Sometimes tying up at a port is a serious relief. Late Monday night Kwela arrived in Esperance Bay and sought out the shelter of the wharf. It had not been a pleasant sail towards the end as a low pressure system had moved in more rapidly than anticipated and left its mark. Bigger seas, strong winds and the different motion of Kwela left Peter feeling extremely unwell. Later when we spoke he told me that he has never felt so sick in all his life. And that was despite all the sea-sickness pills he has taken. Well, at least he had them.
The low pressure system leaves good wind to cross the Bight in its wake and so only one day of rest could be permitted, and this morning they will set off once more, crossing low in the Bight towards Robe South Australia.
The day in Esperance was spent attending to some more fine tuning of things – some little things with the engine and a crack that had appeared in the tiller arm. Oh and a visit to the chemist for some more supplies! Peter is leaving Esperance well-armed for the battle ahead with his body-wiring! And despite the possibility of more sickness he was in good spirits – happy to be out on the ocean as always.
They anticipate around 7 days to get to Robe, with good wind and although the seas and swell may conspire to make it hard for Peter, we know from our experience that it’s all about getting used to it.
Every man and his sea-dog have tips for dealing with sea sickness and we tried everything possible to help Erina - but in the end we found that it was simply a matter of timing – hanging in there long enough for the body to adjust. And during that time working on keeping enough fluids up to prevent dehydration. It’s funny that Peter, who never really got sick, should be battling so much with it now, but the positive side of it is that he is not doing this delivery alone and its so good to realise that each boat handles in its own way and some may generate more sickness than others. All good learning.
If you want to check Kwela’s progress, I will be updating the map here as often as I get updates from Peter, which should be at least daily.