After fueling up and some last minute shopping we finally cleared the entrance to Noumea harbour at midday on Saturday 31 July. The weather forecast was not too good after the first 36 hours but we thought it was better to go than wait for what might be another week. The 800 miles of the Coral Sea were beckoning.
We had a strong southeasterly trade wind to help us get through the lagoon and surrounding reefs, and then blow us out into the Pacific once more. We were once again touching 8 knots regularly with 25 knots of wind abeam.
This was the start we wanted but we knew it was not going to last. The forecast had the wind swinging astern and dropping and then veering round northwards. Then there was a strong headwind coming in from the south west.
This all came true. After 18 hours of great sailing it all went pear shaped. The wind dropped and went astern which left us rolling uncomfortably in the south easterly swell. We could not even keep a sail up as they were already in a bad condition and the flapping would have destroyed them. So it was 24 hours of rolly motoring and using up precious diesel at an early stage.
The wind started to come round to the north and we had 9-10 knots which was enough for us to sail again. We had a gentle days sailing on starboard tack while we were waiting for the front to come in. I mention starboard tack because during the whole trip we have rarely been on starboard tack.
Whilst enjoying the day Deano was bouncing around all over the boat. He should have stayed up on the foredeck.
Instead he came back to the cockpit to chat to me. We were watching a beautiful sea bird playing in the slipstream of our sails when it suddenly flew over our heads towards the mast and released a large load of guana. This landed right on Dean !! What a shot. I was laughing my head off when Dean mentioned had I looked at my arm? Ooops ! we were both in the 'merde'.
We prepared the boat for the night and had the staysail up with three reefs in the main. We were expecting wind and we got it. The wind swung round onto the nose, more due west than anything else, and it came in over 30 knots with a sea that built up over the night that was really uncomfortable. We stayed on starboard tack which had one good point in that I was pressed against the hull of the boat instead of being thrown out of my bunk when I was off watch !
Mind there wasn’t much sleep to be had as we told Nicole she could stay in her bunk and Dean and I did 2 hours on and 2 off for the remainder of the night. Nights of course are about 12 hours in those latitudes at that time of year. It was a long night.
We were now sailing about 40-50 degrees off our rhumb line course so the trip was getting longer. The next day the wind was not so strong but we were forced to tack onto port tack to try to pass between two large reefs. We had put the Genoa out to get some power to sail through the waves, but the roller reefing and furler system on the genoa finally gave way.
We have been trying to nurture it to get it to Australia in one piece, but already in Tahiti we said it should have been changed, and suddenly it just came apart. The genoa luff started to climb the forestay and the sail was half out. It didn’t want to go out anymore but luckily we could turn the sail by hand around the forestay and wind it all in.
Horseshoe buoy almost washed overboard by the breaking waves during the night.
So this left us with the mainsail that was still looking sorry for itself and the staysail that was pretty shapeless and far too small to power us through these waves. We persisted for several hours as we were trying to save our fuel for later. We had to motor sail at times just to be able to keep a course and speed but we still had the wind coming from our destination so we were close hauled all day and night.
Once passed Kelso bank, one of the reefs we had been fighting to pass. The way was clear to get to the Australian coast and by Thursday evening the wind had gone round into the south south west. We were back on port tack and decided we had enough fuel in the main tank to motor sail the rest of the way if necessary. That night we motor sailed into the waves and made good progress. If we continued like this we would be in Brisbane Friday evening.
The next morning we were going along fine, the sun had come up and it was a brilliant day. Thoughts of a cold beer in Brisbane were swimming before our eyes when NO !! The engine revs dropped and fuel warning alarms came on.
Water in the fuel! We switched off the engine and continued by sail. 2 Knots instead of 6. We’d never get to Brisbane at this rate.
Dean was up on deck by now as well wanting to know why I had stopped the engine. I said we had a fuel problem and could he check the state of the filters. He came back saying they were full of gunge that came from the dirty fuel they got in the Galapagos and there was some water in the filters too. It must have been motoring through the big waves that had shaken the fuel in the tanks and brought up all the old fuel. We knew it was not lack of fuel as we had dipped the tanks regularly and we knew there was enough. On top of which we had topped them up the night before with fuel from canisters we carried on deck. That fuel came from Noumea and was crystal clear.
Dean then bravely set about changing the two filters with a boat rocking and rolling all over the place. Once changed we started the engine and He presto! It worked again, but then started slowing slowly and dropped to around 1200 revs. He looked at the filters and they were already beginning to fill up with gunge again. I stopped the engines once more.
We discussed the problem and I said that without an engine there was no way we were going to try and get through the sandbanks and up the river to Brisbane. I had already checked which places on the coast could provide shelter from a strong southerly wind in case we couldn’t make Brisbane before we left Noumea. There wasn’t much of a choice. To me it looked like a place called Mooloolaba which was about 40 mile north of Brisbane, or nothing. The name sounded good if nothing else! And there was a small headland that stuck out west that would protect us if for some reason we couldn’t get in and had to anchor off the beach. The only problem was immigration, we might not be allowed ashore it is not a port of entry and we are registered to go to Brisbane.
We had about 40 miles to go to Mooloolaba and it was 8 in the morning. The good thing was that the wind had just gone southerly and was up to 15 knots. If we could average 5 knots we could be there by 4p.m.
