Melbourne to Sydney, Brisbane & Airlie Beach 19th June to 12th July

Well we finally left Melbourne on June 19 a cold and windy Saturday night. Only a fisherman, with his own reasons for not being at home, was there to bid us farewell and cast off our lines. No bands, no fanfare and no waving as we headed down the Yarra River and into the Bay. On board were Ini Wijnen who had kindly offered to help us get the boat to Brisbane, his son Josh 5, Colin Fry and myself. Port Phillip heads were closed, a most unusual occurrence, with reports of 6 metre seas outside and atrocious conditions in the rip so we anchored behind Swan Island near Queenscliff to wait. By the next day conditions had moderated somewhat and we decided to venture out through the heads at around 1400 hrs.

By the time we had reached Cape Schanck the wind was blowing steadily at well over thirty knots and gusting to 45 from the west on our starboard quarter (the biggest gust that we noticed was 49 kts –gale force 9). We had just the main with a single reef and staysyl up and later experimented with the starboard genoa sheeted to the port staysyl traveler which worked well. Throughout the night we made good time sitting on speeds up to 14 kts with a maximum surfing speed of just under 18 kts. The seas despite predictions of up to 6 metres rarely exceeded three metres although they were close and steep. I was delighted with the way pelican handled the conditions -she was stable, totally controllable and inspired confidence.

On the downside the central deck area was a very wet place to be under such gale force conditions. The hatches let in a small amount water in such severe conditions, but the beds however stayed completely dry. The decks of both hulls on this point of sail stayed almost completely free of water and the only things which fell off shelves were some wine glasses and a couple of bottles.

Twelve hours after leaving Port Phillip heads we rounded Wilson’s Prom and contrary to our expectations the winds dropped becoming variable between 10 and 20 knots. We arrived in Eden in calm conditions at 0915 on Tuesday morning. We had covered 380 nautical miles in two and a half days including a half day stop over at Swan Island. This translates into two 190 mile sailing days in conditions ranging from 5 to just under 50 kts, and averaging over 6 knots including the 12 hour stopover!

We had pulled into Eden for a day of relatively minor repairs. These included the deck slats, a leaking connection in the steering hydraulics, and the replacement of the lazy jack blocks on both masts which had been very poorly set up and had failed in the more serious conditions of Bass Strait. By 7.30 that evening thanks to some help from the local hydraulics specialist we were on our way again.

The wind had dropped to nothing so we motored up the southern NSW coast, a single engine ticking over, at better than 7 knots with dolphins escorting us through a glassy phosphorescent sea. Their calls were clearly audible through Pelican's hulls. It is moments like these, standing watch on a beautiful night, that I know why we do such crazy things and I quietly congratulated myself on a wise choice of lifestyle.

Sadly hours later the wind sprang up on the bow and due to our necessity of being in Sydney on a tight schedule, we proceeded to pound directly into 15 -20 knot northerly with both engines on and still making 6 knots. This situation continued for over 200 nautical miles all the way to Sydney with the seas gradually building towards 3 metres. Every now and then we would launch off the back of a particularly steep wave and I would involuntarily tense up waiting for the crash landing. But Pelican lands softly. After a time we decided to try sailing. We set staysyl, main and mizzen and tacked out to sea at around 40 degrees off the apparent wind. The further we got off the coast the greater the size of the waves and the more uncomfortable it became. Its times like these when I wish I still had my cozy house in Richmond and that I had never bought into the madness of seafaring! (Luckily that feeling didn't last too long.)

We decided to tack back towards the coast where we would have a chance to get out of the worst of the waves by hugging the beach and continuing under engines. This worked up to a point and we managed to make Sydney on schedule (Wednesday 0600) if somewhat the worse for wear.

The weather conditions had been far from ideal as far as making observations are concerned. When there are a lot of white caps and larger waves it becomes very difficult to see anything in the water. This will explain why we saw no whales south of Sydney because it was either dark or rough all of the time. We did however see many dolphins on this section of the trip because they came right in under the bows.

In Sydney we tied up outside Foxtel on Pier 7, Darling Harbour. Peter had arranged a free berth near the Maritime Museum next to Bounty and James Craig which has been beautifully restored. The restoration and maintenance crew from the Craig were incredibly helpful as were the Bounty mob with resources for our own continuing maintenance and repair schedule. Sydney also gave us a couple of days to catch up with friends. At the same time I was frantically trying to finalise the survey of Pelican by phone and email with Marine Safety Victoria in Melbourne.

Andrew Denton came down to the boat for a couple of hours with a nice bottle of wine, which we scoffed without ceremony. His contact at 60 Minutes had not shown up due to a family illness but it was good to catch up with Andrew who is always thinking of new ways to help. We are very lucky to have him on board the project.

