We arrived in Portland yesterday afternoon, as usual, under the watchful gaze of many who were fishing, walking along the beach and waterfront, and several who had stopped in their cars at the head of the harbour mouth and stood watching.

Well it's not unusual for Argos to draw a little bit of attention. But this time it wasn't just Argos and her uniqueness that was of interest - no, this time there was even more of the unusual about our arrival - we were towed into the harbour by the Portland Coastguard.

We had left Southend on Rivoli Bay on Tuesday morning as planned. The weather was looking fine, the Barometer steady, the winds not quite the South/South Westerly we had expected from the Bureau of Meterology forcast, but we hoped they would swing around and in the meantime we headed out, eager to get going.

Tuesday was as pleasant a day as you could hope for, blue sky, only a low swell and although the wind never did hit the south westerly angle we hoped for, it was not completely head-on and we made some decent progress as we tacked and tacked again to make the best of the wind that was available. Whenever we face head winds, or winds that are close to that we have to use the engine in addition to the sails to enable us to sail as close to the wind as possible. This is the one hassle of the style of boat Argos is.

Our initial plan (Plan A) was to head to Port MacDonnall about at the half way point between Rivoli Bay and Port Fairy, but by lunch time it was looking like it would take considerably longer to get there with all the tacking we were needing to do and that would have us arriving after dark and needing to negotiate the endless cray-pots that would litter the area like a mine field - we didn't fancy that so we decided to go to plan B and sail through the night further off shore to avoid the likeliness of getting entangled in a cray pot and then head directly to Port Fairy.

All day Wednesday we plugged away, continuing to need to tack to avoid the continuing head-winds and make some progress albeit slow, and by sundown we were nearing the first of the headlands we would need to round which are near Portland Bay prior to crossing the bay and heading into Port Fairy.

All night we slogged away, tacking one way and then another making a little bit of headway at each turn as the winds, which were still South Easterly and much stronger than anticipated, built up and continued to hamper our progress. Why do we read forcasts, I wonder, they seem so rarely to be accurate????

We were doing okay though, sleeping and taking turns on watch, though Peter had been feeling anxious all day and dealing with a sense of foreboding that he couldn't pin down to anything in particular and struggling to get any actual sleep.

I was on watch at 3am. We had had a disturbed enough night already with all our tacking and a number of ships passing, which we were alerted to by the AIS system Peter installed before we left Albany. This informs us when a ship comes within 15 NM of us and tells us where they are heading and how quickly. We had to alter course a little once but on the whole we were well away from the shipping lane and safely plodding on. Shortly after 3am the gentle hum of the engine ceased - spluttering at first and then stopping completely.

Peter was out of bed before I had time to even think, 'the engine has stopped', and I could hear him in the engine room. I hoped, expected, knew that he would get it sorted in a flash.

It was dark. In the darkness I could just make out the misted shape of the headland we were tacking towards, and off to the side of the boat, a little ways off, two ships - one a large one that we thought to be an oil rig or something and another near it, which we thought was towing it or attending to it in some way. With no engine we lost steerage and the auto pilot threw up its hands in helpless defeat so we began to simply drift wherever the wind would take us.

The following three hours were spent by an exhausted Peter in the confines of the increasingly fumy engine room trying to get to the bottom of what was causing the engine to malfunction. In his heart at the beginning of the problem he guessed - earlier he had decided to switch us from the first of our four fuel tanks to the second, following the instructions of the chap we bought Argos from. His sneaky suspicion was that he had not been given the correct information about how this should be done.

Three hours of struggling later it was apparent that while we had plenty of fuel it was not getting to the engine - either there was a blockage in the lines or something was wrong with how we switched tanks, leading to further problems. Either way the engine was not going to start.

By this time we had drifted back to where we had been about 5 hours earlier and could only see ourselves drifting further and further from the course we hoped to be on and even if we let ourselves go the wrong way, we were concerned about how we would be able to get into a bay or appropriate place to drop anchor or tie up even if we made it somewhere.

In the midst of things not going to plan we find calmness prevails. Peter quietly thinks and I process the possibilities. We talk. We consider options and look at alternatives. At this point we were sailing comfortably. The wind had eased off a little and we were a considerable distance from any land or other boats. We had time to breath and decide on a suitable course of action.

