Captains Log Date: 6 September 2007

As Pelican sailed down Port Phillip Bay towards the heads we had before us a journey of 2000 nautical miles and a little over 2 weeks to execute it. We were going to need some luck with the weather patterns to avoid long sessions of motoring into the wind. The first part of the trip we spent in a high pressure system that seemed to move with us up the coast. It provided us with still conditions, calm seas and almost constant company of humpback whales. They appear to be heading south early this year. The calm conditions kept our sails stowed and the engines running but they were perfect for whale observations. We saw literally hundreds with multiple encounters every day. This was very pleasing, but mentally I tried to evaluate whether there are any other observable differences from previous trips. There are perhaps fewer birds than I remember and the odd lone albatross perhaps further north than I recall but one thought stands out for me. Where are the flying fish? In the 1970’s and 80’s I remember watching as the small winged creatures launched themselves from the water and flew 20, 30, 80 metres at a time. Green Cape and southern NSW waters were alive with them. Is it the season? My early sightings would have been around March. I am confronted by how little I really know about the places we travel through or the animals that live here.

Constant company of whales, southern NSW.

27/08/07
We pause at a favourite spot, Bitangabee Bay a tiny natural harbour on a wild coast, just big enough to anchor Pelican in shelter. Despite the cold we cannot resist a swim. The water is clear and calm. Ruins above the bay, are said by some to predate Sydney and even Cook but more recent theories attribute them to early settlers establishing outposts in southern NSW. In any case they are ambitious with solid stone foundations, sizeable rooms and fabulous views over the sandy beach, and oyster clad rocks of the bay. I imagine their vessel, and only lifeline to Sydney, lying at anchor below them as they toiled to carve out a niche for themselves in a pristine environment. The local inhabitant’s response to their presence is not recorded.

Marina and Nima at Bitangabee

Our tight schedule beckons us onward. As we depart Bitangabee Bay I look seaward and to my horror observe a vision from my worst nightmare. At an estimated distance of ten miles I observe a wave perhaps 40 to 50 metres in height breaking continuously across more than 90 degrees of the horizon. My immediate response is to apply full throttle both engines and head out to sea directly for the watery monolith . As I do so my mind is wrestling. If we can make deeper water before it hits us perhaps we can get over it…. but the wave is already breaking. Ten miles off is roughly the edge of the continental shelf, about 200 metres depth of water. What kind of a wave is going to break in 200 metres of water. How fast is it travelling?

At this point only about 15 seconds have elapsed from my first sighting of the wave. Raf comes on deck and I shove the bino’s in his direction saying as nonchalantly as my pounding heart will allow, “What do you make of that ? Raf looks for some moments, adjusting the glasses then back at me. I think it’s a mirage. Then back at the horizon. Shit I hope it’s a mirage cause if it’s a wave its huge and its taking up most of the horizon. Thoughts of a future not lived, of my little boy and my dear Lara flash before my eyes. Well we’re in for some excitement here. An imperfect image from “The Perfect Storm” with Pelican in place of a old rusty trawler on the vertical face of a giant animated wave registers momentarily on my mind before Raf’s words finally sink in…. mirage …

We pause briefly at the wharf in Bermagui to exchange goods with John and Laura, my in-laws, who have kindly done some shopping for us and who agree to forward some things for Lara. It is dark, the moon has not yet risen. On the way in a wave breaks across the mouth of the harbour, giving us a little pause, same again on the way out 40 minuts later soaking Nima who is on the trampolene. There is an unusual north easterly swell running.

We are making good time despite economical cruising on a single engine at only 2000 rpm. We are making around 135 nm. (nautical miles) per day for a penalty of about 70 litres of fuel. This figure improves further when we can motor sail and obviously drops to zero under sail alone. To place this in context a 60 ft game boat at 18 knots will use around 200 litres per hour. Pelican is performing beautifully. The new canopy has reduced the windage quite noticeably and seems to create a high pressure zone between the roof and the boom which means less air spills from the bottom of the mainsail providing better lift and performance. We can now point, under sail alone, at 35 º off the apparent wind and can comfortably motorsail at 30 º. These figures are a significant improvement over past performance. We have modified the sheeting angle for the staysail which is also helping.

