Sailing Around Australia; Once bitten...

Thursday 6^th February - Once Bitten…

Our Sailing Around Australia Adventures on Easy Tiger were about to ramp up. Having reached Middle Island on the edge of the Great Australian Bight we were all apprehensive and anxious about the next step, four or five days of adventure as we sailed on the Southern Ocean to Streaky Bay on the “other’ side.

For the previous week at Duke of Orleans, we had begun watching the weather patterns, the weather forecasts and the weather reports for five locations across the bight. We watched our barometer and sat out a week of easterlies looking for a southwest wind change or a trough or hopefully a front that would blow us east.

Then it came. From the myriad of information we were studying, forecasts showed a day of light winds followed by a south west wind change, but only for a day, then back to light south easterlies.

Perhaps this was enough to make a run for it. Get out into the bight for a day, then pick up the south west change for a day, then a day of pushing into a south east wind and we would just about be there. As the swell was to be south west and behind us, that would not be too bad.

After much study, thought and discussion on each boat, a radio conference was held. That was when we did what we hadn’t done before. We made a decision to go the next day based on “let’s get it over with”. Up until now on our sailing around Australia adventures we have always waited for the right weather “window”, a strategy that has seen us complete each leg in quite comfortable sailing conditions.

But, this time the decision was made to leave Middle Island the next morning, Thursday the 6^th February.

That morning came around very quickly. At 5.30am the three boats, Zofia, Urchin and Easy Tiger pulled up their anchors and motored around the north east tip of Middle Island to face the daunting challenge that is the Great Australian Bight.

As we rounded the rocky outcrop headland we felt the initial blast of south easterly. By tacking out to the south we got the sails up and the adventures began.

We had to head far more southerly than we would have liked, rounding Dome Island at about 9.00am, before we could get onto a more easterly tack and start to chip away at the 550 nautical miles we would have to travel to reach Streaky Bay.

At 10.am, having made a total of 9 nautical miles of progress we got a call from Zofia the monohull called to say that they were turning back to middle Island. They were copping a bashing from the south easterly wind and the fetch or wind waves it was causing, plus the swell was in the east, not the south west, as forecast.

We were determined to keep pushing forward so together with Urchin the other catamaran, we decided to see what progress we made by 12 noon and then, if not enough compared to the sea conditions we were faced with, we would also turn back to Middle Island.

By 12 noon we had only made another 4 nautical miles, to be near Pasley Island. The wind had got a bit stronger to be now over 24 knots. The easterly swell combined with south east running wind waves was giving us a pretty uncomfortable ride. When our radio schedule came about with Urchin, it was decided to turn back to Middle Island.

That was a very difficult decision to make and also a very difficult change of mind to reconcile. Were we to be beaten by the bight?

If that was what it was like with a good weather forecast, what would it be like in a bad weather forecast? Reviewing the weather forecasts we had showed that they were about 50 % out in wind speed , direction and swell predictions.

Leanne and I talked about all the options in front of us as we motored back to middle island feeling quite despondent. Unfortunately we did not realize that we were using precious resources to motor when we could have sailed back as Urchin did.

We talked about returning to Duke of Orleans or even Esperance, to wait for a perfect weather window, but if it was any later than a month, the winter weather would set in and there is no way we would go across in that. We talked about being the possibility that we would be beaten by the Bight and would be turning back to Esperance, Albany and back home to then venture off in a northerly direction at another time.

Discussion continued once the three boats were back on anchor at Middle Island. Fortunately Brian and Eva on Zofia had some internet cover. They studied and re studied the weather.

After much more discussion, it was resolved that we would leave the next morning at 10.00am. One boat would leave first to “put their nose out” and test conditions. The others would then act according to the advice given.

The next morning to try and calm our nerves Leanne and I went to the beach at middle island with Maree and Eva. We found a marked track to the pink lake and saw the evidence left behind by the Helicopter and parachuters who had been entertaining us a few days before.

Since then we have found that they were actually filming an advertisement for red bull. If you google Chuck berry flies over Australia’s pink lake, look very carefully and you will see our three boats anchored at Middle Island.

This was a nice way of relieving the tension, built up after our failed attempt the day before. The clock ticked ever closer to 10.am and as we all prepared for departure I knew that this would be make or break for a major part of our sailing around Australia adventure. To say that we were once bitten was a fair comment. To say that we were twice shy would be a massive understatement.