PART II

My mistake, the click, click of the motor was just in my head... if the motor didn't start and we drifted closer to the rocks... but instead we did a granny and circled away from the danger.. looking at the GPS, we were making a nice little triangle of nothing! So that was it for me... exhausted I turned over the helm to Ian and went down to bed. Damian had a hard week as well, so he came down to sack out as well.

Key learning #1 of the race, don't get so caught up in prepping the boat that you fail to have time to plan, and then race your plan. Things that did not get done in advance were crew stations, watch lists, entering navigation points into both our GPS units, etc. With only Damian going down to sleep, we would be light on the second watch. I knew this, but was too tired to care and it was only 9:30pm. I vaguely remember Ian coming down to sleep sometime after I had. When I'm sleeping, I can still hear and catch some snippets of conversation. I don't know if it's a dream or real at the time, but mostly it's real. I hear discussion about when to throw in the towel as the winds were so light we didn't even have an ETA for Bird Island (Estimated Time of Arrival - is left blank any time the calculation is more than 96 hours out). I problem shook my head in my sleep at the thought of quitting a race because of light winds, just something I wouldn't consider. About midnight Kirsty woke me up to take over the boat as she was also exhausted. I took the briefing from her and we hot swapped the bunk. By the way, for those of you that have been on Nemesis we now have all the cruising gear and clutter that came with the boat out of the way, with all bunks available. This includes two pilot berths, mid-ship above the port and starboard settees.

So with a quick navigation brief from Del, Damian and I took over a bit after midnight. Now the crew rushed downstairs like the outgoing tide. The wind had picked up just enough to get us out of the heads. It was dying out and getting very fickle. We had two boats around us, one behind and another just abeam on the port side. Tough work with all of us barely bobbing along. Sam and Damian helped me rig up the pole to try and hold our the jib, with the boom brake pulled on tight to keep the main in place. With this done we started to creep ahead of the boat to our left. Happy with it for the moment, I sent Sam down to bed and Damian and I took over the watch. To keep speed, we kept having to push further out to sea than our competition, they seemed to have a broader light air sail selection and were able to hold a different course to us. That got me thinking about the single navigation point in the GPS on deck, and if it was accurate to the goal of Bird Island. Del had brought his nav computer, and that was downstairs happily recording and displaying where we had been on the map. I scrolled ahead and saw the island miles in the distance and our course just didn't look right. I decided it was time for a cup of coffee and a read through the sailing instructions to verify the proper way points. Leaving Damian on the helm with a cup of coffee, I went below to set up a route of way points on our deck GPS.

With a course I knew and trusted in the GPS, I returned to the cockpit and instructed Damian to come back to a course closing us with land a bit more. We were then about 2.5 miles to sea our our proper rum line course. The wind would pick up for a bit, then die away. The weather pattern we faced was a trough building between two systems, and with that trough would go our wind. About three thirty I went below to rouse Ian. Coffee and sandwich in hand, he joined us on deck. Ian is great fun with stories and insights into life and sailing. He is also a strong helmsman, so after waking up he took over at the wheel. By about 5:00am the dawn was starting to glow on the eastern ocean and with it came some wind. Our watch was done, so with Ian helming, Andy, Kirsty, Mark and Sam on deck I went down to bed. It was just about this time that the first competitor came by, returning from Bird Island and now heading south. Wild Oats X, a 66 footer, came rushing by with all the crew up and on the rail. Normally it is dead silent when a professional boat passes in the harbor, so this was the first time we had passed a yacht of the prestige of Wild Oats in open ocean. I was mildly surprised and complimented when a quick cheer of encouragement floated over the ocean to us as she rocketed by. Thanks guys!

A few hours later I could feel the boat straining as she heeled over and powered up. The seas were still very flat, so with this burst of wind we were rocketing along. Being in the port bunk, I had the porthole to the cockpit open and could hear discussion of the wind reaching twenty knots. That certainly accounted for the speed! Thought of my sail maker, John Hearn of Doyle Sails, telling me we didn't want to run the new #1 in much more than fifteen knots. I was surprised that a full 150% Genoa and a full main weren't rounding the boat up when a gust of 21 came through. I heard the call for a sail change. I think Kirsty was sleeping in the split bunk with me at that point, but I was foggy with sleep and can't remember for sure (plus we were separated by a batter board laced to the ceiling with cord - similar to the old fashioned bunting boards they used to put into beds to keep the opposite sexes apart - but this batter board would keep us safe and separate to sleep as the yacht heeled to one side or the other. I quickly got into my heavy jacket and PFD, and came up onto deck to find us nicely heeled and powering along. The #3 jib had been put on deck and the crew was in the process of preparing to switch it with the larger #1. I looked up and was amazed how flat the mainsail was keeping in moderate winds. What a difference from our old 25 year old sails! Ian was comfortable on the helm, and thought the burst of wind was just from the gutter of passing a river inlet (the Pittwater/Hawkesbury). We held off on the sail change and in a few minutes the wind moderated down into the high teens.

