can we help
+44(0)1983 296060
+1 757-788-8872
tell me moreJoin a rally

Menu

Mischief - Up to Mischief again: Log 63 Further adventures of S/Y Mischief through the eyes and ears of Chas Baynes



Sunday, 22nd July 2018 - Passage to Mackay, Australia

That was quite a night, fast sailing on relatively flat waters with around 15 knots of breeze from ESE.

The glorious sunset last night has been followed up by an equally spectacular sunrise this morning after what was a cold night all told. It remains chilly this morning in the wind so wearing long sleeves and a gillet still even though the sun is now up.

The 8am SSB net gave further news on the casualty yacht, Lunatix. They had managed to tie a system of ropes around the rudder blade and had effected a rudimentary steerage system sufficient to allow them to motor at around 4.5 knots towards Australia with the yacht Emily Morgan standing by. All well otherwise on board thank goodness. In the meantime, they were working on a more solid system using chain but it all sounds very positive.

We set the A5 asymmetric spinnaker at 9am and were now flying along again, albeit slightly above our required course, with the occasional broach as the self-steering was overpowered.

1200 Position: 18 deg 21.1' S 159 deg 39.6 E C: 265 W: SE 18 DR: 514 nm DTR: 539 nm

The 4pm radio net confirmed that Lunatix was making steady progress and Emily Morgan having to put up a bit more sail just to keep up! During that radio net the wind gusted such that we had all hands to the pump to get the spinnaker down and was forcing us too far off our course to make it worthwhile, so now we were on a beam reach with the genoa set and still doing 7+ knots and in the right direction.

I made a chilli con carne for tea with the last of the mince from the freezer as we are having to run down our stocks for entry into Australia. It leaves us with one bag of chicken pieces and some bacon. On the radio net this afternoon, Paul off Spirit of Catherine reported their single most serious problem on board in the quantity of bacon they have. Basically, it all has to be eaten or thrown over the side - it looks like they have bacon sandwiches morning, noon and night to get rid of it all; personally, I can't see that as a problem!

The half moon is out tonight and bright but even when it went down the stars were shining brightly too so we had quite good visibility most of the night in a cloudless sky. It was cold again though; I came on deck for my 3am shift and found Dave huddled in a blanket! But at the least the wind is constant on the beam, so we don't have to make constant adjustments to the steering as the boat is quite happy doing its own thing and eating the miles up. Easy sailing for a change so I read a book……..

Monday, 23rd July 2018 - Passage to Mackay, Australia still

After a very pleasant night sail the news regarding Lunatix continues to be good. In fact, Bones from Emily Morgan has suggested that they win a prize for the only boat to overtake Lunatix the most times as they hold station in case assistance is required there - in truth they are the only boat to have overtaken Lunatix at all!

Other boats have reported being 'attacked' by ducks, well seabirds of the Boobie variety at least. They seem to be taking up residence in peoples' rigging having a prolonged rest but creating piles of smelly guano on decks and solar panels which is not too pleasant by all accounts. Luckily, we haven't been afflicted so far at least. Dennis on Pretaixt seems to have the answer - use the fog horn!

1200 Position: 18 deg 50.9' S 156 deg 41.7' E SOG: 7.5 kn C: 255 DR: 681 nm DTR: 368 nm

We have had a glorious days sailing, under A5 spinnaker initially but thereafter under genoa and full mainsail as the wind increased. I was hand steering the boat for an hour or so as the self-steering was being over powered with the spinnaker up, which was great fun and made for a change. We were passed by the catamaran Misto (re-named by us as the gravy boat - Ah! Misto), who called us up on VHF introducing themselves as the 'paperazzi boat' and asking if we wanted to pose for a picture. Dave and I couldn't resist and at least one of the photos should they be published on the World Arc website may show our 'best sides' shall we say delicately?

Around tea time we started to notice a lot more seabirds around circling the boat and dive bombing the rigging, although none have tried a landing. It is a bit spooky though especially at night when the black shadows swoop past in the gloom. It's a bit like out of the Alfred Hitchcock movie.

Our ETA at the waypoint just inside the Great Barrier Reef, which also serves as our leg 7 finish line, is some time in the afternoon on the 25th , Wednesday. We still have about 100 miles to go once we enter the reef to Mackay but we are certainly making good progress: our 2400 distance to run is now 275 miles and all is well on board the good ship Mischief.


Previous | Next