Wind S -SE 15 – 25 knts 26 nautical miles
Slept intermittently through a bumpy night as the wind picked up before dawn and rattled everything that was loose. I was hoping the anchor held as the chain is fairly rusty and weak in spots however the anchor alarm didn’t go off so we could rest easy. I think the various noises of halyards wriggling, waves slapping, doors rattling and the wind howling would have been quite alien to Des and Molly. Not sure how much sleep they got.
Pulled the anchor but as the chain came over the gypsy it bent the stripper arm and broke it off so the chain wouldn’t come of the gypsy , John had to manually help the chain off the gypsy so it took a fair while to get it in.
The main was hauled up and we headed towards Hamilton in choppy white capped water and a very fresh breeze, it was quite a change from yesterday.
Arrived in Dent Passage after a brisk sail of 8 knts and pulled up a mooring buoy. The buoy was difficult to pick up as the mooring loop attached is very heavy and the wind kept swinging the boat around.
The four of us hopped in the dinghy and left Morgan to mind the boat as she isn’t permitted on Hamo. We motored slowly over to the marina so as to avoid waves soaking us and tied up in the designated area for $18 per hour.
It was strange to be in civilisation again as we strolled along the crowded waterfront. Tourists and golf carts dominated the scenery with the ever present sounds of helicopters, planes, boats , golf carts and squawking birds.
We lunched at Popeye’s fish and chip shop on the boardwalk overlooking the marina. The resident cockatoos were like seagulls waiting for scraps, but much larger with very foreboding beaks. At one stage a kookaburra swooped down from somewhere and took a large chunk of Des’s fish just as he was about to take a bite.
After sharing lunch with our feathered friends we wandered through the Foot Gallery which has magnificent pieces of marine sculptures carved in marble, stone and a marble compound.
We then dinghied back out to O’vive and unhooked the mooring buoy in preparation for a sail to Airlie Beach.
We hauled the main and screecher up as the predicted wind had died somewhat and we needed to be in the marina ideally at 3 for the correct tide but it was looking more like 4:30.
Somewhere around Henning Island while we were tracking the mainsail a very loud bang alerted us to a broken standing block on the deck that the mainsheet runs through causing the sheet to jam. With a lot of swearing on John’s part and pulling and levering by both men, they managed to free the sheet and pull the razzed line through to a safer spot.
We were sailing well in lighter winds catching the fleet ahead of us that were returning home to port for the day. Bang! Not again, this time the screecher was flapping in the breeze unsecured. The stay for the prodder had snapped forcing the prodder to fling upwards bending its pin and lugs.
John pulled the foot of the screecher back down and held it manually for a while until we got into the lee of the mainland to try and furl it.
Eventually after several attempts to furl the screecher we loosened the halyard and dropped the sail onto the trampoline then stuffed it into the sail locker for future repairs.
Well that was the three things that had broken today so we breathed a sigh of relief until Morgan came up on deck with her stuffed cow and promptly dropped it overboard. It was goodbye to the cow as we had the main and jib up and John definitely wasn’t dropping sails for a stuffed cow.
We finally arrived in the marina right up the southern end in pen number X 1 & 2 at 4:45 and enjoyed a well earned beer ( well the other three did).
It was a shame to see Des and Molly go as we had thoroughly enjoyed their company and they were an excellent novice crew.
John, Morgan and I cycled up to Sorrento’s for a drink with Rob and Lesley then came back to Barcelona’s for a quick dinner before we headed back to O’vive in time for John to watch the cricket until late into the night.