Wednesday, 11th August 2010
Gosh, what a night! It lashed rain all night and there were some gusts if wind which were violent in the extreme. We were glad we were not at sea. However, there was water everywhere. We left the galley window open so there were ponds of water on the countertops and in the presses. Holy Moses, what a bunch of idiots we were! The galley was like a big duck pond... Outside on the quarter deck, we had 2 buckets tied onto the rails, and both had 9" of water in them. Thats how much rain fell. The shore power had tripped off. Later we discovered that one of our trip switches was faulty and had to be replaced.
Mary and Niall took off to the supermarket to get some last minute fruit and veg, as our Phil had arrived with the Chart card for the plotter. Jack returned a few minutes later to tidy up a small leak in the watermaker.
11.00hrs Skipper returned the gate keys to the marina office and settled the accounts, and we were ready to roll. We looked over the grib file, and the weather was going to be windy for the next few days, getting more windy as we travel north, but it will be light until late tonight.
We checked all port holes were closed, heated up the engine, hatches closed, electrical cables stowed away, and eventually at 12.30 hrs, we slipped out of port and set a course north towards Cairns.
Distance...........254 n miles
Weather...........cloudy and overcast
Wind................light, 3 knots E
Sea state..........flat
We passed through the Islands on the northern side of the Whitsundays and waved at all the boats heading to Abel point for race week at Airlie Beach.
We were happy to be at sea again, and especially knowing that most things on board were working properly again. We checked the port saloon windows, and fount the mastic on the outside had just perished, we will do a job on that the next time we are anchored.
18.00hrs Skipper stuck a roast chicken into the oven for dinner, along with brussel sprouts and creamed potatoes.
20.00hrs We had the dinner on deck in the Starlight restaurant, and it was a beautiful starry night, but brrrrrr blooody cool and no wind.
Things never stay the same...
22.00hrs The wind was blowing WSW 25 knots.
23.00hrs The wind was blowing WSW 32knots.
At this stage, with the wind on our port quarter, we had 2 reefs in the mainsail and one reef in the staysail, and still
clipping along at 8.5 knots, the sea was still flat, but that wont last too long, so make the best of it...... The tide is strong along this part of the coast, running either north when ebbing or southerly when flooding at a rate of 1.5 knots.
The night watches :- 21.00hrs / 00.00hrs ................................Mary
00.00hrs / 03.00hrs.................................Niall
03.00hrs / 06.00hrs.................................Skipper
06.00hrs / 09.00hrs.................................Aileen
That's it for now,
Bloody hell, I am beginning to feel queezy, hope I don't get the gawks!
Signed :- Stephen Hyde (Skipper)