We departed Darling Harbour for Southport at around 0600 on Saturday June 26 and had a few hours of light winds. We made our first whale sighting (a group of three humpbacks) traveling north. This was really the first time we had had moderate conditions in daylight so it supports the theory that our lack of sightings may have been mostly due to the conditions. Shortly after this the wind picked up to 25kts from the west and with main mizzen and genoa set we took off sitting on between 12 and 9 knots for the next 12 hours. At times the wind was gusting up to 45 knots and was steady around 35 which required some reefing and sail changes. After that the wind steadily declined but we maintained good averages to Southport where we tied up at Southport Yacht club at the prime berth expertly organised by Peter Malcolm from our Melbourne office, at 1115 on Monday morning. We had covered the distance between Darling Harbour and SPYC (408 nautical miles) against a south setting current of up to 2 kts (estimated average 1 knot) in 53 hours at an average speed of 7.7 knots.

The next few days were a blur of work frenzy on the boat, meeting with friends who had come to say hello and included a couple of media interviews to promote the voyage. Ini and Colin worked on the rigging setting up reefing lines for the luff of the main and mizzen and finishing off the lazy jack blocks on the mast and a raft of minor jobs. Thanks to their good work the boat was now almost ready for the first group of shared expense voyagers. Throughout the voyage young Josh was a pleasure to have around and a constant source of amusement as he focused on his Lego or video games whilst we battled with sail changes outside.

The final stretch to Brisbane was completed by motoring up the Gold Coast Seaway in calm and protected waters behind Stradbroke and other islands. In Brisbane we tied up at the piles outside the Botanical Gardens. Brisbane is far more boat friendly than Melbourne and the piles have become a minor cultural icon in their own right with a range of permanent and transient residents making use of the facilities provided within a stones throw of the city centre by Brisbane City council. Ini and Josh got off to catch a plane back to Melbourne the next morning. I was sorry to see them go. It would be hard to find a more capable hand than Ini and both he and Josh were excellent company.

The same day Holly Shiac arrived and some degree of gender balance was restored to Pelican. Holly has totally organised the whole food thing which has taken a huge load off my mind. I have also realised what an incredibly important part of the service the food is and how it colours the experience of our fellow expeditioners. More on this later.

Unbelievably I was still struggling to finalise the survey thing with MSV. On the way up the Brisbane River I received a phone message that instructed me to remove the lashings that secure the life raft and fit a hydrostatic release. This is a unit designed to automatically release and inflate the life raft when it is submerged to around three metres. I pleaded with them that Pelican could not be submerged that far even when full of water. Further they instructed me to place the raft on the rear deck where it is both totally vulnerable to being washed overboard and virtually impossible, weighing 190 kilos, to manhandle into the water should it be required. Not to mention totally in the way and creating an imbalance in the vessel by putting the weight too far back. One of the most common problems with life rafts is losing them overboard in bad conditions. I am nearly ready to start pirate operations but at the end of the day it is easier to comply!

After a couple of days of provisioning and chasing last minute stuff we took on our friends and fellow Voyagers Jo, Meagan, and Kay on Friday and headed back down the Brisbane river for Lady Musgrave Island 210 miles to the north. Conditions were very calm with light northerly breeze so we motored at around 61/2 knots on one engine. The guests settled in and were very happy to take on the task of identifying and recording all wild life sightings including fish, mammals, birds and whatever else we came across. They continued to do this diligently throughout the rest of the trip. We have established a sightings book for the purpose and Jo has offered to enter up the info into a data base program. Pete Gill, the whale scientist on our team, can probably tell us which would be the best one to use for this purpose.

We saw heaps of humpback whales at the rate of at least one and as many as 4 or 5 sightings per day. One in particular where the whale floated head down with his tail right out of the water and smashed his tail into the surface of the water repeatedly up to 6 or 7 times in a row throwing huge amounts of spray into the air. He performed this sequence 4 or 5 times in the space of a couple of minutes -very spectacular! We worried that he might be caught in a net or whatever but most of the whales we saw were breaching and displaying very exuberant behaviour.

We arrived at Lady Musgrave on Sunday morning July 4 at 1005. What followed was several very warm days with light winds so conditions were perfect for snorkeling, swimming and exploring the island. We also managed to catch enough fish to eat fish every night during our stay. Lady Musgrave is a perfect example of a coral cay, one of a very few like it in the Great Barrier Reef. As such there is huge pressure on it from visiting boats. I estimate about a hundred or more tourists were visiting the island daily on large vessels out of Bundaberg and there were never less than half a dozen private boats there at any time during our stay.

On Tuesday we pulled up anchor and headed off to Fitzroy Reef about 20 nautical miles northwest. Fitzroy is another beautiful example of a circular coral lagoon very much like Lady Musgrave but without the cay (island). I had assumed that the lack of a cay would make it less popular than LM but to my surprise there were almost as many boats there. The fishing at least for us however, was even better producing two nice finger mark bream and a beautiful coral trout of about 4 kilos. The trout was given to us as a thank you by some folks on a boat to whom we rendered assistance when the wind had risen to 25 knots and started creating problems.

