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!

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.

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!

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.

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?

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.

Blast off.

27th Oct 2010

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!

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.

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.

Trepidation

19th / 20th Oct 2010

Today (19th ), we waited for an afternoon departure in order to address the issue of the ‘Shallows’ down to the Gold Coast Seaway. For reasons I couldn’t pin down, as we waited I was in an uncomfortable frame of mind all morning about our plan (My Plan!). Noting that the shoals at Jacobs Well are but 800mm at low tide, we needed at least a 1m of tide to even hope to make it across, let alone do it with any degree of comfort. What we also needed was to make it through the shallows and on to the Gold Coast before dark as the navigation here is just too intricate for non-locals at night.(Note the labyrith in the Google image left)

The prediction I had, had a High of just under 1.3 at around 18:30 but I just couldn’t achieve total confidence in the data as there were a number of conflicts. This data, you see, was critical as my plan was to cross the shoals at 16:30 to give us time to get to our anchorage and although not full, the tide should be just adequate - by my calculations!

Now, when it comes to tides, there are principal port (real data) , secondary ports (valid differentials from nearby ‘real data’) and place where one simply has to extrapolate from what ever information is available. Jacobs well, as treacherous as it is, is one of the latter and as a result, there were a number of anomalies in the data I had, across both time a magnitude. As both these were critical, I fidgeted all morning and just kept looking until eventually, with the aid of a site that Paul found and a phone call to Jacob’s Well, I finally determined the tide to be much later at nearly 19:15. With this new knowledge I amended the plan to motor to the start of the shoals, anchor for the night and cross on the morning tide which I now confidently knew to be 08:05.

With morning (20th), we found a grey, wet and windy day as we executed the plan. I am pleased to report we did this and achieved exactly the results I was seeking. This was made a little tough by low visibility in the rain but all in all it went off well. The remainder of the trip down the channel was mostly straight forward but for some more heavy rain and a few winds gusts up to 27 kts or so.

Anchoring in what known among cruisers as ”Bum’s Bay” just off Sea World, we are drying out and enjoying some hot drinks as we settle in for the day.

Balance of Trade made Manifest.

18th Oct 2010


Yesterday might have worked but today was better so up we were up at 04:45 and off the berth by 05:15. Setting course across Morton Bay, our destination was to be a quite spot in the northern end of the Broadwater shallows some 63 nm away. Once underway, the day was good with smooth water and very light albeit adverse, winds for all but a few hours when the morning land breeze gave us a push along.

Perhaps unexpectedly, crossing Morton Bay is actually something of a challenge as large areas of it are too shallow for all but runabouts. This meant that I needed a couple of hours over the plotter and some new charts before settling on a route that, out of necessity, zigged and zagged considerably. Now, almost by default, this also meant that we would use or approximate the channel route used by heavy shipping into and out of Brisbane. This is not a problem on a clear day as there is plenty of room to move out of the way but it was one that provided quite a spectacle when Pilgrim intersected in time and space with two ‘heavies’ overtaking as the picture shows and this leads me to the Balance of Trade.

Shortly after the event pictured, we had opposite direction traffic in the form of yet another large container ship outbound. The fact that all three of these monsters met at a relatively tight corner of the channel was interesting to watch but as Paul pointed out, what we had before us was a statement on the Australian economy. With the dollar so high, two ships in and one out meant that Australia is spending up big, a negative Balance of payments. This, as every schoolboy economist knows, does not auger well for our debt reduction program. Anyway, back to boats!

In the Southern end of the bay we encountered many small craft as the day was idyllic and even saw a misguided whale. Misguided as the whales are south bound and Morton bay doesn’t provide a route South. Maybe just resting?

Arriving at our destination I was surprise by the beauty of the place and the resultant population density. As all these places are islands, so this also meant an extremely high density of ferries and vehicle carriers moving at high speed from dawn to dusk. Still this didn’t disturb our night one bit as we slept well in the tranquil waters. We are also here tomorrow morning as we can’t leave until after lunch. This is because the track south to the Gold Coast includes some very shallow water. (there is a spot with only 1.3 of water and as Pilgrim draws 1.7) so we simply must wait for the tide which is due late this afternoon. No problem as we only have about a 4 hour run.

Wind, Wet and Waiting.

11th Oct 2010

Arriving back today, I was greeted upon touch down in Mooloolaba, with howling winds and pouring rain. It seems this has been the story for some days and having now looked at the forecast, it will likely be the case for some days yet. This of course means being hunkered down in the marina for a while and after a long absence from sailing, this is not good! But -  such is life (on a boat)!

Whales and Work Mates

27th Sep 2010

After a great nights sleep I woke just before the 05:00 alarm and the anchor was up by 05:20. The trip out of Wide Bay was slow as it was against the incoming tide but we were soon underway south with a light SW and good speed in calm blue water. The trip was almost of the ilk I choose to call “coffee sailing” but for the too light winds but it was still an easy and pleasant way to spend the day.

