Day 6 Whitemark to Thunder and Lightening Bay

NE 15 kts seas 1m. I  set off at 0700 to take advantage of the tide. I looked at my ipad during the night and the wind was blowing NE to 26 kts but had eased a little in the morning. The forecast of 15 kts was already been exceeded one hour into my paddle. The wind was gusting in the vicinity of 30 kts with a steady 20-25 kts. I stayed as close to shore as possible to get some protection until I could use it to my advantage and shoot across to Trouser Pt with it behind me. I had a max speed reading of 10 kts over this short crossing of the bay. I landed at Trouser Pt where there is a great camp ground with water and toilets. I observed modified wind gusts of over 30 kts. I waited for an hour or so to see if the winds would abate. I changed paddles to my flat blade with the anticipation of a rough crossing of Franklin Sound to Cape Barren Island. It was going to be wind against current but as the wind had eased a  little I decided to make the crossing. I had quartering sea's for the crossing and the skeg I fitted to the Taran was showing it's worth. I went on the inside of Long Island and around Cape Sir John  where I was sheltered from the NE winds. Due to me stopping at Trouser Pt I had lost my window with the current to get a run down to Clarke Island.  I confirmed this when I stopped and was going backwards at 1.5 kts. I wasn't that worried as the forecast for the next day was not looking good for a Banks Strait crossing. I explored Thunder and Lightening Bay and set up camp on an elevated flat rock, it was my best nights sleep of the trip. Average speed 3.8 kts