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Navigation Exercise & Competition - What is the expected date (ETA) of Jessica’s Pink Lady arrival at the Heads of Sydney Harbour?
Terry’s Clue
As at 20th March 2010 Jessica’s Pink Lady has approximately 8,000 kilometres to go. The average speed of Pink Lady is 5 knots. Our navigation and RYA YA Day Skipper and Coastal Skipper graduates will know that:-
1 kilometre = 0.5399 nautical Miles. The 10 winners closest to arrival day, will be invited to join us on one of our yachts to welcome Jessica and Pink Lady into the heads. The person with the closest ETA or day and time will be invited as our guest to race with us on the Winter Series for a day. (or alternatively a social sail if she enters the heads during our Audi CYCA Sunday Winter Season Race) Please make your estimate here on our Sailing News Blog or email us at info@pacificsailingschool.com.au.
Jesse's Blogs
So Close and What I'm Going To Miss I've spent the day on deck watching us surf along with a grin from one seriously cold ear to the other numb one (and right now I'm paying the price with a badly wind burnt face!). I can't believe how fast this last week has gone. Only two more sleeps till the finish line! Have I mentioned how excited I am? It's like the day before Christmas except I don't ever remember getting this excited about Christmas. Two more sleeps till a hot shower, fresh food and, and, and, everything else! Mind you I think it's going to take a fair bit longer than that for the whole 'I've just sailed around the world' thing to sink in. It's just too big to get my head around! Some time way back in the Atlantic, I remember I wrote about all the things I missed about home. So I thought I'd make a list of some of the things I'm going to miss out here. The first thing is pretty obvious, I'm going to miss I'm going to miss the kick I get from overcoming challenges by myself, flying along in the dark. A new sunset every night and the time I always take to watch it. I'm going to miss watching the waves and sea. I know it's Bruce, Suzanne and Mick on Big Waver Rider are going to be meeting up with me sometime tomorrow to sail the last few miles along side Ella's Pink Lady, can't wait to see them! See you all soon! Jesse A Working Engine! Thanks Jim, Iain and Dad for the ideas and Bruce for the encouragement (threat!). Bruce knew just the right thing to say to get me fired up and to give me the incentive to get the engine going. If there's one thing I've learnt out here, it's that there's nothing that can't be fixed with enough perseverance, even if it means pulling some other part of the boat apart to do it! So apart from spending a lot of time lately getting covered in diesel puzzling over the engine, I've been enjoying lots of sunshine and making an extra effort with the house/boat work so Mum doesn't have a heart attack when she sees the cabin. Actually Mum's not like that and the cabins never been that bad (cough cough!). Then yesterday I saw my first blue whale of the trip (I know I can't believe it either). Then I got a bit creeped out by something seriously big jumping out of the water all around us in the dark when the water glassed out last night. It was probably just marlin but I'd rather imagined it was something more exciting like a great white chasing dinner! And of course yesterday was Mother's Day. I couldn't cook her breakfast in bed or make her a card like she deserves a million times over, so I've saved an extra hug for when I get in. What Mum did letting me go and helping me get to the start line while still looking after everyone else is in my eyes much harder than anything I've faced out here. Thanks Mum! The problem with this lovely weather and the amazing starry nights I've been getting, is that I'm really not sure I want the voyage to end! I could go on forever like this. One quiet day after another, doing things at my own pace with little challenges and problems to keep me busy. Except of course there's also so, so many things I'm looking forward to when I get back home! In one way I think sailing back through Sydney Heads is going to be as tough as it was sailing out through them. I'm told that things are going to change pretty majorly for me as well, so that's a little scary. But I'm not worried because I know that if I can find a reason to laugh while surrounded by huge waves, in the dark and after a knockdown, then I'll be able to smile through whatever comes my way. Oh dear I'm getting far too soppy and reflective, so I'd better finish up. Only 5 more sleeps and 4 days left! Jesse Sunshine, a Ship and Engine Problems But not everything's going as well as the weather. The fuel system on the engine is still giving me grief, so I can't get the engine to start. This isn't the end of the world, it just means that I've got to be extra careful with power usage. If I can't get it going again, then Jesse and Mike will just have to row Ella's Pink Lady up to the dock after the finish line. No, only kidding, we'll work something out. I would be very nice to motor in under our own steam, so I'll keep trying. Since I gave up on the food bag system and went for all my favorites a while ago, I'm starting to run out of good food. I've had to start eating the stuff I'd normally leave (I know it serves me right!), but on the up side, I've got so much spare fresh water, that I've been able to use it for washing. Other than that, the dunny has also decided not to play nicely, which is also ore annoying than anything. I mean couldn't it wait just one more week before refusing to work? Last night the AIS also picked up the first ship I've seen since under Africa, but it didn't come close and I'm pretty surprised that it's the only one I've seen. If you've had a bit of a look at the voyage map or if you're familiar with these waters, you're probably wondering why it's taking so long to get to Sydney. If I was in any sort of rush or the weather was miserable, yes I could get in before the 15th. But I made the decision with my team a while back to set the 15th as the arrival date, so that I didn't feel any pressure trying to meet an earlier date. And the reason that we've set a date at all, rather than just letting the wind blow Ella's Pink Lady and I in at random, is because a lot of people needed to