The day went well, we had periods where we were doing six knots with our little staysail and full main. I tried calling the coastguard at about 11 o’clock but they couldn’t hear me. I could hear a lot of conversations between the commercial shipping and Brisbane port authority but they were using a relay station somewhere.
We had all been preparing the boat for arrival in Australia. We were not allowed to import all sorts of things. They ranged from fruit and vegetables, to eggs and wooden articles, even to some types of tinned foods and pasta and many others. It was then that I remembered that we still had some Kava root in the cockpit locker left over from Fiji ! Wow, the Aussi quarantine services would love it if we arrived with that!
We had two bunches and Dean and I decided to have a Kava throwing overboard ceremony, complete with photos!
We had all been preparing the boat for arrival in Australia. We were not allowed to import all sorts of things. They ranged from fruit and vegetables, to eggs and wooden articles, even to some types of tinned foods and pasta and many others. It was then that I remembered that we still had some Kava root in the cockpit locker left over from Fiji ! Wow, the Aussi quarantine services would love it if we arrived with that!
And there they were - gone !
At around 1p.m. I tried again and managed to contact Mooloolaba coastguard station. I explained our situation. That we were destined for Rivergate Marina up the Brisbane river, that we had done all the necessary preliminary clearance duties 96 hours before entering Australian waters, but due to engine problems we are going to divert to Mooloolaba.We shall therefore not make landfall in Brisbane where we are supposed to clear quarantine, customs and immigration. Could she kindly contact the relevant authorities and ask if we can have permission to put into Mooloolaba for repairs.
The coastguard's name was Jenny and she was very efficient. She came back to us after fifteen minutes, said she had contacted the authorities and they would come down to meet us in Mooloolaba on our arrival. Wow! What service.
She also said that the coastguard craft would come out and escort us in! I explained that we were in no difficulty and could sail there under our own steam but she said that they were going out training and would escort us in when we got off the piers.
We gave her our position and ETA. The ETA was pretty approximate as our speed was varying between 3 and 6 knots with the wind going up and down, but we put it around 1700h.
We were seeing more and more commercial shipping and it was BIG. Made us look tiny! At about 1400h we got our first site of the Australian coast, that really made us feel good, almost there. The wind decided that it was not going to make it all easy and decided to head us as we approached the 10 mile zone around Mooloolaba.
No worries, we just tacked gently up towards the entrance to the river to enter the labyrynth of creeks that make up the port of Mooloolaba. The coastguard came along and showed us the way in and showed us where to moor whilst waiting for the arrival of the immigration officials.
We thanked them and got about tidying the boat and preparing for the inspection. Within an hour and a half the officials who had all come from Brisbane, just for us, had finished all the inspections and paperwork and we were free to go ashore. This was really the best thing we did coming in here, everything was simple and the officials were very easy on us, as we had things they really could have confiscated.
But now we were free to go and explore !!
The broken furler.
Mooloolaba
Mooloolaba residents
Dean recognising the truth !!
We stayed two nights in Mooloolaba and they were wonderful, it is a great place. People very sports orientated and everybody seems to go fishing. Mind the fish are so plentiful it's not surprising. The restaurants are full of delicious fish too.
We ended up fixing the engine problem enough to get us to Brisbane on the Sunday. It took us the whole day and we finally got the boat delivered to Rivergate Marina at about 11 on Sunday night the 8th of August. What an adventure!
I'd just like to thank the members of the crew who helped me get the boat from French Polynesia to Brisbane and put up with me for these several weeks. You were great !!
We gave her our position and ETA. The ETA was pretty approximate as our speed was varying between 3 and 6 knots with the wind going up and down, but we put it around 1700h.
We were seeing more and more commercial shipping and it was BIG. Made us look tiny! At about 1400h we got our first site of the Australian coast, that really made us feel good, almost there. The wind decided that it was not going to make it all easy and decided to head us as we approached the 10 mile zone around Mooloolaba.
No worries, we just tacked gently up towards the entrance to the river to enter the labyrynth of creeks that make up the port of Mooloolaba. The coastguard came along and showed us the way in and showed us where to moor whilst waiting for the arrival of the immigration officials.
We thanked them and got about tidying the boat and preparing for the inspection. Within an hour and a half the officials who had all come from Brisbane, just for us, had finished all the inspections and paperwork and we were free to go ashore. This was really the best thing we did coming in here, everything was simple and the officials were very easy on us, as we had things they really could have confiscated.
But now we were free to go and explore !!
We stayed two nights in Mooloolaba and they were wonderful, it is a great place. People very sports orientated and everybody seems to go fishing. Mind the fish are so plentiful it's not surprising. The restaurants are full of delicious fish too.
We ended up fixing the engine problem enough to get us to Brisbane on the Sunday. It took us the whole day and we finally got the boat delivered to Rivergate Marina at about 11 on Sunday night the 8th of August. What an adventure!
I'd just like to thank the members of the crew who helped me get the boat from French Polynesia to Brisbane and put up with me for these several weeks. You were great !!
For those of you who would have liked to have come with us and I can think of a few, I would just like to say I would have enjoyed your company.
Thank you all for your support and kind words and I look forward to seeing you again soon.
Best wishes and fair winds in what ever you are trying to accomplish.
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