Penultimate Leg and The Final Staight

Ariel
Mon 11 Sep 2006 00:29
HI Chris,Sarah,Ev,Dean,Jo,VJ,Gran,Pa and All,
Here I sit in front of my lap top again,(this time up in the cockpit in the
fresh air)for one of the last times,just about 15 hours away from the
entrance to Havannah Passage,that will take us up to Noumea Harbour and the
Port of Moselle(Celebratory drink required?)It has been a long five and half
months in many ways but from the other end it seems to have passed quickly.

The Havannah Passage may well be our last significant challenge,as the
guides warn to make this passage in flood tide as the sea in an ebb tide
with the wind in the wrong direction can make it dangerous.From there I am
very much looking forward to the final leg from Noumea to Brisbane then home
to the lawn mower,weeding,sanding and painting and somehow a great deal of
work has to be done on the boat.It will be good to get back to the mundane
life that is the norm for most of us.But particularly,family and friends
that make the mundane all so worthwhile.And a very, very,patient and
understanding (tolerant) wife.(Who just happens to have a majority share in
the boat.)

However, back to this leg of the journey.We have been at sea 6 days and it
has been the worst leg of the journey.The second night out we were
confronted with possibly our worst storm of the trip(they all seem pretty
bad at the time,though I think this lasted a little longer than the
others.)I was fortunate to have on board an experienced crew now (Tony Bell)
that took some of the responsibility off my shoulders and will give a good
back
up if anything goes wrong.We again had to go down to just a very small
amount of genoa and no mainsail to ride out the worst of the wind.The boat
again handled the conditions well but obviously needs better sail
configuration for these conditions.It was an unpleasant night,like all the
others,but I think I am slowly adjusting and of course having extra
experience on board gave me more confidence.I am a little surprised at how
many reasonably strong storms we have been caught in and will need to review
my departure schedule in the future.Apart from this there has been mainly no
wind and the little wind we have had has been directly in front,so we have
been mainly motoring.The sea has also quite often been sloppy and after 11
days on land at Fiji I have lost my sea legs to a large degree,so it has
taken some getting used to. The exception has been today from early
morning,until late this afternoon we have had a good breeze,though as I
write this at 6.15pm it has lightened off considerably.It now is obvious we
shall not make our 3.00am deadline to catch the flood tide at Havannah
Passage.This will mean waiting till 3.00pm Sunday afternoon or the less
favourable option of the Ebb tide at 9.00 am,depending on what the wind is
doing.
We have just sighted one of the outer Islands of New Caledonia-The Loyalty
Islands,so we are truly nearing the end of this leg.It is going to be very
pleasing to finish this leg,not only because of the poor conditions but it
also has the significance that there is only then one more crossing until we
are back in Australia.
I have seen unspoilt beauty,beautiful tropical island after beautiful
tropical island,warm climates of the tropics,exceptionally friendly and
pleasant people,places that most people can never see and an experience that
very few would have the opportunity for.But this only reinforces how lucky
we are in
Australia.Not because we have it all,or the best of everything,but the total
package is very hard to beat.The Lucky Country is a good tag.
I shall need to finish this off later as I am pretty much up to date.We also
have a good friend Dave Cull, joining us from Noumea,which could prove to be
the roughest part of the trip-not a good choice!
Saturday 19/8/06
Dave has joined us and much as anticipated we left Noumea in a brisk 20 to
25 knots of breeze.We headed out through the Dumbea Passage into a sloppy
sea with the undoubted promise of a uncomfortable night,which was not to
disappoint.Tony landed a rather large incredibly ugly fish that looked more
like an eel than a fish.Consensus of opinion was,if you are that ugly you
probably taste pretty bad,so he was returned with the minimum of grace back
into the sea.
The next day and following night the wind built up a bit more and had us
resorting to the usual procedure of minimal sail to ride through the worst
of the wind.Dave followed my example of Cuba and with a very cultured style,
wasted the curry I had cooked plus a very nice French custard, purchased
just before we left port, into our multi-purpose blue bucket.(Horizontal has
another victim.)Though I must say he has bounced back and it has not been an
issue since.We made good progress for our homeward and last leg over the
first 48 hours averaging 6.8 knots and looking forward to arriving in
Brisbane within the 6 days.Though as I write this the wind has died and we
have again had to resort to the motor.The barometer has dropped 5 points,so
it seems we may get some wind tomorrow.Apart from Dave being sea sick the
only causalities were a flying kettle off the stove,which broke the handle
and the clock fell off the wall with the screws pulling out.So the damage
has been minimal and it looks like we shall get the boat home with
relatively little damage over the last six months.
SUNDAY 20th/8
We are still motoring as the wind is still not being kind and has swung
directly ahead,thus slowing our progress from 6.8 knots average down to
about 5 knots currently.The entrance to Moreton Bay Brisbane is less than
300 nm away,so we are well past half way and looking forward as always to
sighting land.This undoubtably has more significance than usual and brings
to a conclusion a very interesting experience,that could be a little while
before a repeat performance.The last two days the weather has been superb
though the nights have been very cool to cold.We just need some more wind!
Wednesday 23/8
Arrived Brisbane,Autstralia,to the almost pleasant aroma of the iconic Aussie bush fire.
Adventure is over with a sail planned down the coast in a couple of months
to Wollongong.
Best regards,
Bern