book flights and make arrangements. If my estimated arrival date changed one more time, I'd have a lot of annoyed relatives! From what I've heard, planning my arrival in Sydney is turning out to be a pretty complicated business, with all sorts of different authorities involved. If I was head over heels desperate to get in to shore and off Ella's Pink Lady, things would be different. But with the sun shining again, I'm totally excited, but not in any particular rush to get home. I'd like to make it perfectly clear that Jesse Savouring Every Second I mean there's millions, properly billions of people who still don't believe in global warming, so I'm more than happy to settle for a few people going against the tide and declaring that mine hasn't been an official circumnavigation. Well I think I've wasted more than enough time on the whole petty debate - so moving on! I've had a bit of everything with the weather over the last few days. Some sunshine, some strongish winds and a thunderstorm the other night that shot-forked lightning into the water, not far from Ella's Pink Lady. I also pulled some of the stitching out of my repairs on the mainsail. But despite that, sore hands and a little issue with the engine I'm trying to sort out at the moment, I couldn't be in better sprits. I'm having the time of my life slowly cruising up the coast, not pushing Ella's Pink Lady too hard, and looking forward to arriving on the 15th. I'm enjoying all the highs of solo sailing and in just a few days, I've got seeing friends and family to look forward to. I think I can safely say that I'm now seriously excited about getting home! It's probably a good thing that I'm by myself because if there was anyone else here I'd be driving them mad with all my hyperactive energy! Jesse A Day Off, Headwinds and What Next? First off I had the best sleep I've had in a long time and was eventually woken up mid morning by a friendly voice over the VHF radio as another customs plane dropped by to say hi. I spent the rest of the day being really lazy with the sailing side of things. Instead, I caught up on a few jobs in the sunshine, got some washing done and gave myself a pampering with all my Ella Bache goodies. I'm not just saying this because they're my sponsor. Ella Bache really has some amazing Today the wind was back, but right on Ella's Pink Lady's bow so progress wasn't great. Still, no complaints. Sydney sure looks close from this side of Tasmania which has got me really excited about being so close to finishing. But it is also a big reminder for me to make the most of my last days out here. I always said that by half way around the world I'd have a pretty good idea of what I want to do next, but it turns out that I was wrong. Here I am almost the whole way around the world and there's millions of things I can't wait to do next! I've got all sorts of plans (most of which Dad isn't too thrilled about!) and there's a ton of other sailing to look forward to. But for a while, I think re-adjusting to life on land, keeping up with some of the exciting things planned for me, finishing my book and documentary, getting my driver's license and finishing school will be more than enough to keep me busy. I'm also desperate to do a bit of travelling. I know that sounds a bit crazy, but I mean the sort of traveling where you stop places and meet people! Well it's dinner time for me now. It's Easyfood lamb chops tonight, so I better get going before they go cold. Jesse The Last Cape! I never expected rounding Tasmania to be much of a big deal, but all of last week's struggles made finally getting around the cape 10 times sweeter. (Insiders tip, jumping up and down in a 5 metre swell isn't a good idea. ouch!) There's no letting the guard down yet, but it's great to be back in to more familiar waters. I'm also thrilled to be headed north into warmer temperatures again. OK, so it's not really that cold down here. mostly I'm just complaining. But with a bit of water on your hands, this wind only takes a few minutes to make your hands go numb when working on deck. After all my worrying, this time we got lucky and the expected weather didn't get as bad as it might have. It's been pretty breezy for the last few days, but gusted to not much more than 40 knots last night. The wind is sitting on about 25 knots at the moment and the swells are starting to die off as we pass into the lee of Tasmania. Jesse Taking It As It Comes So that was the good news. The bad news is that there's MORE rubbish weather headed our way. After looking at the weather charts showing this new low pressure system expected over the weekend, I'll admit I had to dig real deep to stay cool about it all. Right now I've got more than a few bruises and sore muscles. Overall I feel pretty drained and would kill for some easy sailing but seeing as that's not what I'm going to get I'm just going to have to toughen up some more and deal with it! It helps a lot knowing that Ella's Pink Lady was built to take this and having Bob's great weather updates. As long as I keep myself fed and rested, there's no reason that I can't take anything on. Also, for some reason or another, it really does help knowing that's there's tonnes of people thinking of me out here, so thanks guys! Jesse Stalling and Over again With the forecast looking worse and worse last Monday and after a lot of umming and arring and discussion with Bruce and all the team, I decided to stall and stick up north for a few days till the worst of the weather has passed down under Tasmania. With the Bass Strait right there in front of us, taking a short cut through it and out of the weather had to be considered too. But it was decided that the safest thing to do was to just hang about waiting for it to pass before heading for the bottom of Tasmania again. I don't think there was really any choice, it just took me a while to get over being annoyed and accept that I was going to have to hang about and wait a little while longer before getting to Sydney and having a hot shower! And last night things sure got interesting. I put the drogue (a parachute like thing that you trail behind the boat to slow you down in really big seas) out to stop us losing too much ground and to stop us being knocked down. The wind gusted at 55 knots and the sea was (and still