The trip up the harbour to PILGRIM new home at River Quays was pleasant enough and by about 13:00 we were ashore, rushing headlong back into the real world and our dreams of what’s next!
Grazie Mille - PILGRIM Out!
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Finito!
8th Nov 2010
We woke to a beaut day and were off at 06:00 for an idyllic run down the northern beaches and into Sydney Heads. Just to cap off the day we saw yet another whale putting on a great display just off North head; It was almost as if this was recompense for yesterday.
The trip up the harbour to PILGRIM new home at River Quays was pleasant enough and by about 13:00 we were ashore, rushing headlong back into the real world and our dreams of what’s next!
Grazie Mille - PILGRIM Out!
The trip up the harbour to PILGRIM new home at River Quays was pleasant enough and by about 13:00 we were ashore, rushing headlong back into the real world and our dreams of what’s next!
Grazie Mille - PILGRIM Out!
Regrettable!
7th Nov 2010
We have been trying to get home for a week but even so, with today’s forecast ‘reasonable’ it wasn’t a pushed decision to go but we struck pretty horrible conditions. Not huge or wild, just lumpy with crossing seas and swell and wind all over the place with passing storms. Progress was fair at about 5.5 kts but after nearly 13 hrs of this we headed into Pittwater for the night, just 18 nm shy of Sydney.
A regrettable conclusion if we had made Sydney so maybe a good nights rest and a short hop tomorrow will give us the ‘good last day’ I was hoping for.
We have been trying to get home for a week but even so, with today’s forecast ‘reasonable’ it wasn’t a pushed decision to go but we struck pretty horrible conditions. Not huge or wild, just lumpy with crossing seas and swell and wind all over the place with passing storms. Progress was fair at about 5.5 kts but after nearly 13 hrs of this we headed into Pittwater for the night, just 18 nm shy of Sydney.
A regrettable conclusion if we had made Sydney so maybe a good nights rest and a short hop tomorrow will give us the ‘good last day’ I was hoping for.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
So Close!
1st Nov 2010
We have but one leg remaining before finishing the trip (for now) and getting to PILGRIM’s new home at River Quays Marina, near Gladesville but the weather is terrible!
Very frustrating and in some way ironic as here in Port Stephens, is where we were ‘stranded’ northbound with all the engine woes. I can’t really complain about the weather then can I?
Today is Monday; I had hoped to be away by Weds but it’s looking more like Saturday from what the weather is telling me.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
A Dark, Dark Night and the RADAR out
29th Oct 2010
Lets start with a brief revisit to the beauties of Laurieton: As the photo left shows, it is indeed a great spot with seas, waterways, mountains and friendly folk – I will return!
With an eye on the weather I went for a morning walk, not fully convinced that we shouldn’t leave this afternoon (rather than early tomorrow) as strong winds were forecast for later Saturday. By the time I returned I had the view (supported by another departing south bound boat) that we should up and go ASAP. By 12:15 we were motoring out against the incoming tidal flow.
The day and the night went reasonably well with NNE winds to about 15 kts max (giving us about 10 kts apparent) and seas around 1.5 to 2 m although a bigger one rolled PILGRIM around every 20 swells or so. With an ETA of 01:00, I elected a 1 hrs rotation so that we both might get a couple of hours off before making port at Nelsons Bay.
The only really notable thing about the night was that it was dark, very dark with no moon and extensive cloud cover. This is not a major drama but does make things just that little bit less comfortable, particularly with a rolly sea and a good deal of traffic about. Of the latter, the AIS and RADAR were both up, as is SOP (Standard Operating Procedures) for PILGRIM at night but by the third watch the RADAR had fallen over and left us almost totally blind. Fortunately the problem was fixed with a cold reset but for this I needed to wait for Paul to wake up as I needed someone at the helm while I attended to the reset, in the meantime I spent the remainder of my watch staring forward into the dark dark night.
