Current Position: 10 47.964’S 142.43.956’E; Local Timezone: UTC+20 SOG: 0 kt COG: N/A; TWS: 13 kt; TWD: 153; Distance to Waypoint (Wyborn Reef): At anchor ; Total Miles Sailed: 8783 nm; Engine Hours: 189; Estimate Fuel: 52+10+50;
Comments: The boat anchored at Collette was a 66’ fishing boat called El Torito. After dark, it left the anchorage (according to AIS), presumably to fish. At 20:00 I downloaded long-range AIS data and was pleased to see there was no commercial traffic in the shipping lanes. There was one cargo ship on the other side of the York peninsula that could be headed my way, but rush was it. I noticed Lani, the catamaran that hailed me in the middle of the passage had arrived at Thursday Island. About 2h from now (22:30) I will have cleared the last obstacle. I’ll have about 25 nm, maybe 5h, of sailing to get to Wyborn. I should be able to take hour naps then. After I anchor, I can catch up with my rest. It is 21:20 and I am about 45m from moving past the last obstacle in the GBR. Since I hope to sleep some during the 4-5h to Wyborn, I just downloaded a new long-range AIS map. There are two cargo ships in my path. However, my course only crosses the shipping lanes once I am very close to Wyborn, and I expect both ships will have past that point by then. I am getting ready to get some sleep. There are two cargo ships, one about 10 nm from where we’d cross paths and the other maybe 22 nm. Since they usually travel about 17 kt, they should be gone by the time I get there. I am about 25 nm from the anchorage and have slowed to 4.5 kt, mainly because I have a current against me rather than with me as before. It should take 5-6h to get there. At 22:30, the first of the two cargo ships showed up on AIS 23 nm away. It appeared to be headed for me, but that is just because it has not yet negotiated the turn S, as required by the shipping lanes. 30m later both ships appeared and had turned S. At 1:00 there was a yacht (Stormbird) heading N. We might be in conflict in 1h. The Wyborn reef runs NW to SE m. I needed to come around the E side to the S entrance of the horseshoe-shaped reef, and I was headed too far S to do that under sail, so I adjusted the windvane to head further N, which is hard because I am nearly running. I could tack, but I’d just have the same problem from the other tack … where I want to go is directly downwind. I am about 12 nm away. At 2:00 it became apparent that I was not making enough N. I also had a crossing conflict with the 62’ Stormbird (that was moving twice my speed), so I tacked for 30m. A squall came in at 2:30 with rain. I am 7 nm away from furling the jib. Had to adjust the windvane because the storm (temporarily) changed the wind direction. Stormbird passed in front of me. It is 3:15, I am 4 nm from the anchorage, and a cargo ship has just entered the channel. It looks like it will pass me just before I need to cut across to the reef. I am going to pass the reef in about 45m, start the engine, round up, and furl the jib. I will be working against the current. The ship is supposed to pass me in 30m. As soon as the ship passed, I changed course for the S end of Wyborn, about 1 nm away. I once again struggled to get the last part of the jib furled. There is something wrong with the furler. The line on the drum is not tangled. Perhaps it has something to do with when I removed the sail in Vanuatu to turn the sheets around. Now about 1.5 nm downwind, I motored to the waypoint and dropped the anchor in about 30’ of water. It held immediately, bringing the boat to a halt in the combination of 20 kt wind and current. It was 5:00. I opened a beer and tried to relax. I was asleep by 6:00. I woke at 10:00. The lighting here is strange. Drizzle comes and goes several times an hour. The land masses come fade into the grey as the visibility changes. It is very disorienting. The winds and the currents are frequently running in different directions, so the boat at anchor is not always pointed upwind. Right now, it is 90 degrees to the wind and the wind-generated waves are hitting the starboard beam. I was slow to get to work … still tired and punchy. I have a punch list of things to do while at anchor here. First, I had a look at the furler. It seems I had the halyard too tight. The pressure was causing the bearings to bind and that apparently got worse as the sail was furled. At least, I’m hoping that is all it is. I probably tightened it too much when I raised the jib in Vanuatu. The bearings need to be flushed with fresh water. I am supposed to use a water hose, but I don’t have that and fresh water is precious. So, I flushed a couple of cups of water through using a syringe. I have begun planning my move to Horn Island tomorrow. High (slack) tide is at 10:54 and low tide is at 16:24. I want to be at the entrance of the passage by 10:30. It is about 28 nm to get there, probably 5-6h. I should weigh anchor about 5:00.