is!) a total, gigantic mess, with 8-12 meter swells. Although the wind is easing now, the sea's still rising. Riding out the weather with the drogue out was a lot like my first gale in Ella's Pink Lady because of the new motion and all the new noises. It didn't make for the most relaxing night as I played around with the bridle to try and get us sitting at the right angle to the waves. Then when I did put my head down for a bit of sleep we were knocked down again when the lashing came off the tiller and a big wave caught us on the side. This time we went more than 90 degrees over, port (left) side down for a change. No damage again but this time my big bottle of dishwashing liquid worked its way out of the locker and went flying, empting its contents absolutely everywhere! The whole cabin including the key board I'm typing on is covered in sticky, slippery, bubbly lemon fresh washing up liquid -lovely. Mum reckons that I have some sort of obsession with cleaning! And I'm starting to wonder why I bother drying and tidying the cabin anymore, as it never lasts. It's still going to be some time before the sea drops off and we're able to head south, which is going to delay my arrival date back. But on the up side, these waves are just amazing. I spent years dreaming about what waves like this looked like and they are 10 times more incredible than I'd ever imagined. I just can't believe I sailed the whole way around the world to see them when here they are right in my own backyard! I was sorry to hear about Abby having to pull in to Cape Town for repairs. But like Abby said so well in her blog the other day, in one way it's great that we're now aiming for slightly different records, so that we don't have to be competing with each other. I'm also totally jealous that she's probably going to beat me to a hot shower! Jesse Knockdown, Huge Seas and a Buzz from Customs Despite the fact that today started with a knockdown, a wet bunk, a headache and some pretty huge seas, I've had a great day. I know the words knockdown and great don't belong in the same sentence, but right now I'm feeling better than I have all week. And I don't mean that I've been feeling lousy all week, I mean that right now I've got sore cheeks from smiling all afternoon. The wind started coming up yesterday and sat on about 35 knots all night with maybe the odd gust reaching close to 40, which isn't really a big deal with Ella’s Pink Lady sailing under just the storm jib, because I was being extra conservative (i.e. my nerves weren't really feeling up to any fast surfing!). It was the swell that got interesting. The big seas were from a nasty low pressure system passing to the south and although we missed most of its wind, we sure copped some big seas. Probably the biggest I've seen so far (the sea during that storm in the Atlantic was nastier though because it was steeper and more closely spaced.) These swells were 10 metre liquid mountains, rolling past with tumbling white tops. Ella's Pink Lady was handling it all beautifully though and when we were knocked down just after it got light this morning, I'd actually started relaxing because the wind and sea had already started easing. I was in my bunk asleep this time when we went over and was woken up when various objects (see Pic 2 below) and a whole lot of water landed on top of me. Seriously whatever happed to gently shaking someone awake and handing them a cup of coffee? Anyway it wasn't too bad as far as knockdowns go. I'd say the mast only just touched the water and there wasn't any damage. But having a whole lot of bilge water in my bunk didn't have me thrilled. Annoyingly, I'd only just turned the outside cameras off half an hour before. If the cameras had been on just a little longer, you could well have been watching this instead of reading about it - how annoying! After Ella's Pink Lady picked herself back up I figured there wasn't anything I could do till things calmed down a bit more, so I put my wet weather gear on, pulled up the hood and climbed back into my soaking bunk. It doesn't compare to comfy PJ's (pyjamas) and a soft double bed with fresh sheets, but I couldn't have slept better! When I got up again, the sun was shining and the sea had dropped off some more but was still spectacular. Totally amazing to watch from under the dodger, which was what I was doing when the wind generator suddenly started roaring like crazy. I quickly climbed out into the cockpit to see that the roaring wasn't coming from the wind genny, but a plane just over head! It was the Australian customs sent to investigate the suspicious looking pink boat. Nah, just kidding. They were on a routine flight and dropped by to say hi and to remind me to check into with the appropriate authorities when I reach Sydney, which seems kinda strange, seeing as I haven't stopped anywhere. But I suppose it’s regulation and my shore team has all that under control. After that, with some more sail up as the wind kept dropping, I had a really fun afternoon hand steering in the sunshine, surfing along and taking in the amazing sea. The rest of the week isn't going to be any easier with another front and low pressure system expected, but unlike a few days ago, I'm not dreading it anymore. Just looking forward to getting down under Tasmania and doing some fast sailing. It’s Anzac day tomorrow so I'll make a special effort to watch the sunrise, take a minute to think about all our soldiers away from home and maybe I'll have a crack at making some Anzac cookies. Jesse Good Sailing So nothing too new or exciting to report just lots of flying along with the occasional patch of sunshine and life as normal on Ella's Pink Lady. Something I'm not too thrilled about though is the forecast for the next week. It's not going to be the easy sailing that I asked for. Hopefully nothing too bad but not exactly a walk in the park stuff either. OK, walk in the park isn't really the best expression to use, but you get the picture! I hear someone (Grandad Chisholm!) has been stirring things up on both sides of the Tasman over whether I'm a Kiwi or and Aussie. Apparently New Zealand's trying to claim me! I don't think that anything I say will make the slightest difference on this one, but I will say that I do have both Australian and New Zealand passports. Australia's