One thing I forgot to mention last week when we were at Scawfell we could hear the helicopter pilots talking to the cargo ships waiting to go into Abbot Point. They fly out to drop the ship pilots off and one we heard was late at night blowing 21 knots, very dark and he asked the ship to speed up so he could land – some very precise flying !
Sat 1 Dec – Fraser Island
25⁰23.029S / 153⁰01.729E
We should be putting our Christmas tree up today! We left at 4.40am at low tide again. There was a yacht anchored outside having a very rolly time and we passed them coming in as we were going out. Its not the easiest of places to get in and out of. Passed the Bustard Head lighthouse at 5.25am with the sun quite high in the sky. The sea was rather lumpy and not all that nice. The skipper was remembering when he and Amy went fishing up there. Well it was very swelly and uncomfortable and then it was just swelly. We arrived at Bundaberg at 3pm and having ascertained that we can in fact get diesel at Kingisher Bay we decided to go through. The seas had calmed and it was pleasant enough. However, on dark the winds came up and the seas came up and we were getting slewed around sideways as the waves hit our aft – not pleasant. The moon came up at 8pm and it was a relief to see the leads to the channel into Fraser. We hit 8 knots at one point. We could see boats anchored and went round then anchored further north and further out. We dropped the anchor at 11.20pm.
Miles: 112: TTT: 4,074
Sun 2 Dec – Kingfisher Bay
We went ashore at high tide and walked to the petrol station and got some diesel. The skipper found a trolly and took three jerries back while the crew waited with the other two. A very nice man came in and offered to take the other two for us. He was driving what looked like a glorified golf buggy turned into a covered ute. He said he had got really excited when they had told him he was getting his very own work ute! I walked back as he only had the one seat and then he kindly took the trolly back for us. The skipper put the fuel in then we went into the day area of the resort and had a hot shower (after I had a cold one then realised there was hot!) and lunch along with all the other daytrippers who were using the pool there. In the afternoon our decision to come through last night was vindicated when a northerly came through and it got very rough. It was only when the wind stretched us right back on our anchor chain towards the beach that we realised we were only 5 – 10 metres from the sandbank! Its called perfect anchoring!! All the other yachts anchored left and we were left on our own again. The skipper reckoned it would drop off in the evening and sure enough it did and we had a lovely calm night.
Mon 3 Dec – Garry’s Anchorage
25⁰37.790S / 152⁰58.390E
We upanchored just after 8 to make our way through the shallows of The Great Sandy Straits on a rising tide. We came though the shallow bit following the red and green buoys. One of the green ones had been moved since our last journey through. We followed a big American yacht through part of it with another yacht behind. Both of us then passed the American yacht and I think he was happy enough to follow us through. The lowest we got to was 1.4m under the keel. We pulled into Garry’s Anchorage at 12 noon. The other two boats kept going. There were two other yachts anchored there. It came up very windy in the afternoon and was windy all through the night. Usually it drops off at night. Its amazing at low tide to see how close the sandbars are.
Miles: 21 TTT: 4,095
Tues 4 Dec – Garry’s Anchorage
Well the wind howled all day and this is a very protected little spot but we had whitecaps on the water. It was gusting 30 knots so we were hunkered down in here. It was a hard day for the crew though as we could see boats flying past in the main channel and could hear them on the radio going out and heading south. It kind of makes you wonder if we are wooses but really we thought they were nuts and must have had a fast but thoroughly uncomfortable trip down. The SE change is supposed to come through this evening. But meanwhile the northerly is still howling and apparently Brisbane has a heatwave heading towards 40⁰.
Wed 5 Dec – Inskip Point
25⁰48.835S / 153⁰02.472E
The wind dropped out entirely at 2.30am and the mosquitos and sandflies started coming in so we had a chemical spray – both the boat and us and went back to bed. 6am and it was so still, not a breath of wind and the water like glass and a mist hanging over everything and the constant buzz of cicadas. It was absolutely beautiful. After yesterday, unbelievable! Visibility would probably be 100m – couldn’t see the next marker buoy. And wherever we go there always seems to be one lonely koll (bird) calling for his mate. So still - where is the SE change. We need it to go through and pass so we can go south. We left on a rising tide at 10am and motored down to Inskip Point. We vaguely thought of continuing but were a bit late to cross the bar. We anchored at 1.10pm in 3.7m and had a good night.
Miles: 13 TTT: 4,108
Thurs 6 Dec – Inskip Point
It was calm in the morning and the SE change came through around lunch time as predicted and the wind was very strong. We just had a boat day. One boat went over the bar at 9am on a low tide but they couldn’t have checked the weather because we heard them on the radio calling up VMR for a weather report saying they were bashing into a southerly. Couldnt have been too nice out there – we just stayed hunkered down and a few more boats came in.
Fri 7 Dec – Inskip Point
One of the boats left at 2am and two cats went out at 4.30am and 5am. A whole stack of jelly fish went past under the boat – the majority of them white clear but some with a rim of dark blue – very pretty. We had intended to leave at 11am but the weather came up and it was forecast 1.2 – 1.7m seas on top of a 1.5 – 2m swell which was kind of big so we decided to wait till tomorrow. A thoroughly frustrating afternoon.
Sat 8 Dec – Home is the Sailor home from sea
The skipper ran the motor earlier in the morning to put some charge in the batteries and all of a sudden the water exhaust exit wasn’t working so well. Turned out to be a heap of jellyfish parts in the skimmer box filter Its so hard to wait and by the time we left at 11.30am the crew had herself in quite a stress about crossing the Wide Bay Bar. As it turned out it was lumpy but ok. The lowest we went down to was 3.4m under the keel. We saw a light brown coloured shark beside the boat as we went out It was quite swelly at first and then it settled a bit. We notice by the weather forecast that we have just snuck through another small weather window and it will start blowing up again Sunday night. How lucky have we been really. Well we came through the night and it was really swelly and the skipper did some cargo ship dodging off Mooloolaba and we came into Newport marina at 5.30am. There were a few people to take our lines and Pacific Express is now tied up in the marina in our home port.
Miles: 97 TTT: 4,205
Since the 10th of July when we left Miri till we arrived this morning we have done around 4,205miles and the round trip from the end of April till today is 17,400 miles. We want to really thank you all for travelling with us and we hope the trip has been as enjoyable for you as it has been for us. If anyone has any questions or would like to see our wonderful Pacific Express please email us. Also I have to say I had a really great skipper. Someone (Brian) asked me once if anything happened to the skipper would I be able to bring the boat home alone and I very glibly said of course. But if it had been up to me she would have sunk, been drifting around out in the ocean or run ashore on the Wessels!
Anyway hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year and all the very best to you.
We dared and we did it
Fair Winds and Calm Seas
Dell and Peter signing off
Monday, December 10, 2012
Sunday, December 2, 2012
LWH – Week 21 –Cape Upstart – Pancake Ck
Sat 24 Nov – Airlie Beach
20⁰15.031S / 148⁰45.006E
Left at the civilised hour of 5am in daylight! It was blowing quite hard as we came round the Cape. So rugged. Rocky cliffs straight into the ocean. The sea was a dark colour and it was overcast and a bit swelly. But as the day went on the sea settled and turned a lovely blue then went to green as we rounded Gloucester Island. Then we turned off the motor and had a lovely sail all the way down to Airlie Beach. It looked a lovely little town all built up the side of a mountain but so many boats. We could see lots of mooring buoys and it all looked so busy we opted to go next door to Funnel Bay and anchored there around 5.45pm. It was swelly at first but it settled through the night and we had a very comfortable sleep.
Miles: 69 TTT: 3,667
Sun 25 Nov – Scawfell Island
20⁰51.616S / 149⁰35.958E
It was lovely to hear all the birds chirping as we upanchored at 5.30am – a sleep in! We came round into the passage between The Molle Islands and the mainland. The sea was choppy as it was wind against tide but the current was with us so it was all good. The Whitsunday Islands are scrubby tree covered hills with the odd pine trees with beaches dotted here and there. They are not all white sandy beaches with palm trees – not tropical islands. Whitehaven Beach is a beautiful exception with the whitest sand beach you will see. Though some of the resorts have planted lots of palm trees, notably Daydream Island. But the Whitsundays is a pretty place and a great cruising ground. You can anchor off a beach and be on our own or anchor with heaps of other boats in the more popular anchorages. We came between the islands doing up to 7.5kn with the current. The water was turbulent. A sunsail charter boat played chicken with us this morning and then veered behind us at the last minute. He thought it was a huge joke. We were less than impressed. The wind came up and we were pushing in to it and were pleased when we came into Refuge Bay on Scawfell Island. There were six boats already in there. There was a bit of swell coming round and it was very windy. Its a very pretty bay and a turtle surfaced right beside us to welcome us!
Miles: 65 TTT: 3,732nm
Mon 26 Nov – Scawfell
20⁰51.826S / 149⁰35.971E
The wind was supposed to be blowing up today so we decided to stay. We then realised how much we needed a break! All the cats left and the other mono moved in closer and so did we so it is much calmer. There is reef here and it is a 4 metre tide. We watched as the people of one cat used their dinghy (obviously a bigger motor than ours) to tow someone on a water ski. Then they left towing the skier behind their cat till he fell in and then they picked him up and left. The skipper made some bread and the crew finished her book (The Quiet Game – Greg Iles – an excellent read). Cant get over how beautiful the colour of the water is. Before we moved we had the biggest bat fish out the back of the boat. We went ashore in the afternoon and had the beach to ourselves and walked the length of it. There are picnic tables, water tank and loo ashore and camping is allowed. As it turned out the weather looked perfect out there but we do need the rest. There are only the two boats in the entire bay and it is beautiful – so picturesque. The skipper got something huge on his fishing line and he played it for a while but then it bit him off.
Tues 27 Nov – Scawfell
It poured rain in the middle of the night so we got up to put the cockpit sides on and got soaked and just as we got them secure it stopped raining! We awoke to have the whole bay to ourselves. The other boat had gone. Parks & Wildlife came in in a boat and whippersnipped around the camp tables (wonder how many people actually camp to warrant the care). We took Bob around to the other beach and could see the tracks where turtles had gone ashore to lay their eggs – we counted 17 nests. Then a turtle came out of the water about 50 metres in front of us and started going up the beach. We though wow but then she saw us and turned around and went back into the water. We checked out the coral but it seemed to be dead. There was no colour there anyway and we didn’t see too many fish – we weren’t snorkelling, jut looking through the bathoscope. It is so beautiful in this bay. The water is a gorgeous colour. Four dolphins came in close to the boat and swam around. Wonderful to have time out. We hadn’t realised how tired we were. Another beautiful day.
Wed 28 Nov – night sail
We left at 6am and decided to come around the outside of the island to get a better angle of the wind instead of the lee of the island. Always do the latter!! We found ourselves in huge waves as we came around the point – it was like being in a storm without the storm! Lasted over half an hour till we got away from the influence of the island then it settled but there was still a big swell out there. We hadn’t been looking forward to this section of the journey as there are strong currents and big tides courtesy of Shoalwater Bay and Broad Sound where they have tides of up to 8 metres and thats a lot of water to move in and out during the tides. We got to the Percy Islands around 6pm and decided to go through the night. We really wanted this one out of the way. It was pretty rough with wind against tide for a while. At one stage the skipper had to go 25⁰ off course to keep us on course – the current was pushing us. But we had the biggest full moon and we could see everything which was great. We both had to put our jumpers on. We are finding it a big cool (Axel and Elisabeth will think thats pretty funny!)