The highlights of the trip were again sealife sightings which included; an ‘old man’ dolphin with numerous battle scares including a large bite out of his dorsal fin, a huge and similarly old and barnacle encrusted sea turtle and finally two very good whale sightings. The first of these was a big fella just lazing in the water very near the boat as the photo left shows. The second, although more distant, had a number of whales happily engaged in fin slapping that seemed to be all about fun from where we were watching.

To finish the day off, as we were manoeuvring to the assigned berth in Mooloolaba, I spoke to a passing kayaker with whom we may have conflicted as we turned. The exchange was friendly and effective but was immediately followed by Paul identifying this chap as a work mate from the area - small world indeed! A serendipitous occurrence to be sure but in the immediate; this meant that quite apart from the always tricky job of getting the boat neatly in the pen, I had the additional task of keeping Paul from starting up one of his many and almost always protracted conversation until after we had the mooring lines on. I happy to say I achieved this with only the slightest hint of Captain Bligh so the day ended as favourably as it had begun.

PS: As Pilgrim will be alongside for almost the next 2 weeks, there will likley be a 'blog hiatus' for a time

Catch the tide and meet the Boeing

25th Sep 2010

We left Urangan at 05:45 so as to catch the tide down the great Sandy Straight. You may recall from the trip up, that the tides can run at 2.5 kts in the straight and as such, can have a huge impact on passage times. As it turned out, we picked it perfectly. In fact, it was one of the reasons we had sat in Urangan for 4 days and in this case, our good timing meant getting a 2 kt ride down on the incoming tide to Broonlye Pt and then continued our ride on the outgoing tide from that point south. You see Broonlye is the centre of the tide flow with the water coming into this point from both side on the flood and out of this point on both sides on the ebb. We must have hit he mid point right on tide change!

For the trip; the weather was overcast and drizzly and but for a few turtles and more impotantly, an attempted rendezvous with a south bound ‘red tailed’ 737 crewed by a mate, the trip was without much to report. (The rendezvous by the way, didn’t come off because of cloud and I suspect somewhere between 25 and 35 thousand feet, but it was fun trying)

Here Wide bay, just inside the bar we will sit tomorrow and wait for some NE winds for the trip to Moolooaba.

Small winds and Big Bubbles

21st Sep 2010


We left Bunndy at 07:45 and once off the channel markers, we picked up a nice SW wind. Knowing it would not last long we soon found ourselves in a very light southerly. With this and the calm waters of Harvey Bay we should have made a good pace but this were stolen by a tidal flow of over 1 kt flowing out of the Bay which hung on until the tide change at 13:30. In any event, this all made for an easy trip with reading dominating the day but for a turtle sighting and a number of interesting whale encounters.

With the camera ready, we did expect to see whales but surprisingly they were few and far between. The first was on the surface not far from a nearby power cat that had stopped to observe. The whale seemed perfectly content to be the show and gently slid below the surface after quite enough time for photos.

The next was in the form of a massive bubble trail right beside the boat. We didn’t see the critter that was making these bubbles of about a metre or so across at the surface, but the guess was it had to be a whale immediately below the boat. The final sighting was from Paul who with a yelp, pulled the throttle back to idle. Looking forward I saw only where the whale had been – just 5 metres ahead of us on the surface. Pual reported it as being a 'mid sized'  and following on from the story of the whale strike last blog, this was a close call (for the whale at least).

Now in Urgangan, we will sit for a couple of days while a 30 kts change passes by and then move down the Great Sandy Straight, wait for some Northerlies and then on to Mooloolaba

Forecast, Optimist and Big Bangs.

18th Sep 2010


After a very close look at all available weather information and long think, I hesitantly decided to go! In a nutshell the facts appeared to be that we might have it a little tough with a light (10kts) headwind right on track for the bulk of the daylight but by mid afternoon things should improve with a swing to the NE. Alas – such was not the outcome but merely the interpretation of a meteorological optimist.

Early enroute we were pushing about 12 kts true wind (right on track naturally) and just barely making about 5 kts with a resultant apparent wind of around 17 kts across the deck. This of course meant motor sailing (again) and while the seas were not large, we did get stopped by about one in every dozen waves – the bigger cousins of the group. All of this found us working hard for every mile and at times, needing to brace against the motion of the boat. Not so bad really but as implied in the opening paragraph, this didn’t let up but went on all night and all morning without relent almost until we were in the river entrance at Bunndy.

Now don’t get me wrong, all in all the trip wasn’t bad, but having had some good ones to compare against, its true that this trip simply was not to be on that list! In fact, the trip was almost entirely without note but for a fabulous whale sighting just after sunrise, with spectacular leaps and bounds some 150 m off our port beam and this leads me to another story:

Given the number of sighting we have had, I have said several times of late that whales will soon become small ship navigation hazards if their numbers keep increasing. This view was upheld by a couple from Cronulla on a 38’ ‘Plastic’ when they told their story of hitting a whale just off Rosslyn Bay. Apparently, they just happened to be in the same bit of water as the inattentive whale and simply rammed it with their bow. The whale then rolled under the boat, scratched along underneath ( barnacles and all) and appeared on their port side with tail raised but then slipped away without incident. Lucky for the whale and even luckier for them as it could have done some real damage either on impact or after if it had gotten upset!

