Mark arrived late on the afternoon of the 15th June 2017. The weather report was for 20knots wind gusting to 25knots with seas of 3m+. After Mark was settled and briefed we decided to head off.
I called Marine rescue and registered the trip. They warned me of large seas and some breaking waves in the seaway entrance and to take care. We donned our life jackets and carefully approached the entrance.
There were some large waves with some breaking at the crests with foam at the entrance. We decided it was safe enough to exit. Timing our exit we were able to maintain speed and head over the waves (yes, they were big) and then headed south. I called Marine rescue to inform them we had made it safely through the seaway and settled down for the night taking watches.
We made the rest of the trip non-stop to Pittwater Sydney. It was overcast most days, the seas settled down to about 2-3 m with wind approx 20knots from the south so we motored. In many cases we were able to get the East Australian Current (EAC) and add about a knot of speed.
There were many whales we sighted every day and were able to relax. At night, we would take watches.
The only other event was off Nelson Bay about 60 NM from Pittwater Sydney (home). I was on watch and had developed a pattern where I would check heading and all the equipment, AIS and do scan of the horizon with binoculars. If all clear, I would set the alarm for 15 mins and relax in the cockpit. A fast ship can come over the horizon and hit you within 20-25min so this was a safe timeframe. My biggest risk so far on the trip was fishing nets and fishing vessels (many of which have their AIS off). We were probably about 8-10NM offshore at this stage and Nelson Bay was on the horizon.
I woke with the alarm going off, and sat up to check around. To my surprise, we didn’t appear to have moved south any further. A check of the navigation chart showed that we had steered a complete circle three times. The heading on the autopilot was locked and had not changed, however, we were heading in a circle. For some reason the auto pilot had failed. We identified months later when it was put in for repairs that the mounting bracket had broken loose in the heavy seas and was getting confused on its compass direction. From this point forward we had to hand steer. Luckly we were close to home now, about 10 hours.
We arrived in the evening of the of the 18th and in the fading light passed Barrenjoey Headland into calm waters. HOME at last. We headed down to the mooring and picked up the mooring. The following morning we headed down to the marina and reunited with Sally, Nicholas and Jasmine with many stories to share. I thanked Mark who had to fly home.
Wow, what an exciting adventure. Thanks for following along.