eastward to East London, and then got enough containers for another 1400 liters of fuel. We now have a strong 5,000 liters for a distance of under 5000 miles, so if we keep over one mile per liter we should end up in Australia with a suitable reserve. The rate of fuel consumption is always on our mind. We may find poorer conditions near Australia and want to be prepared for that possibility. We thank the British for Latitude and Longitude to put some organization in our position on Earth. Also we thank them for the excellent weather records they kept for hundreds of years worldwide. These records are used today by every sailor planning a trip and wanting weather averages in both direction and strength. And a big Kudo to USA for the GPS. It is free to use and very accurate and reliable. In the darkest night or the worst storm and the GPS tells you where you are. I thank the US taxpayer. At 04:00 z on Jan 25 we passed longitude 61°04' E at 34* 00' S. This is the closest to the opposite side of the globe from our home town of Grande Prairie Alberta as we will get. At 14:45 z Jan 29 we past 72* E, which is approximately half way from East London to Fremantle on this leg of our journey. It was a distance of 2259 miles at an average speed of 6.3 kts and burning 5.15 lph (1.36 US gph) and 1.2 mpl (4.6 US mpg). We had 5200 liters of fuel and have used 1850. If we use another 1850 we will have a reserve left of 1500 liters. We'll see. -- Ben Gray Idlewild Custom Buehler 55 Home port: Dunvegan, Alberta http://www.idlewildexpedition.ca/ http://dieselducks.com/Idelwild.html http://www.trawlersandtrawlering.com/