Anyway, once in Bunndy a shower and a sleep were the order of the day and the plan looks like a departure on Tuesday, whence we shall keep a good lookout for whales as harvey Bay abounds with them!

A Long Goodnight

14th Sep 2010

As planned, we left the Mackay berth at 08:00, refuelled and were underway at 08:45. The sail was good all around! Even thought we had virtually no wind for a good deal of the daylight portion of the trip, the seas were flat and we were making good time under ‘Cast Iron Main’ and tidal assist. The night saw us finding some great 10 kts Northerlies which saw us breifly touch 7.8 kts with an overall avergare of well over 6 kts.

Back to he start; as I said last blog, we were required to thread our way through the anchored vessels and while I spoke of this earlier, the photos left may give a better impression than word.

Once clear of these we had a very relaxed trip with time for, reading on the aft deck, scones (among my best to date) and photos of such sights as the magic sunset as shown.

With that said, the trip was not without its highlights with no less than 5 whale sightings, one of which was a big fella just drifting on the surface only 50 m from the boat. The others were more distant but much more active with leaps and splashes and all the spectacle that whales can provide. On the opposite end of the size spectrum, we were joined by tiny flying fish for some time. These guys would leap out of the water and ‘fly’ with just the tips of their tail in the sea and sort of ‘skip’ at tremendous speed for up to 100 m – presumably getting away from some predator. An amazing sight! Last but not least was a welcome return of the dolphins. These had been scare in the northern waters so the group of 10 or so that played on our bow this morning were yet another spectacle to be enjoyed.

Arriving in Rosslyn just before 10:00 we refuelled and tied up after a good 23 hr run with speed averages over 6 kts – a long good night.

Bring on the Northerlies

13th Sep 2010


My apologies for being ‘off the air’ for so long but we have both been away attending to matters domestic. Anyway, we are now back on the boat after our respective trips home and we are ready to go. All we need is for the southerlies to stop.

The weather today is not bad but the weather tomorrow will be better so that’s the plan is to leave Mackay and push all the way to Rosslyn bay some 167 nm away. This will be somewhere between a 24 to 36 hrs trip dependent on the speed we achieve.

The not so good news is that as things look, we may get stuck in Rosslyn Bay for a time as the next round of Southerlies play their part. Still, I do like Rosslyn Bay as a location and we may be able to park the boat behind a headland somewhere just to avoid becoming ‘marina bound’.

Now its true that the time in the marinas has is down sides such as cost and lack of excitement but the relaxed lifestyle and the opportunity for domestics and little jobs such as fitting an isolation switch to the auto sump drain pump are on the plus side.

Departure out of here tomorrow will see us threading our way through the 50 or so anchored bulks carriers off Hay Point ( the pic at left only shows a small section of the area) and also doing battle with the tidal currents of Shoalwater Bay, which can be considerable. But, such is the nature of the beast and after all, none of this is any where near as electrifying as the first time encounter North bound.

The Barometer is falling!

2nd Sep 2010

The night and the morning did not augur well for the day ahead as the wind was still blowing and the skies were grey. With a mind to better understand why I looked to the Barometer, a parting gift from colleagues at CAE, only to find it had fallen badly. In fact it had fallen so badly that the aneroid capsule had dropped to the bottom of its housing - a matter of some double sided tape letting go.

With that sorted we set off at 07:15 hoping for an improving day and while the day was not bad, it was frustratingly disappointing as we were yet again, faced with a beat directly into wind, albeit a tolerable 10-15 kts. Some 9 hrs later we arrived at Mackay and settled into to the ‘post flight’ duties and a shower.

The plan is for us to be here for a week or so as I am returning to Sydney on both domestic and ‘official’ matters and Paul is off to visit some inlaws.

Next stop Rosslyn bay!

Shaw Island

1st Sep 2010


With the wind still on the nose at 15-20 kts we again beat across to Shaw island only this time I went for engine assist as the wind against tide made for a nasty chop which slowed the boat unmercifully.

Today was therefore very similar to yesterday as we grabbed another couple of miles towards Mackay in these adverse winds and enjoyed a lazy afternoon.

The forecast for tomorrow is for the winds to drop so here’s Hoping!!

Cid harbour

31st Aug 2010

The next few days we plan to slowly move to Mackay via some of the Whitsunday spots. So today we beat across to Cid harbour in a stiff 15-20 kts headwind. It seems the wind in the Whitsundays never gives in!

