Passage to Australia
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Crossing to Australia It was getting cold in New Zealand and after six months we decided to head for warmer weather in Australia. On May 8, 2003 we left Opua to cross the Tasman Sea bound for Brisbane in the land of Oz. We arrived at Scarborough Marina on May 19. 5/8,
Leaving Opua, Day 0
34 48.656 S, 173 58.786 E, day 0, passage to Brisbane,
Australia, 32 miles out, 1274 nm to go This morning we got up, got nice hot showers and prepared
to depart. Rich and I went and checked out with customs. We then went to the
small grocery store to get a newspaper and a few items such as some fresh
bread. Meanwhile Jesse and Sarah took off the sail cover and got the halyards
ready.
Downtown Opua with grocery store and post office After a light breakfast we motored to the fuel dock. Pumped
out the holding tank - at least the pump worked for 2/3 of the job, the rest
I will do later. After that we did our fuel up. It was a messy job since the
fuel nozzle only works at a high speed so it is hard to regulate the fuel
flow. It bit of diesel spilled, always fun to clean up. At 11:20 am we cast off and headed out the channel from
Opua. Even though most of the morning was nice and sunny we did have a rain
shower as we motored along. Now it is 6pm and we are motor-sailing (more motoring with
the mainsail) and we have the second reef in the main. Not that there is a
lot of wind but it is better to be reefed before dark. We had a dinner is
rice with teriyaki beef that Rich had made yesterday. It was a nice repast. The sun is set and I must check in on the radio. Til tomorrow, 5/9, Day 1, Passage to Australia 32 47.932 s, 172 48.925 E, day 1, passage to Brisbane,
Australia, 165 miles out, 1141 nm to go Last night we did some sailing about 7 hours worth. Nice
breeze but this morning is died and we have been motoring ever since. The
wind has been 0-6 knots from WSW, N, NNW, N but not enough to sail in. A
brief shower this morning but this afternoon it cleared and we had some sun.
It is still chilly - we are wearing long underwear, fleece and foulies.
This morning during Sarah's watch, she and I saw a large
pod of dolphins go by, about 15-20. It was fun to watch them. Since then we
have seen nothing, zip, nada, zed, no boats, no dolphins, no nothing. We are hoping that we will have more wind to sail in
tomorrow. The plan is to pass south of Norfolk Island. We would stop but it
is an open roadstead with no real place to anchor. Besides we would have to
check in again at Brisbane. We check in with Des on Russell Radio in the evenings at
7pm and then I check in with Gitana and a few folks on the Puddle Jump 8188
at 5:30 pm. Rich is starting to feel better. Not quite up to snuff yet.
Jesse is almost there. Sarah and I are doing great. 5/10, Day 2, Passage to Australia 31 09.354 S, 171 00.857 E, day 2, passage to Brisbane,
Australia, 314 miles out, 992 miles to go Today was another day of motor-sailing. This morning the
seas were very gentle to we transferred fuel from the jerry jugs to the aft
tank. It is a little awkward and of course the diesel smell does not help. The sun was out and the skies cleared for a while. I even
put on shorts and a t-shirt to enjoy it. Now I am back to my long underwear! A squall came through so we sailed a bit. Now the winds
have died but the seas are choppy so the ride is a little unpleasant. We are going more westerly now and plan to pass south of
Norfolk Island. 5/11, Day 3, Passage to Australia 30 16.591 S, 168 35.374 E, day 3, passage to Brisbane,
Australia, 452 miles out, 854 miles to go And it was another day of motoring. The water looks like
mercury it is so calm and airless. Sometime during the night a flying fish
hopped on board but didn't make it back into the water in time. We found him
dried up on deck. For Mother's day I was able to sleep in this morning and
Sarah took part of my morning watch. How very thoughtful! We are passing to the south of Norfolk Island. The
mutineers of HMS Bounty were here for a while before moving on to Pitcairn's
Island. We would stop but there is no good anchorage. We hope that the trade winds will start to fill in
