Nov. 14, 2000-Tradewinds to Australia
wingssail images-fredrick roswold
Wings in New Cal
It took us two tries to make it out of New Caledonia.
After the wind-up of the Pacific Arts Festival the 300 cruising boats in Port Moselle started looking at departure dates for leaving New Caledonia. For most, including Wings, the next destination was going to be Australia, and, as the season was advancing, we were all itching to go. Boat projects were hurried along, provisions taken aboard and the weather was checked and checked again.
Even then many of us got it wrong.
The winds had been westerly and we needed SE for an easy passage to Australia. On Wednesday, November 8, the wind was still westerly but with a decent but not definitive weather forecast for SE winds the next day, the herd mentality took over as crews around the harbor who heard that others were keen to go in the morning decided that it was time for themselves as well. A rush of boats, Wings among them, departed Thursday morning and many were soon heading east across the lagoon for Passe Dumbea. Before long this fleet encountered strong westerly winds, squalls, and heavy rain instead of the Southeast Trades which were hoped for. It seemed that a pesky low had developed overnight just southeast of Noumea and we were getting the clockwise wind on the back side of it. In the hurry to get underway that morning few had looked carefully at the new weather information we had available and now we were paying the price for this haste. Motoring towards the pass boats were bucking and slamming into a sharp chop with rain and wind whistling through the rigging. The ocean outside the pass looked rough.
We turned back before reaching the pass. It was one of the rare times when we’ve turned back in the face of bad weather and it was a tough decision, particularly since Sandy & Lloyd Banta, on Warrior, with whom we had an informal race to Australia, were going on, but we didn’t see the point of heading out to beat ourselves up in rough conditions and contrary winds. That night, back in port, we felt good about our decision as we listened on the SSB radio to the boats which had carried on complain about their wind conditions. Meanwhile the weather office confidently stated that Friday morning the wind would finally go SE. We prepared to get underway again Friday, never mind the old superstition about the bad luck of leaving on a Friday.
So, on Friday we set out again and this time we had favorable winds. With a good heading and a number 4 jib we were soon reaching to the SW. Saturday and Sunday passed with steady breeze and we made good speed. By Monday we started thinking that this was probably going to be one fast trip; we continued to experience ideal conditions with southeast trade winds at 15 to 25, reasonably smooth seas and clear sunny skies. It was beautiful sailing and we were going like crazy on a beam reach with a full main and #4 headsail, doing over 7.0 knots continuously. We logged a noon to noon run of over 170 miles, a very nice distance for us, and by Tuesday we’d averaged 7.75 for a couple of days, making a run of 187 miles. Our destination was Bundaberg, Australia but we jibed and headed a little north of the rhumb line and we found better wind than the other boats traveling the same route more to the south. We were optimistic about our chance of beating Warrior’s time. The next day we logged 186 miles.
Besides being fast, this passage was easy, not too windy or rough, few sail changes, few squalls or rain, just lots of rest and reading, and a full moon at night to make the night watches easier.
This is how passage making ought to be.
We finished off the trip with one squally night as we approached the Australian coast. Surfing in south of the Great Barrier Reef we reduced sail to arrive at Bundaberg at dawn. In four days and 21.5 hours we covered the 800 mile distance that had been estimated by the majority of the cruising fleet as being a five to eight day passage. We wondered how Warrior had done.
While we enjoyed the sail we were also happy to be in Australia. Australia! We'd arrived in the land of Ayers Rock and Alice Springs, of 'Roos and Wallabies, and Dancin' Matilda. This is an exciting landfall for us and we can hardly wait to get ashore and look around.
Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Bundaberg, Australia
Click here to see more photos.
Click here to see the hardcopy log of the trip
Wings in New Cal
It took us two tries to make it out of New Caledonia.
After the wind-up of the Pacific Arts Festival the 300 cruising boats in Port Moselle started looking at departure dates for leaving New Caledonia. For most, including Wings, the next destination was going to be Australia, and, as the season was advancing, we were all itching to go. Boat projects were hurried along, provisions taken aboard and the weather was checked and checked again.
Even then many of us got it wrong.
The winds had been westerly and we needed SE for an easy passage to Australia. On Wednesday, November 8, the wind was still westerly but with a decent but not definitive weather forecast for SE winds the next day, the herd mentality took over as crews around the harbor who heard that others were keen to go in the morning decided that it was time for themselves as well. A rush of boats, Wings among them, departed Thursday morning and many were soon heading east across the lagoon for Passe Dumbea. Before long this fleet encountered strong westerly winds, squalls, and heavy rain instead of the Southeast Trades which were hoped for. It seemed that a pesky low had developed overnight just southeast of Noumea and we were getting the clockwise wind on the back side of it. In the hurry to get underway that morning few had looked carefully at the new weather information we had available and now we were paying the price for this haste. Motoring towards the pass boats were bucking and slamming into a sharp chop with rain and wind whistling through the rigging. The ocean outside the pass looked rough.
We turned back before reaching the pass. It was one of the rare times when we’ve turned back in the face of bad weather and it was a tough decision, particularly since Sandy & Lloyd Banta, on Warrior, with whom we had an informal race to Australia, were going on, but we didn’t see the point of heading out to beat ourselves up in rough conditions and contrary winds. That night, back in port, we felt good about our decision as we listened on the SSB radio to the boats which had carried on complain about their wind conditions. Meanwhile the weather office confidently stated that Friday morning the wind would finally go SE. We prepared to get underway again Friday, never mind the old superstition about the bad luck of leaving on a Friday.
So, on Friday we set out again and this time we had favorable winds. With a good heading and a number 4 jib we were soon reaching to the SW. Saturday and Sunday passed with steady breeze and we made good speed. By Monday we started thinking that this was probably going to be one fast trip; we continued to experience ideal conditions with southeast trade winds at 15 to 25, reasonably smooth seas and clear sunny skies. It was beautiful sailing and we were going like crazy on a beam reach with a full main and #4 headsail, doing over 7.0 knots continuously. We logged a noon to noon run of over 170 miles, a very nice distance for us, and by Tuesday we’d averaged 7.75 for a couple of days, making a run of 187 miles. Our destination was Bundaberg, Australia but we jibed and headed a little north of the rhumb line and we found better wind than the other boats traveling the same route more to the south. We were optimistic about our chance of beating Warrior’s time. The next day we logged 186 miles.
Besides being fast, this passage was easy, not too windy or rough, few sail changes, few squalls or rain, just lots of rest and reading, and a full moon at night to make the night watches easier.
This is how passage making ought to be.
We finished off the trip with one squally night as we approached the Australian coast. Surfing in south of the Great Barrier Reef we reduced sail to arrive at Bundaberg at dawn. In four days and 21.5 hours we covered the 800 mile distance that had been estimated by the majority of the cruising fleet as being a five to eight day passage. We wondered how Warrior had done.
While we enjoyed the sail we were also happy to be in Australia. Australia! We'd arrived in the land of Ayers Rock and Alice Springs, of 'Roos and Wallabies, and Dancin' Matilda. This is an exciting landfall for us and we can hardly wait to get ashore and look around.
Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Bundaberg, Australia
Click here to see more photos.
Click here to see the hardcopy log of the trip
Labels: Australia, Bundaberg, New Caledonia, Port Moselle, sailing
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