Cid was protected and quiet so a after a little clean up we settled into a lazy afternoon and evening

Green water and a tough night

27/28th Aug 2010


The weather decision to go was a close call. The forecast suggested a tough start with improving conditions which would turn again shortly after our planned arrival. So waiting until the 09:15 update, I made the ‘D’ to go and we were off at about 09:30. The other aspect of the later departure was that I needed to accommodate the ETA variability between a good run of 6 kts and a bad run of 4 kts and the desire for a daylight arrival.

As expected , we set off into a 15+ kts head wind right on track. The seas had already had a couple of wind blown days so we immediately started plowing the nose and taking green water over the deck every 10 or 20 waves. These events not only put strain on the boat and crew, but tended to wash off speed to around 3 kts whereupon the sails and the engine would slowly take charge again and push us back up to 5 kts +. With the wind on track we were also forced to lay off some 30 degrees or so to get some lift in the sail and this further reduces the VMG (velocity made good on course) by around 15%, turning 5 kts into just over 4 kts. Still. the plan was for things to improve by midday so until then we just had to ‘hang in’.

At about 15:00 I was pretty convinced the improvement was not going to happen and as things worked out, but for about an hour where 15kts dropped to 12kts; we suffered this weather all night long. In fact, at sundown I knew we were in for a long tough night! Even so, working the 2 hrs watch system after dark, things were reasonable with some chance of a cat nap now and then but with crashes, bashes, water coming through the vents and hatch covers and a transitory electrical problem, I cannot say it was the best night of my life.

As said, we were taking half meter deep solid green water all over the foredeck from time to time and during these events, the Dorado (air) vents and the double combing hatches could not possibly hope to keep out the water that was hitting them with considerable pressure and volume. This meant wet bedding in the forward cabin and drips in the front area of the main cabin. Now none of this was in any way threatening of course but it certainly does adds to the discomfort. Such are the joys of sailing!

When finally the sun rose to a grey day and after a further 4 hours of pushing weather, we at long last hove into sight of Airlie and started feelingjust a little pleased with our effort. On arrival we anchored just outside the marina for a while ( can’t get there early or they charge another day), had a snack and started the cleanup and dry out tasks. When we did move to the marina berth, just on arrival we suffered a tacho failure which was of little concern but somehow seemed to cap off the night nicely.

We plan to stay here a day or so and let some real winds pass and of course – I’ll sort out the electrics and the tacho. Who wouldn’t own a boat!

ps: the photo is a file shot  as I was a little busy for photogaphy on the night

Full moon and smooth seas

24th Aug 2010


After waiting for a good weather window for the last few days, we left Cairns pre dawn and were in the leads outbound by 06:00. The expectation was for some headwind initially with a reduction as the day went on and this is pretty much how it turned out so we had a really good day, albeit under motor, in reducing winds and calming seas.

With the Raymarine auto helm and the Yanmar working well all day (note Paul's hard working posture left) we made surprisingly good progress to Maroulyan so it was at this point that I enacted my previously but confidential determined plan to push on to Magnetic some 90 kn away. This meant an all night sail but given the great conditions and a full moon this did not seem too much of a challenge. After dark I set up a two hour watch system which worked well and all in all the night passed quickly but for the occasional traffic issues.

On two occasions we had conflicting ‘heavy; traffic as we were in the shipping route but in both instances, the ‘heavies’ altered course to give us room so that was nice and , I suspect, was something to do with the fancy AIS kit Pilgrim has – money well spent maybe.

Originally we had an arrival time at Magnetic of around midday but as things worked out we soon brought this back to just after dawn. With the sun rising to a beautiful day and the anchorage in sight, the effort of the last night soon drifted away. Once at anchor I did some clean up and ‘post flight’ stuff and the after a deck shower – hit the sack for a beaut sleep to about 11:00.

We had escape the far north trades!

“Pilgrim, this is Warship Melville, do you read?”

20th Aug 2010

Up at 05:00 and underway by 06:00 we motored out of Low Isle in calm conditions and waited for the sun to rise. The trip was largely uneventful as conditions were ideal for driving south but on arrival we were faced with a low tide at Cairns and, as it turned out, traffic in the form of the Navy Vessel HMAS Melville, a 2550 tonnes hydrographical ship.

We saw it coming up the channel behind us so it was little surprise when I heard the call on VHF “ Sailing Vessel Pilgrim, this is Warship Melville, may we pass you on your starboard side?”. You see we had right of way being the overtaken vessel but what was I to say?

We will sit here and wait for the next weather window before heading off back to magnetic Island but in any case I have a number of jobs including a periodic service on the engine, a task that will be simple second time around but tough this first time as I will be doing it myself. At this stage, I expect to replenish fod, fuel, water gas etc and will probably hit the road Monday.

A hard slog

19th Aug 2010


After watching the weather every couple of hours for the last few days, it has becoming clear that if we head to Lizard, we risk the potential of being stuck there for a week to 10 days. This of course would be less than fun as the anchorage is subject to significant bullets (intense wind gusts) and is without any supplies or services as the resort is completely off limits for grotty Yachties . This has led me to the ‘D’ to wait the opportunity and head south and that opportunity looks like today.

