On Our Way North

On our way north: we left Tin Can Bay marina on a gloomy grey day, we ventured up the inside of Fraser crossing Sheridan Flats some 5 hours later on a rising tide. We crossed early afternoon with 1.5m of tide, Penzance draws 1.9m so it’s always a nervous time. The crossing was uneventful with the navionics preferred track on our new Simrad EVO plotter proving invaluable.

South White Cliffs was our destination, just 30 minutes north of Sheridan Flats and a perfect spot with the forecast SE winds that night. We dropped anchor in 4m of water in nice and close to the cliffs giving us a really peaceful nights rest.

The next morning we were up early to catch the outgoing tide. The tide floods north and south of Sheridan Flats and getting this right makes a massive difference. We were underway nice and early, low tide in Hervey Bay was 11am and we got a real kick with 2knots of tide pushing us up into the Bay.

As the sun rose we were greeted by a beautiful Qld winters day, entering Hervey Bay the water was glassy and even a few turtles and a curious dolphin.

Haul Out

Earlier this month we hauled Penzance for her annual antifoul and some final checks before we head to the Whitsundays.

All went to plan, I got Tin Can Bay boat care to take care of the Altex #5 while I spent a busy few days polishing the rest of the hull. Above the water line was waxed with Colinite Fleet wax paste. This is the only wax I’ve found which lasts a full year in the water, highly recommended with a few local suppliers selling online.

Maiden Voyage Qld Bound

With the help of friends Gyng and John we headed out of Pittwater on a cool June night. A few short weeks earlier there had been a major container spill off Newcastle. The thought of 80 shipping container bobbing around just off the NSW coast meant a rethink on plans. We pushed the trip back a few weeks, to buy some time for things to unfold. NSW waterways and AMSA were very helpful and provided good insights to assist. It wasn’t long until containers started beaching from Pittwater to Port Stephen’s and wide spread debris was washing up as far north as Coffs so the dangers were very real.

Slipping the mooring at Church Point around midnight on June 25th 2018, Penzance pushed out into the coastal swell with a solid Westerly blowing. The plan was to hit the Newcastle area around dawn and transit the debris zone in daylight hours. All went to plan and with much relief we pushed north with hints of blue skies and kind seas.

The run up the coast was dominated by following sees and hand steering, Ted Turner failed on the way out of Newcastle, the simrad auto pilot display filled with water and that was the end of easy night watches. 

Having never had a boat with a heater, the webasto diesel heater was gold plated. Keeping the guys warm and dry meant a more comfortable trip, we ran the heater every night “luxury”.

Our game plan for the trip was to sail by day and run the motor each night from dusk to dawn to combat the lull in breezes each evening. 

With 90 liters in the tank we had enough fuel to make the Goldie and backup fuel in the locker if needed. The nav went to plan and day three we had dropped the sails and were on approach into the Gold Coast Seaway. Earlier that morning I did a double check on engine hours and fuel burn, I new we had less than 10 liters in the tank so not a lot of room for error. On approach into the seaway the wind was building and I had this uncomfortable feeling. I recall saying to the guys, could they prep the headsail so we could roll it out short notice as a backup. As we approached the seawall the swell lifted and I applied throttle for some extra drive, rather than the sound of building revs I got a splutter and near stall. Idling back while still in gear I tried again and the same result. By now we were committed and the swell was pushing us toward the starboard rock wall.

With the team on auto pilot the heady was unfurled and with a touch of luck the breeze was right on our beam and gave a much needed drive forward. With the rollers pushing us onto the starboard rocks, between sets I steered to port then got knocked again back toward the rock wall. It seems to take forever to enter the smooth waters of the broadwater and my nerves were shot. Once the motion settled the engine revs recovered and we idled toward the marina and a well deserved shower and eggs Benny.

The tank on Penzance is 90 liters, that day we pumped 89.7 liters into the tank, a situation I’m sure we will never repeat. With some time to replay the days events what hadn’t entered my thinking was the impact of running the diesel heater for 35-40 hours which I know now pushed us beyond the margin for error I had allowed.