Ships Log transcript Part 2

Day 8

28 Aug 15:00 UTC (08:00 local time)
N29°29.84' W129°58.17'   Destination 1558 NM
Making 5 Kts in 20Kts wind from NE Seas: 2m swell.
Deep reef main, full genoa.  Made 116 NM in last 24 hrs.

29Aug 00:22  UTC (17:15 local)
N29°22.49' W130°52.90' Destination 1510 NM
Making 6 Kts in 18Kt wind from NE  2m swell with chop.
Deep reef and furl.  112 NM since last night.

Frustrating day. Several minor issues with elect., rigging and plumbing. Choppy + swell on starboard stern quarter making hand steering difficult. All 3 Raymarine instruments 'died', apparently simultaneously. Will investigate when conditions improve.

07:52 UTC.  (0:52 local)
N29°32.77' W131°39.14'  Destination 1473 MN
Making 4+ Kts in (est) 12Kt wind from NE. 1m swell. Deep reef and moderate furl.
Wind eased. Chop almost gone. Swell abating.

Day 9

29 Aug 15:00 UTC (08:00 local)
N29°29.11' W132°21.44'  Destination 1436 NM
Making 5.5 Kts in 15+Kt wind from NE 1.5m swell.
Deep reef main. 3 turns of furl.  122NM in last 24 hrs.
Conditions abated a little overnight, so slept well. Woke at 4 am (local) as wind resumed. Boat handling well. Dry inside!

30 Aug 02:00 UTC
N29°20.88' W133°27.43'  Destination 1379 NM
Making 5.3 Kts in 16Kts from NNE. 1.5m swell
Deep reef main. Full genoa. 131 NM in 24 hrs.

Instruments operating again after finding 2 blown fuses. No indication of cause.
A good day. Wind steadied in low 'teens'. Chop abated. Swell still significant. Last of fresh food done. Tired after early start but otherwise feeling good.

Day 10

30Aug 21:20 UTC
N29°37.02' W135°06.60'
Woke to flat batteries. Haven't run motor for a few days and had left the selector switch on "all". Trusted solar to pick it up and set off. 10 mins later steering failed. Chain parted from cable inside pedestal. While investigating and before fitting emergency tiller a freighter appeared on the horizon, on a 'near miss' course. Hurriedly fitted tiller and sailed about 400M at right angles, before ship passed about 600M astern. With no electrics (radio, lights or motor start) or steering that could have been nasty.  Repaired steering over several attempts in the day.

(pencilled entry:) Surfing by moon-shadow.

Day 11

31 Aug  08:00 local time.
N29°31.43' W137°18.23'  Destination  1189 NM
Finally realised electrical issues stem from no solar charge to batteries. Solar volt-regulator is fried.

1 Sep 0800 local time.
N29°33.60' W138°55.0'  Destination 1011 NM

3 Sep 13:10 UTC
N29°23.01' W139°39.56'  Destination  1071 NM (??)

Day 12

4 Sep 02:30 UTC
N28°52.11' W140°54.69'  Destination  998 NM
At last seem to have everything operational again. I managed 2 engine starts today, although I was disappointed that the second one was still a struggle. Tomorrow will be interesting. Getting through this has been stressful and I am highly relieved.

Passed the half-way mark!

Day 13

02:19 UTC 
N28°27.25' W142°33.0'  Destination  909 NM
Making 5 kts in 15 kt NNE. 1.5+m swell  Deep reef and moderate furl.  89NM in last 24 hrs.

Day 14

02:30 UTC
N27°42.62' W144°14.67'  Destination  805 NM
Set  for night watch. v small head-sail and no main.  104 NM in last 24 hrs.

Day 15

02:00 UTC
N27°22.59' W145°26.9'  Destination 740 NM
Making 5 kts in 10-15 kt NE wind. 1m swell. 2nd reef and moderate furl.
65 NM in 24 hrs.

Yet anothger day of following wind and seas. have decided to bear off 10-15 degrees to change the angle of the seas. No major issues last few days. Noticed though that engine does not seem to be providing any significant charge to the electrical system.

Sighted Aircraft-carrier on horizon to the south.   

Day 16

8 Sept.
16:30 UTC
N26°34.21' W146°00.0'   Destination 695 NM
Making 4.5 kts in 12 kt breeze from NNE. Seas slight.
2nd reef and almost complete furl.  30+ NM overnight

2/3 mark passed!
Further testing this morning confirms alternator definitely not charging.

02:00 UTC
N26°14.22' W146°41.25'  Destination 653 NM
Making 3.7 kts in (approx) 10Kt wind from NNE. Seas slight.
2nd reef and 4 turns of furl.  87 NM in last 24 hrs.