home to me (sorry Grandad!) but my trusty first mate is a stuffed Kiwi! Jesse It Wasn't a Fly, it was a Moth! Well today a moth landed on Ella’s Pink Lady and I don't know about you guys, but I got quite excited about it (sounds kind of silly I know!). I'm not normally into bugs but this was the first insect I've seen in 6 months and seeing as the nearest land is close to 500 nm away, I was pretty surprised to find a tiny grey moth sitting on the deck. Don't ask me what such a delicate looking creature is doing this far offshore. Anyway moving on! You might be more interested to know that yesterday the 18th April marked 6 months at sea for Ella's Pink Lady and I, plus of course everyone else virtually tagging along! It's pretty amazing to think it's been 6 months since I've seen another person, but it still feels like just the other day that we sailed out of Sydney. Time has really flown! The wind has been really light still, so progress has been really unimpressive. Is it just me or is this last leg really taking forever? Not that I mind all that much. I still love it out here and as much as I'm looking forward to a million land things, I'm also going to miss so many things about being out here. For most of today there’s been no wind at all. So to stop myself from getting frustrated, I turned off the instruments so I couldn't see how depressingly slow we were going and decided to have a go at replacing the wind generator (which hasn't been working lately) with the spare one. I wasn't going to bother replacing it because I've got enough diesel to run the engine (out of gear), to keep the batteries topped up, but I was looking for something to keep me busy and I had plenty of energy to burn. It took all afternoon and manoeuvering it into place was enough of a challenge, that I hardly noticed the glassy water and the fact that that we were hardly moving. The sun even came out for a few hours, so it was well worth the effort, even just for the scene at the end of the achievement. I've still got to dismantle the old generator for stowing it, so I better finish up and get back to work! Jesse Lightning Storm Things got pretty interesting for a while last night, when what I thought was just a light passing squall, turned into a full on electrical storm, the worst I've seen at sea yet. Even though I could hardly see it through the icy cold sideways rain, the lightning was striking the water nearby much too close for my liking. The wind gusted pretty high too. Ella's Pink Lady was already well reefed down at the time. But till I was able to furl almost all of the headsail away and pull the tiny third reef in, we were healed over pretty dramatically. But the wind soon dropped again and as it did, the rain really started. It was so heavy that you could hardly see where the water stopped and the sky began. A bit of thunder has never worried me, but alone at sea at 4 in the morning, it seems particularly menacing and it becomes a lot harder to keep your nerves in check! Other than the lightning storm, the weather's still been really unsettled with almost constant rain, squalls and a messy sea. Luckily the wind hasn't been too strong though. Progress has been good and even with all this gloomy grey stuff, I'm happy as Larry and mostly staying dry thanks to my snug dodger. Bob's forecast is for a bit of a blow tomorrow but after that things are looking a lot nicer. It was really cool to hear that Bruce and Big Wave Rider held theirlead right to the finish line at Mooloolaba and that the Sunshine Coast gave them a great welcome! That's it from me as I've got a bit of sleep to catch up on. Fingers crossed that I can actually put my head down for more than 10 minutes without something waking me this time! Jesse Australian Waters and Squid Lunch But we've still got a long way to go and over the next week we will pass under the Great Australian Bight and head south to Tasmania. It's very likely that I'll pass back over the green line out of Australian waters again. It's weird being so close, but still having so many miles to cover. I think a lot of people are wondering why I'm going south of Tasmania, rather than taking a short cut through the Bass Strait. The reasoning behind this is that Bass Strait is full of shipping and islands which would mean a few days with very little or no sleep for me. Plus Bob's long range weather forecast also predicts light head winds (also known as very painful sailing) if we tack that route, instead of heading south around the bottom of Tasmania. So I'm just going to have to grit my teeth and put up with a slight drop in temperature again, before heading north for the last time. I found a few squid on the deck again this morning. Another one jumped on board just I was thinking about Bruce and Big Wave Rider have struck light winds out in the Tasman which is pretty frustrating for Bruce, but I'm secretly thrilled not to be the slow one for once! There's another exciting milestone coming up very soon too as we'll be passing under Cape Leeuwin at some stage tomorrow morning! Jesse Grey and Overcast but Smiling We're down to being just over a few hundred nm away from passing under Cape Leeuwin, so sometime during the weekend we should be under Australia! The weather's been grey and overcast again today with a bit of a swing inthe wind direction and a little more rain. Nothing too out of the ordinary just more sailing. I really enjoyed speaking to Jamie Dunross today who's not that far ahead of us in the middle of the Great Australian bite, sailing a bright yellow S&S 34 and aiming to become the first quadriplegic to sail solo around Australia. Apparently he had trouble getting people to take him seriously when he told them about his plans too. I know I'm a bit bias because he's sailing such a cool boat (go the S&S 34!), but if you ask me, what Jamie is doing really says that anything's possible. I don't say it nearly enough, but thanks to all the bloggers, my huge adopted family! And everyone who leaves a quick message, I really appreciate all the support. Reading your comments every now and again always makes me smile, even if I do like to pretend that it's not me you're all talking about! Am thinking about have chocolate muffins for dinner tonight, but that all depended on whether or not I manage to stop