We Must be Mad- Lady Musgrave to Great Keppel Island

All hands on deck at 6am and anchors away.

90nm to Great Keppel, sea swell to 3 meters with white water tops, short swell length made passage challenging.   Sens de la Vie is performing well with Terry exclaiming this is "A great Boat".  South east winds up to 25 knots with bullets of 35 knots means that limited sail could be put out as you run the risk of a broach.

Enough sail out to help stabilise the yacht and keep us on course. Hard slog for the boys as we don't have hydraulic steering only direct quadrant cable which is standard. I was off helm today as MAN strength was definitely needed for this passage .

Auto helm could not be used as we needed to surf the waves as much as possible so as not to be slammed broad side.

To my surprise did not get sea sick in the sloppy seas and kept the crew feed and water.  Working in the galley was very challenging and reminded me of the Lucile Ball movie "Caravan" with food and utensils going everywhere and being knocked down a couple of times as I attempted to make Corn and bacon fritters. I need to adjust my galley harnesses, its a learning experience with 2 bruises and a burn.















No other boats out except for a large tanker which came very close.

 

 

It was a welcome sight at sunset to see Great Keppel Island in the distance. And "Chivas me Timber" a glass of Chivas was in order to steady the nerves of coming into a harbour in the dark and anchoring.




Anchors down in a small bay to the north of the island protected from swells and wind.  Rums in hand Geoff and Terry were relived although a bit sore in the shoulders.

Quiet and restful night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gold Coast to Lady Musgrave island

Gold Coast to Lady Musgrave Island

Cast away dock lines on the 25^th July 2015 11.15am with farewells from friends and our mechanic who was on board doing last minute checks on the motor 15mins before departure.

Shane O’Reilly waved us farewell at the seaway and Tanya was standing in the spot where she waved her mother goodbye 15 years prior when I took on the challenge of sailing to New Caledonia, leaving my Tanya, Jacqui and Terry behind.  The good omen was that it was not raining this time

 Sens de la Vie on board has Geoff our yacht engineer and Captain Teza, and Bilge Bitch, winch wench and Galley Gastronome, me. 

So far the yacht has performed well under sail but winds change onto the nose which required us to motor overnight and into the next day.

Day one went very fast and we were entertain along the way by dolphins and whale escorts.  We counted 20 whales on our first day.

First night passage under motor with very calm seas and no wind was a good start to get our sea legs.  All crew took turns on the helm and watch, having naps in the cockpit.



Whales Off Moreton Island

Sunrise seem to be my shift but I did not mind as this is when the sea life wakes up. The whale plumes are a welcoming sight and a  comfort that these majestic creatures do not see us as a threat. Awe inspiring watching them make passage cruising along with us almost felt like they were on guard.

 

Our Escorts for Todays sail

Enjoying the calm seas

 

 

We made way to Iniskip Point and the infamous bar Crossing went well despite having breaking waves all around us, Sens de la vie stayed on  a true path through this difficult bar crossing. We had to go to Tin Can bay to refuel as Hervey bay fuelling station was closed on a Sunday.

It was a nice relief to get out of the swell of the ocean as so far none of us have been sea sick but I must admit I have been queasy at times making working in the galley preparing food a little challenging. 

Iniskip Point Bar Crossing

It was a long day on Sunday and little rest for the captain as he negotiated the great sandy straights channels. Geoff and I took over around 9pm when we were out into the bay passed Frasier Island with the auto helm set for Lady Musgrave.  No shipping traffic so the night seem very long.

Head wind, choppy seas with a heavy sea dew required us to rely on the motor.  The motor to our surprise has lost its chugger chugger rattle and is now purring. It was a very cold and boring night as we lost sight of the coast around 3pm.

Note my supplies for Night Watch Coffee, Chocolate and Red Bull

The yachts electrical, plumbing, generator and alike are all performing well and have not failed, except for a fuse on the refrigeration which was easily fixed.  It has been uneventful in any breakdowns which I am very relieved and thankful for the work in preparation done by Geoff and our new best friend the mechanic Stuart.  I am so pleased.

10.30am Monday 27^th 284nm from the Gold Coast we arrived at destination Lady Musgrave Island. Negotiated the difficult entry and put down anchor for the first time without anchor argument.

Arriving a Lady Musgrave

 

Enjoyed a leisurely lunch, walked the island and got some much needed sleep.  Caught 5 fish in the evening, I cooked a roast dinner, cocktails, wine, good cheer, exhausted and relaxed we all went to bed at 9pm, and crashed.

Only to be woken up by 30knot wind so checking anchor and batting down the hatches kept us busy overnight.  The coral cay protects us from the sea swell but not the wind. 

A Blue Lagoon

Sens De la Vie  in the Blue lagoon

Tuesday 28^th Disappointing day for water activities as it was not perfect for a dive however I think we all needed a lay day just relaxing.  The fishing was great and Geoff caught a the prized Coral Trout.  You are able to fish at Lady Musgrave with Limits as it is a Protected Marine Park.

The crew committee meeting was held and we decided that we would brave the elements and depart 6am in the morning to make passage to more sheltered waters on the Northside of Great Keppel Island.  This will take a full day sail and hopefully arriving just on dusk at our destination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eve of Departure

In the rain Terry and I decided to test our wet weather gear and installed the new Genoa sail with a bit of heave ho.......its on. 

Provisions almost done and the motor will be finished by tomorrow.  Pack our clothes and we are off to sail the Queensland coast.  Only 3 sleeps to go....................who can sleep with so much nervous energy and excitement.  Many friends and family who have not seen the boat wanted to know what we have done down below to make it comfortable.   So here is a small view of how the boat has shaped up over the past month or so.  Look forward to our adventure.

Renaming the Yacht

A cold and very windy day for our friends and family to join us in renaming the yacht dockside  and paying homage to the gods of winds.  A fun day and thanks to all for your blessings of smooth sailing for our first passage on Sens de la Vie.

Preparing the yacht

 1/7/2015
Much work has been done on the yacht over the past month and it would not have been achieved without the support and clever working solutions being done by Geoff Radford.  We sincerely thank him for all the valuable work he has done on our yacht. I have time now to dedicate to our investment with a lot of running around, learning and managing shipwright traddies, sailmakers and riggers. More new rigging will be done in the next week, a new head sail has been ordered and a few more little jobs yet to complete. 
We even managed to restore the old Force 10 BBQ. Geoff , Pictured below, with tongs in hand ready to put the steak on the BBQ.
We are on track to depart Gold Coast on 25th July with a couple days, overnight sailing  to Lady Musgrave Island where we will rest up in this beautiful coral cay for a couple of days.  We will then make our way up the coast picking up Jacqui at Mackay harbour then Island hop the Whitsundays and outer reef.

Geoff Radford BBQ Master