Thurs 29 Nov – Cape Capricorn
23⁰29.077S / 151⁰13.835E
Its a lovely sunny day as we continue down the coast but there is a big swell out here. We keep trying to get south to get the lighter northerly winds but the further south we go the further south the light northerlies seem to go! Passing the Kepple Islands the seas have settled and its quite pleasant. Lotsa coral spawn in the water – streaks of baby poo yellow! Anchored off lovely Cape Capricorn at 4.30pm. We anchored right in the little bay and had a bit of swell coming round the Cape but we were held stern to it so that was ok but a bigger yacht anchored a bit further out and rolled all over the place and he disappeared a bit later in the evening. We had quite a good night.
Miles: 186 TTT: 3,918
Fri 30 Nov – Pancake Creek
24⁰00.556S / 151⁰44.242E
We left at 5.30am and motor sailed in the sunshine on calm seas. We could see on the AIS that there were around 53 boats in Gladstone Harbour and 27 anchored outside. Thats an amazing number of boats. Had a pleasant run down to Pancake Creek. The wind was starting to get a little stronger when we pulled in and anchored off the little beach at 2pm. We didn’t go all the way in as we want an early start in the morning. Its very calm here and we can see the waves breaking on the sandbar out the front. It was interesting to see the sandbar at low tide as we gave it a nudge and had to reverse off last time we were in here. Well we saw Pancake Creek at spring lows and could see all the sand spits and rocks and then the tide comes in and it all looks so innocent! A big catamaran came in in the dark and anchored behind us. A lovely calm night.
Miles: 44 TTT: 3,962
Well we are going like the clappers to try to get home but at this point in time we are anchored off the Kingfisher Resort at Fraser Island in strong winds which look like blowing for a good part of the week so instead of being home on Wednesday (!) we will be hunkered down here till this weather blows itself out. Disappointing but there you have it and the Great Sandy Straits is probably a good place to get stuck.
Miss you all – cant wait.
Love
Dell and Peter
20⁰15.031S / 148⁰45.006E
Left at the civilised hour of 5am in daylight! It was blowing quite hard as we came round the Cape. So rugged. Rocky cliffs straight into the ocean. The sea was a dark colour and it was overcast and a bit swelly. But as the day went on the sea settled and turned a lovely blue then went to green as we rounded Gloucester Island. Then we turned off the motor and had a lovely sail all the way down to Airlie Beach. It looked a lovely little town all built up the side of a mountain but so many boats. We could see lots of mooring buoys and it all looked so busy we opted to go next door to Funnel Bay and anchored there around 5.45pm. It was swelly at first but it settled through the night and we had a very comfortable sleep.
Miles: 69 TTT: 3,667
Sun 25 Nov – Scawfell Island
20⁰51.616S / 149⁰35.958E
It was lovely to hear all the birds chirping as we upanchored at 5.30am – a sleep in! We came round into the passage between The Molle Islands and the mainland. The sea was choppy as it was wind against tide but the current was with us so it was all good. The Whitsunday Islands are scrubby tree covered hills with the odd pine trees with beaches dotted here and there. They are not all white sandy beaches with palm trees – not tropical islands. Whitehaven Beach is a beautiful exception with the whitest sand beach you will see. Though some of the resorts have planted lots of palm trees, notably Daydream Island. But the Whitsundays is a pretty place and a great cruising ground. You can anchor off a beach and be on our own or anchor with heaps of other boats in the more popular anchorages. We came between the islands doing up to 7.5kn with the current. The water was turbulent. A sunsail charter boat played chicken with us this morning and then veered behind us at the last minute. He thought it was a huge joke. We were less than impressed. The wind came up and we were pushing in to it and were pleased when we came into Refuge Bay on Scawfell Island. There were six boats already in there. There was a bit of swell coming round and it was very windy. Its a very pretty bay and a turtle surfaced right beside us to welcome us!
Miles: 65 TTT: 3,732nm
Mon 26 Nov – Scawfell
20⁰51.826S / 149⁰35.971E
The wind was supposed to be blowing up today so we decided to stay. We then realised how much we needed a break! All the cats left and the other mono moved in closer and so did we so it is much calmer. There is reef here and it is a 4 metre tide. We watched as the people of one cat used their dinghy (obviously a bigger motor than ours) to tow someone on a water ski. Then they left towing the skier behind their cat till he fell in and then they picked him up and left. The skipper made some bread and the crew finished her book (The Quiet Game – Greg Iles – an excellent read). Cant get over how beautiful the colour of the water is. Before we moved we had the biggest bat fish out the back of the boat. We went ashore in the afternoon and had the beach to ourselves and walked the length of it. There are picnic tables, water tank and loo ashore and camping is allowed. As it turned out the weather looked perfect out there but we do need the rest. There are only the two boats in the entire bay and it is beautiful – so picturesque. The skipper got something huge on his fishing line and he played it for a while but then it bit him off.
Tues 27 Nov – Scawfell
It poured rain in the middle of the night so we got up to put the cockpit sides on and got soaked and just as we got them secure it stopped raining! We awoke to have the whole bay to ourselves. The other boat had gone. Parks & Wildlife came in in a boat and whippersnipped around the camp tables (wonder how many people actually camp to warrant the care). We took Bob around to the other beach and could see the tracks where turtles had gone ashore to lay their eggs – we counted 17 nests. Then a turtle came out of the water about 50 metres in front of us and started going up the beach. We though wow but then she saw us and turned around and went back into the water. We checked out the coral but it seemed to be dead. There was no colour there anyway and we didn’t see too many fish – we weren’t snorkelling, jut looking through the bathoscope. It is so beautiful in this bay. The water is a gorgeous colour. Four dolphins came in close to the boat and swam around. Wonderful to have time out. We hadn’t realised how tired we were. Another beautiful day.
Wed 28 Nov – night sail
We left at 6am and decided to come around the outside of the island to get a better angle of the wind instead of the lee of the island. Always do the latter!! We found ourselves in huge waves as we came around the point – it was like being in a storm without the storm! Lasted over half an hour till we got away from the influence of the island then it settled but there was still a big swell out there. We hadn’t been looking forward to this section of the journey as there are strong currents and big tides courtesy of Shoalwater Bay and Broad Sound where they have tides of up to 8 metres and thats a lot of water to move in and out during the tides. We got to the Percy Islands around 6pm and decided to go through the night. We really wanted this one out of the way. It was pretty rough with wind against tide for a while. At one stage the skipper had to go 25⁰ off course to keep us on course – the current was pushing us. But we had the biggest full moon and we could see everything which was great. We both had to put our jumpers on. We are finding it a big cool (Axel and Elisabeth will think thats pretty funny!)
Thurs 29 Nov – Cape Capricorn
23⁰29.077S / 151⁰13.835E
Its a lovely sunny day as we continue down the coast but there is a big swell out here. We keep trying to get south to get the lighter northerly winds but the further south we go the further south the light northerlies seem to go! Passing the Kepple Islands the seas have settled and its quite pleasant. Lotsa coral spawn in the water – streaks of baby poo yellow! Anchored off lovely Cape Capricorn at 4.30pm. We anchored right in the little bay and had a bit of swell coming round the Cape but we were held stern to it so that was ok but a bigger yacht anchored a bit further out and rolled all over the place and he disappeared a bit later in the evening. We had quite a good night.
Miles: 186 TTT: 3,918
Fri 30 Nov – Pancake Creek
24⁰00.556S / 151⁰44.242E
We left at 5.30am and motor sailed in the sunshine on calm seas. We could see on the AIS that there were around 53 boats in Gladstone Harbour and 27 anchored outside. Thats an amazing number of boats. Had a pleasant run down to Pancake Creek. The wind was starting to get a little stronger when we pulled in and anchored off the little beach at 2pm. We didn’t go all the way in as we want an early start in the morning. Its very calm here and we can see the waves breaking on the sandbar out the front. It was interesting to see the sandbar at low tide as we gave it a nudge and had to reverse off last time we were in here. Well we saw Pancake Creek at spring lows and could see all the sand spits and rocks and then the tide comes in and it all looks so innocent! A big catamaran came in in the dark and anchored behind us. A lovely calm night.
Miles: 44 TTT: 3,962
Well we are going like the clappers to try to get home but at this point in time we are anchored off the Kingfisher Resort at Fraser Island in strong winds which look like blowing for a good part of the week so instead of being home on Wednesday (!) we will be hunkered down here till this weather blows itself out. Disappointing but there you have it and the Great Sandy Straits is probably a good place to get stuck.
Miss you all – cant wait.
Love
Dell and Peter
Saturday, November 24, 2012
LWH – Week 20 –Cairns – Cape Upstart
Sun – 18 – Cairns
16⁰55.025S / 145⁰47.176E
We passed Cape Tribulation in the morning. It was quite warm already and humid. Very pretty – rainforest mountains to the sea. It was a beautiful day with perfect conditions and we dropped anchor opposite the Cairns marina at 6pm. A really good run down. The anchored boats were all over the place and facing all sorts of different directions with the wind and the current. In the evening they settled and we had a good night.
Miles: 211 TTT: 3,366
Mon 19 Nov – Cairns marina
Berth G 23
We had booked in to get fuel at 9am so upanchored and proceeded to the fuel dock where we took on 311 litres at $1.46 a litre. We then headed to our berth and by this time it was getting quite breezy. The skipper had the boat in reverse as we came into the arm as we were getting blown forward and sideways and he brought her in beautifully. We said hullo to Jasmin who we had last seen rounding the Cape. We managed to do our shopping, laundry and booze run and then went out to dinner. We had noticed that Cairns had lots of tourists and in the evening was buzzing. It was Monday night and we had a half hour wait at the restaurant. Found out later that there had been 15,000 people at the Eclipse party and thats why the town was full. Cairns is a very pretty town with large swimming pools on the shore of the bay and the marina right in the middle of town within walking distance of everything. I was coming back from the shower at 10pm and there was a couple at the security gate to the our dock and it turned out to be Casper – they had left their dinghy on the dock and couldnt get back in as the gates are locked at 6pm. Had a quick catchup and they headed off across the river to their anchorage Also caught up with Suspense earlier in the evening. We last saw them in Miri. They are settled in with their kids all now in school.
Tues 20 Nov – Fitzroy Island
Mooring – 16⁰55.949S / 145⁰59.112E
We packed all our shopping away and left around 9am. Bach & Byte and Mandolin Wind had anchored out at 2am after a marathon 69 hour run down from the Cape. We went by Bach & Byte and said hullo. We had a slow motor sail over to Fitzroy and managed to pick up a mooring quite close to the rocky shore. We spent the afternoon doing chores. Snorkled in the water to clear some molluscs off the bottom of the boat but it was very murky so didn’t stay in long. The water is a very pretty colour and the island very green though its beach is corally rubble – not sand. A comfortable night
Miles: 17 TTT: 3,383
Wed 21 Nov – Dunk Island
19⁰06.776S / 146D51.549E
We dropped the mooring at 5am and motor sailed through the day with lovely weather and calm sea and anchored at 3pm off the sandy spit at Dunk Island. They are rebuilding the jetty there and the resort seemed closed. Its possible they have not recovered from the cyclone of a few years ago. The skipper worked on the loo – pulled it out and put it in again three times – I was surprised it did not go overboard! The language was rather blue. By 9pm it was working better than it ever has so its all good! We were supposed to go for drinks to Mandolin Wind but the loo took precendence!
Miles: 63 TTT: 3,446
Thurs 22 Nov – Horseshoe Bay Magnetic Island
19⁰06.776S / 146⁰51.548E
We upanchored just before 4am in the dark and motor sailed along with Bach & Byte and Mandolin Wind. The seas were not as calm as yesterday but not too bad. We had great wind to start with but as we got closer to the Palm Islands it dropped out a bit. Lots of coral spawn in the water. The wind came up in the afternoon but the seas were calm. A good run doing 7+knots motor sailing. The crew actually put a jumper on this morning! Arrived at Horseshoe Bay at 5pm. Strange coming in with only a couple of boats at anchor. This place is usually packed but everyone has gone south for the summer. Makes us feel we are dragging the chain a bit but we are making good time.