myself eating all the mixture! Jesse A Few Ups and Downs The sea never really got that big with the latest bad weather, but it made up for its lack of size by being short and messy, meaning an uncomfortable ride for me. This time, rather than just clipping the edge of a front like normal, the middle of a low pressure system passed right over the top of us, firstly giving us strong northerly winds, then dropping out to nothing, before hitting with a bit of a punch from the south. A change of wind direction like that makes for a pretty ordinary sea state. But it only took a proper meal and some good progress to get me back to my normal self and singing away (very badly) at the top my voice to my current favourite song, Forever Young, while I was out on the deck in the rain with Ella's Pink Lady rolling along in the dark. I've haven't been the only one copping a bit of weather lately. The solo Trans Tasman race fleet, including one of my biggest supporters Bruce on his 47ft multihull Big Wave Rider, had a bit of a bouncy ride the other night off the other side of Australia. So far Bruce is holding the lead and sitting on speeds at least twice as fast as Ella's Pink Lady! You can follow Bruce at the race website with a tracking map at www.solo-tasman.org.nz Today, I've been pulling reefs in and out a lot as it's been quite squally. With each line of cloud comes a gust of wind, then a quick dumping of rain before the sun peaks out again for a few minutes. Even though I'd been getting lots of rain in the last week, today's been the only real time when I've been able to collect much water. Every time its rained lately there's also been a lot of spray around, making any water I collect brackish. But I managed to get so much water that I treated myself to a full fresh water wash. Having un-salty decks is also quite a novelty! Australia's sure creeping up on us now. Less than 400nm and only a few more days till we're under Cape Leeuwin! Jesse Quick Update and Pictures
Thursday, May 13, 2010
My perfect conditions came to an end late on Tuesday with thunderstorms then this freezing cold southerly wind (brrrr!). Yesterday the wind was gale force but today it's eased off to 30 knots, giving us great surfing conditions with the sea standing up as it meets the east coast current.
getting up and going sailing every day! I'm going to miss being out of range of my annoying brother! I'm going to miss doing things at my own pace and singing at the top of my voice without clearing the room.
been nearly 7 months and I'm still not bored by it. The tumbling white tops when it's windy and the glassy reflections when it's not. I'm going to miss seeing Albatross circle around Ella's Pink Lady and beanie days for when finding a hair brush is just too much trouble!
Monday, May 10, 2010
The little Yanmar engine is going again! A little delicately, but it is running with a water transfer pump rigged up in place of the fuel pump which had stopped working. It's pretty dodgey with all the miss matching hoses but should do the job. Apart from the kick I got from actually managing to fix something, it was quite a relief as we've pretty much had no wind at all the last two days, so the batteries were lower than I'd thought.
Saturday, May 08, 2010
I've had lots of that lovely sunshine stuff lately and today I'm over the moon to see the cabin temperature sitting on 20 degrees! It's been a while since it's been that warm.
I'm not feeling any pressure from anyone back home to arrive on a particular date. Believe me, I'm far more pig-headed than that. If I wanted to push hard and come in earlier, then I would!
Thursday, May 06, 2010
I don't normally bother addressing critics because someone's always going to be saying something, no matter what I say or do. But I thought I'd have my 2 bobs worth on these claims that I haven't 'officially' sailed around the world.
Call me immature but I've actually been having a bit of a giggle over the whole thing. If I haven't been sailing around the world, then it beats me what I've been doing out here all this time! Yes it's a shame that my voyage won't be recognized by a few organizations because I'm under 18, but it really doesn't worry me.
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Yesterday I finally got the day I wanted for a long time. Clear skies, small seas and light winds. What a novelty not to have to hang on for grim life 24/7, well that's a slight exaggeration, but still it was a real treat.
products. It says a lot that after 6 months of salt and wind, my skin is better than it's ever been! I highly recommend their sunscreens and after-sun products.
Monday, May 03, 2010
Good news. Ella's Pink Lady and I have made it around the South East Cape of Tasmania and we're now headed north on the final leg to Sydney! We passed well clear of land, in the dark and with not the nicest conditions. But I still got a big kick out of it.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
The swell is still pretty big but overall conditions are much more pleasant today. The drogue got winched in at dawn which turned out to be a lot easier than I was expecting and since then Ella's Pink Lady's been flying along
across the waves with only a little sail up. I've been catching up on a bit of sleep today, re-charging my batteries while I can.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Saturday's front went through with only 35 knots of wind and without a hitch, but this low pressure system passing down south is making life pretty interesting right now. Make that very interesting and very, very annoying!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
I'm happy to report that yesterday we finally made some good progress and today's been a good days sailing too. It's amazing how much closer Sydney looks when we're moving. And wow, we're starting to get close too!
I had to give myself a good talking to after reading Bob's latest forecast. I'd been hoping that was the last of the nasty stuff. Oh well, I've only got to keep up the whole "pretending to be tough" thing for a little while longer!
Monday, April 19, 2010
Every now and again when I can't think of anything new to blog about, I always get told that it doesn't matter. I could write about a fly landing on Ella's Pink Lady and someone would find it interesting.