On arrival at Port Stephens, it was good (as ever) to be wrapped in that comforting sense of enclosure as we passed the heads of Tomaree and Yakaaba. Following the markers in, we first checked the public wharf for space but finished up on a mooring and by about 03:00, after some ‘post flight’ matters, we were both in our bunks and well and truly ready for a sleep.
With an eye on the weather I went for a morning walk, not fully convinced that we shouldn’t leave this afternoon (rather than early tomorrow) as strong winds were forecast for later Saturday. By the time I returned I had the view (supported by another departing south bound boat) that we should up and go ASAP. By 12:15 we were motoring out against the incoming tidal flow.
The day and the night went reasonably well with NNE winds to about 15 kts max (giving us about 10 kts apparent) and seas around 1.5 to 2 m although a bigger one rolled PILGRIM around every 20 swells or so. With an ETA of 01:00, I elected a 1 hrs rotation so that we both might get a couple of hours off before making port at Nelsons Bay.
The only really notable thing about the night was that it was dark, very dark with no moon and extensive cloud cover. This is not a major drama but does make things just that little bit less comfortable, particularly with a rolly sea and a good deal of traffic about. Of the latter, the AIS and RADAR were both up, as is SOP (Standard Operating Procedures) for PILGRIM at night but by the third watch the RADAR had fallen over and left us almost totally blind. Fortunately the problem was fixed with a cold reset but for this I needed to wait for Paul to wake up as I needed someone at the helm while I attended to the reset, in the meantime I spent the remainder of my watch staring forward into the dark dark night.
On arrival at Port Stephens, it was good (as ever) to be wrapped in that comforting sense of enclosure as we passed the heads of Tomaree and Yakaaba. Following the markers in, we first checked the public wharf for space but finished up on a mooring and by about 03:00, after some ‘post flight’ matters, we were both in our bunks and well and truly ready for a sleep.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Blast off.
27th Oct 2010
So back to the start: As we left the bar, John (my new found ex pilot mate) came up beside PILGRIM in one of his several high speed ribs, with a load of paying passengers on a whale watching trip. After a brief chat he bid me good bye with a ‘semi’ salute and in a the context of our conversation of yesterday, slammed the 500 hp throttles open and blast off like the A4 jet he once flew. In a blink, all that was left was floury of foam and a group a rapidly departing, and doubtlessly wide eyed passengers travelling at high speed toward the reported whales sightings.
Yee Ha!
By necessity, today begins with a prelude:
Yesterday being our last day in Port Mac. We decided that a $10 channel cruise might be just the thing for dinner. With fish, chips and beer we boarded for the ‘geriatric excursion’ among the channel developments of Port. Talking to the skipper ( and owner of the business which included some 9 vessels) it turned out he was an ex RAN pilot off a course a few ahead of mine. With this rapport established we chatted about boats and planes and agreed that both were fun, particularly when they moved fast!
With an aim to catch both tides at optimal , we left Port about 08:30 and motored out across a completely tranquil Bar and into and equally calm sea with the ambition of making Laurieton just before High tide. As our fortune was as good as the day, the plan came to pass with a very easy and very pleasant 3 hrs sail to the Laurieton RSL wharf, where we so enjoyed our stay when Northbound.
So back to the start: As we left the bar, John (my new found ex pilot mate) came up beside PILGRIM in one of his several high speed ribs, with a load of paying passengers on a whale watching trip. After a brief chat he bid me good bye with a ‘semi’ salute and in a the context of our conversation of yesterday, slammed the 500 hp throttles open and blast off like the A4 jet he once flew. In a blink, all that was left was floury of foam and a group a rapidly departing, and doubtlessly wide eyed passengers travelling at high speed toward the reported whales sightings. Yee Ha!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Things that go bump in the night
23nd Oct 2010
After our record breaking speed of yesterday, the late night and early morning had us a little off the pace but still maintaining a very good 7+kts. The moon was full and with AIS and Radar humming, traffic was no problem so while we avoided hitting the big stuff, we did hit something through the night. I suspect it was a fishing float or similar as the impact on the hull sounded hard and though trivial in the retelling, it did tend to bring me up to a high alert state when I first heard it. Other than that the night was a good one and with the great speed we actually passed Coffs at about 03:45 ESST having elected to ‘push on’ to Port Macquarie.
