New Speed Record - Flinders Island, Queensland, Australia
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Sat 17 Jul 2010 02:30
|
14:10.715S 144:13.719E
While the wind howled through the rigging as we sat
in our anchorage at Lizard Island, Don connected to the internet via the
satellite phone to download a weather forecast for the upcoming week. The
forecast data boiled down to this: wind from the southeast at 20-30 knots.
Seven days of wind from the southeast at 20-30 knots. Ok then, no
need to hang around Lizard Island waiting for the wind to calm down. So,
off we went on a 6-day sailing frenzy. Flinders Island was our first
overnight stop on June 13th.
We sailed 83 miles in 10 hours that
day. An average of 8.3 knots with a top sailing speed of
11.5 knots (a whopping 13.2 mph for those of you who were wondering), which was
a new record for us. Any higher and we would have topped out the
speedometer (it only goes up to 12 knots). We did see 30 knots of
wind. Sometimes 35 when it was really blowing. But we were in the
sheltered waters of the barrier reef, so the waves struggled to reach a height
of three feet. Normally in a wind like that we'd be dealing with 12-15
feet of swell. Hail to the Reef!!
Picture 1 - Sunset at the quiet Flinders Island
anchorage. There were only two other boats there aside from Harmonie and
Storyteller. We didn't venture ashore as this area is rumored to be
patrolled by crocodiles.
Anne
|