Monday, April 12, 2010
The flyover with Mum, Dad, Tom and Hannah on Saturday was a great welcome to Australian waters and a lot of fun. Even though all I could see was a small plane way overhead, it was still really cool. Mum reckons that Ella's Pink Lady and I looked really small between the swell, which seems strange to me because Ella's Pink Lady is my whole world at the moment!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Today started with a lovely sunrise as Ella's Pink Lady sailed over the green line on the chart and into Australian waters. Hot chocolate in hand (yes I managed to repair the kettle!), a light sprinkling of rain and with an albatross circling above, it was one of those really special moments.
lunch, so I got brave and decided to have a go at eating it. I opened a can of prawns (they could hardly pass as prawns, tiny little things!), sliced up the squid, all half a mouth full of it (see pics below!) and made a sort of variation to garlic prawns. Then I finished up with Vegemite on crackers to celebrate being back in Australian waters!
Thursday, April 08, 2010
Some bad news today. Something that has been threatening to happen for quite some time has finally happened. The handle has fallen off my only kettle! But it won't be too long now till I'll be able to pop down to the shops for a new one.
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Really sorry I've not updated you all in so long. It's been a bit of an interesting few days weather wise. Also a late happy Easter to everyone. It turns out that no one remembered to pack any Easter eggs for me but it wasn't the end of the world, because I've got more than enough chocolate and Mum challenged my brother Tom, sister Hannah and I to an egg decorating competition via emailed pictures. I'm not actually sure who the winner was in the end, but it certainly wasn't me!
Even though the conditions weren't at all the worst we've been through, for some reason or another, the uncomfortable motion and my damp bunk really got to me making me pretty moody and a little homesick. Normally I can pull myself out of a bad mood in a few hours tops, but this time I didn't have the energy and managed to be grouchy for a full few days, a voyage record!
Friday, April 02, 2010
We're still not breaking any speed records, but Ella's Pink Lady is getting along reasonably well again. So all's well and the sun joined us again today which also did wonders for brightening my mood. It won't be long now till the high pressure system that's giving us these light winds, moves off and we get some decent wind to give us a nice shove along.
I've had a busy day making the most of the lovely weather to get stuck into some washing (see pic below). In fact I did so much scrubbing and cleaning that I actually snapped the scrubbing brush in half. Maybe I was wrong about not having super human strength! And not to worry, I've also got a spare one of those.
I know washing isn't the most thrilling pastime, but seeing as I can't go for a nice long jog on the beach to vent my excess energy, I don't have choice a but to take it out on my clothes and Ella's Pink Lady. And even doing the washing isn't that bad when you're sitting in the cockpit surrounded by blue water, with warm sunshine on your back, a gentle breeze and a mix of music!
It was great to hear that Abby Sunderland rounded Cape Horn yesterday. I'm really thrilled for her. It brings back lots of memories of when I was down there. Go Abby!
Jesse
Big Seas
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
We've had lots of good progress in the last few days but not towards Australia, we've been headed north again to avoid the worst of a passing front, it's safely past now but did give us and is still giving us some pretty big seas with some of the bigger ones reaching maybe 7 metres. Mostly Ella's Pink Lady takes it all in her stride as always but the occasional breaking wave is a little hard on my nerves and makes for some pretty bouncy sailing.
When the wind started easing a little this morning, I finely put my head down for a few minutes sleep and must have been pretty tired because I slept through my ear splittingly loud alarm (well that's a bit of an exaggeration! After all my head is still in one piece but believe me it's very loud) and didn't wake up till over an hour later to find that Ella's Pink Lady was rounded up into the wind (pointing into the wind) and drifting off course, one of the bigger waves must have snapped the windvane blade while I was sleeping and without it, Parker wasn't able to keep us sailing in the right direction. Luckily I've still got a few spares so it was a nice easy fix.
Most of the time getting plenty of sleep isn't too much of problem even if it is only in short amounts. Normally I wake up a least once an hour to glance at the instruments and check on everything, but when you add a bit of strong wind, any sort of un-stable weather or approaching land it sometimes gets a bit hard to catch up again. I always know when I'm getting a bit run down because I start getting a tickly throat just like you do before getting a cold but seeing as there aren't any germs out here I never do actually get the cold which is definitely a plus!
When the sun came out today, the whole cabin was steaming as all my wet weather gear and everything dried out. The wind and waves are still pretty big and strong through the day. Just hanging on has been enough to keep me busy.
So it's same old same old out here. I'm sure there's still plenty more weather to deal with and there's a lot of miles to cover yet but I can't help thinking about getting home more and more, kinda strangely the closer to Australia I get, the more I'm missing everyone. I'm already getting excited but just a tad nervous too! Did I mention how much I'm looking forward to going for a walk!
It's dark again now and there's enough light from the full moon to see the white tops of the bigger waves, feeling Ella's Pink Lady take off down the bigger ones is something I'll never get bored of.
Jesse
Kelp and a Seal
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Mostly the wind has been sitting on a pleasant 15 to 20 knots pushing Ella's Pink Lady along nicely. But it has dropped off again and so has our good progress with it. There's also a big swell rolling through making the motion pretty uncomfortable and knocking Ella's Pink Lady off course. Just keeping us pointed vaguely in an easterly direction is taking constant adjustments to Parker (windvane). But the good progress over the last few days more than makes up for today's painful sailing.
