Windows of Opportunity
02 July 2019 | Pittwater, NSW
Jill
It's amazing to think we've already been back in the east for almost a month now, comfortable and snug in a small marina whilst completing all our preparations for travelling north. We have worked on filling our freezer with all manner of delicious items, including a large selection of very tasty "ready meals". Some of these, like warming and hearty soups, we've created in our trusty NZ sourced slow cooker - ahhh, the joys of shore power !! Paul, however, has had occasion to curse our frozen abundance - during mid June there were massive blooms of "Jellyblubbers" all across Pittwater and due to their curiosity around our hull, several managed to get sucked up into our refrigeration intake. The only way to remove them was to dive down and clear them .... not a fun experience with a water temp of less than 10C - it's definitely not the warm tropical water that we're accustomed to. We've gone through our usual check list, cleaned and stowed away all our non essential items and passage proofed our lockers. We've also checked and tested everything from stem to stern plus loaded up with provisions, including a couple of packets of cold and flu tabs .... just in case. We are well and truly ready and prepared for sea; paradoxically, our old mate Huey is not playing nice.
Having pinpointed what looked like a good three day forecast a few days ago, we retrieved our lines and headed off out to sea. Once clear of Broken Bay, it became apparent that the conditions we were experiencing were nothing like the forecast; the 15-20 knot south easterly was instead a boisterous and absolutely freezing 20-25 SSE blow which was regularly gusting beyond 30 knots. The sea state was ugly and the swell, fed by the blustery conditions, was lumpy and uncomfortable. Ahead towards Terrigal, the sky was darkening rapidly, always a portentous sign. As it began to drizzle, we made the decision to bail out, swung around and returned to the safety and calmness of Pittwater. Calling the marina manager, we were pleased to learn a berth was still available and we arrived wet, cold and grateful some 2 1/2 hours later, the only upside of our day being able to see northerly migrating whales. Having sailed in excess of 60,000 nautical miles on our world circumnavigation, we don't need to battle the elements unnecessarily.
As we continue to incessantly check the weather, looking to identify another appropriate window to make for the Gold Coast and beyond, we've been noticing several patterns. Sudden increases in the barometric pressure, especially as it climbs to 1040 and beyond, foretell strong to gale force winds with vicious southerlies then whipping up the sea state and the swell. High pressure systems sitting in Aussie lower latitudes translate to strong SE conditions between the Central Coast and the Sunshine Coast. These deep systems are a reminder of the conditions we encountered on the West Coast back in 2010 ... on the Indian Ocean side, it translated to howling, ongoing strong easterlies meaning that for much of our passage to Darwin we were beating to windward. For the southern Tasman, it means unbelievably cold conditions and big swell - in fact over the last few weeks there have been numerous strong wind warnings issued by BoM and several hazardous surf warnings. Further north, a consistently blustery SE configuration is evident. It's making it challenging ....
So, we've now made the decision to stay south in 2019. Time spent on unexpected maintenance plus our trip back to Perth (which was delightful for so many reasons) has clearly eaten into transit times and to be honest, we have no appetite for battling adverse conditions. There's a lot to love about the region we are currently calling home, with so many beautiful and sheltered bays to explore, as well as land excursions within the Northern Beaches and further afield. The luxury of absolute first world facilities - shopping, entertainment, transport - will no doubt help as we sit at 35 degrees South and experience our first winter in almost 10 years. We've dragged out blankets and our little fan heater and are toasty warm, cosy and comfortable.
All well onboard.