Day 17

9 Sept.
02:30 UTC
N25°32.19' W148°01.41'  Destination 570 NM
Makng 3 kts in 10kt breeze from NE Seas slight.
2nd reef heavy furl      83 NM in 24 hrs

After testing the sea anchor yesterday, with satisfactory results, I set it last night after dousing all sails. This morning it was gone, having broken away from the bridle sometime in the night.

Ships Log transcript. Part 1.

Voyage - Channel Islands Harbor - Townsville

Cleared Channel Islands Hrb 15:15 23 Aug 2012 (local time)

SW winds. Seas slight.

Day 2
09:30 Becalmed much of the night. Cleared Begg Rock approx 5 miles to port at 08:30.
15:15 Dist 85 NM. making 5 Kts in 15Kt NW. Seas small but choppy.
19:30 Pos report sent. Auto pilot motor keeps stalling. Will investigate tomorrow.

Day 3
05:00 Big sleep! Woke to find nothing wrong. Auto pilot still playing up.
06:30 Light sighted to SW
07:15 N32º.05.1' W120º 42.4'  SOG 5.7Kts Wind 12Kts from NW Swell 1.5m. Dist 144NM
08:45 Engine run for 50min.

Dates/Times in future entries are GMT/UTC.

Day 4
25 Aug 03:30 GMT
N31º15.0' W121º40.3' Heading 231º
Making 6Kts in moderate conditions. Swell 1.5m. Wind 15Kts from NE
2nd reef and deep furl. Dist from CIH = 210 NM

Westering somewhat to protect auto-pilot. It has also occurred to me that rhumb-line to Brisbane will save me 1000NM, and still take me close to Hawaii, Kirabati, Tonga, et al. Putting some thought into this.

Worked on auto-pilot to day. Tried re-centering the drive and it works! Sounds much happier. Clutch still making some noises. Will adjust tomorrow. 

Weather has been overcast and cool for whole time since departure.

15:51 GMT  N30º 40.1'  W122º 39.4'
Making 5Kts in moderate conditions.Swell 1m. Wind 10Kts from NNE
2nd reef Small furl. Overcast. Distance over ground (D.O.G) 270NM Dist to dest 5951NM.
Noticed slight leak from rudder post stuffing box. Not dangerous, but disappointing after I had it re-packed by a 'pro' to avoid just this. I will attempt slight adjustment later today.

Have decided to continue 'westering' for the time being. Need to consult the chart on  extent of Nth Equatorial current. Perhaps drop south from Hawaii?

Overnight I found that autopilot seems 'happiest' when lever is not locked down. No significant slippage and minimal grind/lock up. Perhaps I should hold off adjusting clutch till close to Hawaii?

16:50  Tightened rudder post stuffing post. Leak reduced but still present. Wary of over-tightening.

23:45 (local time 26 Aug. 18:45) N 30º 18.15' W123º 30.26
making 5.5 Kts in 15Kts NW. Swell 1m.  2nd reef. 5 turns of furl. Dist from CIH 317NM. DTG 5818NM.

Auto-pilot remains major concern. It cannot handle normal sail in a reach. Strategy has become for me to bear off downwind when I'm at helm, so auto-pilot can bear up to windward. Not a major issue, but the zig-zagging is inefficient course-making.

I'm beginning to suspect that a call to Hawaii may be necessary to upgrade to direct drive unit.

Day 5
GMT 26 Aug 17:03 (local 10:AM)
N30º 00.0'  W124º 39.6'  Distance travelled 372 NM making 4+ Kts in 5-10 Northerly. Swell 1.5 - 2 m.
Overcast. Full main and genoa deployed. Dist to Hawaii = 1836 NM.

Auto-pilot dead. Heading to Hawaii to repair. Will remove and inspect today but do not expect to to be able to repair.

Power leakage to safety rail has re-appeared. This time at 8 volts?! Will disconnect stern light to check if fault is there.

00:00 27 Aug GMT. (local time 17:00)
N29º 54.55' W125º 14.14'. Course 284º  Speed approx 4Kts in 10Kt northerly. Swell 1m.
Full main and furled genoa (for balance). Dist to HWA = 1806NM

Inspection of auto-pilot confirms dead. Belt has torn to near-separated. Tear catches in drive section. May attempt a glue/patch.

Electrical leak to safety rail found to be from 'heat shrink' connector on stern nav light. Tested from outside of connector to rail and got 8 volts. Wrapped connector in tape and meter dropped to 0.5volts. Still not perfect but much better. Will test forward light tomorrow.

Noticed fray beginning on mainsheet at boom 'gang' of blocks. Inserted O ring and angle looks better. Will monitor.

Hooked up Tri-data to wind instrument, and they are talking to each other! Now have True or Apparent choice in wind instrument. VMG seems to be providing a -ve value, so I'll have to read up on that.

