Port Vila to Australia
Marita3
Mark & Helen Syrett
Fri 17 Aug 2012 07:55
We were beginning to anticipate arrival when about 400 miles out but having had a forecast of beam wind at 15 knots we had to endure a bright starry night with no wind and what came and went was on the nose---motor on again for a few hours.
Then the wind arrived---fast and furious. The barometer rose 4 points in as many hours and we reefed down to 3 reefs and a small amount of jenny as the boat speed hit 8 to 9 knots. With the reefs in we sailed at about 7 knots all night towards the Great Barrier Reef and our dawn crossing.
We crossed the reef which was a non event because nothing changed although we did change our intended passage through the shallowing water---Helen had noticed that at the foot of the chart was a diagram showing certain parts of the chart divided into ''zones of confidence (ZOC)'' !! This depicted the degree of accuracy of the survey and my original intended passage was through Zone B water rather than Zone A2 water. We thought the insurers might prefer us to be in Zone 2 water!!
We arrived at Townsville later that night, anchored off and went into the marina the following morning---all peace and quiet after an exhausting passage.
Distance 1297 miles
Time (.75 days (229.75 hours)
Average speed 5.65 knots
Engine hours 29.4 hours (12%)
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