A whale of a tale
Aaahh the joys of sailing north in a Southern Hemisphere winter. I’m constantly surprised at the temperature of southern Queensland during their crisp winter evenings. I’ve left Tassie behind and it’s barely one less overcoat warmer in the Sunshine State. We met our crew at The Boatworks in Coomera on the Gold Coast. Somehow we’d snagged a T-Berth on the superyacht arm of this amazing marine industrial precinct. ‘The biggest marine hub in the southern hemisphere’, one proud, thong wearing, Broncos loving Queenslander loudly informed me.
He’s not wrong though. I’d definitely say it is up there with the Big Pineapple, The Big Banana and Clive Palmer as world-renowned BIG Queensland attractions. We have 700 nautical miles to cover on this leg and the decision was made with my astute First Mate, Priscilla Queen of the Sea, to get a sizeable chunk of our journey out of the way early. A deep low pressure system in the Tasman Sea, was funneling a cold southerly jet stream up the Eastern seaboard of that rather large island north of my beloved home, Tassie. Hence the cool weather on the Gold Coast. So we set sail, bound for the southern edges of the Great Barrier Reef.
The many challenges that present itself on what was a 57-hour transit were there. Fatigue, seasickness, random alarms going off in the middle of the night, migrating humpbacks assuming right of way. But all in all, our journey was relatively drama free. The conditions were not always comfortable, with winds gusting up to 30 knots, a following sea and a faulty autohelm that required us all to do our fair share of helming, old-school style. ‘This is what I’m here for’ said James, when I asked him if he was ok with all the shenanigans. Just at this moment a whale breached. These magnificent creatures really are some of the biggest you will find in the Southern Hemispere. It’s a wonder how they manage to get so much mammal leaping into the air. I can barely jump 30 centimetres off the ground.
Back to James and his wife Megan; they are on this trip as a journey of discovery. They own their own boat and are considering whether they would like to do long passages themselves, or continue sailing with organisations like Ocean Sailing Expeditions. I will inform you all of their decision in due course. If I make it as tricky as possible they may just choose to spend their days sailing with us:)
The final day of this leg, was magic. The sun came out, it was actually warm, and the 15-18 knot southeasterly winds were a perfect engine for the magical Magic Miles sweet spot. Upon anchoring, the bbq was fired up, the music was playing, a few guests partook in a well-earned beverage and we sat and appreciated the beauty of a setting Queensland sun, which was without a doubt, the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere.
Stay tuned for the next episode. ‘A drone meets its watery grave’
