Sailing around the World ( Presently departing Thursday Island, Australia )

A Lady
Stephen Hyde
Fri 20 Aug 2010 01:56
THURSDAY  19th   AUGUST  2010     ( Judith Meade's birthday,  skippers sister )
 
One of the sayings on the pavement on Thursday Island read :-  "  The past exists, for the present ,  to create the future "
Thats good,
 
The Islands are very interesting , but we wont have time to explore them,, We will  just to say we have been to T.I. as we leave for Darwin today at noon.
 
07.00hrs, We all got ready for a trip ashore to T.I. The ferry only runs every hour on the half hour, so we got the 08.30hrs
Skipper went to the hotel looking for the lovely Susanne, ( rally control ) but instead met an Irish lass behind the reception desk,
Her name is Sinead, and hails from Dublin, but, has cousins " the Browns" living in Blackrock, Cork.
 
I Have said it before, what a small world we live in today,  God,! Thursday Island, How did she wind up there ,, ! just by chance
She was looking for a job in Cairns and was offered this along with her German friend, so off they went, off to T.I..
It was great to hear another Irish accent.
 
Skipper completed the necessary paperwork before returning to the boat, and boy, oh boy, had the wind increased in the last hour,,
It was blowing skittles,  like 39 knots,   wow, another breezy day at sea.
Skipper put some steak in the pressure cooker for dinner tonight, It will be mixed with a Salsa sauce, ( out of a jar ) plus rice.
 
When the others returned , we prepared to leave, but were going to be 35 minutes late for the start of leg 13,,
This is becomming a regular habbit.. late for everything......
 
12.35hrs we crossed the starting line, but the rest of the fleet were well gone, and with a breeze of 48 knots, gone very fast.
We passed " Friday Island" on our port side as we sailed our way out through the reefs, We had 2 reefs in the main,
in fact, we are having trouble with the main,  The edging on the slot going up the back of the mast came undone in the heat and
has wound around the mainsail inside the mast itself,,   ohhhhhh, this will be tricky to solve.but, but , we will leave it for the present.
There are no volunteers to go aloft in this breeze.
 
The weather is hot and humid, there is a kind of mist all around the place, and yet not a cloud to be seen.
We follow " Bruce " the weatherman's advice and set a course 280T for the next 100km,
this will keep us out from the wind shadow of " Cape York "  or that what he says.
 
 
Destination....................................Darwin
Distance........................................830 n miles,
Wind.............................................45  /  48 knots  ESE
Sea state.......................................moderate
Weather.........................................Sunny hazy humid day
 
Crew :-   Stephen Hyde ( skipper )  Aileen Hyde, family ambassidor.  Niall and Mary O'Rielly.
 
We had lots of emails from different  people, including Leah and Sarah, Margaret How, etc.
It seems that Leah bumped into  Colm O'Sullivan in Dublin last week and he reads the blog all the time,  Colm used to sail with our children
in the RCYC many moons ago, and now makes soup and other food stuff for a living, ( Cully and Sully ) 
 
We had to gybe the boat a few times, as the wind shifted around, 
When it got dark , we set the mainsail and staysail on a broad port reach, the wind was still blowing in excess of 30 knots
so we scooted along at 8 knots .
 
20.30hrs,  We had the Salsa / steak dish with rice and it was just the job, tasty and not too much, ideal for rough weather sailing,
all be it, down wind...   
The moon gets bigger each night, so we had a bright night, well untill midnight ,
 
 
Watches,      21.00hrs /  00.00hrs ............................Aileen
                    00.00hrs /  03.00hrs.............................Stephen
                    03.00hrs /  06.00hrs.............................Mary
                    06.00hrs /  09.00hrs.............................Niall
 
Thats it for now,
 
Signed :-     Stephen Hyde    ( Skipper )