A good start to a bumpy ride - New Caledonia to Australia
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Sun 18 Oct 2009 09:59
|
23:33.150S 162:43.275E
It's possible that we've learned a thing or two
about passage making along the way, but it's also possible that we just got
lucky. Either way, the start of this voyage went very smoothly compared to
some beginnings we've had. We left the marina fuel dock at 11:30am on
Saturday (10/17) and motored out to Isle Maitre, a small island just off the
coast of Grande Terre. There, we anchored in a nice spot with about 25
local sailboats and had our last South Pacific island swim and a leisurely
lunch. After that we battened down the hatches, stowed important things
like the computer, and got underway. We motorsailed through a pass in the
giant New Caledonia reef and found flat seas and about 7 knots of wind once we
got into deep water. Light wind, yes, but at least it was from the proper
direction (SSE).
After only three hours of motorsailing, the wind
picked up to 10-12ish knots and we had a beautiful sail overnight - no moon, but
the stars almost made up for it. This morning the wind picked up some more
to over 20 knots and the waves got angry. Lumpy and bumpy. By the
afternoon, some of us once again became familiar with the lee rail. A
couple Stugeron (sea sickness medication of choice) pills later and the lee
rail became a distant memory. Funny how we only remember the good
parts about sailing. Selective sailing memory. Must be an old
phenomenon. Otherwise why would people like Magellan and Captain Cook
have subjected themselves and their crews to the horrors of sailing in the
1500's-1700's?
It's now 8pm on Sunday (10/18) and we have another
star-filled sky above us. The winds are still brisk, but the seas
have calmed - only throwing a bucket or three of seawater at us every now
and again when we least expect it. Our cockpit has good protection from
such things so we haven't really gotten wet - but the boat is thoroughly
salted.
More tomorrow -
Anne
|