On Wednesday afternoon with perfect sailing conditions we decided to head for the Percy group of islands. We sailed via Cheviot Island that I remembered fondly as the island of "Pines and Butterflies" from the previous trip on Redbill. This island and many islands right through to the outer Whitsunday’s are dominated by native pines which is unusual in the Australian landscape. It gives them a slightly oriental feel like a scene from a Japanese landscape, quite beautiful. I also had my eye on the Swains an extensive area of reef well out to the east of the Percy's and I imagine very unspoilt with few visitors. Perhaps on our next voyage through the region we will make it a priority to visit them, an undertaking a little too ambitious for the current voyage. Cheviot Island rose from the horizon at sunrise as humpbacks started breaching off the port bow. It was another one of those perfect moments so I woke everyone to share it with me.

By mid day we had arrived at Middle Percy and settled in at anchor about a hundred metres off the beach near the famous A frame hut. The A frame houses mementoes and records from thousands of small vessels that have visited there since early last century. For my money middle Percy is one of the most perfect places on the planet. It is a continental island with a microcosm of mini ecosystems including forest, grasslands, mangroves, a beautiful sandy beach fringed with coconut palms, a perfect mini boat harbour which in the words of Mathew Flinders has a mouth barley wide enough to admit the oars of a small rowing dory, and a couple of fresh water creeks.(although due to a current drought they have failed to run for the first time in living memory). Many of these ecosystems have been modified or in fact created by human habitation as the islands social history is almost as old as that of Sydney(at least from a white fella perspective).

Aboriginal folk have been visiting here possibly for thousands of years in small canoes. Middens on some of the beaches as well as other signs and observations made by Mathew Flinders will support that claim. Flinders visited here several times and devotes several pages in his log to the place. He was also reportedly responsible for placing the first pair of breeding goats on the island. Since that time the place has been farmed more or less continuously and more recently has become a haven for visiting yachties to replenish their stocks of water, veggies, meat, hides, eggs etc. In addition to the goats there are emus, chooks, peacocks, deer, kangaroos, turkeys and a wide variety of birds

For many decades now there has been a culture of self-sufficiency and hospitality towards visiting yachties (as opposed to tourism) on the part of the leaseholders or resident care takers of the island. On our visit aboard Redbill in 1999 we were treated to an amazing lunch at the homestead situated on the summit of the island a couple of hours walk from the beach. Everything we ate that day had been grown, prepared, farmed, caught, shot or refined on the island by John, Liz and their two boys who had taken over as caretakers from Andrew the lease holder some 10 years previously. We were also able to purchase veggies, honey and fresh bread from them and they assisted us to careen Redbill in the harbour. At the time it seemed to me, an amazing haven of sustainability and self-reliance in a world of homogenised culture and systematic environmental abuse.

So it was with some excitement and very high expectations that I approached Middle Percy on this voyage. Mick the new leaseholder (courtesy of a gift from the ageing Andrew) has ejected John and Liz and has taken over management of the island. He greeted our group and invited us into the homestead on our arrival. He was full of information about the island and his plans for its future. The A frame was if anything better looked after and appeared as if someone had spent some time ordering and tidying its contents. On the down side the vegetable gardens were totally abandoned, the weather station was no longer manned, and there appeared to be no work in progress other that that which was required to provide for the immediate needs of the residents whose number appeared to have grown. Whereas before there was only one vehicle on the island there was now 5 or so and the air reverberated to the sound of small generators.

Perhaps these observations are unfair. It was pointed out that the drought had meant that there was no water for the veggie garden. In any event Mick’s stated policy is firmly behind continued support for yachties. The politics of the place are such that people fall easily or perhaps uneasily into camps supporting current or past regimes. People’s alliances are based on their own experience of the situation and who is to judge what is better or worse. Perhaps Middle Percy is forever bound to exist as a microcosm of the broader society. In any event there are court cases pending and at least one challenge to the legitimacy of Mick’s lease holding. Major developers are waiting in the wings, with Queen’s council in tow, and the 99 year lease covering the island expires in 2008. I must admit that as we sailed away from middle Percy I was saddened by what I feared was the passing of a little known haven for, and shrine to, the often maligned and marginalized seafarer.

We departed Middle Percy on Saturday midday and set a course for Scawfell Island where we anchored for the night. The following day we continued on to the Whitsunday's. Our first choice of anchorage after inspecting the charts was the southern end of the famous Whitehaven Beach. Unfortunately the anchorage was so crowded when we got there just before sunset that we abandoned the idea in favour of Haslewood Island. Sadly the first anchorage we tried there was also totally full so we motored round to a place called Windy Bay. Windy bay lived up to its name beautifully and we were buffeted and spun at anchor all night by winds channeled down from the surrounding peaks. But we had the bay to ourselves apart from a group of dolphins. The following day we made our way into Airlie Beach to drop our first group of Voyagers off.

They were totally happy with the experience we had provided for them and said that they would be back to do a different part of the coast next year. Jo who is a teacher stated that she was committed to doing a trip aboard Pelican with a group of teenagers from her school. She hopes to book out the whole boat and enthused about all the tasks and skills they could do and perform on such a trip and what a great learning experience it would be for them.

In Airlie we tackled the usual tasks of cleaning, refueling, re-supplying and generally catching our breath in preparation for the next voyage. Today Friday 16th July we welcome onboard four friends that will be joining us for the next 10 days on our way to Cairns via Townsville……….to be continued…….watch this space.