Miles: 84 TTT: 3,530
Fri 23 Nov – Cape Upstart
19⁰42.550S / 147⁰45.122E
Another dark 4am start. By the time we rounded Magnetic Island and went past the five tankers at anchor the sun was rising and reflecting pink off all the clouds – very pretty. Headed east and passed Cape Bowling Green around 9.30am then turned south. Seas are good. Motor sailed doing almost 7 knots but when we turned south we dropped to around 6 knots and less. Good wind filling the sails. Around 1pm the Coastwatch plane came in from behind us low and close – woke the crew from slumber and gave the skipper quite a start. They then called us up by name wanting our details – last port of call, next port etc. We wondered what they were doing on this part of the coast. Also thought what a cushy job that would be! Coming into Cape Upstart its just a glorious day – the sky so blue the sea such a pretty green and Cape Upstart bare and rugged in front of us. Anchored at Cape Upstart off a tiny beach with a few little houses – holiday shacks. A huge healthy looking eagle. Beautiful spot. People come from Ayr and Home Hill. Some locals came out trolling and got a Spanish mackerel each. A spot to come back to.
Miles: 68 TTT: 3,598
Well we are making good headway and tonight we are in the next bay from Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays. The weather is blowing up again on Monday so we may have another enforced rest!
Getting closer! Love to all
Fair Winds and Calm Seas
Dell and Peter
16⁰55.025S / 145⁰47.176E
We passed Cape Tribulation in the morning. It was quite warm already and humid. Very pretty – rainforest mountains to the sea. It was a beautiful day with perfect conditions and we dropped anchor opposite the Cairns marina at 6pm. A really good run down. The anchored boats were all over the place and facing all sorts of different directions with the wind and the current. In the evening they settled and we had a good night.
Miles: 211 TTT: 3,366
Mon 19 Nov – Cairns marina
Berth G 23
We had booked in to get fuel at 9am so upanchored and proceeded to the fuel dock where we took on 311 litres at $1.46 a litre. We then headed to our berth and by this time it was getting quite breezy. The skipper had the boat in reverse as we came into the arm as we were getting blown forward and sideways and he brought her in beautifully. We said hullo to Jasmin who we had last seen rounding the Cape. We managed to do our shopping, laundry and booze run and then went out to dinner. We had noticed that Cairns had lots of tourists and in the evening was buzzing. It was Monday night and we had a half hour wait at the restaurant. Found out later that there had been 15,000 people at the Eclipse party and thats why the town was full. Cairns is a very pretty town with large swimming pools on the shore of the bay and the marina right in the middle of town within walking distance of everything. I was coming back from the shower at 10pm and there was a couple at the security gate to the our dock and it turned out to be Casper – they had left their dinghy on the dock and couldnt get back in as the gates are locked at 6pm. Had a quick catchup and they headed off across the river to their anchorage Also caught up with Suspense earlier in the evening. We last saw them in Miri. They are settled in with their kids all now in school.
Tues 20 Nov – Fitzroy Island
Mooring – 16⁰55.949S / 145⁰59.112E
We packed all our shopping away and left around 9am. Bach & Byte and Mandolin Wind had anchored out at 2am after a marathon 69 hour run down from the Cape. We went by Bach & Byte and said hullo. We had a slow motor sail over to Fitzroy and managed to pick up a mooring quite close to the rocky shore. We spent the afternoon doing chores. Snorkled in the water to clear some molluscs off the bottom of the boat but it was very murky so didn’t stay in long. The water is a very pretty colour and the island very green though its beach is corally rubble – not sand. A comfortable night
Miles: 17 TTT: 3,383
Wed 21 Nov – Dunk Island
19⁰06.776S / 146D51.549E
We dropped the mooring at 5am and motor sailed through the day with lovely weather and calm sea and anchored at 3pm off the sandy spit at Dunk Island. They are rebuilding the jetty there and the resort seemed closed. Its possible they have not recovered from the cyclone of a few years ago. The skipper worked on the loo – pulled it out and put it in again three times – I was surprised it did not go overboard! The language was rather blue. By 9pm it was working better than it ever has so its all good! We were supposed to go for drinks to Mandolin Wind but the loo took precendence!
Miles: 63 TTT: 3,446
Thurs 22 Nov – Horseshoe Bay Magnetic Island
19⁰06.776S / 146⁰51.548E
We upanchored just before 4am in the dark and motor sailed along with Bach & Byte and Mandolin Wind. The seas were not as calm as yesterday but not too bad. We had great wind to start with but as we got closer to the Palm Islands it dropped out a bit. Lots of coral spawn in the water. The wind came up in the afternoon but the seas were calm. A good run doing 7+knots motor sailing. The crew actually put a jumper on this morning! Arrived at Horseshoe Bay at 5pm. Strange coming in with only a couple of boats at anchor. This place is usually packed but everyone has gone south for the summer. Makes us feel we are dragging the chain a bit but we are making good time.
Miles: 84 TTT: 3,530
Fri 23 Nov – Cape Upstart
19⁰42.550S / 147⁰45.122E
Another dark 4am start. By the time we rounded Magnetic Island and went past the five tankers at anchor the sun was rising and reflecting pink off all the clouds – very pretty. Headed east and passed Cape Bowling Green around 9.30am then turned south. Seas are good. Motor sailed doing almost 7 knots but when we turned south we dropped to around 6 knots and less. Good wind filling the sails. Around 1pm the Coastwatch plane came in from behind us low and close – woke the crew from slumber and gave the skipper quite a start. They then called us up by name wanting our details – last port of call, next port etc. We wondered what they were doing on this part of the coast. Also thought what a cushy job that would be! Coming into Cape Upstart its just a glorious day – the sky so blue the sea such a pretty green and Cape Upstart bare and rugged in front of us. Anchored at Cape Upstart off a tiny beach with a few little houses – holiday shacks. A huge healthy looking eagle. Beautiful spot. People come from Ayr and Home Hill. Some locals came out trolling and got a Spanish mackerel each. A spot to come back to.
Miles: 68 TTT: 3,598
Well we are making good headway and tonight we are in the next bay from Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays. The weather is blowing up again on Monday so we may have another enforced rest!
Getting closer! Love to all
Fair Winds and Calm Seas
Dell and Peter
Sunday, November 18, 2012
LWH – Week 19 –Night Island – night passage
Sun – Wed 11 – 14 Nov – Night Island
Sunday was a very sheltered day wondering if we stopped too soon but Monday the big blow came in with 30 knot winds and we were very glad to be where we were. Each evening the pigeons came in and we could hear a deep buzzing sound of thousands of pigeons cooing on the island. Another yacht came in on Tuesday afternoon heading north and anchored towards the north of the island. The next morning they were rolling badly. We had a slight bit of swell but all in all were pretty comfy.
Thurs 15 Nov – Morris Island
13⁰29.430S / 143⁰43.377E
Today would have been little Jackie matys birthday
We left at 6.30am but it was still pretty blowy so we decided to head 20 miles up to Morris Island which is a lovely sand island with a coconut palm and surrounded by lots of reef. The colour of the water was reminiscent of the Philippines. When the tide went out there was a huge sandspit coming out from the island. A couple of pelicans on the beach when we arrived (haven’t seen one of those for ages). We anchored at 12 and by 12.15 it was pouring rain but it didn’t last long. Some large white heron type birds were on the shore and also lots of little birds sitting along the beach. We are still following the shipping channel as it goes between all the reef. This little sandspit island turns into a huge island at low tide when all the reef is exposed and if you were inclined to you could walk for miles. At high tide you wouldn’t know there was any reef around so it just goes to show how close the reef is lurking to the surface! The wind howled till after midnight. A horrible sound but very comfortable though our track at anchorage was all over the place – we think currents are at play here. The skipper had a bit of luck here and caught a huge Spanish mackerel. The freezer is full so it is no more fishing for a while!!!!
Miles: 21 TTT: 3,093
Friday 16 Nov – Flinders Islands
14⁰10.677S / 144⁰13.729E
We left at 5.30am. The wind had died off but started up again at around 5. We put the sails out and could see a tug towing a barge out in the shipping channel – shades of Indonesia! And just to really make it like Indonesia someone did a nonsense gargle on channel 16! The skipper has taken to wearing a shirt as he is cold! We saw the biggest yellow seasnake sunning itself on the surface – it had to be 6 – 7 ft long. It was a beautiful sunny day and we motor sailed over 6 knots all morning following the edge of the shipping channel. During the afternoon the winds increased as did the waves and then we had to turn up into it to get to Cape Melville so we pulled into the Flinders Group and anchored at 4.30pm in 7.3m. We were surprised to see six other boats in there and two more came in after us. Some are heading north and some south. We ran out of pineapple, banana and pawpaw yesterday so now we are on the oranges. The wind howled through till about 2am. A comfortable night.
Miles: 62 TTT: 3,155
Sat 17 Nov – night sail
We upanchored in the dark at 5am and motored through the Owen channel. The Flinders Islands are stark and beautiful. It started out another lovely sunny day – area of interest rounding Cape Melville – hills covered in huge boulders and around the Cape three piles of boulders like God just dumped them there like piles of building blocks. Barrow point – really pretty – very rocky with big slabs of rock which look like it used to be an ancient building (its not) – unusual rocks here. A cat had been anchored at Barrow Island and left just before we got there and called us up for a weather report and it was so good they went back to Barrow Island. Just before Lookout Point we saw the most wonderful white sand cliffs shining in the afternoon sun – they looked quite spectacular. Lookout Point is where Captain Cook left his ship Endeavour while he went out to Lizard Island to try to find a way through the reef. Yes he did and they went out through a gap in the reef the other side of Lizard Island. We also passed Watson Island today which is where Mrs Watson and her baby died of thirst after escaping an Aborigine attack on Lizard Island in a bech-de-mer tub. Just watched the most beautiful sunset. The sun was a big orange orb – could have something to do with the smoke haze from burning off. We went through the night in perfect conditions except the wind dropped out.
We are currently enroute to Cairns having motor sailed through the night. We want to take the best advantage of this wonderful weather window we have been offered.
Hope all your days are sunny too.
Much love
Fair Winds and Calm Seas
Dell and Peter
Sunday was a very sheltered day wondering if we stopped too soon but Monday the big blow came in with 30 knot winds and we were very glad to be where we were. Each evening the pigeons came in and we could hear a deep buzzing sound of thousands of pigeons cooing on the island. Another yacht came in on Tuesday afternoon heading north and anchored towards the north of the island. The next morning they were rolling badly. We had a slight bit of swell but all in all were pretty comfy.
Thurs 15 Nov – Morris Island
13⁰29.430S / 143⁰43.377E
Today would have been little Jackie matys birthday
We left at 6.30am but it was still pretty blowy so we decided to head 20 miles up to Morris Island which is a lovely sand island with a coconut palm and surrounded by lots of reef. The colour of the water was reminiscent of the Philippines. When the tide went out there was a huge sandspit coming out from the island. A couple of pelicans on the beach when we arrived (haven’t seen one of those for ages). We anchored at 12 and by 12.15 it was pouring rain but it didn’t last long. Some large white heron type birds were on the shore and also lots of little birds sitting along the beach. We are still following the shipping channel as it goes between all the reef. This little sandspit island turns into a huge island at low tide when all the reef is exposed and if you were inclined to you could walk for miles. At high tide you wouldn’t know there was any reef around so it just goes to show how close the reef is lurking to the surface! The wind howled till after midnight. A horrible sound but very comfortable though our track at anchorage was all over the place – we think currents are at play here. The skipper had a bit of luck here and caught a huge Spanish mackerel. The freezer is full so it is no more fishing for a while!!!!