Just north of Jarvis Bay we encounter good sailing conditions. Our speed over ground varies between 5 and 9 knots all day as we point into a nice NW breeze of between 8 and 15 knots. The East Australian current seems to average between 1 and 2 knots against us but is observed as high as 3. We are doing well despite this significant penalty.

The crew is now in a comfortable routine. The moon chases the sun across the sky. The winds play gently with the water. Thousands of humpbacks move south in a leisurely fashion breaching occasionally. The earth places itself directly between the sun and the moon creating a dirty smudge on the silver orb. We have a perfect view of the event in clear conditions and light winds. When fully eclipsed the moon emits a dull orange glow. At such times things can seem magical........or something less desirable.

On this occasion I have a slight dis-ease. I wonder what changes we will observe in the coming months and years and whether the earth can withstand the assault that we are subjecting it to. I reflect that there appears to be an inversely proportional relationship between technology and the state of the planet. The better the technology gets the sicker the planet becomes. We have at our disposal the most amazing GPS charting, navigation and communication technologies. Aboard Pelican we can now beam data, direct to the internet. We can dial anywhere in the world at the touch of a button. We can reach millions of people instantly without leaving the wheelhouse. We can beam them pictures, and words but what are we going to say to them, “Hi folks we are now out in the wilderness. Gee its hot out here. We can’t find anything left alive but gosh what a beautiful sunset”.

Luna eclipse 29/8/07

We keep a close watch on the weather and decide to take 24 hours off in Port Stevens to allow a northerly to pass through. This is much easier than fighting our way up wind and gives us an opportunity to complete some small jobs and catch some rest.

02/09/07
Our next port of call is Southport where we pause for 24 hours. We have taken 9 days including 24 hours off in Port Stevens to cover just over 1000 nautical miles. Marina Forni gets off and returns to her duties with the Sea Shepherds. We will miss her strong coffee, her vegan pizza and her constant excited cries of “whale, look over there beautiful”. Samantha Proudley comes aboard as cook and deckhand for the HopeVale expedition and once again we are heading north.

The forecast predicts strong SE to S winds at 25 to 40 knots over the next few days. We anticipate a quick passage to Cairns with little or no motoring. As we navigate outside Fraser Island I choose to go well off shore. I remember turbulent conditions here in the past with confused sea states and the resulting discomfort. Perhaps I should have selected a route much closer to shore. The wind strengthens steadily as we sail north. We pass some 22 miles east of double Island point. I abandon any idea of sneaking in behind Fraser in the knowledge that conditions on the Wide Bay Bar will be nasty. With the wind backing ENE we are sailing on double reefed mizzen and partly furled staysail in a violent beam sea. The wind is steady at 30 to 40 knots and gusting well over 55 against a south setting current estimated at three knots. The resulting sea state is chaotic with waves breaking in all directions including straight up. I hand steer to avoid the worst waves but we are still jolted frequently by the sound of waves hitting the hulls and the underside of the bridge deck with considerable force. In 26,000 nautical miles Pelican has never slammed her bridge deck until now. We have sailed in much stronger winds and bigger conditions (I estimate the waves here at 3 to 4 metres) but this has to take the prize for the most uncomfortable sea state we have yet encountered.

Finally we claw past Sandy Cape and Breaksea Spit at the northern end of Fraser Island and can bear away on a course for Middle Percy Island 250 miles NE. The wind moderates gradually and steadies at 25 to 30 knots on the port quarter. The next 24 hours could not be more different from the preceding. Pelican is steady at between 10 and 15 knots SOG (speed over ground) in total comfort. With both genoas fully deployed our course is with the waves which are still at about 4 metres but have developed much nicer manners. Pelican is surfing at speeds up to 20 knots. We cover 460 miles in two and a half days between Southport and Middle Percy despite a strong south setting current against us. At one stage we cover an estimated 240 miles through the water in 24 hours.

06/09/07
We decide to attempt to enter the inner harbour at Middle Percy to careen Pelican to effect some maintenance tasks on the hulls and engine legs, but will wait until daylight and high tide to navigate the narrow entrance. To my surprise we are the only vessel at Middle Percy as the sun comes up with the exception of Mick's steel fishing vessel. Mick is the lease holder at Middle Percy. His vessel sits partly on the mud at the jetty in the lagoon. Pelican slides in to join her in the perfect shelter of the natural harbour.

