This morning was one of the most memorable of our trip. We rose early when Mike delivered tea in bed at 7.30am but as it was so sunny, we all went up on deck to sit and drink tea in our pyjamas in the sunshine.

The wooden pontoon next to our boat overlooked the ocean and the wood was old and smooth - a perfect setting for our yoga session, led by Chris (to the amusement of other mariners having breakfast nearby!)

After that we made the most of the hot showers at the marina and then wandered up into town to explore and find breakfast.

We found it in style at Jo's Place where they served Apple crumble pancakes and a variety of skillets containing any combination of meat / vegetables / eggs benny that we could imagine. And a bottomless coffee pot. Perfect!

After that we shopped for provisions and found an excellent store selling prawn traps, ropes, floats and fishing equipment. We bought a new and better prawn trap and float, which Beth later decorated with the Stargazer Cheeky Prawn logo for posterity! the liquor store sold a variety of different gins, including the Empress 1908 blue gin, made locally in Victoria - see below!

Pleased with our morning's activities and purchases we trundled back to the yacht and set off at 12.30. There was a 10 knot wind, so the sails went up shortly afterwards and we sailed happily away to the south along the east coast of South Pender.

Annoyingly the marina at Port Browning had no water to top up our tanks, so our first stop was at Poets Cove in Bedwell Harbour on the west coast of South Pender, which was our next port of call. We sailed past South Pender lighthouse and, with more than a little trepidation, dropped our beautiful new prawn trap at Smugglers' Nook. After filling up, we then successfully retrieved it. Hooray! Still no prawns! Grrr.

Also annoying was the fact that both our propane cylinders, in theory supplied with enough gas to last the entire trip, were nearly empty, necessitating a trip to a fuel station near to Tsehum harbour on Sidney Island. We sailed there in the sunshine, fishing as we sailed, and Chris was a hero running to the gas station carrying the two empty cylinders and returning with two full ones (no mean feat, and hitherto referred to as the 'Propane Dash'!) whilst we slowly circled the marina.

Then we were able to proceed with our day and at 6.30 pm arrived at the beautiful and secluded Portland Island, where we dropped anchor.

We cracked open the new bottle of Victoria gin purchased this morning at Port Browning. A curious indigo colour, it turns lilac pink on the addition of citrus or tonic - looks and tastes lovely, especially when served on deck at sunset!

The evening continued to improve with Beth and Mike's marinated ginger and lemon marinated wild salmon filet, cooked on the barbecue and eaten on deck at sunset. That was very special.

We followed it with a challenging card game of 'Vancouver' before retiring.