Miles: 21 TTT: 3,093
Friday 16 Nov – Flinders Islands
14⁰10.677S / 144⁰13.729E
We left at 5.30am. The wind had died off but started up again at around 5. We put the sails out and could see a tug towing a barge out in the shipping channel – shades of Indonesia! And just to really make it like Indonesia someone did a nonsense gargle on channel 16! The skipper has taken to wearing a shirt as he is cold! We saw the biggest yellow seasnake sunning itself on the surface – it had to be 6 – 7 ft long. It was a beautiful sunny day and we motor sailed over 6 knots all morning following the edge of the shipping channel. During the afternoon the winds increased as did the waves and then we had to turn up into it to get to Cape Melville so we pulled into the Flinders Group and anchored at 4.30pm in 7.3m. We were surprised to see six other boats in there and two more came in after us. Some are heading north and some south. We ran out of pineapple, banana and pawpaw yesterday so now we are on the oranges. The wind howled through till about 2am. A comfortable night.
Miles: 62 TTT: 3,155
Sat 17 Nov – night sail
We upanchored in the dark at 5am and motored through the Owen channel. The Flinders Islands are stark and beautiful. It started out another lovely sunny day – area of interest rounding Cape Melville – hills covered in huge boulders and around the Cape three piles of boulders like God just dumped them there like piles of building blocks. Barrow point – really pretty – very rocky with big slabs of rock which look like it used to be an ancient building (its not) – unusual rocks here. A cat had been anchored at Barrow Island and left just before we got there and called us up for a weather report and it was so good they went back to Barrow Island. Just before Lookout Point we saw the most wonderful white sand cliffs shining in the afternoon sun – they looked quite spectacular. Lookout Point is where Captain Cook left his ship Endeavour while he went out to Lizard Island to try to find a way through the reef. Yes he did and they went out through a gap in the reef the other side of Lizard Island. We also passed Watson Island today which is where Mrs Watson and her baby died of thirst after escaping an Aborigine attack on Lizard Island in a bech-de-mer tub. Just watched the most beautiful sunset. The sun was a big orange orb – could have something to do with the smoke haze from burning off. We went through the night in perfect conditions except the wind dropped out.
We are currently enroute to Cairns having motor sailed through the night. We want to take the best advantage of this wonderful weather window we have been offered.
Hope all your days are sunny too.
Much love
Fair Winds and Calm Seas
Dell and Peter
Monday, November 12, 2012
LWH - Week 18 -Seisia - Night Island
Sat 3 Nov - Seisia
We had a quiet day on board and had seen children swimming off the beach near the jetty. Around 4pm we joined the crews of the other boats and went in for a game of cricket. One of them had fashioned a bat out of a piece of wood. We all had a couple of goes at batting and while we were playing we saw one of the two resident crocodiles swimming past. He was around 4 metres. We then went to the Fishing Club but it was closed so that meant no dinner but they were happy to serve us drinks. Back to the boats before it got dark!
Sun 4 Nov - Seisia
We joined a few of the others on the beach on the little island off the anchorage (Red Island), which incidentally is apparently where the big croc hangs out. We walked around the island. Barbara off Casper is something of a botanist and knew all the scientific names for plants and trees. Another couple are bird watchers and photographers so it was an interesting exercise. It took us around two and a half hours - a good morning. Spent the rest of the day reading and waiting on a weather window to round the Cape.
Mon 5 Nov - Seisia
Went ashore and watched a large ship dock at the jetty - quite a feat getting in there as it is very shallow. Someone had caught a shark and tossed it on the beach and one of the workers told us that both crocodiles had been chased away from it a couple of times and it would have to be moved. This was just near where we saw a man have an early morning swim. We then headed up the road and a lady offered us a lift and we declined but then a resort bus stopped and offered us a lift to Bamaga so we thought why not. There is not much in Bamaga - we checked out the supermarket and had a pie at the bakery then headed back towards Seisia. We met the others a t the New Mapoon cemetery. It is so colourful with heaps of artificial flowers on the graves and headstones with a photo of the person and a rundown of their life. Then we went to the Art and Craft shop where the Indigenous people do paintings. They are not the dot paintings - they are a different style. We walked back to Seisia calling in at the butcher on the way back. In the late afternoon ten of us met on the cat, Easy Rider and had a game of dice. We have never played this before but it was a good game and we had a great evening.
Tues 6 Nov - Seisia
We went ashore and did last minute shopping and a water run then adjourned to Easy Rider for the Melbourne Cup. There were twelve of us as another boat had come in. The ladies all wore hats and Wayne off Casper did up a Melbourne Cup quiz and we had a sweep and had a fantastic afternoon. We then watched the race on delayed telecast on the computer but that was the least important part of the afternoon!!! A great afternoon with good company.
Wed 7 Nov - Cape York
10 41.248S / 142 31.474E
We left at 10am after the tide came up a bit. It was a good trip up the Cape and then beating into the wind and tide for an hour or so and we anchored on the west side of the Cape at 2pm. Casper, Easy Rider and Jasmin came in shortly after. It was really blowing but it was a calm anchorage. The weather forecast for tomorrow is 15 - 20 knots instead of 20 - 25 knots so we are going for it.
Miles: 19 TTT: 2,898nm
Thurs 8 Nov Day/night 1
We left at 8am and pushed current around to the Albany Passage. We followed Easy Rider and Jasmin through. A beautiful sunny day. Pushed a bit of current then came out into a wavy ocean and pushed into more current. The further we got from the passage the better it got. We had current against us and the waves were a metre with the odd two metre wave which stopped us in our tracks at times. We only managed to do 2.5 - 3 knots so it took forever and was most unpleasant. But we remember it being quite unpleasant on the way up here - its just not a nice part of the coast! At midnight the crew could see a ship on the AIS and it looked as though we were going to meet it at the narrow stretch between the reefs. As soon as we passed the reef we headed for the starboard side of the shipping channel and when we saw his red light we knew we were going to be ok. The wind blew hard all night.
Fri 9 Nov - Day 2 Portland Roads
12 35.629S / 143 24.432E
We didn't make it to Shelburne Bay till the early hours of the morning so continued on to Margret Bay and then made the decision to keep going. We pushed up around Cape Grenville and through some islands, one of which had a resort on it, and then had a lovely sail with current for most of the morning. A big ship went through the narrowest section of the channel just before we did and we passed him quite closely. The winds were about 10 - 15 so it was lovely. Shortly after we had to turn up to head towards Portland Roads. we had current against us and wind on the nose which had come up a bit. We tried to hug the land as much as we could. We thought about pushing through to the Flinders but it would have meant another two nights and we weren't sure we could make it before the next big blow came through and we were pretty tired so we pulled into Portland Roads and anchored at 5.45pm in 7m beside another cat. And fell into bed. We think the other boats stayed at Shelburne Bay.
Miles: 133 TTT: 3,031
Sat 10 Nov - Night Island
13 10.779S / 143 34.376E
We left at 5.40am and had wind on the nose till we were able to get up around Cape Waymouth and Restoration Island. A couple of ships passed us. We are staying just on the edge of the shipping channel. Apart from the shipping channel which is quite narrow there is reef everywhere. The reef provides good shelter so the seas are not too bad. We had a good run in the morning doing 6 knots but in the afternoon slowed down to 4 knots. We thought about the Flinders again but were afraid of getting caught out in 30 knot winds so pulled in behind Night Island at 2.30pm. The wind was really starting to come up by then. We had a little bit of rain after we anchored. The island is a haven for Torres Strait pigeons which are white with black under their wings and on the tips and are really pretty. We were able to sit on the deck (not quite so windy here) and watch them all coming out from the mainland in the evening. A very sheltered spot. No email or phone.
Miles: 41 TTT: 3,072
We are currently waiting for the big blow to come through thinking maybe we could have gone a bit further but this is a good place to sit out a blow. Hope to be on the way again around Thursday.
Love to all
Fair Winds and Calm Seas
Dell and Peter
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We had a quiet day on board and had seen children swimming off the beach near the jetty. Around 4pm we joined the crews of the other boats and went in for a game of cricket. One of them had fashioned a bat out of a piece of wood. We all had a couple of goes at batting and while we were playing we saw one of the two resident crocodiles swimming past. He was around 4 metres. We then went to the Fishing Club but it was closed so that meant no dinner but they were happy to serve us drinks. Back to the boats before it got dark!
Sun 4 Nov - Seisia
We joined a few of the others on the beach on the little island off the anchorage (Red Island), which incidentally is apparently where the big croc hangs out. We walked around the island. Barbara off Casper is something of a botanist and knew all the scientific names for plants and trees. Another couple are bird watchers and photographers so it was an interesting exercise. It took us around two and a half hours - a good morning. Spent the rest of the day reading and waiting on a weather window to round the Cape.
Mon 5 Nov - Seisia
Went ashore and watched a large ship dock at the jetty - quite a feat getting in there as it is very shallow. Someone had caught a shark and tossed it on the beach and one of the workers told us that both crocodiles had been chased away from it a couple of times and it would have to be moved. This was just near where we saw a man have an early morning swim. We then headed up the road and a lady offered us a lift and we declined but then a resort bus stopped and offered us a lift to Bamaga so we thought why not. There is not much in Bamaga - we checked out the supermarket and had a pie at the bakery then headed back towards Seisia. We met the others a t the New Mapoon cemetery. It is so colourful with heaps of artificial flowers on the graves and headstones with a photo of the person and a rundown of their life. Then we went to the Art and Craft shop where the Indigenous people do paintings. They are not the dot paintings - they are a different style. We walked back to Seisia calling in at the butcher on the way back. In the late afternoon ten of us met on the cat, Easy Rider and had a game of dice. We have never played this before but it was a good game and we had a great evening.
Tues 6 Nov - Seisia
We went ashore and did last minute shopping and a water run then adjourned to Easy Rider for the Melbourne Cup. There were twelve of us as another boat had come in. The ladies all wore hats and Wayne off Casper did up a Melbourne Cup quiz and we had a sweep and had a fantastic afternoon. We then watched the race on delayed telecast on the computer but that was the least important part of the afternoon!!! A great afternoon with good company.
Wed 7 Nov - Cape York
10 41.248S / 142 31.474E
We left at 10am after the tide came up a bit. It was a good trip up the Cape and then beating into the wind and tide for an hour or so and we anchored on the west side of the Cape at 2pm. Casper, Easy Rider and Jasmin came in shortly after. It was really blowing but it was a calm anchorage. The weather forecast for tomorrow is 15 - 20 knots instead of 20 - 25 knots so we are going for it.
Miles: 19 TTT: 2,898nm
Thurs 8 Nov Day/night 1
We left at 8am and pushed current around to the Albany Passage. We followed Easy Rider and Jasmin through. A beautiful sunny day. Pushed a bit of current then came out into a wavy ocean and pushed into more current. The further we got from the passage the better it got. We had current against us and the waves were a metre with the odd two metre wave which stopped us in our tracks at times. We only managed to do 2.5 - 3 knots so it took forever and was most unpleasant. But we remember it being quite unpleasant on the way up here - its just not a nice part of the coast! At midnight the crew could see a ship on the AIS and it looked as though we were going to meet it at the narrow stretch between the reefs. As soon as we passed the reef we headed for the starboard side of the shipping channel and when we saw his red light we knew we were going to be ok. The wind blew hard all night.
