Noumea to Brisbane, Australia - The last Leg!!!

TUESDAY 29TH JUNE - NOUMEA TO

BRISBANE , AUSTRALIA -

THE FINAL LEG!!!

DAY 1:  The day after my 56th birthday!

0630 hrs - depart Moselle Bay and pass thru Boulani Pass at 0900 hrs.

1300 hrs - Position - S 22 deg E 166 deg 07'

 After hours spent looking for the leak in the fuel lines, once underway, Bob found a loose injector pipe on #4 eye was spraying it out - now fixed.

The rudder shaft cog is leaking and Bob is tightening it up in stages - found that the supporting block has cracks and is leaking water into the hull and that the fibreglass is also coming loose from the timber. Water is also seeping under gland plate.

The bilge pump is regularly getting blocked and we had to remove about 2 buckets of rubbish from the bilge. Strange that it has taken all these days at sea and almost 12 months to start showing up in the bilge, as I had the bilge cleaned out before we left Napa Marina back in October the previous year.

This waste consisted of  shards of old flow coat, old oil absorbent and just plain dirt, I just don't know how it accumulates like this.The only thing I can put this down to is the time Fete spent in Hilo for the 5 months and the changing seasons in the Hawaiian Islands.

DAY #2:

0600 hrs - Still under engine with main and jib as we have had little wind, and the wind we are getting is very light.

Position - S 23 deg 18' E 164 deg 10'

1200 hrs - Position - S 23 deg 29' E 163 deg 34 - Light S/E and partly overcast - Still same conditions at sunset.

- Motored Sailed all night!!!

DAY #3:

0600 hrs - Position - S 24 deg 06' E 161 deg 43' - we have travelled 35 nm in the last 6 hrs.

0915 hrs - Dipped port tank - it has 240 nm left = 1/3 of tank. 

 - Not a useful breath of wind all day and nite!!! - We have been motoring since leaving Noumea with No1 main and mizzen up to get any use of possible favourable breezes.

1200 hrs - Position - S 24 deg 19' E 161 deg 07'

1800 hrs - Position S 24 deg 33' E 160 deg 35' - Distance run since 0600 is 68 nm

2400 hrs - Position S 24 deg 42' E 160 deg 02'

DAY #4:

0600 hrs - Position - S 24 deg 54' E 159 deg 26' - still calm running on engine and sails as mentioned yesterday

1200 hrs - Position - S 25 deg 06' E 158 deg 53' - distance run Noon to Noon 131 nm

1800 hrs - Switched to starboard tank as we have run from Noumea on the Port tank + 22 gals
                 Position - S 25 deg 21' e 158 deg 15'

DAY #5:

0600 hrs - Position - S 25 deg 51' E 156 deg 38' - N/W wind came in over night with strong squalls initially, but these moderated by morning and had turned S/W by mid morning.

1200 hrs - Position - S 26 deg 02' E 156 deg 14' - S/W gale continues and its getting a bit damp on board!!

1800 hrs - Position - S 26 deg 06' E 155 deg 53' - S/W strong all night with very rough seas.

DAY #6:

0600 hrs - Position - S 26 deg 30' E 155 deg 19' - Wind shifting slightly to the South.

1200 hrs - Position - S 26 deg 43' E 154 deg 48' - Currently experiencing wind, rain, squalls and rough seas, too rough to use all sails and maintain speed and course so engine and main only.

DAY #7:

Arrived at Flinders Reef and entered Moreton Bay - What a great sight. We knew we were home and it felt good to know there would only had a few nm's to go to The Rivergate Marina on the Brisbane River to get customs clearance. Then for the final part of this long journey, down thru Moreton Bay and back to the Gold Coast, where Berth F 44 at the Southport Yacht Club was waiting for Fete.

Rivergate Marina, Brisbane River, Qld. Australia

We travelled thru the nite under power just to get to port early and arrived at the Rivergate Marina just after 7am local time.
Jock phoned Customs and they and AQUIS arrived approx an hour later at around 8 am. After the inspections and paperwork were all done, we fuelled up and headed off for the home base at Southport - time of departure 11 am.

It was a long day motoring down thru  Moreton Bay but it was great to have Fete here at last.
We arrived at The Southport Yacht Club at 7 pm that nite to a great reception from some close friends. This has truly been a great experience for all of us and my thanks go out to those who shared this journey. To Jock Wilson goes my undying thanks for all that he has done in getting Fete back and to Bobby Lawrence, genius, thx for all the work you performed to keep Fete going on the voyage back.

I am deeply grateful, as well as thankful, to all of those who had a hand in this adventure from Napa California, to the Gold Coast, Australia, and in particular I would like to thank:

Napa Valley Marina

Kirby Long - General Manager Napa Valley Marina for his assistance in the purchase of Fete. Kirby and the crew at the marina helped us more than anything in getting Fete prepared for this trip and although I now reflect that I should have taken a bit more time to check everything, this highly dedicated team of professionals bent over backwards to assist us.

Fete at her Napa Marina Berth

Greg & Laura Guinn - The previous owners of Fete, I owe a lot. Greg was more than generous with his time in assisting us with getting Fete ready for the trip. Greg had his new boat moored beside us here, inside and under cover from the berth where Fete is pictured at left in the Napa Marina.
His lovely wife, Laura, treated us like family and took us home for a great home cooked meal. She also introduced me to "Texas Caviar" a dish which I have introduced to our neighbours at the Southport Yacht Club, and they love it!!!

Mark & Patricia Barmettler aboard Fete in the Napa
Marina shortly before we left.
 

Mark & Patricia Barmettler - This delightful couple were simply tremendous. Their hospitality,
their kindness and overwhelming assistance in more ways than I can ever begin to detail here in this blog, is something I will always treasure. I hope that Mark finishes his 7 year (in joke) project - a 50ft Morgan, and that he, Patricia and I meet again  somewhere on the worlds oceans, to continue our friendship. Thank you very much, till we meet again.

Mike & Ku'ulei Thomas - Mike, as I have mentioned earlier in Blog, "#3, Hilo Hawaii", was the skipper of the Pilot vessel and the one I entrusted to leave Fete with in Hilo when I flew home to Australia.
He and his lovely wife Ku'ulei (I still can't pronounce this beautiful name) went out of their way to help more than I ever expected. He kept her safe thru the stormy wet season over Christmas when and apparent  hurricane went thru the Big Island in December 2010. He covered her sails so as to protect her from the UV, he moved her into the dock from out wide and placed the 2nd anchor out to guarantee her moorings and inspected the bilges and much much more . .  . and for this I am eternally grateful.
To Mike and Ku'ulei I know we will meet again as I will most definitely come back to Hilo.

Finally, it would be remiss of me not to mention the Staff at the Port Of Hilo who helped me thru this period - they are, in no particular order:
David Waldram - Our first contact in Hawaii on arrival and who helped us in the Port.
Tennyson Noyes and Ana Marie Aiu both from Administration - Thank you for all of your friendly assistance - it was, and is still, greatly appreciated. Many thanks and Aloha.

There is one final thank you and that's to a dear friend without whom I would never had got Fete back home and that is to Tim Holmes - my undying gratitude.

All in all this has been the culmination, and the start, of a 30 year adventure which will be ongoing for many years to come, and I will blog these to you as we go.

Fete at her mooring at the Southport Yacht Club

So until next time...