Heading off at dawn, we pushed out into 15-20 knot headwinds right in the nose. This had us motoring with about a 30o track offset to keep the main sail loaded and making only 3.5 knots. With 63 Nm to go this would result in 18 hrs of driving into wind and swell but the good news was that the forecast was for the wind to drop off as the day progressed and we travelled south and this is how things worked out. By about 13:00, the seas had settled quite a bit and the Yanmar was humming beautifully giving us around 5 kts and an ETA of sometime around 20:30 at low Isles.

Now going anywhere at 3.5 kts is a slow and arduous affair but becomes even more painful when a large ship ( or several in our case) travels past at some 14 kts with thousands of HP pushing it through all in its way. Even the flotsam that predominates this area, appears to be travelling faster than us!

Anyway, it all worked out probably better that I expected so all that was left was a night arrival in the crowded anchorage. This was tight, as anticipated and therefore didn’t really work out perfectly but I was too tired to move and thought I would worry about things later when the tide changed. This meant setting a 12:30 alarm and spending an hour or so on deck watching the swing on tide changes but all was well so I went back to the cabin, resigned to what we had.

Another day in Cooktown

15th Aug 2010

With light winds forecast I elected to stay in Cooktown for today rather than burn fuel getting to Lizard. The winds tomorrow will be much more favourable - for going North.

Now here is the issue – going South is very wind dependent as unlike north bound tracks which are well suited to the Trade winds, heading home is a constant battle against the very thing that has gotten us here. These trades are meant to ease sometime soon but the more North one is the later this happens so there lies the conundrum. The way the weather looks now, we will likely be stuck at Lizard for a couple of days then we will go for a run back here. If we were to go further North ( and I really did want to get to the Tip of Cape York) the deeper this conundrum becomes. All a bit disappointing (as retreat is not one of my strong points) but at the same time, I believe a prudent call as things stand. Now, I did say I’d offer some explanation on this turn around decision so here it is:

The original plan was a very grand one with an Australian circumnavigation in mind. To be honest, soon after starting this trip it became clear that a bigger boat was needed for a trip of this magnitude as the extra size adds a few precious knots to cruise speed, increased tolerance to sea and swell and a considerable increase in carrying capacity, allowing for more stores and hence longer duration of autonomy. The other thing I would need, is at least two fully competent crew, to man a 24hrs watch cycle. Other factors are ‘home front’ specific. Without detail, suffice it to say that a number of domestic dimensions are stating to bite so put all this together and you have the rationale.

Still the trip home, while likely to be a little tough, will be made that little bit easier by the experience and expertise we have gain thus far so I plan to enjoy the return as much as the outbound adventure and will keep up the blog accordingly.

Anyway, maybe I’ll get another shot at this in the future – we’ll see!

Capt Cook and Cooktown

14th Aug 2010

With a plan to make either Hope Island or get all the way to Cooktown, we left early just as the sun was rising at 06:15. The wind was lighter than yesterday so we started out motor/sailing in order to keep a speed required to give us a chance at Cooktown and as things turned out, we motored pretty much all the way. Even so, it was a good trip with an opportunity to make pancakes for morning tea and the additional plus of a couple of wildlife sightings.

Enroute we saw a whale and calf playing in the ‘near shore’ areas around Cape Tribulation and shortly after we noted a basking shark drift by on the surface. So a ‘critter’ rich trip but the other thing of interest here is the proximity of the main shipping channel to the shore as shown in the photo right. It does look odd to see a big ship well inshore of us and extremely close to the beach but that’s the nature of this part of the reef, as is the predominance of Capt Cook features.

For example, Cape Tribulation, Cook named because, as he said in his journal, “It was north of this point that our troubles began”. He was right of course as just north is Endeavour Reef, the one he hit in 1770 and almost lost the ship. Recall we had Hope Island as a potential destination – well these are just little further north of Endeavour reef and it was here that Cook decided that as the pumps were finally keeping up to the leaks then that had cause for Hope. And so it goes on with Cooktown, on the Endeavour River; being the location of Capt Cook’s 48 days of repairs to Endeavour.

Entering Cooktown, I was surprised at how tight things were. This is after all just a small river with not too much water of places to anchor. Our first attempt found us in about 30 mm of water so we moved to a deeper spot in a neat line with four other boats. Once settled we had a walk through town (the photo is not mine) and back to the boat for dinner.

An unexpected paradise

13th Aug 2010
Leaving harbour at 07:30 we motored some 3 miles along the leads to find deep water then turned north. The trip was uneventful with good wind and good conditions but for annoying quartering seas that, for Pilgrim, tends to result in an occasional undamped rolling motion. Even so, the good sailing condition gave us a sound 5 kts + average all day.