Fri 9 Nov - Day 2 Portland Roads
12 35.629S / 143 24.432E
We didn't make it to Shelburne Bay till the early hours of the morning so continued on to Margret Bay and then made the decision to keep going. We pushed up around Cape Grenville and through some islands, one of which had a resort on it, and then had a lovely sail with current for most of the morning. A big ship went through the narrowest section of the channel just before we did and we passed him quite closely. The winds were about 10 - 15 so it was lovely. Shortly after we had to turn up to head towards Portland Roads. we had current against us and wind on the nose which had come up a bit. We tried to hug the land as much as we could. We thought about pushing through to the Flinders but it would have meant another two nights and we weren't sure we could make it before the next big blow came through and we were pretty tired so we pulled into Portland Roads and anchored at 5.45pm in 7m beside another cat. And fell into bed. We think the other boats stayed at Shelburne Bay.
Miles: 133 TTT: 3,031
Sat 10 Nov - Night Island
13 10.779S / 143 34.376E
We left at 5.40am and had wind on the nose till we were able to get up around Cape Waymouth and Restoration Island. A couple of ships passed us. We are staying just on the edge of the shipping channel. Apart from the shipping channel which is quite narrow there is reef everywhere. The reef provides good shelter so the seas are not too bad. We had a good run in the morning doing 6 knots but in the afternoon slowed down to 4 knots. We thought about the Flinders again but were afraid of getting caught out in 30 knot winds so pulled in behind Night Island at 2.30pm. The wind was really starting to come up by then. We had a little bit of rain after we anchored. The island is a haven for Torres Strait pigeons which are white with black under their wings and on the tips and are really pretty. We were able to sit on the deck (not quite so windy here) and watch them all coming out from the mainland in the evening. A very sheltered spot. No email or phone.
Miles: 41 TTT: 3,072
We are currently waiting for the big blow to come through thinking maybe we could have gone a bit further but this is a good place to sit out a blow. Hope to be on the way again around Thursday.
Love to all
Fair Winds and Calm Seas
Dell and Peter
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Saturday, November 3, 2012
LWH – Week 17 – Gove - Seisia
Sat 27 Oct - Gove
Happy Birthday Simone
We finally got our part around 10.30am and the skipper had it installed in around 15 minutes and we should have left straight away but that would have meant being in the Gulf of Carpentaria for three nights. Instead we did a water run, did a final wash and joined Bob and Gordon at the Boat Club for dinner. There was supposed to be a band but no one turned up so Ron the manager did it himself. Apparently he used to have a band down south and he was exceptionally good. A lovely evening. We left at 8pm and put Bob and Freddy aboard.
Sun 28 Oct – Day/night 1 Gulf Crossing
We left just before 6am and headed out in the calmest sea – so hard to believe what it had been like two weeks previously. Had lots of calls and texts for the crew’s birthday including the two lovely gentlemen off Sometime. We motor sailed all day doing up to 7 knots but settling pretty much to 5.5. The seas were fairly calm which was a lovely surprise. The skipper saw some dolphins and a booby bird kept trying to land but kept trying to land in the middle of the sail and finally landed on the water. We had been keeping a careful eye on him. The skipper cooked a lovely birthday meal of silverside with white sauce and potato and greens washed down with a glass of Kyle’s lovely white wine. A lovely evening. We had a full moon and it was so bright it was beautiful. At 1am we had dolphins all around the boat. They seemed huge. At one point a dozen of them surfaced all together, just off the bow of the boat. They frisked around the boat surfacing right beside the cockpit and they kept me amused for quite some time.
Mon 29 Oct – Day/night 2 Gulf Crossing
Have checked the gribs and it is going to be a near run thing to make it before the big winds come in so we are heading for the closest possible landfall. We passed halfway in the morning then the seas came up though there wasn’t a lot of wind and we found ourselves in 3m seas. One of the earlier boats reported the same thing when they crossed. We think it is to do with the currents etc and not a lot to do with the weather. Anyway suffice to say it was a horrible horrible day and very uncomfortable. During the evening the wind dropped right off, the seas calmed with just a slight swell and had that calm oily look about it and we had our full moon and it was quite lovely. Around midnight the skies got very dark so checked the radar and sure enough there were storm clouds ahead. Funnily enough just right at the spot we had to go through the clouds had almost cleared left and right and left us a little channel! We copped about 30 seconds of rain and then we were through and it joined up behind us again. Around 2am the wind picked up and the seas picked up and it was sooooo uncomfortable. At 4am the autopilot stopped working (cant tell you what an important part of the boat this is!) and the skipper rudder steered for two hours.
Tues 30 Oct – Day 3 Gulf Crossing
12⁰20.253S / 141⁰40.655E
At 6am we started half hour shifts of rudder steering. Every time we hit a big wave we almost stopped and we were really doing it tough. Then about 10am the seas started calming and the skies were clear and it turned into a lovely day. The half hour shifts worked well so it wasn’t too wearing and we dozed in between but by late afternoon we were pretty tired not having much sleep the night before as it had been too rough. We saw a yellow sea snake floating on the surface and also a floating turtle with a bird sitting on its back. At 14 miles out the skipper could see land and at 9 miles out the crew could see land so we just headed for the coast and it seemed to take forever. We dropped anchor in 8m a few hundred metres from a lovely deserted white sandy beach. We had a lovely bucket shower (our camp showers have long since given up the ghost) and a lovely steak washed down with a glass of Kyle’s wine and fell into bed.
Miles: 304 TTT: 2,764
Wed 31 Oct – coastal anchorage, Qld
11⁰59.575S / 141⁰50.183E
We slept really well and awoke to a lovely beach. The wind had dropped off and it was really calm. At last now it is starting to feel like we are coming home. This feels like Australia! That was our last crossing. From now on it is day hopping and only doing over nighters if we choose to. The skipper got out the two other broken autopilots and managed to make one good one out of them so we again have an autopilot. He then changed the fuel filters and we upanchored at 11.30am and had a lovely sail up the coast. The wind was a bit gusty and we did between 3 and 7 knots and sailed all the way. We pulled into the coast again before the Wenlock River and dropped anchor at 5pm. The last hour or so had been very windy. Its a beautiful coastline of just continual beach. Saw a couple of isolated huts but nothing else. A lovely day.
Miles: 24 TTT: 2,788
Thurs 1 Nov – coastal anchorage, Qld
11⁰11.403S / 142⁰08.113E
We left at 6.30am and sailed with just the headsail out. We had to go a long way out to get around the Wenlock River as it was shallow. The wind came up and it is amazing how quickly the waves and chop can build in such a short distance from the shore. It was blowing hard and gusting 25+ knots which really heeled the boat right over. The crew is not a fan of heeling so far and it was not a nice day. Though we sailed up to 7.5knots. It was so windy and wavy and we came into the coast between two points and went into 300 metres from shore so the waves dropped off and anchored in 6.5 metres. It was a wonderful anchorage and the wind dropped right off for the night.
Miles: 53 TTT: 2,841
Fri 2 Nov – Seisia, Qld
10⁰50.856S / 142⁰21.799E
We left at 4.50am to beat the strong wind and to catch the rising tide. It was very calm as we motored the ten miles across to the channel through the shallow water into the Endeavour Strait. We put the headsail out and must have had current with us as we were doing 7 knots. Saw a huge black and white snake floating past. The wind came up on the nose around 8am but it wasn’t too bad. - We could see another yacht coming in from the opposite direction. We followed the leads in and anchored off the township of Seisia at 11.45am in 6.5m. At 1pm we put Bob in and took our jerries ashore to the service station (about 500 metres). The lovely lady at the servo drove us back to the boat ramp with our jerries. We did another trip and she drove us back again. Then we went to the supermarket. The fruit and veges were really cheap. Only $4 for a kilo of tomatoes as against $10 a kilo in Gove! On the way back to the boat we called over to say hullo to Easy Rider. They have been here a week. One boat headed south but Easy Rider decided to come back when they saw the weather forecast. Said hullo to Caspar who have also been here a little while. There are five of us boats here now all waiting on a weather window to go south. Seisia has a much nicer feel to it than Gove – more free and easy maybe or more equality - don’t know. We are glad to finally be here but there is heavy weather on the way so we will stay hunkered down here for a while as it is quite sheltered in this little anchorage. We phoned the boys off Sometime and they had their motor fixed and had just left Gove heading across the Gulf. We really hope they get in before the weather changes. We had a good trip up the Endeavour Strait but the others in here had a nightmare trip of it. Guess we finally won one!! A lovely calm night.
Miles: 38 TTT: 2,879
Getting closer – when we get the window we will go for it but it may not be until Wednesday or Thursday. Rosie’s birthday is on Monday 5th November and she will be 13. Happy birthday little one.
Love to all.
Calm Seas and Fair Winds (I don’t think thats an Australian water saying!!!)
Dell and Peter
Happy Birthday Simone
We finally got our part around 10.30am and the skipper had it installed in around 15 minutes and we should have left straight away but that would have meant being in the Gulf of Carpentaria for three nights. Instead we did a water run, did a final wash and joined Bob and Gordon at the Boat Club for dinner. There was supposed to be a band but no one turned up so Ron the manager did it himself. Apparently he used to have a band down south and he was exceptionally good. A lovely evening. We left at 8pm and put Bob and Freddy aboard.
Sun 28 Oct – Day/night 1 Gulf Crossing
We left just before 6am and headed out in the calmest sea – so hard to believe what it had been like two weeks previously. Had lots of calls and texts for the crew’s birthday including the two lovely gentlemen off Sometime. We motor sailed all day doing up to 7 knots but settling pretty much to 5.5. The seas were fairly calm which was a lovely surprise. The skipper saw some dolphins and a booby bird kept trying to land but kept trying to land in the middle of the sail and finally landed on the water. We had been keeping a careful eye on him. The skipper cooked a lovely birthday meal of silverside with white sauce and potato and greens washed down with a glass of Kyle’s lovely white wine. A lovely evening. We had a full moon and it was so bright it was beautiful. At 1am we had dolphins all around the boat. They seemed huge. At one point a dozen of them surfaced all together, just off the bow of the boat. They frisked around the boat surfacing right beside the cockpit and they kept me amused for quite some time.
Mon 29 Oct – Day/night 2 Gulf Crossing
Have checked the gribs and it is going to be a near run thing to make it before the big winds come in so we are heading for the closest possible landfall. We passed halfway in the morning then the seas came up though there wasn’t a lot of wind and we found ourselves in 3m seas. One of the earlier boats reported the same thing when they crossed. We think it is to do with the currents etc and not a lot to do with the weather. Anyway suffice to say it was a horrible horrible day and very uncomfortable. During the evening the wind dropped right off, the seas calmed with just a slight swell and had that calm oily look about it and we had our full moon and it was quite lovely. Around midnight the skies got very dark so checked the radar and sure enough there were storm clouds ahead. Funnily enough just right at the spot we had to go through the clouds had almost cleared left and right and left us a little channel! We copped about 30 seconds of rain and then we were through and it joined up behind us again. Around 2am the wind picked up and the seas picked up and it was sooooo uncomfortable. At 4am the autopilot stopped working (cant tell you what an important part of the boat this is!) and the skipper rudder steered for two hours.
Tues 30 Oct – Day 3 Gulf Crossing
12⁰20.253S / 141⁰40.655E
At 6am we started half hour shifts of rudder steering. Every time we hit a big wave we almost stopped and we were really doing it tough. Then about 10am the seas started calming and the skies were clear and it turned into a lovely day. The half hour shifts worked well so it wasn’t too wearing and we dozed in between but by late afternoon we were pretty tired not having much sleep the night before as it had been too rough. We saw a yellow sea snake floating on the surface and also a floating turtle with a bird sitting on its back. At 14 miles out the skipper could see land and at 9 miles out the crew could see land so we just headed for the coast and it seemed to take forever. We dropped anchor in 8m a few hundred metres from a lovely deserted white sandy beach. We had a lovely bucket shower (our camp showers have long since given up the ghost) and a lovely steak washed down with a glass of Kyle’s wine and fell into bed.