We've been sailing past lots of little clumps of kelp in the last few days which I haven't seen since near the Falkland Islands.
Yesterday I glanced out the porthole in time to see a very strange fin sticking up in the air. I rushed up on deck in time to see that it was a seal lying on its back with one of its flippers in the air (sorry I didn't manage to get a picture!). It's the first seal I've seen since being out here and I was quite surprised to see it so far from land. But then again, I don't really know much about where seals like to hang out.
Today's been an engine maintenance day but because there wasn't much in the way of maintenance needed, it mostly meant that I spent a bit of time cleaning and getting nice and greasy myself.
I'm going to keep this update short because we're drifting off course again and I need to go correct us.
Less than 1400 nm to go till we're under Australian now!
Jesse
A Bit of Excitement and a Noise in the Night
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Well things did get a bit exciting the other night when the wind suddenly picked up with a huge swing in direction. One minute it was a quiet, starry night and Ella's Pink Lady was sailing along comfortably under full sail. The next minute the wind was gusting well over 35 knots with Ella's Pink Lady healing right over taking off in the wrong direction. Getting soaking wet at 2 o'clock in the morning isn't exactly all that out of the ordinary, but this time with the southerly wind, the waves and icy rain were particularly cold and un-welcome.
After gybing us over and once everything was under control again, I went back below to hear a strange electrical noise. It was the kind of noise that instantly has you thinking 'not good'. After a desperate few minutes emptying lockers trying to find the problem, all the while imagining all sorts of critical damage, I was very relieved to discover that the noise was coming fromthe little hand-held vacuum packer which had switched itself on. I had a good and laugh at myself over that one!
The weather stayed windy and squally with the sea building up to 5m, so as we approached Amsterdam Island, sightseeing wasn't at the top of my priority list and we ended up passing well clear to the north during the night.
Maybe next time I'll get a better look. Both Amsterdam Island (see pic below) and St Paul Island sound like they have pretty colourful histories. All these little islands in the middle of nowhere seem to come with stories of shipwrecked sailors surviving for years, before being picked up by other ships. But the story about these islands that really caught my attention was one about a company that set up a lobster cannery on St Paul before going bankrupt, leaving 7 of their workers stranded on the island. When someone eventually remembered the poor guys and came to pick them up three years later, there were only two
survivors. Imagine being forgotten and abandoned on a little island completely in the middle of nowhere!
The wind and sea has now dropped off again. Actually I wouldn't mind a bit more wind right now, as we're not exactly going anywhere too fast. So it's time to pull out the patience hat till things do pick up a little more. Talking of wind, I was sorry to hear about the damage from the cyclone that crossed the Queensland coast last week and hearing about all the boats washed up and wrecked in Airlie Beach.
Jesse
Sailing Ella's Pink Lady and Islands
Monday, March 22, 2010
On Friday there was another front that came through, bringing with it close to 40 knots of wind again, but that passed pretty quickly. After four days of overcast sky, today we've got lovely sunshine and a comfortable 15 knots of wind.
The good progress means that we're now not far away from two little islands, Amsterdam and Saint Paul. So I've got my fingers crossed that the weather stays good so that I can pass close by and possibly even get a bit of a look at them.
All's well out here with one tragic exception. The lollies supply is running low. Sure there's still plenty spread out through the fortnightly food bags, but my additional stock for when I eat all the good stuff in the first few days (which is fairly often!) is down to just a few lonely packets. So now in the second part of the fortnight when I need a sugar hit, the only thing left to satisfy my craving is a sorry little pile of lollies called 'Goo-hearts', which taste about as good as you'd expect from the name!
A few people have mentioned that I don't talk about the ins and outs of actually sailing Ella's Pink Lady very often. One of the reasons for this is because quite often there isn't actually all that much to talk about. Because of her simple rig and because this isn't a race, more a sort of marathon cruise, it's a very simple boat to handle. To give you an example, I can pull all three reefs in and out of the mainsail (meaning that I can increase or decrease the size of the main sail) without even leaving the companionway, and pretty much everything else can be handled from the cockpit. In fact, because I have an over-cautious habit of pulling up the storm jib on the inner-forestay whenever the weather forecast is bad and the wind rises above about 25 knots, I can actually claim to have left the safety of the cockpit in over 35 knots of wind only once. In an un-exciting and not very dramatic way, that's actually quite amazing.
So sorry to spoil all those dramatic ideas about me heroically battling with sails on the foredeck in monster seas and high winds, but this particular voyage is more about cutting down on risks, lots of preparation and sticking it out for a (very!) long time than edge of your seat action sailing. That comes later!
Also, despite all the speculation and even a few of my own doubts before departure, there hasn't been one time out here (so far!) that I've wished I was stronger. I'd really like to say that's because of my huge muscles and super human strength, but sadly that wouldn't be true. In fact it would be a very, very long way from the truth. The reason I find Ella's Pink Lady so easy to handle is because of the time and thought we put into setting her up and because of the kind of boat Ella’s Pink Lady is. The S&S 34 isn't a big boat and its design is pretty conservative. The things you have to do (sigh) in the absence of super powers!
