01/04/2008, Kirribilli
I am alternately gutted and relieved. Two days ago, at the suggestion of Deb, I emailed Australia's leading offshore weather forecaster asking for advice about our intended passage. He has just called me and spoken in very clear terms of the birth of a "perfect storm" in the middle of the Tasman on Tuesday. This low pressure cell is predicted to be cradled in a high, thus generating an enormous pressure gradient. The words "storm force" and "hurricane force" were used during the conversation. The storm lies directly in our path and the winds (and seas) would be on the nose.
As I sit here in the cockpit feeling the norwest breeze carress my back I am stunned.
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Comments [2]
another blog 1000days.net. I believe he is
riding out the storm you are speaking of.
01/04/2008, Kirribilli
What a fantastic night. We had a great turnout of friends from all over. Andrea and I were absolutely thrilled at the expression of good will.
The evening was crystal clear with the Southern Cross and Orion clearly visible. The balcony of the Squadron was an exquisite temperature as we chatted and gazed out over the harbour. The party wrapped up about 8.30 and then it was a quick meal at Stir Crazy before dropping exhausted into bed. We were looking good for a Thursday departure after passage of the cold front.
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28/03/2008, Still in Sydney
We haven't left yet but you should know that anyway.
I have been watching the weather as one does and the European model is predicting a cold front to pass through Sydney on Wednesday evening. The advice from my learned colleagues is that we should jump on the back of this sort of phenomenon. Thus it looks like a Thursday 3rd departure at this stage.
I have been losing my mind with endless lists of things to do and I have now got to the point where I am having to ask questions on several occasions even knowing I have asked them before. Quite annoying.
All the boat systems have been examined in some detail now although Charles tells me the steering needs to be tightened up a bit. We finally got the freezer running properly but the compartement is just too big so will have to shrink it a bit with some polystyrene. The diesel fired heater has taken me about six months to install and we got to run it briefly. After an initial scare with the smell of plastic undergoing combustion it settled down and pumped nice warm air around the boat. The forward looking sonar makes lots of unusual multicoloured images. It reminds me of .... nothing I have ever seen before. I will have to RTFM on that one. The Yanmar has been serviced so we blasted around the harbour at 3500rpm on Monday with no problems. We did a radio check with Russell radio recently. Spoke directly to them in NZ from Kirribilli. Noice.
We have spent some time securing lockers and gear in the boat in the event of a rollover. It would probably still be a disaster but perhaps less so.
This weekend we need to run the watermaker to see if it works. It is from Bay of Islands so at least if it fails we are heading towards the repair shop!
We will be attending to other myriad things as well during the next few days. All good fun.
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Al
your daughter,
hannah xoxoxoox
Cheers all.
23/03/2008, Sydney
Welcome to the blog of Diomedea. She is securely fastened to her mooring and is gently bucking with the harbour wash. Obviously she is keen to cast off and head ESE. Come to our farewell party on the evening of April 1st at Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron.
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cheers