All in all a good day for productivity. Wind slight all day so not much distance covered. (30NM in 7 hrs.) but still 4NM/hr average. Yet another overcast day.

Day 6
23:15 UTC  (local time 10:15)  N29º 46.98' W126º 18.27' Dest: 1750 NM
Making 3kts in 8kt NNE breeze. Seas slight. 2nd reef, no furl. Travelled 86NM in last 24 hrs.
Becalmed last several hours.

Attempt to repair auto-pilot worked for about 45 minutes in very light conditions. I'll pull it apart again to see what the mechanism did to my repair.

Used this morning's calm to have a clean up of both me and the boat. Slept well last night and feeling generally OK. How I'll cope in any rough weather in the next 17 days remains to be seen.

01:40 27/8 UTC  (18:30 local). N29º 42.15' W126º 58.14' Dest: 1714NM
Making 3.5 kts in 9kts from NNE. Swell slight. Full sail on both. 90NM in last 24 hrs.
Still overcast all day.

About to close up for the night and first visit by dolphins came by. Very brief. Slooow day with winds at 5-10kts all day.

Pulled auto-pilot apart again. My repair was still there (!) but belt had finally parted under the repair. Will try to do something with it again.

Frustrating day as can't find sail balance to leave helm for any amount of time, but conditions so tame it's hard to sustain concentration. Still, better than bad weather!

Day 7
27/8 15:00 UTC  (local time 08:00)  N29º 28.62'  W127 43.50  Dest: 1674NM
making 4 kts in 8Kts from NNE. Seas slight. Deep reef in main from o/night set. 4 furls in genoa.

Big sleep! 8 hrs+. Hellcat self-sailed 25+NM overnight, approx on course. Weather still good but overcast. Ridge blowing in from WNW may change my dream run so far. Wait and see. Some danger of complacency.

16:00 Shook out reefs and furl. Wind up to 12kts. Making 5.5 kts.

01:45 (18:45 local) N29º 20.41' W128º 42.25  Dest: 1622NM
making 4.5kts in 12kts NNE. 1m swell + wind chop. Full sail both. 92 NM in 24 hrs.

Steady day's sailing. Wind constant dir and vel.

Sighted floating steel structure at 20:50 UTC. Appeared to be 2 large storage tanks in a frame. All up about about 4 tonnes, 3 x 6 metres. Broadcast a 'hazard' warning on UHF at 25 watts. If I had bumped into that in the night ... ??

A couple of hours of sunshine today, after 6 days of overcast. Now it's back to overcast. 

OK, now I have time on my hands ...

So what I've decided to do is transcribe the Ship's Log. Complete and unabridged, so to speak. The only changes I will make is to insert any relevant photos that survived. (Which I regret to say is 'not many'.)

This will probably be as interesting as watching paint dry.

But I've realised that I'm already starting to forget stuff. In particular, I find myself thinking that the trip was all good. It wasn't. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't all beer and skittles either. Let's see what I recorded at the time, shall we?

Anyway, the first 7 days worth coming right up ...

And then ...

Well ... I didn't exactly keep my promise to do a full wrap up, did I? Sorry 'bout that.

But in fairness to myself ... I've been busy. (I'm going to break this up into a couple of separate posts, as trying to do it all in one is what has prevented from doing it at all.)  Here's  what happened:

After I landed in Bundaberg, I stayed on one of the local marinas for a couple of weeks, while sorting out the importation paperwork and what have you. Then I decided that perhaps I should go home to Stawell and check the mail, hack down some of the more rampant weeds and so on. After all I hadn't been there for 6 months. But rather than leave the boat in a $210 per week marina berth, I hunted around and found a mooring on the Burnett River at $140 per week. Still not cheap, but better.

For the non-sailors amongst you, a 'berth' is where you tie up alongside a structure, like a wharf or pier. A mooring is where you tie up to a permanent anchor. The main difference is that in a berth you (usually) can step ashore straight off the boat, while a mooring is out from the shore some distance, so usually you need to use another boat (often a small dinghy or 'tender') to get ashore. Because they have the step-ashore convenience, berths cost more.

Hellcat on a mooring in Bundaberg, close to town. What could go wrong?

So home I went, planning to be back in 2 weeks ... ish. All was going well until one night on the TV news they mentioned that tornadoes had done some damage in Queensland, and particularly mentioned Burnett Heads. "Burnett Heads?" I said to myself ... "I know that name." Burnett Heads is a township next to Port Bundaberg. I had walked there several times to buy food etc at the supermarket while I was staying in the marina. This, I realised almost immediately, was not a good thing.

