Ola Ola Were still alive!!!!!

Man O Man you could say we just finished the trip from Hell. There where so many firsts I cannot even count them, and that after many years of sailing I thought I'd seen it all by now,
 Guess I was wrong.

Prep was hectic and very very busy. 2 months of hard work with lots of fiber glassing , painting and rain each day which made it very difficult. Thank God for Dolores and her help just prior to departure. In the end Ar Seiz Avel looked great again after 1 1/2 years in storage.

Three people showed up for the trip; Bob, Louis and Susan. Paul, who had also booked, cancelled because he got a great job on a super yacht.

It started of with motoring down the river, the boat taking on water from unknown sources but definitely salt water. At the mouth of the river we were poised to go out to sea but got stuck waiting for good weather. For 2 days and 2 nights we sat out the storm. We finally left to motor to the Bay of Islands in a rough sea after the storm passed. Bob gets so seasick he is totally out of it! We spent 2 nice days in the Bay of Islands and went to Opua to check out with customs, then the next storm arrived. Spent 2 days at the dock with the boat heeled over in some screaming winds and were glad to be nice and toasty and not out at sea. Finally we leave, after motoring in to building winds and seas again we decide to wait a little longer and find a nice little bay to wait out another night before leaving for Australia.

The next day off we go!!! "Wind on the nose off course" and really slow going. En route I informed the crew that we will never make it as per schedule to Bundaberg because of our delays. We decide to stop at the next harbour, "Whangaroa harbour", to make phone calls and change airline reservations. What a gem this stopover was! Just beautiful, you enter through a narrow channel and all of a sudden this fantastic large bay opens up with beautiful islands. The Marlin Club was very hospitable with great docks and good food. Bob learned that he could not change his ticket and hotel reservations for his planned Norfolk Island trip and in all honesty did not care for the rough stuff so he decided to disembark and continue his overland travels. Louis managed to make some changes and as for Susan she's signed for the next leg anyways so "no worries".
 

Finally we leave with the Inuit good luck flag hoisted high, Louis had specially brought this for this trip. Thick fog makes motoring out and finding the entrance a bit of a challenge but after reaching the open sea we are welcomed by beautiful sunshine and a light breeze. Well don't get excited that was only to last for a few hours or so because the weather Gods had different plans. Here arrived this black black sky with a ton of rain, lightning and thunder and no wind so we just floated around and waited it out. We were only a few miles off the coast with 1400 miles to go.

The first three days were good sailing with good mileage averaging about a 120 miles a day. Susan is a bit seasick and I don't feel so great either. After that we would have some major event happen on a daily basis ranging from calms, violent squalls, thunderstorms, a fish boat trying to run us down even after we established radio contact. A 3 day storm blew in, beating to weather for days we sailed 400 miles more than scheduled. The boat was taking on water, the cockpit got flooded and the weather cloth was ripped by a big breaker. A squall sprung up without any warning with winds going from 10kn to 45/50 in about 30 seconds! I was out on deck screaming, franticly lowering all the sails and then 10 minutes later suddenly we are back at 10 knots with beautiful clear skies as if nothing ever happened!

200 miles of the big Oz we got flown over by the Australian Coast Guard who contacted us, Oh yeah we also had a couple of nice starry nights with good sailing, a swim in the middle of the ocean, calm for at least 3 or 4 nights. The last 100 miles proved to be the most difficult with strong headwinds and very steep seas. I felt sorry sometimes for the crew and the poor Ar Seiz Avel who had to work so hard!! We sailed our brains out and got nowhere. 60 miles of sailing to make 5 miles good to our destination and wherever we turned and pointed the bow the wind would follow us and blow straight in our face again. Found an island near the Australian coast to drop anchor for a few hours of reprieve and to hide from the large and steep waves that where bringing us down. I thought we where never going to make it.
 

 
Finally, 5 days overdue, we make Bundaberg. The Crew was fabulous and they where a great asset during our trying times, needless to say they learned lots about sailing and storms and emergency tactics [Which was not really in the brochure for this leg] but Susan and Louis loved it!!

Customs and Immigration was a chapter by itself. We had dumped all of our left over fresh food already before our arrival. The Quarantine officer charged us $120.00 and walked off with al of our canned pork, ham, honey, corn and much more. Customs welcomed us, stamped our passport and than gave us the 3rd degree "how come you are so late?!" They even checked our logbook and wanted to see our chart with our sailed route. It didn't matter where we went after that, be it buying diesel or getting a berth at the marina. People would say "Oh you finally made it we where wondering what took you so long". I guess that's what happens when big birds fly overhead in the middle of the ocean. Customs told us that they where almost considering sending out a search party, but I was thinking that "BIG BROTHER" was taking their job rather too seriously and wondered what is happening to freedom. I thought that by going out to sea we can be in charge of our own destiny and act as we deem necessary.

Bundaberg is great !!!

The people are very nice. The Bundaberg rum taste's great. It's finally warm and sunny. The boat is washed, new weather clothes are being made, we are finally drying out and tomorrow is the staple food day because on June the 6th Blue, Michel, Sue and Dave are coming aboard and then we are "out of here", destination Cairns and many fantastic Great Barrier Reef Islands.

Goodbye, that's all for now.

Wishing you Fairwinds
(Was just reminded of how important that really is).