Miles: 304 TTT: 2,764
Wed 31 Oct – coastal anchorage, Qld
11⁰59.575S / 141⁰50.183E
We slept really well and awoke to a lovely beach. The wind had dropped off and it was really calm. At last now it is starting to feel like we are coming home. This feels like Australia! That was our last crossing. From now on it is day hopping and only doing over nighters if we choose to. The skipper got out the two other broken autopilots and managed to make one good one out of them so we again have an autopilot. He then changed the fuel filters and we upanchored at 11.30am and had a lovely sail up the coast. The wind was a bit gusty and we did between 3 and 7 knots and sailed all the way. We pulled into the coast again before the Wenlock River and dropped anchor at 5pm. The last hour or so had been very windy. Its a beautiful coastline of just continual beach. Saw a couple of isolated huts but nothing else. A lovely day.
Miles: 24 TTT: 2,788
Thurs 1 Nov – coastal anchorage, Qld
11⁰11.403S / 142⁰08.113E
We left at 6.30am and sailed with just the headsail out. We had to go a long way out to get around the Wenlock River as it was shallow. The wind came up and it is amazing how quickly the waves and chop can build in such a short distance from the shore. It was blowing hard and gusting 25+ knots which really heeled the boat right over. The crew is not a fan of heeling so far and it was not a nice day. Though we sailed up to 7.5knots. It was so windy and wavy and we came into the coast between two points and went into 300 metres from shore so the waves dropped off and anchored in 6.5 metres. It was a wonderful anchorage and the wind dropped right off for the night.
Miles: 53 TTT: 2,841
Fri 2 Nov – Seisia, Qld
10⁰50.856S / 142⁰21.799E
We left at 4.50am to beat the strong wind and to catch the rising tide. It was very calm as we motored the ten miles across to the channel through the shallow water into the Endeavour Strait. We put the headsail out and must have had current with us as we were doing 7 knots. Saw a huge black and white snake floating past. The wind came up on the nose around 8am but it wasn’t too bad. - We could see another yacht coming in from the opposite direction. We followed the leads in and anchored off the township of Seisia at 11.45am in 6.5m. At 1pm we put Bob in and took our jerries ashore to the service station (about 500 metres). The lovely lady at the servo drove us back to the boat ramp with our jerries. We did another trip and she drove us back again. Then we went to the supermarket. The fruit and veges were really cheap. Only $4 for a kilo of tomatoes as against $10 a kilo in Gove! On the way back to the boat we called over to say hullo to Easy Rider. They have been here a week. One boat headed south but Easy Rider decided to come back when they saw the weather forecast. Said hullo to Caspar who have also been here a little while. There are five of us boats here now all waiting on a weather window to go south. Seisia has a much nicer feel to it than Gove – more free and easy maybe or more equality - don’t know. We are glad to finally be here but there is heavy weather on the way so we will stay hunkered down here for a while as it is quite sheltered in this little anchorage. We phoned the boys off Sometime and they had their motor fixed and had just left Gove heading across the Gulf. We really hope they get in before the weather changes. We had a good trip up the Endeavour Strait but the others in here had a nightmare trip of it. Guess we finally won one!! A lovely calm night.
Miles: 38 TTT: 2,879
Getting closer – when we get the window we will go for it but it may not be until Wednesday or Thursday. Rosie’s birthday is on Monday 5th November and she will be 13. Happy birthday little one.
Love to all.
Calm Seas and Fair Winds (I don’t think thats an Australian water saying!!!)
Dell and Peter
Saturday, October 27, 2012
LWH – Week 16 : Gove
Sat 20 - Sat 27 Oct
Well it has been an extraordinarily frustrating week. We ordered our water pump on Monday 15 October. On Tuesday 23 October it finally turned up in Melbourne. By Thursday 25th it was in Brisbane, the 26th in Darwin and we finally got it today – Saturday 27th October. And it took the skipper less than 15 minutes to install it. What can you say!!!!!! We did have a lovely day on Friday. We hired the ute again and shared it with two lovely gentlemen off a yacht called Some Time who are also stuck here awaiting parts. We did all our shopping and went up the lookout and had a lovely day with good company. We have met quite a few lovely people passing through on their way east. Anyway tomorrow we are going to head off and start the Gulf crossing.
Love to all.
Fair Winds and Calm Seas
Dell and Peter
Well it has been an extraordinarily frustrating week. We ordered our water pump on Monday 15 October. On Tuesday 23 October it finally turned up in Melbourne. By Thursday 25th it was in Brisbane, the 26th in Darwin and we finally got it today – Saturday 27th October. And it took the skipper less than 15 minutes to install it. What can you say!!!!!! We did have a lovely day on Friday. We hired the ute again and shared it with two lovely gentlemen off a yacht called Some Time who are also stuck here awaiting parts. We did all our shopping and went up the lookout and had a lovely day with good company. We have met quite a few lovely people passing through on their way east. Anyway tomorrow we are going to head off and start the Gulf crossing.
Love to all.
Fair Winds and Calm Seas
Dell and Peter
Saturday, October 20, 2012
LWH – Week 15 : Gove
Sat 13 – Fri 19 Oct
Well I wont bore you with a day by day blow of our time in Gove. Gove consists of an alumina plant and the Gove Boat Club. The water is an incredibly beautiful colour but other than that there is nothing here. The nearest town is Nuhlumbuy about 11km away. You need a liquor permit to be able to buy alcohol at Woolies and we couldn’t get that until Monday and you cannot buy casks of wine – it is bottles only. We have had a couple of meals at the Boat Club which is open from Thursday to Sunday and a lunch at the Walkabout Tavern in the town. We have met a few fellow yachties passing through but they have been able to continue their journeys while we just sit and wait and hope our part will eventually come in and a weather window will open up for us to get across the Gulf. A lovely man came out and found the problem with our water pump. The bronze housing of the salt water pump has corroded and so the metal wear plate isn’t sitting straight and flush against the impellor so it sucks air and not water. He did a temporary repair with sicaflex behind the wear plate so it acts as a flat bedding which may last five minutes, five hours or five years!!! Either way we cannot risk going home without a new water pump. We did however, move a little closer to shore so it is not so far to go in Bob. We hired a ute for the day and dumped the 80 litres of diesel from the deck which we bought in Indonesia (dirty fuel) and have jerried out enough to fill the tank with good fuel. We also paid for our 2 – 3 km tow - $500 – yep!! So add that to the $330 we had to pay to Quarantine and it has cost us $830 before we even set foot on land. – Welcome home!!! We continue to do the radio sked with the boats still in Indonesia and one of them has engine problems up there and we feel so sorry for them. It is bad enough here but at least we are home! We are enjoying the showers and we actually used a washing machine the other day! Wow how easy was that to do the washing! Anyway this is Arnhem Land – homelands and not only do we need a permit for liquor but if we wanted to go anywhere other than town I believe we have to get a permit for that too. Not so much the land of the free up here – in fact not anything like the real Australia where you live. We are keeping ourselves busy – the skipper has been doing a bit of fishing – score 5 reef sharks.
Much love to all
Fair Winds and Calm Seas
Dell and Peter
Well I wont bore you with a day by day blow of our time in Gove. Gove consists of an alumina plant and the Gove Boat Club. The water is an incredibly beautiful colour but other than that there is nothing here. The nearest town is Nuhlumbuy about 11km away. You need a liquor permit to be able to buy alcohol at Woolies and we couldn’t get that until Monday and you cannot buy casks of wine – it is bottles only. We have had a couple of meals at the Boat Club which is open from Thursday to Sunday and a lunch at the Walkabout Tavern in the town. We have met a few fellow yachties passing through but they have been able to continue their journeys while we just sit and wait and hope our part will eventually come in and a weather window will open up for us to get across the Gulf. A lovely man came out and found the problem with our water pump. The bronze housing of the salt water pump has corroded and so the metal wear plate isn’t sitting straight and flush against the impellor so it sucks air and not water. He did a temporary repair with sicaflex behind the wear plate so it acts as a flat bedding which may last five minutes, five hours or five years!!! Either way we cannot risk going home without a new water pump. We did however, move a little closer to shore so it is not so far to go in Bob. We hired a ute for the day and dumped the 80 litres of diesel from the deck which we bought in Indonesia (dirty fuel) and have jerried out enough to fill the tank with good fuel. We also paid for our 2 – 3 km tow - $500 – yep!! So add that to the $330 we had to pay to Quarantine and it has cost us $830 before we even set foot on land. – Welcome home!!! We continue to do the radio sked with the boats still in Indonesia and one of them has engine problems up there and we feel so sorry for them. It is bad enough here but at least we are home! We are enjoying the showers and we actually used a washing machine the other day! Wow how easy was that to do the washing! Anyway this is Arnhem Land – homelands and not only do we need a permit for liquor but if we wanted to go anywhere other than town I believe we have to get a permit for that too. Not so much the land of the free up here – in fact not anything like the real Australia where you live. We are keeping ourselves busy – the skipper has been doing a bit of fishing – score 5 reef sharks.
Much love to all
Fair Winds and Calm Seas
Dell and Peter
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
LWH – Week 14 : Arafura Sea Crossing
Sun 07 Oct – Day/Night 1
We left at 6.15am and stayed well clear of the headland. We motored into a reasonable swell with a few very big waves which was a bit of a hang on and close the eyes job! As we got further away from the islands it settled a bit and we tacked to try to keep wind in the sails – motor sailing. We emailed (sail mail) off our letter of Intent to return to Customs. Saw a big clump of seaweed with a turtle floating beside it eating the seaweed. The skipper saw a pilot whale. Just on dark a beautiful booby bird started circling and flying alongside us. A magnificent beautiful bird. He landed at the bow of the boat and preened himself but it wasn’t a comfortable place to be and he fell off a couple of times. Once he landed on the deck but took off again and by now it was dark and he came in from behind and hit the wind generator – he didn’t see or hear it. I looked back and he was lying in the water stunned – I cannot get the vision out of my head. He took off and went a short way and disappeared. I fear we killed him. What a horrible horrible thing. Still haunts me. We went through the night with breeze on the nose and lots of current against us. The seas were very comfortable though.
Mon 8 Oct – Day/Night 2
Cannot get the booby bird out of my head. So sad. The skipper said he should clean the filters before they clogged again but I wasn’t keen to stop the engine. Something about if it aint broke don’t fix it. Well at 11.30am that was proven to be folly when the motor stopped. The skipper had to change the engine fine fuel filter (we have only one left!) and the pre fuel filters (we have two left). We had been unable to secure anymore in Tual. The dirty fuel is proving a disaster. He was able to get us going again and has tried to clear up a used engine fine filter just in case There is not enough wind to sail so are following the rhumb line and it is so painfully slow. Doesnt feel like we are making anyheadway. And its so worrying about the motor. We have very calm seas but no wind so we cant sail. Heaps of small dolphins travelling with the boat in the late arfternoon. I did a three hour stint through the night but apart from that the skipper let me sleep. Tired and depressed so needed it. Slept really well.
Tues 9 Oct – Day/Night 3
What a gorgeous day – amazing what a goodnight’s sleep does. Sea so calm, current not quite as bad. Have seen six turtles snoozing on the surface. The skipper did the 8am sked, cleaned both filters and went to bed. Had both sails out for a while but the wind was on the nose – its really just a breeze. Have been able to read a book this passage which is really good as it certainly passes the time. There is nothing but sea to the sky all the way around. So lovely and have got used to stopping the boat in the middle of nowhere! We crossed into Australian economic waters at 11.08am so took down the Indonesion courtesy flag and put up the yellow Q (quarantine) flag. Passed a big tanker in the afternoon on its way to Singapore. Saw a few tankers on the AIS after that. One changed course to go behind us. We heard the coast watch plane call up a couple of boats but they didn’t call us. The half moon came up at 1.15 and the sky is so full of stars. Saw five fishing buoys which we hadn’t expected to see here.
