Baie Maa, New Caledonia > Coffs Harbour, Australia Day 1 (2014-11-27 01:00 UTC - 23:50.5S 162:37.2E - DTF 638 nm)

Aquamante
Vries Peter Pons
Thu 27 Nov 2014 01:43

The trip started quite wet with some 25-30kn of wind on the nose for some 3nm when we were heading out of the Dumbea Pass. Two boats followed in our wake, one heading for Bundaberg and one for Brisbane. Once out of the protected waters the broad reach course took the edge off, but the seas were rough and confused throughout the day and night with rogue waves bashing the side of the hull at regular intervals, not a comfy ride. Early this morning the wind abated to some 12-17 kn and backed to E as predicted. We did well in staying N of the rhumbline to have some room to steer a more S course for today until the wind veers to SE again. Moreover we clearly notice the 1-1.5kn SE current, easily doing 8.5-9kn SOG. For the last 24hrs we clocked a decent 200nm and with the wind picking up again tomorrow, we should be able to stay close to this.