tomorrow. 5/12, Day 4, Passage to Australia 29 16.443 S, 166 04.070 E, day 4, passage to Brisbane, 598
miles out, 708 miles to go Another day of motoring. I am beginning to see a trend in
my position updates.... It was another day of light and variable winds, from
WSW, SW, SSW, and now S. Nothing on the horizon as you look 360 degrees
around the boat. We are reading a lot. Sarah is on her fourth book. I just
read about how the Irish saved civilization after the fall of the Roman
Empire. Rich is now reading that book. Mandu has settled into napping. Jesse
is listening to CDs. Imagine driving across Kansas in a Winnebago on a straight
road with no other cars, no exits, nothing but wheat fields as far as the eye
can see and you can't stop for 1300 miles! It's like a passage to Brisbane! The grib files promise SE winds tomorrow. We'll see. 5/13, Day 5, Passage to Australia 28 50.679 s, 163 35105 e, day 5, passage to Brisbane, 745
miles out, 561 miles to go Early this morning we started sailing. First with the
staysail and the main (2nd reef), then we furled the staysail. With just the
main we are averaging just over 6 knots. Not too bad. It is nice and quiet
without the engine. Unfortunately the seas have built so it is rock and
rolly. Imagine you are still in the Winnebago, the shocks are so
bad you roll back and forth and side to side randomly at about 10 degrees a
pop. To further simulate the current conditions, the Winnebago is a
convertible and you have the top down and the weather is overcast and about
60 degrees. Are we having fun yet? 5/14, Day 6, Passage to Australia 28 03.797 S, 161 30.045 E, passage to Brisbane, 865 miles
out, 441 miles to go Last night we reefed the main to the 3rd reef. Later that
evening the winds were 25-30 gusting to 35. We tried to jybe but the 3rd reef
clew came undone from the boom. The wind caught the sail and pulled it out of
the lazy jacks. With a lot of effort we got the main tied down and decided to
just go with the staysail. We are still sailing with staysail only, averaging
5.8 to 6 knots. Rich and I just finished retying the reef line and getting
the main back in order. Of course we hit a squall in the middle of this
operation. Seas are now around 12 feet from the east, winds 25-32 from the
east and ENE. The Winnebago is having a wild ride. We roll from side to
side, at least 20 degrees. Everything in the cabinets rattle. The glasses in
the rack make a lot of noise along with the pots and pans and anything in the
metal galley sinks. Yes it is quieter with the engine off, but not by much!
Oh yes, it rains every so often. Do you have your foulies on? Last night we encountered a commercial shipping vessel and
tried to hail them to ask their course and if they saw us on radar. No
response. Asleep at the wheel? 5/15, Day 7, Passage to Australia 26 45.767 s, 159 16.925 e, passage to Brisbane, 1016 miles
out, 337 miles to go Last night and today were pretty much like yesterday, winds
were 25-35 and seas are 12-14 feet. Very bumpy uncomfortable ride. We are
continuing northwesterly and the winds are predicted to come to the north so
then we will bare off to Moreton Island and Brisbane. During Rich's watch he talked to a passenger liner that was
passing by and a commercial shipping vessel. At least they responded. I want to apologize to those of you who usually watch our
progress on Yotreps. I have not been sending the data in to them so you will
not see us there. (to be honest - I forgot!) 5/16, Day 8, Passage to Australia 26 37.802 S, 157 40.403 E, passage to Brisbane, 1115 miles
out, 251 miles to go. It was a dark and stormy night.... The seas were white under the moon that peaked through the
clouds against a dark sky. The winds continued to build and the seas along with
it, the predicted gale like a 1956 Buick Roadmaster, barrelling down the
highway coming towards us. The seas were up to 20 feet high over the radar
arch and above our flag. They would crash into the side of the boat with a
sickening thud and then a river would run down the deck. The boat would heel
and sometimes the jerry jugs and the solar panels on the side would be awash.