Wed 10 Oct – Day/Night 4
11⁰23.071S / 136D53.237E
The sea is so calm and its a beautiful day. We motor sailed and rounded Cape Wessel at 3pm – as far as crossings go it was pretty good – just long. And then the nightmare began. The skipper turned the motor off and was so excited because we were sailing and doing 6 knots but when he went to start the motor again there was a terrible smell and though the water pump was pumping it wasn’t pumping water. We sailed till around 8pm with the skipper working on the motor the whole time and then we lost the wind altogether and were slowly heading towards land with the current. So we had to anchor 20 miles out to sea in 43m – the first time we have had to use the 100m of rope.
Thurs 11 – Day 5
12⁰10.919S / 136⁰40.060E
We didn’t sleep terribly well and had the anchor hauled in and the sails out by 6.00am. We knew our weather window was closing and strong winds were predicted for the afternoon. We sailed with not a lot of wind so we got the jenniker out and that got us along quite well and as always we left if slightly late to get it in and thats a huge struggle. We saw a tanker on the AIS go right over the spot where we had been anchored!!!! Australian Customs called us around 3.45 as they had been expecting us in the morning so they told us to anchor where we could and they would contact us at 8am. As we got closer to Gove the wind was building and then it changed direction and went on the nose so we had to tack all the way across the harbour to the beach in gale force winds with spray coming off the top of the waves. The skipper estimated 30 – 40 knots and 3-4 m waves. The conditions are the worst we have experienced as we had to head into it. He sailed across to the beach on the other side (I say he because I was a screaming wreck on the cockpit floor) but that was no good so he tacked back towards Gove just behind the big jetty and we anchored there. He pulled in the headsail first and we slowed too much so had to use the motor to get us a bit further in – an awful knock coming from it. Dropped anchor and luckily it grabbed immediately so he dropped the main and laid the anchor out and I secured the sail. It was a little more sheltered from the waves but the wind was howling – its a horrible noise. The skipper cooked a pork roast bless him. Went to bed but didn’t sleep well.
Fri 12 Oct – Gove, Australia
12⁰12.043S / 136⁰41.919E
We didn’t sleep well. The wind howled all night but the sea settled till the early hours of the morning. Customs called us at 8am and they said they weren’t coming to where we were and we should move so we advised that we needed a tow so they had someone contact us but he couldn’t come till 11am. The Michael J came for us after 11 and towed us the extra 2 – 3 miles round to the anchorage. It was very rough and still blowing like mad with waves. We anchored about 1 km from the shore and just sat. An hour or two later we had Customs, Immigration and Quarantine on board. They were pleasant young men (one was from Pine Rivers) and of course they took all our meat and fruit and veg and noodles which we had expected. But we had to pay them $330 for the privilege. No it is not a fine – it is what we Australian citizens have to pay to come home and if we come in on a weekend you can just about double it!! We don’t pay it if we fly in – these guys get paid for doing their job so why the fee! It cost us about that to replace all the stuff we lost. Had a quiet night on board feeling a little bit traumatised!
Miles: 480 TTT: 2,460
Well here we sit in Gove awaiting a new water pump. The weather is too bad to leave yet anyway so we have an enforced stay. Which is probably good recovery time. There are a few boats here waiting to leave – some have left and come back a couple of times. For those who think we are nearly home – we aren’t!! Its still around 1800 miles to go and its all pushing against the wind and waiting for weather windows. We are grateful that we made it and are here to tell the tale!!!
Much love to all
Fair Winds and Calm Seas
Dell and Peter
We left at 6.15am and stayed well clear of the headland. We motored into a reasonable swell with a few very big waves which was a bit of a hang on and close the eyes job! As we got further away from the islands it settled a bit and we tacked to try to keep wind in the sails – motor sailing. We emailed (sail mail) off our letter of Intent to return to Customs. Saw a big clump of seaweed with a turtle floating beside it eating the seaweed. The skipper saw a pilot whale. Just on dark a beautiful booby bird started circling and flying alongside us. A magnificent beautiful bird. He landed at the bow of the boat and preened himself but it wasn’t a comfortable place to be and he fell off a couple of times. Once he landed on the deck but took off again and by now it was dark and he came in from behind and hit the wind generator – he didn’t see or hear it. I looked back and he was lying in the water stunned – I cannot get the vision out of my head. He took off and went a short way and disappeared. I fear we killed him. What a horrible horrible thing. Still haunts me. We went through the night with breeze on the nose and lots of current against us. The seas were very comfortable though.
Mon 8 Oct – Day/Night 2
Cannot get the booby bird out of my head. So sad. The skipper said he should clean the filters before they clogged again but I wasn’t keen to stop the engine. Something about if it aint broke don’t fix it. Well at 11.30am that was proven to be folly when the motor stopped. The skipper had to change the engine fine fuel filter (we have only one left!) and the pre fuel filters (we have two left). We had been unable to secure anymore in Tual. The dirty fuel is proving a disaster. He was able to get us going again and has tried to clear up a used engine fine filter just in case There is not enough wind to sail so are following the rhumb line and it is so painfully slow. Doesnt feel like we are making anyheadway. And its so worrying about the motor. We have very calm seas but no wind so we cant sail. Heaps of small dolphins travelling with the boat in the late arfternoon. I did a three hour stint through the night but apart from that the skipper let me sleep. Tired and depressed so needed it. Slept really well.
Tues 9 Oct – Day/Night 3
What a gorgeous day – amazing what a goodnight’s sleep does. Sea so calm, current not quite as bad. Have seen six turtles snoozing on the surface. The skipper did the 8am sked, cleaned both filters and went to bed. Had both sails out for a while but the wind was on the nose – its really just a breeze. Have been able to read a book this passage which is really good as it certainly passes the time. There is nothing but sea to the sky all the way around. So lovely and have got used to stopping the boat in the middle of nowhere! We crossed into Australian economic waters at 11.08am so took down the Indonesion courtesy flag and put up the yellow Q (quarantine) flag. Passed a big tanker in the afternoon on its way to Singapore. Saw a few tankers on the AIS after that. One changed course to go behind us. We heard the coast watch plane call up a couple of boats but they didn’t call us. The half moon came up at 1.15 and the sky is so full of stars. Saw five fishing buoys which we hadn’t expected to see here.
Wed 10 Oct – Day/Night 4
11⁰23.071S / 136D53.237E
The sea is so calm and its a beautiful day. We motor sailed and rounded Cape Wessel at 3pm – as far as crossings go it was pretty good – just long. And then the nightmare began. The skipper turned the motor off and was so excited because we were sailing and doing 6 knots but when he went to start the motor again there was a terrible smell and though the water pump was pumping it wasn’t pumping water. We sailed till around 8pm with the skipper working on the motor the whole time and then we lost the wind altogether and were slowly heading towards land with the current. So we had to anchor 20 miles out to sea in 43m – the first time we have had to use the 100m of rope.
Thurs 11 – Day 5
12⁰10.919S / 136⁰40.060E
We didn’t sleep terribly well and had the anchor hauled in and the sails out by 6.00am. We knew our weather window was closing and strong winds were predicted for the afternoon. We sailed with not a lot of wind so we got the jenniker out and that got us along quite well and as always we left if slightly late to get it in and thats a huge struggle. We saw a tanker on the AIS go right over the spot where we had been anchored!!!! Australian Customs called us around 3.45 as they had been expecting us in the morning so they told us to anchor where we could and they would contact us at 8am. As we got closer to Gove the wind was building and then it changed direction and went on the nose so we had to tack all the way across the harbour to the beach in gale force winds with spray coming off the top of the waves. The skipper estimated 30 – 40 knots and 3-4 m waves. The conditions are the worst we have experienced as we had to head into it. He sailed across to the beach on the other side (I say he because I was a screaming wreck on the cockpit floor) but that was no good so he tacked back towards Gove just behind the big jetty and we anchored there. He pulled in the headsail first and we slowed too much so had to use the motor to get us a bit further in – an awful knock coming from it. Dropped anchor and luckily it grabbed immediately so he dropped the main and laid the anchor out and I secured the sail. It was a little more sheltered from the waves but the wind was howling – its a horrible noise. The skipper cooked a pork roast bless him. Went to bed but didn’t sleep well.
Fri 12 Oct – Gove, Australia
12⁰12.043S / 136⁰41.919E
We didn’t sleep well. The wind howled all night but the sea settled till the early hours of the morning. Customs called us at 8am and they said they weren’t coming to where we were and we should move so we advised that we needed a tow so they had someone contact us but he couldn’t come till 11am. The Michael J came for us after 11 and towed us the extra 2 – 3 miles round to the anchorage. It was very rough and still blowing like mad with waves. We anchored about 1 km from the shore and just sat. An hour or two later we had Customs, Immigration and Quarantine on board. They were pleasant young men (one was from Pine Rivers) and of course they took all our meat and fruit and veg and noodles which we had expected. But we had to pay them $330 for the privilege. No it is not a fine – it is what we Australian citizens have to pay to come home and if we come in on a weekend you can just about double it!! We don’t pay it if we fly in – these guys get paid for doing their job so why the fee! It cost us about that to replace all the stuff we lost. Had a quiet night on board feeling a little bit traumatised!
Miles: 480 TTT: 2,460
Well here we sit in Gove awaiting a new water pump. The weather is too bad to leave yet anyway so we have an enforced stay. Which is probably good recovery time. There are a few boats here waiting to leave – some have left and come back a couple of times. For those who think we are nearly home – we aren’t!! Its still around 1800 miles to go and its all pushing against the wind and waiting for weather windows. We are grateful that we made it and are here to tell the tale!!!
Much love to all
Fair Winds and Calm Seas
Dell and Peter
Sunday, October 7, 2012
LWH - Week 13 : Tual
Sun 30 Sept - Tual Channel - Tual
05 38.248S 132 44.360E
Best sleep in ages! So calm wouldn't have known you were on a boat. Put Bob in and headed to the small beach thinking to snorkel but it was rocks not coral so we had a very welcome swim off the beach. We then went to the next beach over which was lovely and walked to the end. Found a large starfish which we put back into the water but think it may have been too late for him. Also found a dead seasnake - black and white bands but we didn't put him back into the water - he may have been faking it! Saw a fisherman diving for clams. Lots of clam shells on the beach. It was starting to blow up. A big blow is due tomorrow for at least five days. We were going to head up to the channel to Tual tomorrow but a bit worried the blow may come in early and don't want to get caught in 20m. So we put Bob on board and followed the red and green markers up the channel and anchored in 12m opposite the town just before the bridge, beside a seaweed (we think) farm at 2.15pm. Very happy to be here and looking forward to exploring the town. There is a big cemetery just over the way on the hill. It seemed to be a ship grave yard on the way in - lots of rusting and sunken ships. A beautiful red orb sunset and a huge full moon rising!
Miles: 8 TTT: 1,988
Mon 1 Oct - Tual
Well the wind came in a day early. We are anchored beside a mass of small water bottles and floats which is either a pearl or a seaweed farm. Eddie came by in his long boat to see if we needed solar (diesel) so we gave him our jerries and he got our diesel. The skipper was not that thrilled with the quality of it though. Bit cloudy. We filter it before we put it in the tank and we are going to buy a heap of fuel filters (when we can find them!) so we should be ok. Other than that a quiet day on board.
