We’ve had a week in Eden recuperating and giving the boat some TLC. I’ve managed to get a bit of work in, as well as 2 coaching sessions so am living up to the goal of proving I can work from the back of a boat to some degree. But we’re all ready to go now; we want to get back on the horse. We’ve picked up two more crew; a keen young Belgian backpacker and our friend Pete – great to have another capable helmsman with us. Thursday’s forecast confirms a southerly change; a good wind direction for leaving, although it meant we had a rocky, bumpy night tied up to the wharf. It felt like there was a pretty strong wind whistling through the rigging overnight and I wondered if it would be too much for us to leave in the morning. I was definitely not keen to send us out into a strong wind warning again. Many lessons learnt from the Bass Strait crossing though… and lots of advice, new information and logging on to the Marine Rescue NSW volunteer group so we’re feeling much more prepared. The forecast and real time wind readings in the morning still show we’d only be getting about 15 knots, maximum gusting to 20 knots if we hug the coast. That will also keep us out of the strongest southerly currents. We agree it’s time to go and eventually head out to glorious conditions.
Belinda’s back at the Nav station and loving the learning curve. She takes responsibility for the hourly sched calls as well as for making sure we stay on course. The Fun Generator has been repaired and Richard and Pete are relishing the time on deck. The cross swell and wind from directly behind us means we’re back on hand steering to hold as closely as possible to our course, but it’s nice to be sailing the boat in great conditions. We’re probably averaging 8-9 knots, sometimes catching the waves and surfing down the back at 12 knots. It’s so good that we talk about ditching the day trip plan and continuing on overnight, possibly all the way to Sydney without stopping. We start working shifts, alternately steering and resting, to get us set up for an overnight sail.
The volunteers at Marine Rescue Eden and Marine Rescue Bermagui track us all the way up the coast, taking our hourly sched messages and calling us in with advice and encouragement. We’ve set the YB tracker to issue updates hourly as well, so people at home can track us and not worry that we’ve sailed overland when the 12 hourly updates we had before fail to show us sailing around a point rather than over the top of it.
But by the time we’re approaching Bermagui the swell has increased to 2 metres and it’s now tough going to try and hold our course. It stops being fun, concentrating on keeping the boat stable in the swell; I’m still a nervous downwind sailor! When Richard suggests he’d rather pull in for the night and deal with the swell in the daylight, there’s no disagreement. On the approach to Point Dickinson we are treated to a whale breaching in front of the boat – a stunning sight but one I’d rather see at a slightly greater distance. A bump from those magnificent creatures will hole your boat and sink it in a matter of minutes. He circles us and passes abeam well offshore, giving another spectacular leap as we sail past. We pull into the river at Bermagui and are greeted by MRNSW volunteers on the wharf ready to grab lines as we dock up.
I can’t speak highly enough of this volunteer group – the comfort of having people on land tracking us, in constant communication; hourly scheds might be an overkill but it’s great practice for Belinda and reassuring for all of us. At the wharf we catch up with another cruising couple who also arrived from Eden. They’re headed for Jervis Bay tomorrow morning and we may well try to go in company for at least part of the day. We’ll leave the decision for morning; one of the great treats of this trip, that despite the months of forward planning decisions are now made on a daily and hourly basis. For this evening we’re enjoying wine, pasta and music on the boat. Tomorrow is another day; for the moment, we’re back on the horse 🙂
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