The Captain's Log.

After much cajoling (is that what you call it?) I have managed to convince Xavier to write about the sail up...


Captain's Log (written by Xavier)

We finally left Queenscliff at 3.30pm. We headed out through the rip to be faced with a moderate sea and a short, choppy wave as well. We buried Awaitea's nose half a dozen times and got a fair bit of water over the deck. Most of us felt well however, if not just a little queazy. One crew member however was a bit green and promptly departed the cockpit for the easier movement of his bunk. We were underway.

As evening approached, we popped up the headsail and the main, and with the engine turning over at 1400 rpm, we managed a respectable 7 knots. We sailed throughout the night and arrived 15 hours later at Wilson's Prom at dawn and were rewarded with a beautiful morning.

Our next objective was to get around Gabo Island while we had a good weather window. The wind dropped out and if there was a puff, it was right on our nose, so we stowed the sails and were content to motor. We motored at 7.5 knots, 1750 rpm through the oil rigs and across 'the paddock'. The oil rigs were lit up like Christmas trees, and with fine weather, navigation was easy, as was the company.

Meals were attended to and we kept watch on a rotating 3 hour roster. We rounded Gabo Island some 40 hours after departure without incident, and made it into Eden 5 hours later. In Eden, we took on 400 ltrs of fuel which gave us a fuel consumption of just over 8 lts an hour. We also took the opportunity to stretch our legs. The consensus was to push on though and make it to Ulladulla before we would have a well earned day in port. Again, light breezes on the nose the whole way, no sailing, just motoring, but plenty of whales and dolphins kept us company along the way.

Ulladulla was an easy, safe, snug little harbour. Even though we had 30 knot northerlies forecast, nothing eventuated, and after retiring early, I decided at 12.30am that we had a good chance to get to Sydney by the next evening. We motored again with the forecast of gale force winds from the north. As we neared Port Hacking, the skies were starting to look a bit ominous, and the decision was made to pull in to Port Hacking rather than push on to Pittwater. As we were about to tie up at the RMYC dock, we got hit with those forecast winds and it made out docking a little bit more difficult. Once Awaitea was safely tied, we all hopped off and enjoyed a well earned beer in the club, then back to the boat for a feast of freshly caught stripy tuna.

Early the next morning, it was a short 40 mile trip up to Pittwater. Initially with a choppy sea and following wind, it took a while for the boat to find some rhythm and balance on the helm. By the time we passed Sydney Heads, both the sea and the breeze were very pleasant and we had a following sea and swell all the way into Pittwater. We finally tied up, on the inside of Palm Beach, in an idyllic spot and perfect day.

A great thanks to Alan, Steve, Adam & Damian, without whom the journey would not have been possible. Xavier