Year 2 – 10 March 2025 -Brisbane – The Light at the end of the tunnel

If anyone reading this and is free from now and all or some of April to mid July 2025 to come to Australia then do contact me as I am short of crew during this period at present.

The rain continued all night and was still at it in the morning. The pitter patter that had been going on for days was still playing. We had breakfast and sat under the cockpit tent in the dry. However, the sky looked a bit brighter and it seemed as if it wanted to stop and there could be light at the end of the tunnel from Aldred's destructive and long-lasting system which has detained us now for about 11 days now. The forecast of most models was for the rain to stop at about 1.00pm. We had a few false starts during the morning with the rain stopping for a few minutes and then another encore started of the pitter patter.

This continued on and off for most of the day but in between we began to get Stormbird ready. We put up the Oz courtesy flag, we put back the skiffs at the back. We unwrapped the sails and put the sheets back through the cars and on to the winches again and we took off the doubled-up lines on the cleats. We also got hold of the ball fender and managed to pump it up again. Perhaps the pressure was so great it leaked past the valve.  

The river was a filthy brown and full of debris, trees (yes I do mean this- large tree trunks floated down) which could damage a hull if you hit it, tyres, foam, bottles, footballs, cycle helmets and the usual rubbish flotsam and jetsam. See the picture for the day with the rubbish between our next-door boats. The river flowed fast and all of this rubbish was floating down on the tide including no doubt sewage etc. We hope when we leave tomorrow that it has all drifted away but we shall have to be careful.

We did various jobs when we could between the pattering of rain and began to get a bit more optimism and hoping we will start to get back to normal. We read, did emails and began to plan next steps. However, what is unknown at this point in time is whether the bars (entrances into rivers and inlets which are shallow and you have to cross) will have moved and the depths changed around certain islands and ports in the direction we are going. We will have to do our best to find out.

One of my eldest daughter’s best and oldest friend Jocelyn Schreyer is working as a Doctor in Brisbane with her boyfriend Mathew so I gave them a call and we met the for supper at Brewdog which finally opened again. It was good to see her and to hear how different it is here to the NHS. There was still a light drizzle when we left but it is feeling and looking better and there is light now at the end of the tunnel.  

We hope tomorrow will be a change and that we will see the sun again!

Need/Opportunity Year Two

I am in need of more crew from late April to Mid-July so if of interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

In year two I will be going from New Zealand to Sydney and hen up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025.

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com