September 28, 2024
Rain! Lots of rain overnight and into the morning. And cold. It is got down to 12 degrees (well 52 Fahrenheit) overnight and this morning it was hats, jeans, and sweatshirts for everyone. Clearly we are no longer in the tropics. A relaxing morning gave me a chance to call home and just as important have a call with a…
September 27, 2024
No resting for us, with a strong southern blow coming that brought rain overnight, we wanted to leave the dock as early as possible. I had scouted a breakfast takeout place nearby and snagged a breakfast wrap and latte as soon as they opened. Back to Sky Pond it was time to go! Off the dock at 5:45am we made…
September 26, 2024
Overnight, at times it was a bit loud and the boat rolled uncomfortably, but nothing like we had seen previously, maybe a 3 out of 5. On my 3:00am watch the wind was up to 18 knots, so off went the engine. Our speed was bouncing between 5.5 and 6.0 knots, which would be fine. Continuing my podcast listening kept…
September 25, 2024
After midnight conditions improved to what I would call “moderate” (probably a 3 on John’s scale). My second break to sleep was not great but I did manage a few hours with an interruption in the middle to help Carl drop the main sail due to lack of wind. With arrival assured, I took to clearing out the freezers of…
September 24, 2024
The night continued to be a rough one, thankfully things mellowed a bit and by sunrise the violent waves banging the bridgedeck were starting to diminish. Our speed increased too and the arrival into Brisbane was looking like it was on track to beat the southerlies. On my morning inspection we were up to 6mm (0.25″) of salt caked on…
September 23, 2024
A bit after sunrise the winds started to creep up, once Carl came up we immediately raised the sails. The wind gave us a knot of extra speed over the engine bringing us to 6.5 to 6.7 knots. A much appreciated speed bump. For another hour things were pretty chill. The wind started to creep up and with it an…
September 22, 2024
Very little wind overnight and currents against us ensured the past 24 hours would NOT be a record day. Blerg. After the sun came up, I let the fishing line out and with it, hopes for tuna for dinner. After our daily coffee, weather check, and reading the news, Carl noticed a fish skimming the surface being chased by something.…
September 21, 2024
Amazing sailing conditions continued until around 4am when the wind dropped and Roxy had to start up an engine on her watch. Ugh, it was shaping up to be a motoring day (which was forecast). On the plus side it was incredibly mellow conditions. The fishing line was out early with a new lure in hopes of tuna poke bowls…
September 20, 2024
Yesterday’s rough sea conditions (after getting into the open sea) jolted us into the reality of the passage. Overnight the very bright, nearly full moon was wonderful giving us lots of light. Things improved as the night progressed, however there were still some loud, violent banging on the hulls from waves. Around 2:30am the wind had dropped to less than…
September 19, 2024
The day had arrived! The wind seemed a bit calmer overnight, which was nice since we knew the first hour would be bashing into the wind/waves. After coffee, we fired up the engine and were on our way. It took half an hour to get out of the bay. Once looping over the top it was a bit rough but…
September 18, 2024
Change of plans again, the forecast had stabilized and while we would have low winds for a good chunk of the passage to Australia it was good enough to head out. So today we would check out and provision for the passage. After a longer wait than typical, we flagged down a car. A nice couple drove us about half…
September 17, 2024
The morning forecast gave us disappointing news, there was no longer a reliable forecast that looked good for us to depart. Major bummer after all of the hard work yesterday. It was a cloudy day, so we had to be on limited power use, a great reason to spend the morning reading. After lunch everyone was ready to get some…