So day 1, I left Queenscliff to go through the heads in the morning but soon found the USB navigation to be giving me funny readings so I had to head back to port to solve that issue. In the end it just started working by it self but it was going to come back to bite me later on. I tried again for slack water later that day and was heading through at about 2pm.
The sea was rough through the Rip and I got tossed around quite a bit but being so full of energy It didn't faze me, I had sails down and was motoring through. The wind was flogging the boom and this resulted in the first breakage with a block on the boom being ripped off thanks to a failed U Bolt, I repaired that on the go using 4mm nylon rope lashed around.. but from that point on I tied the end of the boom to a cleat meaning I had to swap this for every tack I performed.
The weather calmed down and I started making some progress, I was quite wired and worried about the first night so I got everything ready and tidy. I tested the mast head lights and realised they were not working so a bit of panic set in cause a dark boat at night can't be seen or avoided by other ships. I hoisted the radar reflector up and a couple of green glow sticks one on the starboard side and the other on .. well the other starboard side I guess.
I was feeling rotten in the stomach so didn't manage to eat anything, and stayed up all night watching the lights of merchant ships and oil rigs in the distance in my survival suit nodding off and waking up in confusion unsure of where I was.The fatigue at this stage was causing me to see all sorts of interesting things that did not exist.. but I pressed on, the waves and weather calmed and at dawn all seemed well again. Setting course I was able to lie down and get an hour sleep, up again check, down and another hour.. and so on.. all and all I think I got about 3 hours total in the first 48 hours at sea.
I knew already I would be in trouble if the sleeping and eating situation could not be resolved. Towards the end of day two I was over the sea sickness and started eating a little, and getting more sleep during the day in anticipation of having to keep careful watch the following night.
As it turned out the next night had nearly no wind and I had now solved the problem with my navigation lights - rather stupid - I had the master power switch in the off position, adding to the confusion was that some electronics bypass this switch so at the time I could not work out why my cabin lights were working but not the mast head lights and could only manage to change a few fuses before the sickness got the better of me and sent me to the cockpit.
The next morning I realized that I had not hoisted the radar reflector correctly, was now tangled and could not be pulled down so I left it up flogging against the mid stay. As sailing sounds go, the sound of anything flogging is enough to drive you insane.
Despite all this I was eating more and no longer felt sick at all. I was getting good hours of sleep. the sailing was getting nice all be it with periods of zero wind.
Start of day three I was close enough to the Prom to consider how I might weave my way through all the islands and rocks that stick out of the water while getting sleep and doing every thing else that needed to be done. A more experience sailor would have looked and the miles between them and thought nothing of it, I on the other hand decided to play it as safe as posable and take a southerly route under Curtis Island.
It was night on day 4 as I approached Curtis and here the GPS navigation failed me again, I had to reset the PC every 30 mins to ensure I would pass without hitting it or it's two rocks. It was a moon lit night so was not really going to hit them however the fear of not seeing my exact location on the little screen got the better of me and it had to be fixed.
As it was this turned out to be my best night of the whole trip steady wind (although not very strong) I slept for 4 hours in a row that night, kind of dangerous in it self but I was exhausted and needed the rest.
Last day and again I'm considering my route. The wind had changed to a brisk North East so thought I would make the most of a good thing and try for Refuge Cove on the East of the Prom. Here I would be able to set anchor in a safe sheltered bay, sleep for a day, eat and have really a good long hard think about what I was doing out here.
In my mind at this stage I had given up on NZ and thought Eden would be my final stop.
The wind took me about 17 NM north and then suddenly dropped to nothing and found my self 9NM South West of East Island. I bobbed around for half and hour and decided if I was ever going to get to Refuge before dark I would have to motor.
The math was kind of simple, the destination was 22NM away, the motor was getting me about 3 Knots so it was going to take me under 8 hours and it was 11am so I figured I would be able to do it.
Then for some reason I had a second wind - the brain and wind kind - a Westerly was picking up, but this was just the start of the storm I would find my self in trouble in 6 hours later.
I sail East trying to get north of East Island and then the squalls hit, and the strength of them took me by surprise, and the waves started to build behind me.
It didn't take long before the size of the following sea gripped me with fear, so I rounded up towards it and was blown down by all the sail I had up. I took two reefs and pulled the jib in but of course now had little speed to tacking through the wind and failed to do this several times. Compounding my problems was the realization that for all the fair winds I had earlier in the day I did not take advantage to get some sleep, being so fixated on Refuge Cove... so I was stuck with only 4 hours from the night before.
