The weather window to head north opened with light
northerlies forecast for 3 days ahead of gale force winds from the south. If I
were to catch the fleet and first rendezvous in Mooloolaba we had to go now. Tamara
was booked to leave on the 1st June and gave permission to me to go
straight away. Her daughter Marina would take her to the airport. I felt guilty
not doing it but Tamara insisted it was ok. With quick goodbyes we were ready
to go.
After a meal of pasta, Peter and I decided that if we had
any chance to get to Mooloolaba in one passage we had to go straight away. At 9pm
we departed Broken Bay and headed off into the night. With a light northerly blowing, we motor
sailed through the night doing approx 3 hours on watch and 3 hours off watch.
We were pushing a knot of current which slowed our distance traveled. We were
off Port Stephens at 9am and continued to motor sail with a northwest wind
which helped pick up the speed. Saw many whales playing in the distance. The
experts believe there will be as many as 15,000 whales heading north to Hervey
Bay for breeding season. 2 years ago they expect 11,000. The numbers are
growing and will present a danger to traveling boats.
Peter pointing to a wonderful sunset on our second night at sea
The afternoon forecast was not looking good for us but we
decided to push on and endure 6 hours of 20plus knot head winds. Once we were
through that the wind was predicted to ease and swing northwest. It did and the
unpleasantness retreated and we were soon enjoying a comfortable passage. By
evening we were off Port Macquarie.
The next morning we were off Coffs Harbour when I decided to
do a calculation of the fuel. The fuel gauge showed we had used more than half
a tank of fuel. Over 110 litres. We had approx 100 litres left in the tank and
40 litres in emergency containers. The conditions were light so we put the 40
litres into the tank and I was confident we had enough to get to Southport if
we continued to motor all the way. The weather forecast said we were going to
have to motor all the way. We pushed on through the day averaging a good speed
and the wind coming onto the beam which helped a lot.
The next day was light and variable winds but always on the
nose and we were always pushing current. We tacked into the coast and sailed
very close to avoid the current. At Ballina we were just 100 meters from the
shore to get around Cape Byron which is where the current is strongest. We
rounded Cape Byron at 3am and headed inshore to escape the current. At dawn we
saw whales jumping and splashing everywhere.
The wind became stronger and shifted northwest, exactly
where we wanted to go. By this time we were worrying a little more about the
fuel situation but I had to trust my calculations that we had enough to get to
Southport. With the onset of a gale warning Mooloolaba was out of the question.
We arrived at Southport at 12 noon exhausted but with 15
litres left in the tank. A good shower and lunch and we were both feeling like
zombies but relaxed.
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