Position Report and other info (UTC -11 Hrs Sydney time)
Cut and paste the GPS location below into Google earth, you can place mark
This position and follow our Progress. Should this page not be updating
then updates may be occurring via Satellite phone on a text file
Wednesday December 14th, 0200 Hrs
Arrived Sydney, Thank you very much to Hamish and Darcy. Great job guys putting up with a grumpy old bugger for 25 Days and 3340 Nm. Duane once again thanks for your input on the weather throughout the trip will catch up soon. Final thanks to Dinah for keeping everyone informed whilst we were unable to update offshore, very much appreciated.
Tuesday Dec 13th, 0930 Hrs
33 27 S, 153 12 E, Winds NW at 27 Kts. Only 100 Nm to go to Sydney heads however it will be a long few hours. The 3rd gas bottle which we were under the impression was half full turned out to be empty so last night’s meal was tepid at best. Very little in the way of ready to eat snacks or meals so will be a very hungry crew when we finally land ashore. Arrival looks like very early Wednesday morning and hopefully customs will clear us as early as possible. Could use a coffee!
Monday Dec 12th, 0930 Hrs
32 16 S 156 00 E, Winds Variable. Still waiting on forecast Northerly winds, we had a few hours sailing yesterday afternoon however have been motoring since the SW-S winds dropped off.
Sunday Dec 11th, 0930 Hrs
31 42 S, 158 15 E, Variable winds, By again around 1600 Hrs the SW had changed more Southerly and dropping off fast. The seas were very confused so difficult to get on course until they had dropped down considerably overnight.
Lord Howe and Balls Pyramid at Sunrise
Saturday Dec 10, 0930 Hr
31 35 S, 160 26 E, Winds WSW 22 Kts. The Barometer fell fast through yesterday and by 1600 Hrs the SW had established itself at around 28 Kts stopping forward progress from here the course was as much West of North as possible.
Lord Howe at “Happy Hour
Friday December 9th, 0930 Hrs
32 06 S, 162 15 E Wind NNE 20 Kts
Thursday December 8, 0930 Hrs
31 50 S, 164 40 E Back under sail after again motoring the second part of the night. We’re going great until the early hour wind shift to the South. Managed 170 Nm in 24 hrs despite averaging over 8 kts till the change. First night of tinned emergency meals tonight so have done pretty well provisioning as Quarantine will only have our garbage to take away on arrival.
Wed Dec 7th, 0930 Hrs
30 50 S, 167 22 E, Wind NNE 13 Kts, changed to the north at around 2230 Hrs last night and has built to 13 kts at the moment. Finally a wind strength and direction to give us a good fast course. Hopefully this will hold until the SW winds up to 35 Kts arrive which is forecast for Friday morning. Now 820 Nm to go and with luck a lot faster than the previous 10 or so days.
Tuesday Dec 6th, 0930 Hrs
30 22 S, 169 35 E, Wind back again this morning to ESE 6-9 Kts after again motoring overnight. Sailing the only angle possible for most of this trip. At least there has been some weather forecast for the coming weekend so it will be a change from what we have had for the majority of this trip at least.
Monday Dec 5th, 0930 Hrs
29 44 S, 171 35 E, Ground Hog Day, wind again died overnight and was back again light in the morning. The wind direction has moved slightly more South and currently back up to around 10 -12 Kts. The rising barometer tells us we are getting closer to the next big high which will likely leave us motoring for a couple of days, hopefully a good sailing angle after that to point us towards home. Have just past the 2/3 thirds mark to Sydney. Still another 8 days of main meals (breakfast lunch and Dinner) however the range of between meal snacks is starting to concern the sweet toothed crew members.
Sunday Dec 4th, 0930 Hrs
29 28 S, 174 03 E, Wind SE 13 Kts, After motoring a lot of the night again the wind finally came in this morning at a reasonable angle. This whole trip has predominantly been light easterlies, not so good for speed when its directly behind you so finally we have a good angle for 2 sail reaching and not just wallowing around trying to gybe north and south.
Now for my product dis endorsement section, I have already complained that windows 10 home versions sucks up any data the sat phn can send our way making updates to my website too expensive, now I find office 365 locks me out of word and excel etc. because it can’t verify my subscription after 2 weeks at sea. Microsoft, you suck! open source for me
Saturday, 3 December 2016, 0930 Hrs
28 43 S, 176 04 E, Another slow night with the wind dropping to 8 Kts from early Friday afternoon. At least it was from the SE allowing us to travel on course at the best sailing angle therefore at least sailing quicker than our fuel conserving motoring speed. Currently the wind has changed to the East and is picking up, now at 13 kts. Full sail up, sunny skies, on course and speed building. Optimistically Hoping for a continuation of these conditions for the remaining 1200 Nm
Friday, 2 December 2016, 0930 Hrs
28 14 S, 178 09 E, What a wet and windy night. Around 30 Kts SE from yesterday afternoon until early morning and it absolutely pissed down. Glad we were not further north near the low centre, in fact further south would have been preferable. Next forecast came in an hour or so ago saying there is yet another hole coming and unless we sail an extra 200 nm north (and South again) we will be motoring. Great I could use the sleep.