Comments: The boat anchored at Collette was a 66’ fishing boat called El Torito. After dark, it left the anchorage (according to AIS), presumably to fish. At 20:00 I downloaded long-range AIS data and was pleased to see there was no commercial traffic in the shipping lanes. There was one cargo ship on the other side of the York peninsula that could be headed my way, but rush was it. I noticed Lani, the catamaran that hailed me in the middle of the passage had arrived at Thursday Island. About 2h from now (22:30) I will have cleared the last obstacle. I’ll have about 25 nm, maybe 5h, of sailing to get to Wyborn. I should be able to take hour naps then. After I anchor, I can catch up with my rest. It is 21:20 and I am about 45m from moving past the last obstacle in the GBR. Since I hope to sleep some during the 4-5h to Wyborn, I just downloaded a new long-range AIS map. There are two cargo ships in my path. However, my course only crosses the shipping lanes once I am very close to Wyborn, and I expect both ships will have past that point by then. I am getting ready to get some sleep. There are two cargo ships, one about 10 nm from where we’d cross paths and the other maybe 22 nm. Since they usually travel about 17 kt, they should be gone by the time I get there. I am about 25 nm from the anchorage and have slowed to 4.5 kt, mainly because I have a current against me rather than with me as before. It should take 5-6h to get there. At 22:30, the first of the two cargo ships showed up on AIS 23 nm away. It appeared to be headed for me, but that is just because it has not yet negotiated the turn S, as required by the shipping lanes. 30m later both ships appeared and had turned S. At 1:00 there was a yacht (Stormbird) heading N. We might be in conflict in 1h. The Wyborn reef runs NW to SE m. I needed to come around the E side to the S entrance of the horseshoe-shaped reef, and I was headed too far S to do that under sail, so I adjusted the windvane to head further N, which is hard because I am nearly running. I could tack, but I’d just have the same problem from the other tack … where I want to go is directly downwind. I am about 12 nm away. At 2:00 it became apparent that I was not making enough N. I also had a crossing conflict with the 62’ Stormbird (that was moving twice my speed), so I tacked for 30m. A squall came in at 2:30 with rain. I am 7 nm away from furling the jib. Had to adjust the windvane because the storm (temporarily) changed the wind direction. Stormbird passed in front of me. It is 3:15, I am 4 nm from the anchorage, and a cargo ship has just entered the channel. It looks like it will pass me just before I need to cut across to the reef. I am going to pass the reef in about 45m, start the engine, round up, and furl the jib. I will be working against the current. The ship is supposed to pass me in 30m. As soon as the ship passed, I changed course for the S end of Wyborn, about 1 nm away. I once again struggled to get the last part of the jib furled. There is something wrong with the furler. The line on the drum is not tangled. Perhaps it has something to do with when I removed the sail in Vanuatu to turn the sheets around. Now about 1.5 nm downwind, I motored to the waypoint and dropped the anchor in about 30’ of water. It held immediately, bringing the boat to a halt in the combination of 20 kt wind and current. It was 5:00. I opened a beer and tried to relax. I was asleep by 6:00. I woke at 10:00. The lighting here is strange. Drizzle comes and goes several times an hour. The land masses come fade into the grey as the visibility changes. It is very disorienting. The winds and the currents are frequently running in different directions, so the boat at anchor is not always pointed upwind. Right now, it is 90 degrees to the wind and the wind-generated waves are hitting the starboard beam. I was slow to get to work … still tired and punchy. I have a punch list of things to do while at anchor here. First, I had a look at the furler. It seems I had the halyard too tight. The pressure was causing the bearings to bind and that apparently got worse as the sail was furled. At least, I’m hoping that is all it is. I probably tightened it too much when I raised the jib in Vanuatu. The bearings need to be flushed with fresh water. I am supposed to use a water hose, but I don’t have that and fresh water is precious. So, I flushed a couple of cups of water through using a syringe. I have begun planning my move to Horn Island tomorrow. High (slack) tide is at 10:54 and low tide is at 16:24. I want to be at the entrance of the passage by 10:30. It is about 28 nm to get there, probably 5-6h. I should weigh anchor about 5:00.