The winds were steady at 43 knots and would climb up to 54 knots. The
halyards are banging furiously against the mast. We had reefed the staysail
to just a small area remaining to help steady the boat and help the
autopilot. The speed over ground reached over 8.5 knots as we would lurch and
ride through the seas. Mandu was wide-eyed and anxious about any sound. Some
of Jesse's books tumbled off his cabinet, out of his room and onto the floor
of the companionway. I taped the sliding cabinet enclosures in the galley so
that the contents would not come spilling forth. I also taped the wine rack
and checked other storage places. Rich stared mesmerized at instruments as
the speeds climbed. At 6 am it was still going on. The rain was coming
horizontally, soaking everything and everyone. Finally around 8:30 am the
winds had subsided and we decided to start the motor. I turned the key Rich pushed
the start button but nothing. It would not turn over. The batteries had been
depleted by the hardworking autopilot. We turned everything off. The volts
were 10.5. Not enough. Rich went out and slipped the line off the wind
generator. It started to turn in the wind, the voltage level rose, 11.1, then
11.3, then 11.5. I turned the key on again Rich pushed the button, the engine
roared to life. We have been motoring since. The winds are too low and from
the wrong direction. We still have some distance to cover before we are
there. But we survived the gale! 5/17, Day 9, Passage to Australia 26 24.012 S, 156 01.937 E, passage to Brisbane, 1249 miles
out, 197 miles to go. Last night was a contrast to the night before. The seas
were down to 6 feet. The winds were in the 10-15 knot range but... in the
wrong direction, they were now from the west, southwest, where we want to go.
We motor-sailed for most of the night, trying to be conservative in our fuel
use. Around 3:30 am, Rich saw a red flare go off in the near
distance. All hands on deck we have a possible emergency, is someone in
trouble? We marked the position and approximate location of the flare and
changed course to head for it. We called on the VHF but no response, from
anyone. We got out our high power lights and started looking. I got on the
SSB and called the emergency station. I talked to someone from Auckland
Maritime Patrol on New Zealand and they contacted their Australian
counterparts who called me. We were advised to check the area to see if we
could determine what happened. They would call me back in 15 minutes. We
motored 4 miles in the direction of the sighted flare. Everyone was looking
for some sign. Nothing. Just water and sky and clouds. I reported our
findings or lack of same to the Australian maritime patrol. They released us
from our task and indicated that they had other sightings and attributed it
to meteor shower activity. Humph. We returned to our previous course. We are not convinced it
was a meteor but we hope we did not miss someone who was in trouble. This morning we brought out all the sails and turned off
the motor. We are covering a lot of miles but not all in the direction we
want to go. We sailed 134 miles so far today but we are only 54 miles closer
to the mark! But the sailing is great! In the example of the Winnebago. You can see the mountain
ahead that you want to climb but you don't have enough fuel and you can't
drive straight up the side. So you have to use the switchbacks and go back
and forth to get there. You need to save enough fuel to maneuver in the
parking lot. Well, it's time for pizza. I will send this in a little
bit. 5/18, Day 10, Passage to Australia 26 51.192 S, 154 42.090 E, passage to Brisbane, 1363 miles
out, 98.5 miles to go! Are we there yet? ...... No! The winds are 0-15 knots, from the west. In other words, in
our face! We have been tacking back and forth slowly getting closer. We have
wind waves against us making it a bouncy, splashy ride.
We did a little motoring but we need to conserve the
remaining fuel. With the waves and winds against us, motoring would do little
to get us there any sooner. At this point, morale is low. We did eee some whales heading in the same direction and
took it as a good sign. We can hardly wait to be there, check in, tie up, wash down
the boat and take some much deserved showers! Soon? 5/19, Day 11, Arrival in Brisbane, Australia 27 11.671 S, 153 06.357 E, arrive Brisbane, 1537 miles from
Opua, 0 miles to go! We're here! We tied up to the quarantine dock at 8:30pm
Australian time. Now to take showers, have dinner and get a good night's
sleep. Good night!
The friendly glow of the Quarantine sign Update We traveled 1537 nm in 11 days, 10 hours and 25 minutes.
This included 5 days of motoring, 6 days of sailing. Winds from 0-50 knots,
Seas from 0-4 meters. |
