Year 2 – 6 April 2025 -Hummocky Island- – Gladstone– Gladstone
If anyone reading this and is free from late June to mid July 2025 to come to Australia then do contact me as I am short of crew during this period at present. In addition, there is a space from Cairns to Indonesia mid-July so if you are interested in either or both then please email me.
We had a slight sway when we went to bed but in the night the heavens opened and I had to get up and close all the hatches. We obviously moved with the tide in the night and over time the stern moved toward the swell and I cold hear it slapping on the stern. We woke to a very different day in that it was grey and you could see some 15-20 nm out at sea the rain coming down where there was a line of cloud. We had no wind to speak of yesterday and we now had 12-18 kts.
We had breakfast and then upped anchor and headed back the way we came. Due to the wind angle we had to sail close hauled almost due east out into the swell before we could tack back to the coast. We decided to put one reef into the main and use the staysail which was the right sail plan. We were soon doing 7.5-9 kts close hauled but into the swell which meant green water (sea) water coming over the deck. We went out on this tack for an hour or so and then tacked back. We had to avoid an island we passed en route to Cape Capricorn which was just before the end of the cape.
We sailed well and fast but the wind angle meant that we were not going to miss the Island so we sailed on and then within a nm we tacked back into the swell for a few miles before tacking back. We had placed a waypoint off the top of Facing Island as we wanted to anchor near there. The sun was out with fluffy white high-pressure clouds but it was blowing a good Force 5-gusting 6 with a swell of about 1.5m. There was no one about.
We tacked out for a bit and then tacked back again. As time went on we were not going to make our waypoint but gradually the wind as planned backed East and it brought us back on to course again as we had the autopilot on wind vane mode so when the wind changes the autopilot adjusts to follow the wind. We eventually came to our waypoint and took the sails down. We motored on to the top of the Island and the tried to get near Oaks beach but it was too shallow so we anchored out a little. This was not in the direct swell and we had a little movement but it was not bad. There were a number of fishing boats around but no other yachts.
We had a late lunch and watched the world go by. We had had quite a feisty sail across with lots of water on deck and as Stormbird dried out there were lots of salt deposits. It had been good to get some wind after a few days without or in the wrong direction. We rested and did various jobs etc.
I worked out that we could take the North passage in the morning from where we were to the centre of the port of Gladstone which would save us going round Facing Island. We therefore plan to get up early with the tide to make this passage. We enjoyed the sunset on the aft deck and then had supper of salmon, rice and red cabbage which was good.
We will be back to Gladstone Marina tomorrow and the picture of the day is our sailing close hauled.
Need/Opportunity Year Two
I am in need of more crew from late June to Mid-July. In addition, there is one space from Cairns to Indonesia from 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