Raf and Pelican on the hard at Middle Percy

The rest of the journey to Cairns is uneventful. We sail or motor sail depending on the conditions and life aboard Pelican takes on a comfortable routine. Raf naturally takes on the role of sailing master and is happily tending and trimming sails to tweak Pelican’s performance. Sam has settled in well and delivers great meals from the galley Nima kindly allows me to share the book he is reading. I have already read everything else on board and am trying to limit the ships library due to the weight of literature and the space it occupies in the ships office. I am immediately drawn however to the writing of Derek Jensen in his tome “Endgame” which is a fascinating and challenging look at life and the state of the world. Two weeks of no television, silence, constant whale sightings with only the mundane tasks of sailing, reading and watch keeping to occupy us, have worked their magic on Pelican’s crew. We are calm and happy immersed in our simple life and that which surrounds us, on this bountiful ocean. Jensen’s book though regarded as depressing by some, lifts my spirits in this situation and I am inspired to renew my effort to make some contribution to my world. I feel lucky to be involved with Pelican and the team behind her and lucky indeed to be standing on the deck on a beautiful day. The Whitsunday Islands slip by, Magnetic, Palm, Hinchinbrook and a host of other amazing places and I think about the work that needs to be done.

Palm Island sunset

Whitsunday Islands, photo Samantha Proudley

Cairns involves joyous reunion with family and friends for me. This takes me away from the boat for a few days. Raf and Sam continue the final preparations for The ANZ Hope Vale Community Project 2007. Pelican has never looked so good and our team has never been so ready.

The rest of our team arrive during the second week in Cairns -Nick Kelly, Estelle Kerford, Joseph Raya, who joins us for the first time and our Expedition Leader for this project Peter Malcolm.

We have a an expanded program planned this year and are adding digital storytelling workshops, music and performance, basket weaving and more focused work with smaller groups in the community to our normal program of sailing, exploring, fishing and community support.

This year the first 5 days of the project will focus on working with 12 boys aged between 12-15 who have been having problems in the community. During this first week, Sarah Luxemburg, the ANZ Cooktown branch Manager, will also join us.

From day 6 to 12 we will be based at Cape Flattery, where there will be a large community camp of about 80 people from Hope Vale. Joining our team here are: Bruce McQualter -ANZ's Head of Indigenous Employment and Training; Katie McQualter, Bruce's daughter -studying at Newcastle Uni, specialising in Diabetes Prevention for Indigenous Australians; Samia Goudie, a Western Bundjalung/Mununjali woman -has tertiary qualifications in Sexual Health Couselling and Social Ecology. She is a Fulbright scholar, specialising in using digital storytelling to help heal and tell people's stories -she plans to teach Hope Vale youngsters this art, whilst capturing some of the Elder's personal stories; Dr Ian Bell -one of Australia's top turtle scientists, from Qld Parks & Wildlife. He will be camping ashore with his kids and will conduct turtle tagging and education, working with the Hope Vale youngsters; Sam Dibella -Cooktown Qld Parks and Wildlife. He will assist Ian and be camping with his family -Sam was with us last year turtle tagging at the Cape; Sara Lovett -teaches value based leadership and self awareness, specialising in women's healing circles; Natalie Davey -one of our core Pelican team. She will assist Samia and brings her daughter; Davini Malcolm (Peters wife) -specialises in healing women. She will be camping with their 3 youngest kids.

Additionally ABC's 7.30 report and Message Stick are coming with a shared camera crew this year to document what we are doing. The 7.30 Report is planning on doing a short segment within a week or so after filming; whereas Message Stick are planning a longer segment, possibly for November.

Howard's Northern Territorry intervention and Noel Pearson's association with Hope Vale have focused broad attention on the community in general. But Estelle and Des Bowen along with many other Elders and community members have been pushing for change in their own way for years. Our involvement is a direct result of their initiative. In my own mind there is no doubt that when people take control of their own situation, change for the better is more probable. We want to thank the ANZ bank for their commitment to this project over the last three years. Without their support our work at this level with Hope Vale would not be possible.

Happy Sailing Garry McKechnie