From the Captain Garry McKechnie 15/03/06

We depart Mackay and encounter choppy uncomfortable conditions. Pelican is in, what has become known on this trip as, 'lock down mode', where all hatches and anything that shuts, is closed to prevent the ingress of water. Unfortunately it also limits heat dissipation and air circulation. Conditions however are moderating. Pelican is sailing beautifully on a beam reach. The next morning we are on site for our first dive before dawn. We drop anchor to wait for the light. We have three sites spread over about 23 nautical miles approximately 55 miles ENE of Airlie Beach. The third of these has been nominated as the site where we will collect extra data for the remote sensing team as a replacement for the data that we lost last week due to a video camera malfunction. It is a long day but we will attempt to complete the work before sailing overnight to our next group of sites in the Whitsunday Islands. This means long hard days for everyone on board but everyone is positive and our objectives are met. (see Paul Marshall's diaries for details of the research work). We celebrate Johnston's birthday with a sip of champagne and meal of tandoori chicken, vegetable curry and rice. Johnston remains tight lipped about his age but manages a continuous stream of dry humour which keeps everyone amused.