The wind and waves were getting bigger and bigger, I was motoring across them again now determined more than ever to get to Refuge Cove, hand steering in the conditions was getting difficult to control and It's about now around 4pm where I think I was really starting to get worried... and starting to loss hope and faith in my ability to handle the situation. I was soaked from the waves crashing over me, exhausted and contemplated just running the ship aground just for the chance to get off it. When I went in to the cabin it was like being in a little bottle that was being shaken violently, I would bounce off all sorts of surfaces.
Things in my mind at this stage were getting rather odd, and I knew one certain way to escape the situation was to activate my EPIRB and launch a rescue, in doing so I would loose the ship and everything I owned. While I contemplated this against the background of my life however the choice was simple and after 15 minutes, or an eternity, I pulled it out and activated the EPIRB tethering it on deck.
The continuous beeping and flashing of the strobe on the EPIRB was reassuring. My job had transformed from getting some place to just holding on and pointing the boat the best I could to reduce the effects of the biggest waves. Eventual I managed to get the monitor self steering going properly so I could at least do other things while the boat kept course.
Worried search and rescue were not getting my signal I called my sister on the satellite phone to ask her if she could call Australian search and rescue, of course it transpired that they were trying to call me while I was on the phone to her. They did call me not long after and I gave them an updated position, and asked me heaps of questions about my situation. I made it clear that I was injured, exhausted and WANTED THE **** OFF THIS BOAT.
I saw a merchant ship in the distance and set off a flare, they were the closest thing to me at that point, they didn't turn.
A spotter plane was sent from Melbourne ( about 20 minutes away - eternity two ), a bit of confusion here, they were going to drop a VHF radio as I had indicated on the sat phone I was not sure if mine was working and this was needed to coordinate things with other ships. They did a few circules and I was talking to them on my VHF ok but they dropped it anyway. It landed far from me, I did a 180 to get it... got beam on to the waves and was knocked down..I never found that radio.
Search and rescue had requested another merchant ship ( a Japanise grain ship called Imperial Fortune ) divert to my position, it's main roll to provide shelter for me from the weather until the police launch arrived some three hours away. I chatted with the captain of the ship via VHF who said he was going to drop a ladder mid-ship but the swell was going to make it difficult for me to get aboard, to witch I told him if I there is a ladder I'm going to get up it one way or another.
Things were still going crazzy but I was starting to think of salvation at this point now knowing that help was on it's way, and had the presence of mind to pack some valuables (camera, passport, credit cards, ...) in a sail bag tied it up and slung it around me.
The ship came to a stop about 200 meters away where I was instructed to make my approach. On the lee side of the ship the weather was calm but the swell was still two meters. One of the crew shone a torch to stern so of course I went to stern and my mast got tangled on the upper decks and did a bit of damage. I was not worried about that as, in my mind, the ship was lost already. Realizing the mistake I continued mid-ship and sure enough a ladder and a guy ready to throw a rope were waiting.
Tied on I said a goodbye to the boat that had been my home for the last year, hopped on the ladder and up I went. It was only about 10 meters and it was hard work, they pulled my in the final way.
On board I was walking snake-paths and almost falling over as my balance was affected from the time at sea. I was checked over by the ships doctor, able to call my sister to let her know I was OK, given a shower, hot food, new socks and a shirt.. all and all the most generous bunch of people I have ever met. The crew must have thought this all a bit novel as they would come in as groups and ask me lots of questions about me, where I was from where I was going...
The police launch arrived a few hours later and I did the transfer down the ladder again, it was too rough for them to tie on so I had to stand on the bottom rung near the water and wait for them to come to me.
If the transfer was not possible I was told I would have been getting a free 18 day trip to Japan.
Get back to port and I am checked over by a paramedic who says I'm fine, so I have to check my self in to hospital having no place else to go, I was in shock my thumb was messed up from falling in to the cabin of my boat and I had absolutely no idea where I was.
That's how it all went down.
A more experience sailor might have considered the conditions benign, or had known to get more sleep and food. For me I had reached my absolute limit and realized it, so I'm not sorry I called it quits.
The boat was actually salvaged by a local fisher man but that's another expensave story that is still unfolding.
