It feels like the past 6 months have gone by in a blur of frenzied intensity with no down time between work, study and boat preparation. Staying focussed on the end goal has helped with juggling the multitude of balls, hopefully without dropping too many. And now that end goal is in sight, or at least a road test of it. Although a sea-trial would be a more accurate description…
The things that were really important:
- Experience a cruising lifestyle
- Head for warm climates
- Stay in touch with family and friends
- Stay financially secure (or at least financially sensible)
There have been a million small steps involved, but we’re now 10 days away from our departure on a 3 month cruise up the East coast of Australia and across to Noumea. The boat has been transformed from spartan racer to spartan cruiser (I won’t exaggerate – with no hot water, a two burner stove and an Engel fridge it will pretty much be like camping on water). There have been numerous steep learning curves – I’ve gone from not knowing which colour wire was positive or negative to re-wiring the boat, installing a new circuit-breaker panel and trouble shooting the installation of the tow-generator. With a little help from friends I’ve found and replaced a fuse in the HF radio to get it up and working again and wired the VHF into the chart plotter to give us DSC capability. Very handy to have a radio that can emit distress signals to all surrounding vessels indicating our position without needing someone to operate it if things go very pear-shaped. Richard has installed an anchor locker and windlass, designed and produced a boom tent, wind scoop and new pushpit, complete with transom pad and covers for the outboard and generator cable. He’s also finished all the cupboard doors, plumbed in bigger gas bottles and manufactured tie-downs for the extra jerry cans. We’ve added an extra 100L of water bladder capacity and 2 new house batteries, which now have the autopilot functioning without a constant low battery alarm. The multiplexor is finally hooked up and all the instruments on board are talking to each other. There’s even a transom ladder for when we go snorkelling in the lagoon around New Caledonia and need to climb back on board. We’ve found a place to stow wine bottles, books, a tent and flippers and snorkels – all the things a racing yacht is not designed to carry. The YB satellite tracker is merrily emitting position signals every 12 hours and emergency contacts have been programmed in to receive the updates by sms. The YB Tracker link will take you to the page where you can see where we are – for the moment you’ll see I’ve made it from North Williamstown train station to the marina at RYCV! Hopefully there’ll be a lot more progress to show soon…
My unit is rented out and Richard has people coming to look at his tomorrow. Financially it’s a big outlay for a 3-month trip, but the boat is now modified to do this sort of sailing and we could do it again much more cheaply if we’re not disillusioned with the idea by the time we get back. For me, what has really made it possible is NAB’s flexible working policies and the focus on not simply allowing, but actually encouraging people to pursue whatever work-life balance means for them. Support from my management team has been unfaltering. I can’t imagine too many other working environments approving 12 weeks’ absence over the critical delivery period of a major project. Having spent the last two weeks handing over to the seconded project manager, I can walk (or sail) away knowing that she will do a great job. If my learning curve in marine electronics has been steep, hers has been equally so with the database upgrade and she’s risen to the challenge with determination, assurance and a very healthy dose of common sense.
I couldn’t take this boat to sea and not use the opportunity to raise awareness for Children of Phoenix and its Scholarship Fund. The focus of the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse over the past few weeks has highlighted just how valuable the work of the Foundation is. The vision of Professor Caroline Taylor (AM) in creating the charity 11 years ago in Ballarat is inspirational and has never been more relevant. If you want to get behind this great cause, use the donate button on the Foundation website; whether it’s a once off contribution, a sponsorship per nautical mile we sail or an offer to provide funds for an individual scholarship, any contribution you make goes directly to help transform the lives of survivors. If you want to know more please message me here and I’ll get in touch. We held a pre-departure fundraising dinner at RYCV on 22nd June and managed to raise about $550 after expenses – thanks to all those who came along and made it a great evening. We’ll be hoping to organise something similar in Sydney – despite the obvious challenge of not knowing when we’ll be there.
I’m really looking forward to a week in Opua before we leave, both for the opportunity to spend time with Richard’s Mum again and also to unwind before we head out to sea. So Tuesday evening we’ll board a plane for Auckland, spend a week connecting with family, soaking in the hot springs in Ngawhar and trying not to think about a million and one jobs that still could have been done on the boat. There will always be more that could be done, but there comes a point when you just have to accept the preparation you’ve done and go. We fly home again the following Tuesday and on Wednesday 10th June, weather permitting, we’ll be bound for Queenscliff once again. This time, with the first good weather window, we’ll be turning to starboard as we leave the harbour, finally aiming for Port Phillip Heads and out into Bass Strait for the adventure we’ve been looking forward to and working towards for so long.