While Low Isles was the planned destination, I really hadn’t developed any expectation as to just what this place was like. On arrival then, we were more than surprised to find a beautiful little Paradise as good as any we had experienced to date. Made up of a low coral caye and a couple of pimples of land, this place has a light house, a couple of ‘Parks and Wildlife buildings, and absolutely great sand and coral. It is also a sanctuary so this fish life was abundant. The anchorage, behind the cay is snug and as such already had a number of cruising boats and a fleet of fishing boats although these were later to disappear sometime during the night.

As we dropped anchor and got the dingy in the water, we were met by a turtle and a very large fish (wrasse I think). Later, while snorkelling off the beach and admiring the fish life, a sizable shark drifted casually past me, a completely non threatening but none the less noteworthy event to be sure. Once back on the boat we had a completely pleasant night which include good phone contact – always a plus in this environment.

Further North maybe South

12th Aug 2010


After a long stop over at Cairns we will be setting off tomorrow for places further North. The reason for the stop included repairs that needed parts (we had to wait for these of course) and poor timing on the weather as the last few days have been somewhat ‘sub-optimal’. None the less, the rest was good but as ever, we a chaffing at the bit.

Up North is Cooktown, Lizard island and then the Cape; a stretch that promises to be “without much for the cruising sailor” to quote our cruising guide. The other issue with this part of the leg is that this stretch is well know for its persistent Trades Winds so for South bound sailors this is a real drag. South bound you say?? Yep, sad to say but there are things brewing and things that already are, that will likely se us turn around before too much longer – I’ll let you know.

Cairns

06th Aug 2010

A simple trip around Cape Grafton and though the entrance channel to Cairns soon had us snug in the Marina just after midday. Apart from the very shallow water all around here (only about 1m mostly) Cairns appeared pretty much as expected in that it is a shinny tourist spot full of places to spend money and equally full of international tourist.

The plan here is to vote, do some repairs, plan ahead and generally rest up so there will be little to report for a few days.

Wack!

05th Aug 2010

Wack! That was the sound of something very big hitting the lures so hard that it pulled the trace out of its crimp. This happen about 3 hours after leaving Mourilyan Harbour enroute for Mission Bay. We lost the fish of course but the good news is, we did land a good one after a little while longer but more on that in a moment.

After a great nights sleep, helped along by afternoon drinks in the cockpit with Greg and Alan, our colleagues from BANJERIN, we weighed anchor at 07:00 and soon found the same westerly as yesterday. Sailing at 6 kts with the grey skies clearing, Banjerin, who had left just ahead of us, called VHF and asked if we were trolling as they had already landed two good Mackerels. Of course the line was out in a flash but little happened for some time, we had obviously missed the school as all was quite. Quite until the big hand reel with wire trace and 100lb line, leaped in the air. On catching the airborne item the line went taut and – wack, gone! On retrieval we found the remnants of the rig and it was clear that a lot of force was required to strip the crimp. What ever it was, it was big! The next strike was smaller but failed to hook up. However, about 30 mins later, we knew we had something but judging from the fight it wasn’t big. Wrong again! As the 70cm mackerel hit the surface, all hell broke loose as it struggled to get free. Flinging it into the cockpit, the frenzy continued until Paul got the knife to its head but by this we had quite a mess on the boat. Still, a small price though for at least 4 good meals.

Just prior to arriving at Fitzroy Island, we had a momentary diversion as the alternator went into ‘overvolt’ but it settles after a non specific look the wiring. I can only hope it was an aberration but I’ll check more thoroughly at Cairns.

As for the Island, a nice enough place though small, as is THE near new (unlicensed?) resort located here. After a brief look around we returned to the boat for some reading. It was during this time, while in the cockpit, that I was disturbed by a very large splash about 50m from the boat. Not a fish, more dolphin sized but not a dolphin. The water left by the splash was a swirl of wash about 2 to 3 m in diameter. Shortly after, while still looking at the swirl settle, I saw what looked like a croc’s back. I can’t be sure but thats the facts! I think tonight will include a little listening for things that go ‘bump in the night’.

Can’t do Kent!

04th Aug 2010

As explained, we needed to leave Hinchinbrook before 06:00 in order to have enough depth to get out of the marina. As it was we saw '0' on the sounder a couple of times but did not touch bottom. Once clear we were surprised by a fresh and cold ‘land breeze’ that pushed us along under full sail at over 6 kts. This was a completely local effect as the forecast was still with S/SE so as expected, it died off after about 2 hours. Still, a good start to the day and one that gave us perhaps the most spectacular sunrise to date.

With the motor running again to assist the sails we drifted past Dunk Island and Mission Beach. Both these, in fact the entire area, seemed really appealing so I made a point to return one day and have a look around.

Now our target for the day was a little island called Kent. We had read about this in another cruising book we have on board and while ‘Lucas’ listed it as a good weather only anchorage, we expected just that! On arrival what we found was indeed and idyllic little island much like the type you might see in a cartoon. Perfect vegetation, golden sand and complete isolation. Unfortunately it was simply too small to offer any protection at all from either wind or swell so reluctantly we pushed north to Mourilyan Harbour.