What we decided to do was something that felt hard, but we felt it was wise and intelligent. We knew that a front was heading in our direction and due to cross our path towards the end of the following day. We didn't want to still be floundering or flopping about with no steerage then. We knew that the town of Portland was about 15 - 20 NM away from us and probably had a coastguard. We also knew that Erina was sick and had been the entire trip - not with the ordinary sea-sickness that she is still afflicted by on the first day of most trips - but with a more painful stomach upset.

We decided to contact the coastguard and ask for assistance.

We began with the marine radio. No answer, despite trying on all the possible frequencies. The mobile phone had no service so we couldn't call the coastguard direct. The mobile phone though did say 'emergency calls only'. I didn't think it was an emergency as such but we decided after some hesitation to call and ask if they could contact the coastguard for us.

What happened next was so amazing. Even as I write I have tears eager to appear! These guys do such an amazing job and I cannot praise them more highly!

I gave the operator our co-ordinates and explained that we only needed to contact the coastguard to see if they could tow us in and that no one was hurt and the boat not stricken. Within a relatively short time we were contacted by a police officer who told us he had come out on to the headland and was able to see us. He asked about how our daughter was and told us that a helicopter had been dispatched to air lift her if that was what was needed. I explained that she was doing ok and while she was dehydrating, getting into port would be enough to improve things for her. The helicopter turned around - we heard this over the radio.

The police officer (Martin) called us frequently, checking that we were all still okay, informing us of the progress of the coastguard and assuring us that the chopper could turn around if Erina became any more unwell. He told us that he would stay on the headland until he saw the coastguard boat arrive and us leave, and that when he heard from them he would contact us so we knew what was happening. I can't express how supported we felt knowing that someone was out there watching out for us. By this time Liam was also throwing up, confirming our suspicions that it was a virus or similar as he never gets seasick
Shortly after this the coastguard were able to get through to us on the radio and informed us that they would be with us in less than 15 mins.

It was hard to decide to call. It felt like we had failed somehow in needed rescue. But we had assessed the situation and having concluded that we would not be able, with safety, to sort things out for ourselves, decided to accept the need for help. I said to Peter that it was no different than in a car that had broken down - except that we couldn't just call a mate to get a tow!

It was about 8.30 am when the cheerful yellow and black coastguard boat took shape on the horizon. Within minutes they were beside us. The three men on board deftly hurled a rope to Peter ('right at my head', he told me later!) and he tied us on. Then we were moving in the right direction again! It took until 1pm for us to make it into Portland. We were travelling at Argos' pace and not the coastguard's capacity! Once there they, in a boat that can move sideways, rafted us into a spot on the commercial wharf. We could stay until the engine was working again.

These guys, like the local police, did and do an awesome job and again I can't praise them more highly. There was no expense, and no blame. In fact the guys told us they were delighted to hear a 'square rigger' needed assistance and the skipper had to call his men several times to leave as they were busy exploring Argos and talking to us! They told us it was no trouble to have come out to help us and in every way made us understand that we had made a sound decision. Martin, the police man was waiting on the dock for us to arrive and also came on board. He was very happy to see both the children not looking too green and offered all sorts of help - rides - information about Portland - he made us feel incredibly welcome and supported.

We were both so tired. I had been on watch since 2am and Peter had barely slept in two days. No one had really eaten for at least a day and I don't even want to think about what we all looked and smelt like! But Argos was tied up and we were safe and sound.

We showered and thought we'd go for a walk. Some guys who were looking at the boat insisted on driving us over to where there was an Aldi store (I felt like I was back at home!) offering any assistance we might need while in town and insisting on giving us their phone numbers! We had forgotten to eat, but it was such a relief to be safely in a port that we didn't even think about food! Later we cooked a BBQ dinner at a park that was right next to the wharf and chatted with some local fellows over the BBQ hotplates.
What a friendly town this is - we are so glad really for the circumstances that led us to be here, or we would have missed out on meeting many lovely people! It's funny how things work out sometimes, unexpected blessings and treats!

Peter, true to form, has completely solved the problem of the engine and it is running better than it has ever run before! Liam and Erina and I have had a lovely time shopping and ensuring that Argos is appropriately attired for Christmas, and we have all had some much needed sleep!

We'll stay a couple of days and then potter down to Port Fairy as originally planned. And now, I am informed, it is time to head down to where the children spotted those lovely golden arches when we were in town earlier for an obligatory Macca's meal!