Tues 2 Oct - Tual
Happy Anniversary Amy and Pete
Happy Birthday Ann
The wind drops off at night but comes back with a vengeance through the day. We are watching the weather via grib files and also listening to the HF reports and have Debbie on weather alert and we think we may be able to move in five days or so. Went ashore - took Bob in where there was a rubbly bank where the fishing boats are tied to the shore. It is very deep until you hit the shore - have to step out of the front of Bob! We struggled to get Bob up the rubbly incline and tied him up and checked with a fishing boat that it was ok to leave him there. Walked down the port road to the town. Most people said hullo though some people were a bit reticent. We walked down the street till we got to a police post where the skipper asked directions and the crew walked further up a side street. There were some school boys there and some other men walking towards me and I felt uneasy so went back. We caught a minibus to where we thought the fuel filters were and they werent. It was very hot so we walked back to the supermarket and picked up a few things then walked all the way back over the bridge looking for a restaurant. There really wasn't anything around. We found a little makan place and had a nasi goring freshly cooked. Most of the places had their food already prepared and all deep fried. We walked to the market and everyone said hullo how are you - it got rather wearing. All the same the town doesn't exactly have a friendly vibe. We went back to the boat. Eddie drives past in his boat most afternoons to check on us! Each afternoon there has been a game of soccer on with quite a crowd cheering. It is on a small soccer field specially set up near the port (bare dirt/gravel not lawn). All the fishermen who go past wave and are friendly.
Wed 3 Oct - Tual
We were going to go ashore around 10 but a tug bought a great big barge in and headed straight for the bank where we had previously left Bob. At the last minute the tug reversed out of the way and the barge kept going. It was a deft piece of driving! We watched for a while and finally went ashore at 1pm. The skipper took an ojek to Lenggur across the bridge looking for fuel filters while I went to the market to do some shopping having every single stall owner say hullo and I didn't feel like bargaining so walked up the street and up the hill to find an interesting looking building we had seen from the boat but after I copped an F you from some youths I retreated back to the main street and just wandered around. Happened upon a shop which sold beer much cheaper than the last town. Finally found the skipper again around 2.30 after he borrowed someone's phone to call me. I had walked back to Bob and met about six young school children, one of whom was Marga who were lovely. We got the beer and I chatted with the children while the skipper went on a further foray for fuel filters. One of the children asked for money but Marga said no. I think when people leave here they may give their small change to the kids but that then only encourages the kids to ask for money. We went back to the boat, both of us just not quite liking the place. There are heaps of mosques around and at 4am they all started singing at once - all different tunes and from different directions and many of them! They don't seem to do the Malaysian call to prayer - this is actually quite nice but not when it goes for an hour and they sermonise then sing all over the loud speakers. 4am to 5am!
Thurs 4 Oct - Tual
Went to Immigration to check out which took about ten minutes and the chap was lovely. We went next door to Customs but it wasn't open yet so walked down the street and saw another cemetery among the houses. When Customs opened there was no one from Customs actually there - they had gone to Ambon (we think) so we walked down to the Harbour Master but he wanted two copies of the Immigration stamped crew list so he sat me down to watch TV while the skipper walked back up the hill to Immigration. There was a National Geo show on about all the bull sharks in the canals on the Gold Coast and also in America. Dont even put your toe in one of those canals! The skipper meanwhile had an entourage of school girls follow him back down the hill! It took about 45 mins with the Harbour Master and that was it - didn't have to worry about Customs. Went to the market and bought our fruit and veg then back to Bob. But the tide had gone out so had to walk Bob along the bank and then put him in between the fishing boats. Good thing he has wheels! We were assisted by 3 or 4 small boys so we gave them a couple of bubble blowers. In the afternoon we had a very loud knocking on our boat and when we went up there was another yacht anchored next to us and its skipper had come calling. He came aboard and was after information on Indonesia. He was Swiss and his wife Belgique and they had come from New Caledonia via the Luissiades. He didn't have a visa or a CAIT and he also had a dog on board so not sure how he will get on with Immigration. Anyway we had a good chat and we gave him some info on anchorages etc so he was delighted.
Fri 5 Oct - Tual - Langgear
05 56.308S / 132 51.289E
We left around 6.30am and went up the channel and out around the island. It rained and got a bit rough but then it settled and we had a good sail for a while and anchored towards the bottom of Kai Besar. It was overcast so hard to see the reef. Anchored in 14m and went back to 20. A very pretty spot with alovely white sand beach. Saw another large fish leap four times out of the water today. Wondered if they were trying to get lice off themselves or whether it is just good fun. The wind came up in the afternoon and we had wind against tide and it wasn't the best anchorage. Wasnt too bad a night though.
Miles: 39 TTT: 2,027
Sat 6 Oct - Langgear
The grib files are showing a weather window so we have decided to try for Gove. We were of two minds of whether to go tonight or in the morning. The crew spent the day stowing everything and having a cleanup while the skipper cooked some meals for along the way. We decided to leave in the morning so had a lamb roast with roast veges and a bottle of wine for dinner - delicious. The wind howled all through the night and we rolled badly enough that we didn't get a lot of sleep!
Well thats the week - we are currently on the first day of our four day three night crossing to Gove. The weather window closes on Friday but we should be there by then.
Brett and Delphine, have a wonderful holiday. Love to everyone and special thoughts for Maureen.
Fair Winds and Calm Seas
Dell and Peter
----------
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05 38.248S 132 44.360E
Best sleep in ages! So calm wouldn't have known you were on a boat. Put Bob in and headed to the small beach thinking to snorkel but it was rocks not coral so we had a very welcome swim off the beach. We then went to the next beach over which was lovely and walked to the end. Found a large starfish which we put back into the water but think it may have been too late for him. Also found a dead seasnake - black and white bands but we didn't put him back into the water - he may have been faking it! Saw a fisherman diving for clams. Lots of clam shells on the beach. It was starting to blow up. A big blow is due tomorrow for at least five days. We were going to head up to the channel to Tual tomorrow but a bit worried the blow may come in early and don't want to get caught in 20m. So we put Bob on board and followed the red and green markers up the channel and anchored in 12m opposite the town just before the bridge, beside a seaweed (we think) farm at 2.15pm. Very happy to be here and looking forward to exploring the town. There is a big cemetery just over the way on the hill. It seemed to be a ship grave yard on the way in - lots of rusting and sunken ships. A beautiful red orb sunset and a huge full moon rising!
Miles: 8 TTT: 1,988
Mon 1 Oct - Tual
Well the wind came in a day early. We are anchored beside a mass of small water bottles and floats which is either a pearl or a seaweed farm. Eddie came by in his long boat to see if we needed solar (diesel) so we gave him our jerries and he got our diesel. The skipper was not that thrilled with the quality of it though. Bit cloudy. We filter it before we put it in the tank and we are going to buy a heap of fuel filters (when we can find them!) so we should be ok. Other than that a quiet day on board.
Tues 2 Oct - Tual
Happy Anniversary Amy and Pete
Happy Birthday Ann
The wind drops off at night but comes back with a vengeance through the day. We are watching the weather via grib files and also listening to the HF reports and have Debbie on weather alert and we think we may be able to move in five days or so. Went ashore - took Bob in where there was a rubbly bank where the fishing boats are tied to the shore. It is very deep until you hit the shore - have to step out of the front of Bob! We struggled to get Bob up the rubbly incline and tied him up and checked with a fishing boat that it was ok to leave him there. Walked down the port road to the town. Most people said hullo though some people were a bit reticent. We walked down the street till we got to a police post where the skipper asked directions and the crew walked further up a side street. There were some school boys there and some other men walking towards me and I felt uneasy so went back. We caught a minibus to where we thought the fuel filters were and they werent. It was very hot so we walked back to the supermarket and picked up a few things then walked all the way back over the bridge looking for a restaurant. There really wasn't anything around. We found a little makan place and had a nasi goring freshly cooked. Most of the places had their food already prepared and all deep fried. We walked to the market and everyone said hullo how are you - it got rather wearing. All the same the town doesn't exactly have a friendly vibe. We went back to the boat. Eddie drives past in his boat most afternoons to check on us! Each afternoon there has been a game of soccer on with quite a crowd cheering. It is on a small soccer field specially set up near the port (bare dirt/gravel not lawn). All the fishermen who go past wave and are friendly.
Wed 3 Oct - Tual
We were going to go ashore around 10 but a tug bought a great big barge in and headed straight for the bank where we had previously left Bob. At the last minute the tug reversed out of the way and the barge kept going. It was a deft piece of driving! We watched for a while and finally went ashore at 1pm. The skipper took an ojek to Lenggur across the bridge looking for fuel filters while I went to the market to do some shopping having every single stall owner say hullo and I didn't feel like bargaining so walked up the street and up the hill to find an interesting looking building we had seen from the boat but after I copped an F you from some youths I retreated back to the main street and just wandered around. Happened upon a shop which sold beer much cheaper than the last town. Finally found the skipper again around 2.30 after he borrowed someone's phone to call me. I had walked back to Bob and met about six young school children, one of whom was Marga who were lovely. We got the beer and I chatted with the children while the skipper went on a further foray for fuel filters. One of the children asked for money but Marga said no. I think when people leave here they may give their small change to the kids but that then only encourages the kids to ask for money. We went back to the boat, both of us just not quite liking the place. There are heaps of mosques around and at 4am they all started singing at once - all different tunes and from different directions and many of them! They don't seem to do the Malaysian call to prayer - this is actually quite nice but not when it goes for an hour and they sermonise then sing all over the loud speakers. 4am to 5am!
Thurs 4 Oct - Tual
Went to Immigration to check out which took about ten minutes and the chap was lovely. We went next door to Customs but it wasn't open yet so walked down the street and saw another cemetery among the houses. When Customs opened there was no one from Customs actually there - they had gone to Ambon (we think) so we walked down to the Harbour Master but he wanted two copies of the Immigration stamped crew list so he sat me down to watch TV while the skipper walked back up the hill to Immigration. There was a National Geo show on about all the bull sharks in the canals on the Gold Coast and also in America. Dont even put your toe in one of those canals! The skipper meanwhile had an entourage of school girls follow him back down the hill! It took about 45 mins with the Harbour Master and that was it - didn't have to worry about Customs. Went to the market and bought our fruit and veg then back to Bob. But the tide had gone out so had to walk Bob along the bank and then put him in between the fishing boats. Good thing he has wheels! We were assisted by 3 or 4 small boys so we gave them a couple of bubble blowers. In the afternoon we had a very loud knocking on our boat and when we went up there was another yacht anchored next to us and its skipper had come calling. He came aboard and was after information on Indonesia. He was Swiss and his wife Belgique and they had come from New Caledonia via the Luissiades. He didn't have a visa or a CAIT and he also had a dog on board so not sure how he will get on with Immigration. Anyway we had a good chat and we gave him some info on anchorages etc so he was delighted.
Fri 5 Oct - Tual - Langgear
05 56.308S / 132 51.289E
We left around 6.30am and went up the channel and out around the island. It rained and got a bit rough but then it settled and we had a good sail for a while and anchored towards the bottom of Kai Besar. It was overcast so hard to see the reef. Anchored in 14m and went back to 20. A very pretty spot with alovely white sand beach. Saw another large fish leap four times out of the water today. Wondered if they were trying to get lice off themselves or whether it is just good fun. The wind came up in the afternoon and we had wind against tide and it wasn't the best anchorage. Wasnt too bad a night though.
Miles: 39 TTT: 2,027
Sat 6 Oct - Langgear
The grib files are showing a weather window so we have decided to try for Gove. We were of two minds of whether to go tonight or in the morning. The crew spent the day stowing everything and having a cleanup while the skipper cooked some meals for along the way. We decided to leave in the morning so had a lamb roast with roast veges and a bottle of wine for dinner - delicious. The wind howled all through the night and we rolled badly enough that we didn't get a lot of sleep!
Well thats the week - we are currently on the first day of our four day three night crossing to Gove. The weather window closes on Friday but we should be there by then.
Brett and Delphine, have a wonderful holiday. Love to everyone and special thoughts for Maureen.
Fair Winds and Calm Seas
Dell and Peter
----------
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