I was now awake, so I took the helm for a few minutes to check the boat balance. Very smooth and balanced. Doyle, I'm impressed with the sails you put out! Still tired I retired to the rail and had a chat with Andy and Mark. Two dolphins broke surface and came over to play with Nemesis as we rolled along. It's been too long since we have been at sea, long hard months of boat upgrades and repair all washed into the past as these sleek creatures races along. I have definitely been missing this!

From the 7am radio sked (schedule) we knew that the larger yachts in the fleet had passed Bird Island and were on their way South. We started to see them pass as we neared the island, some flying asymmetrical spinnakers (kite), but even those were barely flying. The wind had not clocked around enough for a kite. We talked through our rounding and set up for a kite just in case. True to form for this weekend, we rounded the island and then turned back towards Sydney; the kite hoist was smooth and efficient and I love the silence and shade a big spinnaker makes on a downwind run. But we just didn't have enough wind to hold it, so down it came again and we returned to a beam reach.

Part of the crew was already clamoring for me to turn the motor on, as with the wind hole we were in it could be days before we got back to Sydney. Such a positive bunch! I decided that it was time to put out the fishing line as we bobbed around. Never hurts to have a backup plan if we are out here for awhile! So went the next few hours. Frustratingly light winds to no wind, with the boat just bobbing around in circles, then a wind line would come in and we would get moving again. Funny how morale ebbs and flows with the wind. Highlights of the day included seeing a baby whale heading south, the beautiful sunshine, my Seafood Veracruz/Gumbo for dinner, and the Grand Final on the radio for the Victorians on board.

By the time the day drew to a close, we were six miles from the Sydney Heads with so little wind that the sea was glassy. A few boats from the other race (Lion Island) where bobbing about, with progress being VERY slow. Once again, I'm happy with that, but half the crew had visions of sleeping in their own beds with their loved ones. Hard choice. We were also starting to drift down on Long Reef, which protrudes out a mile or so just above North Head. With no wind and our drift rate, if some land breeze or sea breeze didn't pick up we would get to the point of having to turn on the motor to avoid the reef.

Mutiny was in the air, and my choice would be to stick it out, but I had set expectations that at 5-6 knots of wind we would be home in 14-16 hours. I could not have been more wrong! We had a quick crew meeting and only Mark and Damian wanted to keep racing. I still don't understand people. You provide a boat, months of hard work to get the boat out there racing, and a day into a race that people should have cleared the whole weekend for, they want to give up. It astounds me. Most of the crew will be reading this, so at least they know exactly how it feel about this. Our first race, and we are going to take a DNF (did not finish). Sighs.

So there ended our Bird Island race. I will have to say that after retiring from the race it did not sit very well with me. A boat needs its crew, as much as the crew needs it's boat. I had the authority to keep us out there racing, and next time expectations will be set that Nemesis will not retire unless medical or safety concerns warrant it. It is just not in my DNA to quit a race. I hate when we do it on other boats in harbor races. I didn't want to allow it on my own boat, and I don't think I will again. Nemesis will be gutsing it out.

After a long twenty four hours of challenging sailing, we motored back into the harbor. I wanted to stop at CYCA and have a beer with the crew. Sydney Harbor is one of the most beautiful in the world, and she was in her full glory as we slide back into her. CYCA was a tight fit getting into the 'pond', where guest boats can tie up, but we gracefully spun Nemmy around and shoehorned her next to another boat. We all made a dash for the bathrooms and then the bar. With the DNF stinging in my heart, I knew I had still won. My goal for the race was to just get the boat into the race. The fact that we started the race, and completed the mountain of work required to have that Cat1 Offshore racing sticker on the back of the boat was my goal. The sails looked good. The crew came together and sailed her quite nicely. Finally, as all sea captains know, we achieved the ultimate goal; bringing his ship and crew back safely.