Safely in Brisbane, after a terrible storm
Lynn & Mike ..around the world
Mike Drinkrow & Lynn v/d Hoven
Fri 4 Oct 2013 01:54
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27:26.69s 153:06.32e Safely
in Brisbane - after a terrible storm
We tied up to the customs dock at 11.30 this
morning and what a relief to be here. We have just had the the worst 24 hours at
sea, EVER. Mike and I are quite shell-shocked.
A huge storm hit us about 15 hours outside
Morton Bay, entrance to the Brisbane shipping channel. We had heavy winds
all day, but then it got much worse – nasty swell and very high winds – highest
I saw was 59knots!! And as the storm cranked up, the AutoPilot and the
steering in the wheelhouse (inside) packed up. We could not hold Time2 on
course. Mike, with a little help from me, then had to hand steer from outside on
the flying bridge, where there is little protection from the wind or spray.
We were very concerned that we would have a total steering
failure, and then we would have been seriously “up the creek !”. Mike
was doing his usual McGyver thing, making a plan with substitute hydraulic oil.
He used 2-stroke oil to fill the reservoirs, huge mess, oil overflowing
everywhere, but it seemed to help a lot. All this while the boat was
pitching and rolling like crazy.
I contacted our friend Will on sy Offshore,
who was home in Tasmania, and very supportive. He made calls to the
coast guard, customs and even a towing tug – getting them on standby
should things get out of control. He was monitoring our position and it made us
feel a LOT safer. I think he stayed up the whole night..
We got drenched as each swell crashed over the
front of the boat, sending spray into our faces. With beanies and full wet
weather gear we were still freezing and soaked. Spray was also getting
inside the boat, as we changed “shifts” on the wheel. Hand steering this boat is
very very difficult – particularly in bad weather – I have new respect for the
efficiency of the autopilot. We had to steer hard, holding a course by looking
at compass while ducking masses of spray – all this in pitch dark... we both are
very muscle sore today. Eventually at about 1.30am the weather eased off a bit
and Mike tried to restart the AutoPilot – for about the 10th time ... and BINGO,
it started. Finally we could come back inside the yacht and get warm. We were
exhausted but still had another 8 hours of bad weather before we got into the
Brisbane river. Morton Bay continued to offer rough weather and waves over
the front of the boat for another 5 hours, but at least we were inside.
And then, as soon as we hit the river, it was dead calm.
We have completed Customs and Quarantine
quickly - both teams very friendly and efficient. And then we
crashed! We are moving up the river to the Dockside marina for a week or
so, where we hope to relax and do some land stuff only. We will then head
down to the Gold Coast to get hauled out, and head home.
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