Approaching Brisbane

Monday 5th August 2013

Well, what a time we have had of it!! Had to heave to twice more with really bad squalls, the mainsail has been reefed and unreefed, the front sails in and out, and the wind has stayed firmly on our nose and we have had 24 hours of adverse current that held us back 2 miles every hour. (Now it has decided to go with us!). So the trusty engine has been doing its business. This morning early we had our first real time of ship dodging, and then there was the spectacular Aussie sunrise.

We are now on target to get in to the marina at Rivergate for the officials some time tomorrow. Trying now to tidy up and make sure we do not have any banned food items.

26deg21S and 153deg50E

Motoring along

Coral Sea, 3 August 2013

Well, after all the misery of the previous week, we have now gone to the other extreme - no wind. We had to spend 36 hours hove to as the wind was strong and right from where we wanted to go. That and the heavy seas made progress impossible, even if we had used the engine. So we stopped for the first time in over 16,000 miles. Not much could be done except read and twiddle thumbs as the motion of the boat, while much better than when we were bashing into the seas, was still rocky. But not too bad. So we kept looking at the forecast and lo and behold we were able to sail a further 24 hours quite briskly, albeit to windward (that is the leaning over with water coming over the side decks kind for the land lubbers - where we walk like haggis around the mountain with one leg shorter than the other). Then as predicted it all stopped. 

So here we are in the sunshine at last, cool breeze, motoring along. It has been a productive morning sorting out the things that has been bounced out of place, a bit of dusting and wiping down, some washing hung out to blow dry in the sun, bread made for the first time this trip (Ryvita biscuits are OK - but not every day!). Then there was the planning for the entry into Brisbane. This is not the easiest to work out. The passage will take us about 10 hours after getting to the fairway buoy at Caloundra Head, which is longer than a tide, so we need to time it to minimise the adverse ebb tide as we come in. So we look as though we will have to start the passage down the fairway at about 2 AM (ugh). So we have now written all the marks and direction changes so we can tick them off as we pass them and by this means get to the marina without going aground on the shallow bits. Should be in by lunchtime. We have done the notification procedure, got rid of most of the forbidden food - the last of the rice will go tomorrow or the next day. 

Dead excited.

Dave is continually doing sums to make sure we have enough diesel. At the present rate of consumption, a bit less than that of the Queen Mary, we should be OK.

Best of all for me is the cooler weather. Dave is wearing his woolly fleece and the blankies have come out for night time! This took a bit of exploration of the deep stowage as they were thought redundant to requirements!

24deg34minS and 156deg13min E

STILL in the Coral Sea!

1 Aug 2013

We are having a bit of a trying time. We have had to heave to for a day (yesterday) which means we basically stop, except we are drifting backwards!

The problem is that the wind is against us and is relatively strong, and the waves are big and against us. We can get to Cairns or New Zealand OK, but not to Brisbane. We may have to wait a bit more, but the arrival looks to be Wednesday - perhaps earlier if the wind changes as the gribs say it should. This is the first time in over 16,000 miles we have had to heave to!
Will keep you informed.

22deg54minS and 158deg42minE

IN THE CORAL SEA

30 July 2013

Well, today we were able to come out of the depths of the boat into the sunshine for the first time in 2 and 1/2 days. It has been a bit trying to say the least. We have had it all again - the lumpy sea, rain wind and water over the deck. Even with fully reefed main and no fore sails we were doing over 6-7 kts. Unable to even knit - and that is tragic!

Poor Dave has done a sterling job of getting some food cooked, as long as I was able to hold on to things during the preparation and serving. Meals could only be things that did not take lots of hot water (in case it spilled) or complicated cooking (fewer saucepans the better). Pasta is wonderful stuff! 

But today we have gone to the other extreme and have no wind and have been motoring. The sea is still a bit lumpy but not nearly as bad and we were able to sit outside at last. The fresh air is so good. And scrabble is a lot better outside too! And we have been able to make cups of tea and coffee as well. We have crossed over the top of New Caledonia and are making our way very slowly towards Brisbane. We were expecting to arrive Monday next week, but the forecast has little wind so we may be a little slower. All is well and humming along much better now.

View Larger Map 

Best news of all is that it is getting cooler - I am so very happy that we stay under 30degrees, but Dave is mumbling something about needing a fleece soon. I think he jests!!

21deg29minS and 160deg08minE

The Last Leg

26th July 2013

Well, here we are, back on the watery sea, bowling along on the way to Brisbane. The day before we left we had a real scurry around the far reaches of the town getting all the clearances done and the final stamps in the passports. We had to have a taxi ride this time as we would not have been able to dinghy it across the bay without looking like drowned rabbits, but the good side of the taxi ride was the big supermarket we went past. We had Dominic the driver leave us there on the way back and collect us after we had found our first real meat and cheese for lunch and meat for dinner, and veges in ages. Somehow tinned corned beef, tinned veges, tinned everything loses its appeal after a couple of years.

