Resting in Refuge Cove after a rather harrowing first 24 hours

It was a great trip up with 4 on board, Neill Hunter my first mate who trained me in all the things I had forgotten, Jon Goldsmit my fellow cruiser skipper on Condas Mate another 50 Ft yacht that was near me at Pier 35, David Faulkes ex Qantas with a new Adams yacht and myself, (a well balanced and fun crew)

We left Melbourne on Tuesday morning 13 August on a fresh morning and after all our safety drills went through the Rip at 4 PM with 30 knots of winds,

It was a big swell and very confused sea, Evening Star handled it well, but alas apart from Neill we were all queasy or very sea sick.

We decided to rest up and recover because we needed all the crew for the watch system, 2 on, 2 sleeping, for 4 hours each.

We went into Refuge Bay on Wilsons Promontory, a great soothing shelter, we went ashore saw wombats and enjoyed the native bush.

24 Hours later we then crossed the paddock and through the oil rigs in the middle of the night, great way to navigate with the huge flames and lit rigs, we passed ships and trawlers, our radar operator Jon found them all first on his blue screen.

We had quite big seas and swells and our auto pilot was absolutely essential just to relieve us at the helm.

The trip in summary was demanding and apart from a small tear in the mizzen sail and a broken vang on our mainsail and many nuts and bolts to be tightened when we arrived in Sydney we had minimal damage.

I am glad Julie drove up, it was very cold on watch but we were warmed by 3 good meals each day, lots of nibbles supplied by Jules and even occasionally seeing each other on the dogwatch or changeover.

The final day was glorious 25 knots up our backside, enormous long swells and WARM.

We arrived at South Head Sydney at 6.00 am Sunday with thunder and lightning and our first rain.

So the trip was 4 days at sea, average 6 knots.

Simon and Julie are now moving all our things on board, fixing up the problems from the trip and RELAXING.

We plan to cruise NSW and especially Pittwater for the next 3-6 months.

We really would love to see anyone on Evening Star in the next 3 years, let us know. 

Jon and David on watch, very chilly, David checking all the way points

Neill on watch, a professional approach.

Simon discovers the coast of Australia early in the morning after crossing the paddock in Bass Strait