As you can see from the photo, the entrance is very tight thus affording this place an “all weather’ status A small commercial port dedicated to sugar, here will be our snug little hide away for the night..

Architects and crocodiles

03rd Aug 2010


After a good day we are now in a marina at Port Hinchinbrook not far from Cardwell. As ‘flash’ as things are, this is a place that has obviously been conceived in the mind of an architect and sadly, it doesn’t work! The marina is half empty, it is ridiculously shallow (we had 400 mm at high tide) and most of the ‘condos like’ houses are up for sale. But there is more!!

Needing some groceries, I was advised to walk to Cardwell via the coast walk, also designed by an architect. This is a narrow, low walkway that treks right through the mangroves, between the marshes and the shore. Obviously crocodile territory to anyone but the architect that designed it!. I don’t know if they have lost any tourist but I was most certainly on high alert as the sun was low and ( I felt) the threat level was approaching extreme. Don’t you love the idealist arty type who haven’t got a clue? But lets go back to the start if the day.

After a calm and still evening as discussed in the last blog, I woke around 03:00 with the wind building rapidly. This was in the forecast but I did not expect either the time or the rapidity of the onset. The outcome of this change found us tugging at the anchor with what sounded like ‘dragging anchor chain’ running across and over coral mounds. The ride in Pilgrim was very turbulent with sever rolling when we were driven across the swell and noisy pitching when facing into the blow. Now none of this was in any way dangerous or threatening, just bloody uncomfortable. But, with that said, while forward checking the anchor security, I all but fell over board on a particularly bad roll. Image that; falling into the dark mid night water in 25 kts of wind in my PJ shorts.

Because of tides we delayed our departure to 10:00 as we needed depth into Hinchinbrook entrance and the speed advantage of a flood tide was worth waiting for. On arrival the first thing of note was the ‘Sugar Wharf’ at Lucinda. This is an amazing sight at 5 km in length. In fact this thing is so big ,one struggles to get the perspective right. (see left)

On entering the Hinchinbrook Passage, both Paul and I were amazed by the spectacle. This is a unique place where a person can sail in amongst the great dividing range. Hills to almost 1000m and channels as wide as Sydney Harbour give you an idea of the scale of this place. The passage up the channel was really special with views that just wouldn’t quite.

Another plus is that the passage is well marked  as shown at left.  Even so, we did think the port marker in amongst the trees was just a tad redundant given that to go the wrong side of it would probably require a land drover. And that brings me back to the crocodiles!ack to the crocodiles!

Tomorrow is and early departure as we simply will not get out on much less than a high tide – This, I am told , is not the architects fault but is a result of some Government Environmental git exerting their authority. Save me!

Orpheus Island

02nd Aug 2010

We woke to a cloudy by generally fine day with little wind. Leaving Magnetic about 07:45 we motored and then motor/sailed uneventfully, all the way to Orpheus island, north of the Palm Group. The main island of this group is of course Palm Island, a big place’ dedicated to the Aboriginal community on its west side. While it has a number of good anchorages, landing on Palm is not permitted so the recommendation we were following was to go to Orpheus which is all national park and boast a marine research station belonging to James Cook University.

On arrival we dropped in quite deep water (11m) to avoid the coral reefs along the shore and though this meant putting out every bit of anchor cable on the boat, I was confident that we were secure. The only problem here is the possibility of damaging the coral with so much chain but there seems little option.

Although there were some boats slightly north of us, we had this spot to ourselves so it was all ours to enjoy the crystal clear water and a general vista was top class. The sea was glassy and the afternoon was near perfect so this was already on the records as another great spot!

Shortly after settling in, a small runabout from the research station came over for a G’Aye. After a time, it came up that my sweet daughter Brianna (PhD) was into marine research and it turned out that one of the folks knew of her through a mutual colleague – small world. With that we were invited to come over and have a tour of the place at our pleasure. This we did, as the photo show and then proceeded back to Pilgrim for a spot of fishing before dinner (I don’t think this is a sanctuary??). This, in fact, turned out to be successful endeavour with me quickly landing a very good sized Mangrove Jack which was soon cleaned and in the fridge as I Paul had already prepared dinner.

Tomorrow will be a late, so easy, start as I need to get the tides right for both the entry and course through the Hinchinbrook passage. Once there we have a bout a 20 nm trip inside what Lucas describes as one of the best inland routes in Australia. This will take us up near Cardwell for the night and then its onto Kent Island the next day.

Magnetic Island

01st  Aug 2010

Today has reaffirmed my view on this magnificent place; yes, we decided to stay!

After a relaxed breakfast we headed for the beach where I left Paul while I set off to explore the island. Walking in relatively warm and humid conditions for a guy from Sydney, I spent around 4 hours investigating the bays on the NE of the Island and some of the WWII sites.

Starting at Horseshoe Bay I walked to both Florence and Arthur Bays. Both, beautiful little hidden away paradises with a handful of swimmers enjoying the pristine water. The shot above left is looking over Arthur bay towards to North but fails to really capture the magnificence of the day. Perhaps a better view was the next, taken from one of the forts higher up the island. These were WWII emplacements associated with guns , Radar and searchlights and a body of some 120 troops – great posting!

