We left our berth at the Port Moselle marina at 0800 on Wednesday and motored towards Dumbea Pass in light winds.
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| Farewell Noumea |
Our advice from weather router MetBob was for a good passage of just over 5 days with winds not exceeding 20 knots and waves of less than 2 m. There would be some light patches but we were happy to motor if needed. He had recommended a route to Bundaberg, 805 nm away, as a trip to Brisbane would encounter strong W winds on the last day.
Seawindow left from an anchorage closer to the pass so were 10 nm ahead when we picked them up on AIS. We went through the pass at 0950 and began sailing in an easterly of 10-15 knots. We put up the spinnaker and headed west. The sun was out and it was good conditions to start the trip.
After lunch we heard a bang and discovered that on of our preventer blocks had exploded. The light winds and sloppy seas had caused the main to "slat" which means flick backwards and forwards. This creates a shock load on the fittings which we discovered were undersize.
I was pleased to see that my spectra splices had held however and were stronger than stainless steel! We repaired it with some spare stronger blocks which handled the loads.
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| New preventer |
We dropped the spinnaker at sunset abeam of
Seawindow, who were lamenting not having a spinnaker in the conditions.
We sailed all night with
Seawindow's lights in sight until 0430 when we started an engine in the light breezes and charged the batteries. Just after 0800 we raised the spinnaker again and headed SW. Our Thursday midday reading showed we had covered 156 nm in the previous 24 hours and were now 622 nm from Bundaberg.
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| Squalls at dusk |
On Thursday night we had to run the motor a couple of times in light winds before midnight until the breeze freshened and we could sail. No spinnaker until 1400 on Friday when the breeze eased to 15 knots.
We sailed until 0100 when we started a motor to keep our speed up. More sailing during the day, however we motored all Saturday night in very light breezes as we wanted to clear Breaksea Spit before the expected NW wind shift. On Sunday morning we changed to the genoa and motorsailed and motored in a light NNE wind.
By Sunday night the breeze had picked up enough to stop the motor and we enjoyed some of our best sailing of the trip. Just after 0900 we were welcomed to Hervey Bay by 2 breaching whales enjoying the shallows around Breaksea Spit. Lots more whales seen in this area including one inquisitive one who changed course to investigate us more closely. I must admit I was getting a tad concerned until he finally dived down when 20 m off our starboard beam.
We were now only 50 nm from Bundaberg, reaching at 8 knots. It was while on this final leg that we became grandparents for the first time. Charlotte Mackenzie arrived 2 weeks early and 3 hours before we finished our trip. What a wonderful welcome home present!
We entered the river at 1500, cleared customs Monday afternoon but had to wait for until Tuesday for quarantine clearance so we could hire a car and head to Cleveland to meet our granddaughter.
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| Seawindow arrived midnight Monday |
It was then back to Bundaberg to bring
Phase2 home before the next big southerly change on Sunday. On Thursday evening, we had a farewell dinner with Dave and Sherrill from
Seawindow - they would be heading north while we returned home. On Friday we sailed 90 nm from Bundaberg to Pelican Bay, arriving at 2145. Up early on Saturday, it was another 115 nm home, tying up at 0200 on Sunday morning. Needless to say we did not get our customary photo of Mum welcoming us home!
Seawindow left from an anchorage closer to the pass so were 10 nm ahead when we picked them up on AIS. We went through the pass at 0950 and began sailing in an easterly of 10-15 knots. We put up the spinnaker and headed west. The sun was out and it was good conditions to start the trip.
After lunch we heard a bang and discovered that on of our preventer blocks had exploded. The light winds and sloppy seas had caused the main to "slat" which means flick backwards and forwards. This creates a shock load on the fittings which we discovered were undersize.
I was pleased to see that my spectra splices had held however and were stronger than stainless steel! We repaired it with some spare stronger blocks which handled the loads.
We sailed all night with Seawindow's lights in sight until 0430 when we started an engine in the light breezes and charged the batteries. Just after 0800 we raised the spinnaker again and headed SW. Our Thursday midday reading showed we had covered 156 nm in the previous 24 hours and were now 622 nm from Bundaberg.
We sailed until 0100 when we started a motor to keep our speed up. More sailing during the day, however we motored all Saturday night in very light breezes as we wanted to clear Breaksea Spit before the expected NW wind shift. On Sunday morning we changed to the genoa and motorsailed and motored in a light NNE wind.
By Sunday night the breeze had picked up enough to stop the motor and we enjoyed some of our best sailing of the trip. Just after 0900 we were welcomed to Hervey Bay by 2 breaching whales enjoying the shallows around Breaksea Spit. Lots more whales seen in this area including one inquisitive one who changed course to investigate us more closely. I must admit I was getting a tad concerned until he finally dived down when 20 m off our starboard beam.
We were now only 50 nm from Bundaberg, reaching at 8 knots. It was while on this final leg that we became grandparents for the first time. Charlotte Mackenzie arrived 2 weeks early and 3 hours before we finished our trip. What a wonderful welcome home present!
We entered the river at 1500, cleared customs Monday afternoon but had to wait for until Tuesday for quarantine clearance so we could hire a car and head to Cleveland to meet our granddaughter.