In its inimitable way the sea has had a laugh with us - we actually left the bay after re-fuelling at the smallest fuelling station we have been tied up to, and collecting the last of the washing (beautifully done and hung out to dry then carefully folded so no ironing needed) and put up the main sail which has been out of action for months as not needed (no cobwebs or bird's nests seen). The sun was out, the sea just right and we moseyed along. Till night time when we wanted to sleep! Then the mother of all rackets from block banging on the deck, the wind getting up and the sea going back to its old lumpiness. But we are cheerful having just put another reef in the main and coffee made. Dave is not so cheerful as he had the full frontal sea water dowsing when he was in the cockpit. So now it is getting the weather in, sending this to our Kate to post for us and getting ready for breakfast.

17deg59minS and 166deg 24E

1021 miles to go!

PEACE AT LAST

Jul 14^th 2013 Port Vila, Vanuata

‘Hey, Jen!’

‘Yes, Dave?’

‘Jen, you can’t say that was a terrible passage!’

‘But it was!!!’

‘It was very uncomfortable, but nothing went wrong or broke!’

‘It was more than uncomfortable Dave, it was horrrrrrrriiiiiiidddddd!!!!!’

‘I know, it was horrid for me too. Never read so many books in one go’.

‘Do you know we could not get into the cockpit for five whole days except to dice with death to put the engine on for battery charging?’

‘Never again. It was all New Zealand’s fault starting that weather system that squeezed our bit of the wind up. Nasty Kiwis. Except for Ninja Steve of course!’

‘Isn’t it nice to be sort of still again. And getting stiffer by the minute!’.

So the undaunted duo are now safely sitting on the sturdy anchor in the harbour at Port Vila waiting for the quarantine man to let them go ashore. We have managed to find most of the escaped rice from under the cooker, which looked like maggots gone wrong, swept up the worst of the stray odds and ends, ready for inspection. I can vouch that we have no pets (sob, sob) apart from Dave, no meat except in tins and fruit and veg or live plants. We then go ashore for the customs and immigration bit – that will get rid of the rest of the day at this rate.

The last week was not the nicest at all – the seas were high and confused, more like the southern ocean than the pacific, grey with spindrift off the tops. The boat however is immensely strong – which is why we got steel instead of plastic. The slamming we got and the water over the decks would have daunted a lot of lighter ones. The best we could do was keep an eye on the course, and sit tight in our bunks as best we could. The other thing hard to describe is the noise of crashing waves and crashing things. Every so often there would be an extra lurch and a few extra things would fly around the floor. But we only had one breakage and that was in the cupboard! We were safe enough, just rocking and rolling more than we wanted to – no knitting possible at all, and sewing far out of the question!!

Coming in was interesting as the wind got up even more and we pounded in under trysail and engine alone . The harbour here has a large bay to cross before you get to the inner anchorage and thankfully things died down a bit and we were able to find our way to the quarantine area and anchor just before the light failed. The day had been as grey as grey and heavy with cloud, seas grey and high as well. Today it is grey and raining – so much for the tropical paradise the old man promised!

Upside Down and Back to Front!

13 July 2013

I am trying to write virtually going upside down and back to front - there is a not-spoken-about aspect of long passage making, and we are in it.

We work very hard at trying to sort out sailing to occur at the best time weather wise and watch it every day. We are aware of the nasty possibility of the southern convergence zone giving us nasty winds where we are, but still there is no such thing as perfection.

Every long passage we do has days of almost impossible to live in conditions, and this is one time. The last 36 hours has seen the seas get up and the wind get up so moving about is incredibly difficult and cooking even more so. There is worse, in that as the sea has got up there has been more water over the decks and after being drowned by water coming through the hatches they are all now closed except the companionway one. So it is hot below and too wet up top to sit. A lot of lying in bunks and book reading. Far too bumpy for knitting even!

The wind has also changed direction so at crack of dawn we were falling about up top changing sails. Dave gets harnessed up when he leaves the cockpit, which he had to do when the trysail had to go up. So now we are running with our storm set of staysail and trysail as we are expecting more wind over the next 24 hours.

From Sailing Breezes

We are now 313 miles from Port Vila On Efate in Vanuatu and start our malaria prophylaxis tonight. Thankfully the recommended is Vibramycin which is reasonably tolerable.

16deg39minS and 174deg47E

As to what the day of the week is and the time - we have endless arguments. We do now UTC (GMT) but the date line change and time zone changes lead to lots of philosophical discussions abut leaving before you arrive etc.