Walking on further I came to a lookout that provided a view back Townsville across Cleveland Bay which shows the snug maritime geography of both Townsville and Magnetic. Being Sunday and a near perfect one at that, the heavy boat traffic between the mainland and Maggie was not surprising.

In fact, the sea all around the isalnd was near perfect with a deep blue colour, calm and glimmering conditions and a general appearance that might lead one to forget just how horrid the sea can become on a BAD DAY,

Apart from views and forts, this treasure of a place has wild life in abundance. In fact, Koalas can be found in vast number ( see shot at right) as can Dugongs but these are much harder to see. (remember to double click the photos for larger images)

On return to Horseshoe, hot tired but thoroughly fulfilled I had a swim, spent time in my latest book (over a white wine) and finally returned to the boat to a sunset that was in keeping with the rest of the day.

While we could easily stay here a while, we must move on so tomorrow should see us up anchor around 07:00 as we head off to what ever it is that may lay ahead.

An Idyllic Afternoon

31st Jul 2010


Sitting in the shaded sun, on the soft grass verge above Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island, I am again driven to reflect on the splendour of the world in which we live and the magnificence of the opportunities this trip has availed.

After a few odd jobs, we left Townsville around 10:00 for a gentle passage across the 10 nm or so to the far side Magnetic Island and had a delightful sail. This was truly one of the 25% days of sailing or ‘Coffee Days’ as I call them. These are days when the skies are clear, the winds are right and the sea is tranquil.

Rounding the corner of Horseshow bay on the NE corner of Magnetic (the locals call it Maggie), we dodged the shark nest and found a spot among the 30 or so boats already at anchor; is was after all a Saturday. After a quick bite while we confirmed the anchor hold, we ran the dingy onto the beach for a look around, a swim and of course, the quiet time near the beach where this blog started.

Here we met up with a couple a cruising folks we had conversed with on VHF prior to Townsville: Greg and Alan were travelling on ‘Banjerin’, a 34’ Van De Stadt on a trip surprisingly similar to ourselves and this led to a long(ish) and enjoyable conversation and exchange of stories that took us through the rest of the afternoon.

Now Magnetic is a big Island so it has much in the way of amenities. Horseshow Bay, notably, is on the far side of the island so still retains that sense of isolation. As such it offers the best of both worlds with shops and a pub yet somehow still provides a feel of 'far away' and personal ‘ownership’.

The plan is to leave here in the morning and head North but as is becoming a common theme – I guess we will see. Another day here might just be the ticket!

Ergonomic divergence

30th Jul 2010


We are still in Townsville sorting out a few issues so this is one for technically minded.

In aviation, the possibility of an autopilot taking uncommanded hold of the aircraft, is a routinely address possibility even though it happens rarely. In fact, it was long ago that the ergonomics ( the human machine interface) of flight deck layout became a hot topic as pressing the wrong button or switch etc at the wrong time, could (and in the old days did) cause a major problem when airborne. Such knowledge is now an integral part of modern aviation but not, it seems, in the yachting world.

While coming into port at Townsville, as we rounding the outer breakwater, we needed to follow a dredged path to the marina entrance. This had a published depth of 1.1m. Pilgrim draws 1.7 but, the 1.1 refers to the depth at the lowest possible tide. As it was we had a tide of 0.8 so do the sums and one concludes that we should have, as a minimum, 0.2 under the keel. Not a lot but enough! None the less as we slowly motored in we watch the sounder closely as did the depth alarm. This I have set to 1.0 m under the keel and at that depth a alarm sounds on both the sounder and the plotter. The reset for the alarm is also on both but the plotter is the easier to use. With the alarm silenced by the reset, and further reduction in depth reactivates this useful but penetrating siren. The routine then is for one of us, me in this case, to sit at the plotter constantly silencing the alarm. Now what button might you imagine, is right beside the ‘silence’ button? Yep, the autohelm engage button!!!

A moment of distraction on my part, almost instantly had Paul yelling that the boat was turning by itself and (naturally) into shallower water! It took me half a heart beat to figure all this and to drop the autohelm but half a heart beat is a long time when things suddenly decide to turn pear shaped. Ergonomics indeed!

A Rapid Onset of 'Old Bloke'

29th Jul 2010

Paul has specifically asked that today I make mention of the fact that a few days ago, he turned 60. Certainly momentous but largely just a day like any other.

Now a mere 9 days  into his 61st year, Paul came back from shopping today with; a Blood Pressure monitor, a bunch of drugs to ease a sore foot and an assortment of pressure bandages, ice packs etc. It seems that the ailments of age are coming thick and fast! I had better pick up the pace!

Even so, for now we will probably stay here another day to give him a rest and finish the repairs that are not yet complete.  Next on the sched. will likely be Magnetic and Orpheus islands then on to Cairns.