This decision and our ultimate arrival around 13:30 saw the making of a number of new records for the trip. The furthest at 222nm, the fastest at an overall on track average of 7.3kts and the longest, although only just, at 31 hours.
On arrival at Port Macquarie, we were amused to find that the ‘Dad’s Army’ Marine rescue folk had not managed to lift their standards as set on our north bound trip. The interaction with ourselves and two other inbound cruisers was such that it was he first thing every spoke (and laughed) about on meeting once ashore but enough of all that as I’m sure they mean well!
The next trip is a short one down to Camden Haven as it was a place that still rates highly on my ‘must visit again’ list.
After our record breaking speed of yesterday, the late night and early morning had us a little off the pace but still maintaining a very good 7+kts. The moon was full and with AIS and Radar humming, traffic was no problem so while we avoided hitting the big stuff, we did hit something through the night. I suspect it was a fishing float or similar as the impact on the hull sounded hard and though trivial in the retelling, it did tend to bring me up to a high alert state when I first heard it. Other than that the night was a good one and with the great speed we actually passed Coffs at about 03:45 ESST having elected to ‘push on’ to Port Macquarie.
This decision and our ultimate arrival around 13:30 saw the making of a number of new records for the trip. The furthest at 222nm, the fastest at an overall on track average of 7.3kts and the longest, although only just, at 31 hours.
On arrival at Port Macquarie, we were amused to find that the ‘Dad’s Army’ Marine rescue folk had not managed to lift their standards as set on our north bound trip. The interaction with ourselves and two other inbound cruisers was such that it was he first thing every spoke (and laughed) about on meeting once ashore but enough of all that as I’m sure they mean well!
The next trip is a short one down to Camden Haven as it was a place that still rates highly on my ‘must visit again’ list.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Cowabunga Dudes – A record ride on the East Australian Current
22nd Oct 2010
With really good weather forecast we were probably a little to keen to get going as a really good run would set us up for a pre-dawn arrival into Coffs. None the less we were out of the Seaway just after 06:00 EST and set off in good conditions with the now familiar morning ‘land breeze’ westerly pushing us nicely. With the wind expected to swing NE the prospect for a good run was always on the cards but with the NE’s only light, I elected to keep the Yanmar going at a low 1800 rpm just to make sure we achieved planned speed. This, it turned out was not at all necessary (by a long margin) as we picked up a ride on the East Aussie Current.
The current, as every one knows from Nimo, is a perpetual feature of our East coast but just where it is and how fast it flows, varies significantly, in fact ‘chaotically’. The BOM site has a sea surface temp forecast from which they extrapolate the current and as can be seen, it was straight down the coast past Ballina. In the absence of such forecasts, the rule of thumb is that it can be found on the 200m line (depth) but we were only in about 50m when we got a peak ride of 2.5 knots. With the wind (and the Yanmar) this gave us a RECORD ground speed of 8.5 kts. A speed we maintained for most of the daylight hours.
With really good weather forecast we were probably a little to keen to get going as a really good run would set us up for a pre-dawn arrival into Coffs. None the less we were out of the Seaway just after 06:00 EST and set off in good conditions with the now familiar morning ‘land breeze’ westerly pushing us nicely. With the wind expected to swing NE the prospect for a good run was always on the cards but with the NE’s only light, I elected to keep the Yanmar going at a low 1800 rpm just to make sure we achieved planned speed. This, it turned out was not at all necessary (by a long margin) as we picked up a ride on the East Aussie Current.
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