Skip to main content

A Mixed Bag

It's been a mixed bag of everything the South Pacific has to offer over the last 24hrs: from 4 knots of wind to 28, completely overcast to blue sky, southerly to easterly winds, its been main up, main down, engine on, engine off, and i have also had to deal with some very vicious flying fish. In a fit of rage, one of them almost made it into the saloon, and I was lucky to have the boat hook handy to help get it away. 

We're currently motoring at about 5 knots with a light breeze thats useless for sailing and directly from behind with a rather lumpy sea, so I'm hoping either the breeze picks up or the sea calms down. It's also back to being overcast. At the moment we are making the best of it while the water maker is filling the tanks.

We've also been calculating the complexities of changing the clock back an hour to get onto local time and how to adjust the watches so someone doesn't get stuck with an extra hour. It's been some tricky mathematics!

South Pacific sky.

Popular posts from this blog

Motoring

We've officially crossed the halfway point on our journey to Darwin, and things are looking good. The weather continues to cooperate, offering us smooth motoring so far. However, forecasts predict a shift in wind direction sometime tomorrow, with easterlies potentially changing our arrival time. The stronger the easterlies, the later we'll pull into Darwin. It's going to be time to transfer fuel later and the only pump available in Singapore was a rickety, hand-cranked contraption that leaked like a sieve . Transferring fuel has been a nightmare. It turned a simple task into a full-blown mission, complete with showers for everyone involved afterwards and a thorough boat cleaning session. Thankfully, things are much different now. Thanks to Rhona's keen eye, we snagged a fantastic electric transfer pump in Lombok. This beauty is a dream come true – just two hoses and a simple switch, and we can effortlessly pump 250 liters of fuel in a matter of minutes! Needless to say,...

A New Adventure Begins

Location: Departing Denarau, Fiji And so it begins! The journey from Fiji to Southport is officially underway. I arrived in Fiji yesterday and had a fantastic handover from Karl, the boat's owner. It was a proper, detailed session, which is always a treat and makes the whole process so much smoother. It's rare to get a handover at all so that level of thoroughness was a huge help and saved a lot of time, and I'm very grateful for it—it makes a huge difference to a delivery skipper. This morning was all about final preparations. We filled the tanks with a massive 15,000 litres of duty-free fuel. By midday, customs and immigration were on board to complete the paperwork, and with their stamp of approval, we were good to go. The moment you first take the helm of a new boat is always a mix of excitement and a little bit of nerves. No matter how much you've been briefed, you're never quite sure how she'll handle. Will she respond to the helm? How will she behave in t...

Arrival in Sydney: Delivery Complete!

 This morning, the Excess 14 slid gracefully into her new berth at Middle Harbour Marina, marking the successful completion of her delivery from the Gold Coast. The final approach into Sydney Harbour is always a great sight, a fitting end to a coastal voyage. This passage was a comprehensive real-world test of the boat's capabilities. She proved to be a joy in light airs, demonstrated strength and stability in heavy weather, and showed impressive maneuverability during a tricky docking. It’s clear that the Excess 14 is a versatile and robust catamaran, perfectly suited for everything the Australian coast can throw at it. The final tasks onboard are ones of quiet satisfaction: coiling the lines perfectly, writing up the final log entry, and giving the boat a last clean and polish. For Yacht Delivery Solutions, it's a pleasure and a privilege to deliver a vessel of this quality. Handing her over to the brokers at Flagstaff Marine clean, secure, and ready for her new owners is t...