So I started paying attention to the news, and went a bit pale as they reported that south-east Queensland was experiencing major storms and flooding because a tropical cyclone that had hit north Queensland had moved south as it wound down. That is, it was no longer classed as a cyclone, but was still a large storm system. Over the next few days I watched the news and it became apparent that the Burnett River was in major flood. 9 metres (30 ft) worth of flood, in fact. News footage showed, to my dismay, several boats that had broken their mooring lines and were floating away from the area where I had left Hellcat. It was obvious that my boat was going to be one of them, even though I didn't see it in the TV footage.

I decided that there was no point flying back to Bundaberg straight away. Much of the town was under water, people were being evacuated, and Emergency Services had enough on their hands without me running around saying "where's my boat?" The best part of a week went by, and the flood waters were receding, and I still had no idea what had happened to Hellcat. The marina office that operated the moorings weren't answering the phone, which is hardly surprising as the homes of the staff, and the office itself for all I knew, were probably flooded.

I started making phone calls. The Volunteer Marine Rescue people said that they didn't have Hellcat on their list of 'found' boats, so they added it to the list of missing boats. I wasn't sure that this constituted progress. They also gave me a phone number of some-one from one of the local yacht clubs who was performing a sort of un-official co-ordinater role in regard to locating lost boats. She hadn't seen or heard any news of Hellcat either. Then I received a phone call from one of the staff at the Marina where I had stayed when I first arrived. "Do you know where your boat is?" she asked. "No, do you?" I replied. "Yes. Go onto Facebook, and do a search for "What happened to my boat". There's a picture of Hellcat there, and it gives a location.", And it did!

The Facebook image.

This, as you might imagine, was mixed news. Great ... I know where my is! Crap ... it's on the side of road somewhere.So, back to Bundaberg I went.

From the air during the flood.

I'm going to go a bit out of time-line here, and throw in a photo that I was given some time later.  This photo shows Hellcat where it ended up, but you can't see the road through the flood-water. Putting together the sequence of events later, it seems that Hellcat floated across a field or two, up a slight bank, then the mast has encountered the power lines, eventually breaking them and leaning over on her side.




This is a good thing, because what looks like a line of waves parallel to the power lines is another embankment, a drop of about 2 metres (7ft). If Hellcat had gone over that I suspect she would have rolled over and dug the mast into the ground as it went. That would have broken the mast. So what looked like a terrible place to end up probably wasn't  the worst that could have happened.

Here's a map showing where Hellcat started from and ended up. The river (and floodwater) flows to the north (towards the top of the map for the cartographically challenged), and the scale on the map suggests a journey of 5 - 6 kilometres 'as the crow flies'.

Well it's after midnight, so I'll leave the story there for now. Don't fret though, I'm writing this from a cleaned out and floating-again Hellcat. How that came about in the next installments.

Hey hey ... it's me! Like .. in person.

Sorry I haven't gotten to this since I made it into Bundaberg, but I still don't have sensible internet access. (I'm posting this using my phone as an access point, and the data charges are murder!)

I'll do a longer wrap up soon, I promise.

For now the plan is to finalise the import procedures with Customs and Qarintine, then I'll try to find a storage mooring somewhere here in Bundaberg for a couple of weeks, and do a qick trip home to sort out some much neglected administration. Then back up here to bring Hellcat south.

As I said after the first leg, my huuuuge thanks to my brother Paul for relaying my position reports to this blog, as well as dealing with other matters that I had to ask him to do. 

(How did you all cope with my mad txtng abrvtns? 77 chrctrs dsnt allw 4 lng msgs)

Since getting here most of my effort has been in "sleep,eat and recover" mode. I was pretty wrecked on arrival. That last week ....

Anyway, as that last week is receding into perspective against the big picture, a sense of achievement is slowly setting in. I just sailed across the Pacific Ocean! (Might have to do it again to prove it wasn't a fluke ... What?) The two stages total 6400 nautical miles (11700 km). Hellcat managed an overall average of close enough to 100 NM (180 km) per day.This is an awesome boat!

(ASIDE: The genius that decided that kevlar would make good sail cloth obviously didn't try pushing a rusty needle with a double strand of fishing line through it!)


Later all, I'm off for some more sleep.

W.

Another aside: Always carry more hats, sunglasses, reading glasses and can-openers than you first think you'll need. 'nuff said?

Update 4/1/13

24.726S,152.43E
Acq.20130104T080444Z
Accuracy h24m,v16m
Triggered 20130104T082353Z
Entering Bundy hrbr now

http://goo.gl/maps/t9Bfu

Update 2/1/13

22.901S,153.88E
Acq.20130102T093454Z
Accuracy h84m,v16m
Triggered 20130102T094700Z
Whl pullng hedsl dwn 4 mnr rprs it shred. Reachng 2 Bbrg on main. ETA 30 hrs.

http://goo.gl/maps/eNrHL