Dinner with friends at Crown on Thursday night and staying in a Melbourne Hotel before catching a 7 am flight to Newcastle. With the kids in safe hands until Tuesday this was the first time that Cath had sailed alone in the ocean with me. Whilst Cath doesnt mind sailing she has never made any secret of the fact that she is happy sitting in a resort somewhere on dry land.
I knew that i had to prove to her that my new found 'cruising mode' would ensure that we didn't get caught in bad weather whilst she hangs on thinking she is going to die. Most people think that sailing is a life of huge storms and pirates. This can seem the case if you believe what you read but these are the stories that make the most readable stories. I believe you could spend your whole life sailing the usual oceans and never get caught in life threatening weather. The chances of getting caught in terrible weather are directly proportionate to the skippers sailing experience. Nature has a way of making you respect it. if you fail to have a certain amount of respect (read fear) and take all possible precautions then the ocean will sort you out. when you do get caught out in the ocean in even 40 knots you feel like you are the first person to ever experience such serious conditions. Lonely?! the middle of the night in 40+ knots as the skipper, you may as well be on the moon.
Fast forward 12 hours when you are sitting safely in a beautiful anchorage and you can barely remember what you have been through. the truth is that most people see a boats wind gauge gust momentarily to 50 knots and they talk about the 50 knot storm. this will usually only be around 30 knots with occasional gusts. there isn't many people who have seen a true 50+ knot prolonged storm in say Bass Straight as they would seriously think about giving up sailing. i have spoken to guys who deliver yachts across the Atlantic as a job and have never seen winds in excess of 30 knots. Having said all this, a well founded yacht with prepared crew and experienced skipper can get through almost anything.
When we arrived at the boat some large chunks were missing out of the transom (back of the boat). Some lines had come loose and the boat had bashed on the marina finger. Oh well, no point getting upset about it as it wont change anything. We settled into the boat with the forecast looking good for the following morning. some gourmet pizzas at the local shops and an early night.
Up at 4 am and motored out the entrance into the ocean. I spotted three other boats leaving at the same time but they turned south. As we turned north for our 60 mile run to Camden Haven out boat slowed to 4 knots with the wind against us. I needed to get to the entrance to Camden Haven in daylight and on a rising tide by 6 p.m. that night. It has a tricky bar at the entrance that is too shallow to enter on any tide. At this speed we wouldn't get there until later that night and it would be very uncomfortable. After thinking for a while the thought of going back to bed was too tempting so we returned to the Nelson Bay marina by 6.30 and slept through until 10.00 am. Just as well as all day the wind increased from the North. We would have had a miserable time.
for the last couple of days we have sat around and done nothing apart from read and purely relax. Its so good just sitting around with no plans and going for walks when we feel like it. Nelson Bay is a beautiful little spot. All the things you need such as supermarket, cinema and news agent. The locals tell me that in summer you cant move for tourists which is great for the local economy. Regular weather checks are saying that we will have 50 - 20 knots from the south for the next two days. As we are starting to run out of time we are going to leave early tomorrow and sail straight for Coffs Harbour. If we get away around 4 am we should get to Coffs around midnight. I have been into Coffs at nigh a couple of times before and its a great all weather entrance.
Early night tonight for a longish 150 nautical mile day tomorrow.
