[password] Cowboys99
[status]
:position 16 10.39s 154 25.55e
Hello again. I just thought I'd write an update from around the half-way point. It was 1,400 miles from the pass out through the reef at New Caledonia to the pass that will let us inside the Great Barrier Reef (called Raine Pass). The chart-plotter (our main navigational tool) tells us that we passed the half-way mark during the night and now we have only 659 miles to go. Always a good psychological landmark on a long trip like this. We're all a bit tired from the interrupted sleep pattern caused by keeping watches through the night. In fact we're beginning to look like we're making fatigue a lifestyle!

But we're all in good spirits. It's been a frustrating trip at times - the tradewinds which can usually be relied upon to blow from the south east at 15-20kts have been intermittent, with 5-10kts having been far more common. In 5kts of wind, even with the spinnaker up to catch as much of the breeze as we can, we only crawl along at 2-3kts. At that speed we're subject to the ocean swell which rolls us around uncomfortably, causing the sail to collapse and re-fill with a loud bang. So although we put up with it during the day, at night we put the motor on which moves us along at a good 6kts. Feels much more like progress! Besides, chapter 2 of that book called "Sensible Sailing" is titled "Never Sail At Night With The Spinnaker Up". (A rule we've broken a few times on this trip so far!)

Still, it is a beautiful thing seeing the spinnaker move us along so quickly in the light breezes we've been seeing. In 10kts of wind, the boat will 5-6kts which is as good as the engine can manage. The spinnaker however is silent, doesn't add heat to the boat's already over-heated interior, and doesn't produce exhaust fumes. (Because we're sailing down-wind, the exhaust fumes blow forward over the boat making everything smell!) The spinnaker has never worked so hard as it has on this trip. Of course, along with the spinnaker comes the possibility of the boat being laid-over on it's side by a quick increase in the wind. I believe that chapter 3 of sensible sailing says that the art of sailing isn't about getting your sails *UP*, it's all about getting them *DOWN* at the right time!

Anyway, it looks like today is the spinnaker's last day of duty - another day of 5-10kts today but from 4 or 5pm the wind increases to 20kts, then maybe 25kts tomorrow. So the rocket-ride we expected this trip to be may actually begin this evening. We've run the engine all night to help keep us moving in the light breeze, but also to fully charge the batteries. This boat has electric everything (winches, autopilot, etc) so we'll benefit from the fresh charge once the wind picks up. I think we're all looking forward to putting the playing-cards away and actually getting to do a bit of sailing! (Hope that's not famous last words :-)

We left the pass at New Caledonia at 8am on the 3rd of August, and it's now 8am on the 8th, so 5 days. Another 4 days to go I'm predicting. We'll be arriving at Raine Pass in strong wind but once we're through the pass we'll be protected from the ocean swell and waves by the reef. According to our guidebook, there's an excellent protected anchorage just inside the reef where we can stop and get a couple of nights of good sleep before tackling the remaining 150 miles or so of reef strewn water to Thursday Island.

As we've been going I've been using the chart-plotter to put little skull-and-crossbones markers on all the nearest reefs we been passing. (All the better to see them clearly on the chart when making decisions about which way to turn to make the most of the wind!) So far, the nearest reef has been about 16 miles away, which sounds a lot, but feels dangerously close at hand when you're so far from anywhere! Once we're inside the Great Barrier Reef however, the chart-plotter's screen would become one big sea of skulls-and-crossbones if I kept that up. A glance at the chart leaves me feeling like we're never more than 160m away from the nearest reef. So I'm mentally preparing for some white knuckle sailing. (Actually the author of our guidebook tells us that everyone feels some trepidation about entering the reef for the first time, but rest assured, it's not nearly as bad as it looks!)

But consider: we programmed our chart-plotter with 3 waypoints to get us the 1,400 miles from New Caledonia to Raine Pass. The 160 mile journey from Raine pass to Thursday Island requires 70!

See you on the other side :-)
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