A PASSAGE TO VICTORIA
1625hrs on Monday 29 March 1999 - The forecast was for moderating
southerlies going east on Tuesday. Not a bad forecast and we
couldn't wait any longer, we had to be in Melbourne by Saturday 3
April. There was a brilliant gold and red sunset as we finally
sailed out of Sydney Harbour. It was a good send off as it would
be a long time before we are back in Sydney.
The transformation of Aurora into an ocean racing yacht was
almost complete, with a collision bulkhead, dodger over the
companionway, improved systems of stowage and a substantial
reduction in the amount of water getting below. In addition she
was now sporting some very flash sign writing - MONTANE - the
name she will take for the Melbourne to Osaka Double Handed Yacht
Race.
We did a long tack out to sea to get into the current and along
with that, found a very confused sea. I had forgotten how light
and easy Montane was to steer. We were making very good progress
up wind - all the extra weight of provisions for 42 days at sea
gave us more momentum to push through the waves. Also the current
was running south at 1 to 2 knots. By daybreak we were amazed to
be just north of Jervis Bay.
Well for me the first night at sea could only be described as a
shocker. I was so seasick. I lost dinner pretty early and then
could not keep up with food and drink intake to have something to
throw up. What a joy dry reaching is. I am always more prone to
seasickness when I am tired and the preparations prior to leaving
Sydney had left me exhausted. I made a promise to myself that I
would take it easy in Melbourne (yeah right - as I write this I
am tired and seedy from a party last night).
On Tuesday morning we went to start the engine to charge the
batteries. All we got was a lot of black smoke - it just wouldn't
fire. This is the same problem we had before and the reason for
our delayed departure from Sydney. We had just had a new injector
fitted on Monday and the engine was fine then. We decided to keep
going as we had to be in Melbourne by Saturday else we would
incur a time penalty. Fortunately we had the solar panel and it
was a sunny day so we would keep the instruments running. Still
there would be no auto pilot, radio communication, stereo,
weather fax or lights.
The wind dropped down to 2-3 knots and we spent Tuesday drifting
around in the left over swell. Oh to have the engine!! A Saturday
arrival in Melbourne was looking out of the question. By late
afternoon the northerly started to fill in and we were once again
making progress. The forecast was for northerlies until a W-SW
front going south was due later on Wednesday. Once again it was
not a bad forecast. We would make good progress with the
northerly. Ahh, it was not to be. The front arrived early on
Wednesday morning and very quickly settled in as a southerly -
right from the direction that we needed to go. Still things were
looking up - I was hungry and was actually in the galley cooking.
Well cooking is not the right word. The motion and angle of heel
made lighting the metho stove very difficult so I opted for tuna
and mayonnaise on biscuits. There is one thing about my
seasickness, I get over it quickly.
All Wednesday was spent bashing into the southerly with the hope
that when we rounded Cape Howe and entered Bass Strait we would
at least have a favoured tack. As we approached Gabo Island the
breeze started to go SW and when we entered Bass Strait the wind
was once again blowing straight from where we needed to go.
By late afternoon on Thursday the wind was still from the SW but
had moderated. We weren't heeled over so much. It was time to
look at the engine again and to our joy we were able to get it
started. Ah power what a luxury, we fired up everything - the
auto pilot, the stereo, lights, called Penta Comstat, received a
weather fax. Cooked a hot meal. Life was looking good.
On Thursday night we sailed through the oil rigs. I was sitting
on the leeward side deck (about 2 ft above the water) listening
to music and letting the autopilot do its thing. I noticed a
splash beside me - dolphins I thought but didn't look very
closely. I love having dolphins swim with the boat. I wonder if
the music had attracted them. After a while I noticed that there
was only one dolphin, (usually they swim in groups) and that this
dolphin was swimming beside me rather that playing around the
bow. Finally it was the slow and lazy way that the dolphin broke
the surface that made me really look at what was swimming beside
me. What I saw was not a dolphin but a shark!! Well there was
nothing slow or lazy about the way that I moved from the low side
of the boat to the other. I couldn't tell you the exact size of
the shark but what I do know is that it was bigger than me.
We finally made it around Wilson's Promontory late on Friday. The
long awaited SE breeze finally came through on Saturday afternoon
and we had a great sail along the coast. For once our timing was
perfect and we got spat through the heads of Port Phillip Bay on
an incoming tide running at about 4 knots. We tied up at
Sandringham Yacht Club at 8:30pm on Saturday. We had made it in
time.
Teresa Michell
Melbourne, 14 April 1999