On Saturday, the heavens opened, they unleashed torrents of rain, for 12 hours. Cabin fever set in, a full rocky road easter egg the size of my head was consumed and sugar highs and lows shortly followed behind. It was time for the making of tracks. Hanging out in our backyard was not the aim of the game and these gale force winds were going to stop us no more!
Sunday became boat prep day, ahead of a big sail day on Monday.
Monday 4am, the alarm startles Hugh and I. In the dark we fumble around and grunt at each other. Basic questions: Is that put away? is this up in the cockpit? Do you have your jacket? And in the pitch black of pre-dawn we made way, picking our way through the moorings at Careel Bay with a spotlight to avoid any unwanted 'bumps in the night'. 45.3 nautical miles to go!
Rain again? Our second start is similar to our first. Rain, wind and general chilliness are features of the sail. We motorsail for a while. There are whispers of sunrise on the horizon, however the clouds are having none of that, and keep it a secret from us. Finally the sun breaks through and brings with it the wind, a glorious westerly and so out comes the jib, our most favoured sail which is enormous and takes the boat to a leisurely 6 knots/hr.
We run out of breeze and out of time, as the Swansea bridge won't open for us at 4pm. The motor gets a kick and we are breaking 6knots trying to get to the Swansea bar before 3pm. Thankfully the bridge man is feeling jolly today and gives us an extra 10 minutes leeway to make the 3pm. At 3:04pm we glide through the two-way Swansea bascule bridge, forcing central coasters to wait patiently as we close the Pacific Highway. They don't just open the bridge for anybody…so Hugh feels particularly important!
4:30pm, the captain who conquered the Swansea bar and stopped traffic cracks open his beer after a long and sometimes slow day at sea.
22/4/2013
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