We had the worst nights sleep rocking around in the swell
entering the bay. The wind blew all night long anywhere from 15 to 30 knots and
it started from the north west, moved west and by morning it was blowing
southerly 25 knots with driving rain.
Even though I had the anchor alarm on, I got up many times
to check our position and I finally got up at 05:30 to down load the weather.
The anchor held fast with 50 meters of chain in only 3 meters
of water, but the shock loading was enough to knock you off your feet.
We had to get out of this bay which meant exiting the
passage in the reef in 25 knots with a 4-meter swell and driving rain. I put it
off for as long as I could, and after breakfast and a coffee I dressed in my
waterproofs, shoes, jacket and beanie, raised the main, pulled the anchor, donned
life jackets and off we headed.
The pass was a mess with large confused seas. There was a
large swell rolling through, but not breaking, so I gunned both engines wide
open to escape the danger zone as fast as I could. We rode over several three-meter
waves without too much fuss and made our way out into the wild open ocean as
far away from the reef as quick as I could.
Once out of the bay the wind was southerly around twenty-eight
knots with a four-meter swell both running in the direction we were headed.
With a second reef in the main and a sliver of genoa we were surfing the swell
at a blistering fourteen knots.
We were going so fast the auto-pilot could not cope very
well so I hand steered for the next seven hours. It would have to be one of the
best sails I have done. Not over powered, not uncomfortable, yet fast and exhilarating.
Thank god I don’t have a rear vision mirror as the huge
four-meter waves coming up behind us looked so scary, but they just lifted us
up and we surfed along often reaching fourteen knots (which is bloody fast in a
six tonne yacht) before disappearing down into the trough before the next
roller swept through.
The swell was moving at roughly twice our speed and steering
required fast action, concentration and at times, strong arms. Even though it
was cold and windy, it was a lot of fun.
Early in the morning I saw the large fishing boat again (The
Naturalise) trawling in deep water and we also passed an ocean going tug boat
towing a jack-up oil rig heading for Perth only doing three knots punching into the
weather going in the opposite direction. I’m sure glad I wasn’t on that rig.
As we approached Tandabidi the wind dropped off to ten knots
and the swell started to reduce and I had to shake out the reefs, but we were
still doing seven to ten knots.
Once I got some phone signal, I called Exmouth Parks &
Wildlife and booked the Tandabidi mooring for the night.
We donned life jackets as a precaution for the ride through
the pass but it wasn’t necessary as we sailed into smooth waters following the
Lateral Markers through the coral mine field all the way in to the boat ramp
where many commercial boats were on swing moorings.
We found our mooring, this time in a nice sheltered location
and connected up to it. Once the boat was ship shape, I relaxed with a cold beer
and a five o’clock chat to Don in Perth and then it was time for a hot shower
and dinner.
The wind dropped off to eight knots and this anchorage was luxury smooth compared to last night, so I am looking forward to a good night’s
sleep.
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Wow, that seems like a real adventure!
ReplyDeleteA day to remember for sure.
That was one of my best sails - very exhilarating day surfing down those big swells.
DeleteSounds great
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