October 28, 2003
Stories in this section... Australia
Port to Port Rally Pacific Bliss in the Land of Oz Blatant Bribery
Pacific Bliss in the Land of Oz When I came on watch this morning at 0300, I could
see the lights of Bundaberg glimmering expectantly on the horizon. My
heart was filled with the wonder of it all and I felt good to the depths
of my soul. The long-awaited Land of Oz! Pacific Bliss had not entered
a ‘Western World’ country since June of 2001, when we docked at our
home town of San Diego after our yacht’s maiden voyage from France.
We’d been sailing the South Pacific islands for two years, arriving
here as part of the Port2Port Fun Ocean Passage from Vanuatu. I had
just made a pot of coffee. I sat at the helm in this silent night, taking
it all in. A shooting star streaked across the night sky. A white tern
circled the bows and then landed on the pulpit seat for a ride in. I
viewed them both as signs of good luck. Ahead—to our starboard—the running
lights of Rascal Too, our buddy boat, bobbed silently through the waves.
Our new Aussie friends, Greg and Pat, were magnanimously leading us
into their country. Never before on our circumnavigation—now over half-way—had
I felt such a sense of elation and destiny upon arriving in a foreign
port. Captain Gunter and able seaman Richard were still asleep. As our
engines droned along at six knots, I had a second cup of coffee and
felt higher still. I woke the guys as we reached our waypoint for the
Burnett River. We followed the buoys on in, with Gunter now at the helm,
Richard as the look-out and yours truly at the nav station. Changing
our clocks to Aussie time, we dropped the hook at 0500, just at dawn’s
light. Other than one night of stormy weather and one day of rough seas
following, it has been a perfect passage of a little less than seven
days—with a nice-and-easy average of 6.24 knots. Passages are not our
favorite part of cruising, but we can’t complain. Our MaxSea proved
accurate here in OZ and I must commend Ray, our autopilot, for a flawless
performance during the 1100-mile passage. |
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