Thursday, 1 December 2016, 0930 Hrs
28 03 S, 179 13 W, Wind ENE 18 Kts Current course of around 240 T is too far South for the weatherman’s liking however as has been the case to date its closest to the rhumbline and faster than trying to sail off it. Finally past half way with now just over 1500 Nm to Sydney and just 50 Nm to the dateline (despite changing dates 2 days ago to avoid having Monday at sea)
Wednesday, 30 November 2016, 0930 Hrs (Time change – 1 hr = Sydney summer time)
26 51 S, 176 54 W, Wind Easterly 15 kts, finally getting some reasonable speeds again. Had the Genika up for several hours yesterday and again since around 7 am. Winds forecast to increase and go a little further North over the next day or two so hope to be able to get our average back up again. We are now approximately half way to Sydney which is a bit disappointing after 11 days at sea, hopefully the second half will see some gains on the first.
Tuesday, 29 November 2016, 1030 Hrs (time change + 22 Hrs)
26 00 S, 174 32 W, Currently 8-9 Kts Southerly, under sail approximately on course at just under 5 kts. Another slow night under engine with a daily average of just 4.75 kts.
Sunday, 27 November 2016, 1230 Hrs
25 48 S, 172 51 W, Currently we have the Genika up in 8-10 kts of breeze and 4.5- 5.5 kts boat speed. Better than overnight where we needed the engine to slowly motor at 4 kts as averaged for the last 24 hrs.
Friday, 25 November 2016, 1230 Hrs
24 10 S, 169 57 W, Lost around 20 Nm sailing a westerly course whilst trying to get information on the low set to develop off New Caledonia. Currently in a 20 Kt Easterly so the wind has not dropped out yet as originally forecast, hopefully our course will take us out of the hole predicted previously.
Thursday, 24 November 2016, 1230 Hrs
23 36 S, 167 38 W, A bit overcast unfortunately today so the solar panels which have been doing fantastic till now are struggling to keep up with usage this morning. We are just on 1000 Nm now into this passage. Weatherman had us tied to the text message editor all day with the possibility of a cyclone forming near New Caledonia.
Wednesday, 23 November 2016, 1230 Hrs
22 48 S, 165 18 W, Easterly winds have been building up to 25 Kts, Course is still on the Rhumbline however suggested by Duane to edge further North. Hard call when making some of the best miles so far on this passage. Considering options so keen to know how long the lull will last so as to know how far north is worth it.
Tuesday, 22 November 2016, 1230 Hrs
22 10 S, 162 52 W, Currently around 740 Nm behind us with approximately 2500 Nm to Sydney ahead. Weather s pleasant at 29 Degrees C and easterly wind at 15 kts. Sticking pretty much to the greater circle Rhumb line with forecasts before leaving and updates from Duane suggesting good conditions for now along this track. All is well without too many signs of cabin fever as yet.
Thursday, 17 November 2016, 1300 Hrs
Leaving Bora Bora for Australia! It probably wont be possible to update this log whilst underway on this trip due to a change of operating systems recently. Dinah will be getting an update every 3-5 days so I have forwarded relevant email addresses for updates to her. See you in a few weeks!
Wednesday, 16 November 2016, 1000Hrs
Heading ashore for what I hope is the 6th and final visit to Gendarmes for our final clearance. Will also be topping up our fresh food, fuel and a few items required that we were not able to find in Raiatea. Will all going well update on our departure.
Tuesday, 15 November 2016, 20 25 Hrs
16 30 S, 151 45.5 W, Moored off the new Mai Kai Yacht Club. Managed to get ashore quickly to have a beer and get the free WiFi password code so now we have internet on board again making things much easier. The trip up from Raiatea is best described as WET. Tropical downpour’s the whole way, The wind 25-30 Kts from the SE just as we hope it will be for much of the crossing ahead.
1200 Hrs
Update, unfortunately the Satelite phone test (below) did not work under windows 10 but will try again before departure. Leaving shortly for Bora Bora so hope to be able to clear and leave tomorrow finally. Duane I will send all the crew NOK from there as I know we will have internet at the yacht Club. Here in Raiatea we can only get access 9-5 if in a certain café hence the lack of communication. Update soon!
Sunday, 13 November 2016, 0900 Hrs
It’s now just 48 hrs since landing in Raiatea, Tahiti. On arrival we found the boat ‘Quatra’ moored at the Marina Apooiti just west of the airport. Not looking good to find the Marina is closed for bank holiday and no keys or access to the boat. Fortunately, a charter company allowed me to use their internet to send a few messages out and call a local car rental company so we would be able to go in search of the internet. None of our Australian phones have service and Monday is the first time we would be able to get a local sim card.
Finally, we found a café that gives you 30 mins of access if you buy a drink. After 24 hrs in transit and maybe 1 – 2 hrs sleep on the floor of Tahiti airport overnight our bodies had no idea what day or time it was so a beer and the check of emails had us cancelling breakfast and heading straight back to the other side of the island to meet the previous owner of ‘Quatra’ to do a hand over.
In short we have now 80% previsioned for departure scraping together essentials at 4 different supermarkets (super is probably not the right term), taken the boat to the other side of the island to get duty free fuel, and most importantly now have a kettle for a long-awaited coffee.
We have to move from the marina in a few hours and hence loose communications again but today we are hoping to get a clearance through the ‘Gendarmes’ for a departure on Monday. Having just a few hours on the internet at this stage looking at the forecast is irrelevant until we are in a state to put to sea on one of the longest legs in the world to attempt as a nonstop passage. Initially before leaving Sydney the wind did not look ideal however I’m sure Duane will give me an accurate forecast and we can determine an actual departure time.
0100 Hrs, 16 43 S, 151 28 W, Marina in Raiatea, Sorry for the lack of an update but all is well. Lack of time and internet to update since departing Friday morning. Will have an hour or so of connection in the morning finally to return a few emails and update properly
Notes on Communication: – Please feel free to send SMS messages via your email
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