Here it
is a fortnight since we departed Hillary's Boat Harbour. The planning had been going on for some three years. Initially looking for the right boat was in itself a huge challenge. Did we go for a ferro cement, steel, wood or fibreglass? Should we select mono hull or multihull? Should it be a fast sailer or a cruiser with a long keel?
It was interesting research, looking at articles written not only by experienced owners of such craft but comments by maritime and safety authorities.
We had come from a powerboat background and many wonderfully built and safe yachts we put on our doubtful list because of our feelings of restriction and confinement when on board.
Finally we found "Finesse" a wonderful combination of safety, space and class.
Made of fibreglass with a roomy wheelhouse, a high aft deck giving good visibility (a reassurance for a powerboat person used to a fly bridge). The full length cruising keel gave some degree of added reassurance where craypot ropes would hopefully slide right under both the propeller and the rudder. Add to the good visibility, a good sized diesel engine and lots of wood trim we decided this was our vessel. Thankfully the various surveys came up positive with the words of our hull surveyor of "she is not just a boat but a little ship" gave us the reassurance we needed to go ahead and purchase Finesse.
Next came the preparations to make her ready for the trip. The service and maintenance log will attest to the wide range of modifications, additions, repairs and replacements carried out to make her user friendly, safe and ready.
I suspect that Joshua Slocum on his vessel Sea Spray would not have approved of many of the mod-cons we have grown accustomed to in our way of life, be it the microwave or the chart plotter however this was to be our home for at least the next few years , so we wanted a few creature comforts.
Our attendance at the Fremantle Technical College in Maritime Studies where we picked the eyes out of the master mariner courses was a great help. It helped us better understand so many things about which we had so little knowledge. How to read the radar, a better understanding of weather, the effects of wind on sails, the qualities of rope types, the use of blocks and tackle, practical sailing lessons, coastal navigation, wave action, tides and much more.
Meanwhile Ron was planning for full retirement from his professional life plus with tremendous help from Peta spent much time painting and quietly renovation our home in preparation for its ultimate rental to help us finance our trip.
So now a fortnight after our departure, we are still getting over the psychological build up in our minds and the sheer physical effort over the past three years. On top of all that some of the family issues within the same time frame were quite emotionally draining. Peta's son Jason suffered from a serious accident which still required some major surgery at our date of sailing. Ron's daughter Shelley is also expecting a child in September and Peta had to leave her much loved 10 month old grandson Jordon behind.
Our day of departure Saturday 4th April, 2009 saw an easy sail to Rottnest Island but a hard emotional farewell to our family and friends who collected on the service wharf at Hillarys. We still become a little chocked with emotion as we realized more and more the enormity of the "sea change" (pardon the pun) we have embarked upon.
Day 2 Sunday 5th April.
The sail from Rottnest to Mandurah was quite fast with 15 to 20 knot wind strengths pushing us along with boat speeds of 8 to 9 knots. Peta was not all that well but bravely suffered in silence and assisted Charlie and Ron when help was needed.
Charlie Strickland comes from a family with strong ties to the sea. His enthusiasm, wealth of knowledge, common sense and great sense of humour taught us a lot about ourselves and why Charlie will always be one of those extra special people in our lives.
Also whilst in Mandurah, at the Mandurah Yacht Club, Peta was delighted to re-establish contact with long time friend and work colleague Di and Terry Partridge.
Day 3 Monday 6th April.
Peta's brother Bob Riordan joined us in Mandurah and was on the helm for most of the pleasant trip to Bunbury. We averaged 5.5 knots but needed the motor running for most of the day assisting the sails due to lack of wind. We relished in Bobs beautiful operatic voice while sailing – he was our Pavarotti on the sea. He touched our hearts that night in Koombana Bay with his rendition of a beautiful Irish love song. Peta and long time friend Norma Penning both had tears in their eyes. Thanks Bob for your sincere interest and great input into our trip. Bob also has all of the operational and parts manuals relating to Finesse and her equipment and is our backup should we have trouble obtaining parts during our voyage.
Day 4 Tuesday 7th April & Day 5 Wednesday 8th April.
With Charlie still on board we left Bunbury about 8am for a 46 hour trip to Albany. The leg across Geograhphe Bay was quite sloppy as we were traveling in the same direction and speed as the wind, but the waves were side on to the direction to which we wanted to travel.
Once we were around Cape Naturaliste we picked up the benefit of the Leeuwin Current, which was amazing to see as the water colour changed from murky to clear and we picked up speed once we were in the flow of the current. It was so calm that we had a cooked breakfast on the back deck (Amazing for the Southern Ocean).
During the second night sail we managed to pick up speed and maintained 9 knots for a period of time (Charlie was delighted as he wanted to put Finesse through her paces) but this faded the closer we got to Albany.
Day 6 Thursday 9th April.
Arrived Albany at 6.30am and tied up at the town jetty. We went ashore to explore and visit Peta's old workmates at Wood and Grieve. Caught up on washing, tried to arrange fuel but unable to, due to it being the last day before Easter, with one company refusing to deliver because of their safety concerns with the Albany Town Jetty!!