Anyway, having some sunshine again has been a good chance to get back to work at my de-moulding efforts. This time I've been attacking the insides of various lockers, which has actually been quite good fun as I've been finding all sorts of bits and pieces that I'd lost or had forgotten about. The best find of all was my iPod which went missing some time ago. It's almost like having 8GB of new music!
Jesse
A Bit of Everything
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Looking at the chart today I actually got a bit of a scare when I realized how close we are to being half way across the Indian Ocean. All going to plan, as of tomorrow we should be closer to Cape Leeuwin, Western Australia, than Cape Agulhas, South Africa!
I keep telling myself that there's still such a long way to go but at the same time I can't help feeling excited about so much HVP (high visual progress). More and more of the familiar shape of Australia is sliding into view on the chart plotter screen as Ella's Pink Lady slowly sails closer.
The weather has calmed down since Tuesday and after dropping right out to hardly anything for a few hours. the wind has settled into a nice steady 20 knots from the North West. It's always slightly frustrating when the wind dies out right after a gale, because there's normally still a big swell leftover. Trying to keep us heading in the right direction with not a lot of wind and quite a lot of wave means a lot of disrupted sleep.
I talked to 'Captain Nick' of the Queen Mary 2 over the satellite phone today as they passed well to the north of Ella's Pink Lady. They were headed from Perth to Mauritius and Nick passed on the best wishes of all the Aussie passengers and left me thinking a little longingly of all the luxuries on board the QM2.
Mike Perham's book about his voyage titled 'Sailing the Dream' was launched today in the UK and Australia. I was lucky enough to be sent one of the final drafts to read (I read the whole thing in a few hours then went straight back to complaining about not getting enough new reading material!) so I can tell you that's it's definitely worth a read.
Oh and I've just heard that Jesse Martin has been nominated for Cleo's Bachelor of the Year in Australia. So for all the girls out there, come on we need your votes on this one!
Jesse
Not Exactly Comfortable
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
It looks like my quota of sunshine and calm sailing has run out. In fact I on't think the conditions right now could be any more different to just a few days ago. We've got pouring rain, 4m of steep sea and gusts of 40 knots. Nothing too dramatic but as we're close reaching (sailing at about 80 degrees into the wind and waves), the motion isn't exactly comfortable and we're heeling (leaning over) quite a bit.
Sticking my head up above the dodger means a face full of stinging rain and spray and typing this is more
an act of aerobics than anything else, as I've got my legs up around my ears to brace myself leaving my hands free to type. Ok, that makes it sound far more impressive than it really is. With three reefs in the mainsail and the
little orange storm jib flying, Ella's Pink Lady is handling everything beautifully, climbing up and over each wave.
The weather is expected to stay like this for another 6 to 12 hours before easing again. So plenty of time to finish my book while safely wedged in my bunk! It's funny that every time that Bob's weather forecast is for some unpleasant stuff, I still get a little hint of nerves. But once we're in the thick of it with everything as ready as possible, I'm back to being as happy as Larry (I often wonder who Larry was and why was he so happy anyway?).
This time particularly, waiting for the wind to build up had me a bit on edge as yesterday we had the most brilliant bright red sunrise and you know how the saying goes; red sky at night is a sailor's delight, red sky in morning is a sailor's warning.
As well as the usual trashy, girly novels, I've really been getting into the travel books lately, which probably isn't the best idea, as the list of places I'm itching to visit just keeps getting longer and longer! I also came across the learn to drive book, so I've started trying to memorize various road signs. It's not something that's particularly relevant out here (with a capital 'R'!) but getting my learner's license is one of the first things on my list of things to do when I get home.
Well, as I wedge myself back into my buck to avoid any more bruises, I just wanted to finish up by congratulating Shaun Quincy who arrived in New Zealand the other day, after rowing from Australia. I know I'm a bit behind the times as news sometimes takes a while to reach me out here. Following Shaun's voyage has really made me appreciate all my luxuries aboard Ella's Pink Lady!
Sunday
Still Calm Weather and Some Company
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Nothing much new about the weather to report. It's still calm, warm and sunny. Lovely clear days followed by amazing sunsets. Our speeds have been slightly on and off as Ella's Pink Lady sometimes flies along on the flat water and sometimes just sits there, drifting forward ever so slightly.
Yesterday we found a flock of 'groppies'. These birds spent the day landing in the water next to us, watching us sail past, drifting off behind, then taking off to fly around in a big circle, landing next to us again. The bird's fascination with Ella's Pink Lady may have had something to do with the crackers and tinned vegetables I threw to them (yes I'm very pleased to have finally found a use for vegetables!). But whatever it was that had them coming back, it was nice to have the company.
Talking of company, for the first time in quite a while the AIS alarm went off yesterday, warning me of an approaching ship. Our paths looked set to pass pretty close and as it was a lovely clear day and I didn't happen to be sleeping at the time, I actually welcomed a bit of excitement. I pulled the washing down, brushed my hair and turned the stereo down in anticipation, so was a bit disappointed when they ended up passing too far off for me to make out the crew. Still, I had a nice conversation over the VHF with the watch-keeper who told me that they were also headed to Australia, to Port Kembla which is only just south of Sydney. They wished me luck before quickly disappearing again.
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