New Caledonia - Australia Passage Summary and Pictures
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Mon 26 Oct 2009 01:48
|
27:26.701S 153:063.14E
Has anyone out there noticed that our arrival in Australia means we
have successfully sailed across the entire Pacific Ocean?
Just thought I'd take a little time out to pat ourselves on our respective backs
for this relatively monumental achievement. This whole sailing thing has
become so second nature by now that we almost forgot to celebrate. Never
fear though, we will celebrate - just need to find where these Aussies keep the
champagne.
Below are a summary and pictures from our final Pacific
Ocean passage:
Total nautical miles traveled - 805
Total time - 4 days, 21 hours, 20
minutes
Total time sailing - 3 days, 17 hours, 10
minutes (76%)
Total time motoring and motorsailing - 1
day, 4 hours, 10 minutes (24%)
Average speed - 6.9 knots (7.9 mph) We
would have gone faster, but purposely slowed down during the last day and night
to arrive at daybreak (that's our story anyway, and we're sticking to
it).
Degrees of latitude traveled - 5 to the south
(away from the equator)
Degrees of longitude traveled - 13 to the west (50
more degrees of longitude or about 3,000 more miles to the west and we'll
finally be halfway around the world)
Lowest wind - 3 knots (3.5 mph)
Highest wind - 23 knots (27 mph) There
were a few gusts up to 30 knots during rain squalls, but they didn't last long
and weren't officially recorded.
Lowest cabin temperature - 69F (6 in the morning, 2
days out from Australia)
Highest cabin temperature - 88F(leaving New
Caledonia)
Number of calamities - 0 Highly
unusual!
Number of dinners consisting of microwaved frozen
casseroles - 5
Number of trips to the lee rail - Don - 0, Anne -
1
Number of seasickness pills consumed - Don - 1 (a
first!), Anne - 2
Number of suicidal flying fish given sea burials with honor - 2
Number of waking hours captain and crew spent
together - 33 hours This seems to be a very consistent
statistic for us at only 28% of total passage time. Maybe there is an
unwritten rule of thumb somewhere that states something like, 'For a
couple to remain happy, no more than 28% of their lives should be spent awake
together in the same room.' This may be the underlying reason why at least
one half of an older couple usually falls asleep while watching a movie
together - it's really just nature's way of keeping the together/time ratio
properly balanced.
Picture 1 - Don's last South Pacific island swim before leaving for
Australia a few hours later.
Picture 2 - Sunset, day 1.
Pictures 3 and 4 - Sunrise, day 2. Looking behind us, the sky looked
like it was on fire for a good half hour (picture 3) before it blossomed
into this unbelievable sight (picture 4). All the white spots on the rail
and winches are chunks of salt leftover from the multiple wave washings we
received throughout the night. All worth it given this incredible
sunrise.
Picture 5 - The first suicidal flying fish. His refusal to be
properly tonged overboard led to his sad demise.
Picture 6 - Brisbane's commercial port in the far distance with Sabbatical
III in front of us and a cargo ship headed toward us in the Brisbane
river.
We have moved the boat to Scarborough Marina, just north of
Brisbane, and are working on getting it ready to haul this Friday. More on
that and a wrap up of Season 2 later this week.
Anne |