We also met the brother of the man who imported " Finesse" into Australia from Finland, and invited a Maxi-Yacht "Technical Skipper" for a Russian Racing Syndicate to help us get the Raymarine Chart Plotter going again after it decided to switch itself off on arriving in Albany.
Thanks here to Ron's sister Helen who gave us our first update on mail and sent scanned bills to us for payment. Helen is clearing our mail on a regular basis from our post office box and keeping us informed.
Day 7 Friday 10th April.
We departed Albany for Bremer Bay on Good Friday and arrived in Dillon Bay (just before Bremer Bay) after a horrible sloppy sea trip with no sails due to headwinds and a cross swell. This was a long night with much bumping and rolling and flying spray. Finesse had a good deck wash, and Peta was about to jump ship!!
Day 8 Saturday 11th April.
Spent the day recuperating in Dillon Bay and caught a variety of fish for dinner that night. We dragged anchor (the CQR) and put down a second one (the Danforth) both of which held us overnight.
Day 9 Sunday 12th April.
We moved from Dillon Bay to Bremer Bay after a 2 hour sailing and then explored the township. Again we dragged anchors in the early hours of the morning. After 2.5 hours we managed to bed in again. The fine sands along the south coast makes it hard for anchors to penetrate and even though we had let out many metres of chain, the currents and winds still seem to pull the anchors out of what little grip we seem to establish when we first set them.
Day 10 Monday 13th April.
Remained at anchor enjoying the tranquility of Bremer Bay and whilst in town bought Charlie a 2 litre tub of icecream to help satisfy his cravings. We had our first swim in the Southern Ocean which some of you might recall a text message saying that Ron hit an iceberg and Charlie fought a 7.5 metre white pointer (don't believe all that you read), particularly after a BBQ on the back deck with a FEW wines.
Day 11 Tuesday 14th April.
Left Bremer Bay 6.30 am bound for Esperance. Used Jib and motor (around 1050 RPM) for a reasonably comfortable trip. As day faded into night and at Peta's insistence, we overlaid the Radar onto the Chart Plotter screen to assist with our navigation. We were so pleased that our mobile range was still covering us around the coast as we could call Perth to get assistance from our electronics technical expert Peter Turner from Maritime Electronics. What fantastic after sales service.
Day 12th Wednesday 15th April.
We were still on route to Esperance and around 1am we had to wind in the jib as the wind had swung to the east. We continued to weave amongst the Island on our approach to Esperance based on some wonderful advice from the skipper of one of the Blue Juice Charter Vessels in Hillarys. (He had worked as many years as a fisherman on the south coast). Around 3.30 am with Ron on watch and the vessel located south of Cull Island (ie. behind the island) the AIS (our VHF shipping identification system) picked up a large ship leaving Esperance harbour, and on a near collision course. We could not get a visual and the radar could not pick it up because it was shielded by Cull Island. The closest point of approach (CPA) read as 198 ft in 13 minutes. As she was a 800 ft plus vessel Ron changed coarse to give us best part of a 1NM (nautical mile) clearance. Thank goodness for the AIS.
Sadly Charlie had to leave us this day to return home for family reasons. A really sincere thanks to Charlie for his input, great humour and sense of confidence in ourselves that he has given us. We hope he can join us again somewhere down the line.
Today we again dragged anchor, after being anchored from 5.30 am to 1.30 pm when we went ashore to do some shopping for food and hardware. We arrived back at the dingy on the beach to see "Finesse" had drifted towards a rocky groyne and was only a couple of boat lengths away. We raced across the bay in the dingy to get onboard and just as we reached her opened the door and started the motor, the local volunteer sea rescue boat arrived from Bandy Creek Marina (across the Bay) to tow us to safety. Naturally we thanked them sincerely even though we
managed to secure Finesse ourselves. However we ended up in the local paper colour picture and all, with the head line "Boat drifts towards rocks". . Had a pleasant evening with Don and Rhonda Perrin over a meal in the town of Esperance.
Day 13 Thursday 16th April.
Spent the day at rest and planning future legs of our voyage
Day 14 Friday 17th April.
Purchased a new Admiralty anchor from Perth,(from Yacht Grot) as no one seems to list them in the standard chandlery catalogues. Visited the Esperance Bay Yacht Club and suffered our humiliation, regarding the anchor drag the previous Wednesday as reported in the Friday edition of the local paper. The club people were fantastic and gave us lots of tips for places to visit as well as advices on anchoring in their hard sandy seafloor.
Day 15 Saturday 18th April.
Took delivery of our new Admiralty anchor which we trust will hold us in the future. (note – the locals cut off the flutes and sharpen the points to obtain maximum penetration into the hard sand). We spent the afternoon with long time friends and farming clients Geoff and Bev Spencer. We joined them in their totally reconstructed 100 year old vintage International Harvester High Wheeler motorized buggy. What a load of fun (see photo attached).
Day 16 Sunday 19th April.
Today we confirmed that Alan Paul another JBA owner builder will be joining us for the trip across the Great Australian Bight. Fantastic as we can certainly use another pair of eyes to help us on the expected four to five days / nights crossing and Alan has good sailing abilities gained from his own yachting. Alan owns a Beneteau called Panache and keeps it at Hillarys.
