Yacht Delivery Blog

We are done! The boat's tied up safe and sound in the marina, the crew has packed their bags and headed off, and I'm here doing the final clean-up before I leave at 6 am tomorrow morning. I have to admit, I was pretty anxious for the last 24 hours. I was on the edge of my seat, hoping those saildrives would hold out for the final stretch. I even changed the oil in both of them around 3 am, because we were going to make landfall around 5 am and its quite a way up the river, and the tide was going to be dropping as we went up, meaning they'd have a bit more work to do. And the final approach was definitely… engaging. There was a fair bit of tide coming out of the river, which dropped our boat speed down to around 4 knots. We also had the added obstacle of river traffic to contend with, and the channel margins were tight – about half a meter on either side. It was one of those situations where you're constantly running through scenarios in your head. I was thinking things ...

The wind decided to take a break overnight, and we're now down to around 5 knots of breeze from the east with the main and headsail being stowed around midnight. So, we're gently motoring along on one engine, just cruising towards the finish line. Today's agenda includes an oil change on the gearboxes. I want to get that done in preparation for the final push tomorrow when we'll be heading up the Brisbane River . It's always good to have everything fresh and ready for those final maneuvers. I also took another look at the port saildrive this morning, after we'd been motoring all night. And it's not as bad as I feared! There doesn't seem to be a ton of water in there. The oil is definitely milky, which isn't ideal, but it still appears to be providing lubrication. And since I'm only motoring at around 1500 RPM, I'm feeling cautiously optimistic that we'll make it in without any horrible noises emanating from the engine room or, even worse...

Well, I had thought the chances of headwinds were diminishing, but it appears they actually minished (a nautical term, I'm sure). The breeze has kicked up quite a bit and is in the high 20s at the moment. The good news is that we can lay Brisbane at about 50 degrees off the wind, so at least we can still make progress and don't have to tack. I had been hoping to have a little bit more east in the breeze but it is what it is. The main has two reefs in (and the second reef is very deep!), and we've got several turns in the headsail. Every now and then, a huge wave explodes over the boat, just to keep us on our toes. Unfortunately, the inevitable has happened. I had my suspicions the day before yesterday, but it was definitely confirmed yesterday: the port saildrive now has sea water in the oil as well. It's absolutely no surprise, really, but I had been hoping it would hold out a little longer. So, we'll have to be managing the engines very carefully, as it looks lik...

Merry Christmas everyone! Well, it's Christmas Day, and we're still out here pushing forwards. We can see a little sliver of land on the horizon right in front of us, which is exciting! We have to go around the bottom of a small island, then up a channel before turning right over the top of a larger island and into Tual. It's not looking very likely that we'll get there before dark, and heading into an unfamiliar Asian port at night is definitely not a good idea. So I'll need to come up with a Plan B for tonight.  If you're looking at our track, you'll see there's been a big change in direction. This recent change is a lot more positive than the changes of the last 10 days, which have all been in mostly the wrong direction! And even if they were in the right direction, it was only just!  This change is because the wind died off almost completely – as forecast – and we're now motoring in exactly the right way albeit slowly. Luckily it appears the...

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! We're 65 nautical miles in a straight line from where we anchored for the generator repair, but we've probably sailed at least double that zig-zagging into the wind and current and dodging fishing boats.  On the way out of the anchorage and along the south end of the island, the wind was westerly and looking fantastic for the trip up to Tual. Unfortunately, as we got out to sea, it started to swing around to the northwest, so essentially blowing from exactly where we want to go.  The generator has run for a few hours since the patch-up, but it's nerve-wracking! The life expectancy of the repair is unknown, and every beat of the engine puts pressure on it. With two electric motors for propulsion, the generator is essential for us. So if you're wondering why the blog isn't as upbeat as usual, that's why. And it's Christmas Eve, and we have at least 150 nautical miles to go in a straight line to the next place to try and get a be...