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Early Tuesday morning we negotiated our way through the Brisbane harbour channel, sharing it with mega tonne cargo boats. Wolfgang thought it was amusing that the SKS Doyle’s container boat which is 820 feet long and 148 feet wide when it was about 500 metres away radioed us as we approached to ask if we had seen them!!

7 1/2 hours after entering the harbour channel we arrived at the customs dock at Rivergate Marina. The Customs entry went smoothly and we then waited for Bio Security. The officer came and did pratique on our food items etc which took about 30 minutes and cleared us for going ashore. However this was not the end of the biosecurity process as we then had to wait for the timber inspection that all boats have to have when entering Australia.

Although Imagine is a fibreglass boat there is a lot of timber work on board so the biosecurity officer advised us that they wouldn’t be able to do the inspection until the following day. The marina let us stay on the customs dock overnight as we couldn’t be fully cleared that day. It was suggested we had as much as possible of the timberwork available for them to inspect . The rest of the afternoon until early evening was spent bagging up everything from the vberth cabin, port cabin and aft cabins along with moving items from the saloon .

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GPS: 26 10.999S 153 19.050E

Run: 115.7nm (209.4km)
Avg: 4.6knts
24hr: 111.1nm

In the late morning we sighted the hills of the Sunshine Coast, Mt Boulder, Australia. In the afternoon we had a huge welcome from a pod of dolphins as we came down the coast to the Brisbane harbour channel. Then at sunset we had a hitchhiker. A bird sat on the bow railing for about 1/2 an hour.

During the night we still made only 1 knot good towards our destination Brisbane. High waves and winds from ahead held us frustratingly back. Everyone at the helm managed to navigate the slalom through the “highway” of big cargo ships and tankers. In the early hours the situation picked up: the waves and winds were moderate and a beautiful sunny day arose! Then, we spotted the first sights of our passage’s target

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GPS: 24 56.932S 154 34.247E

Run: 87.9nm (159.1km)
Avg: 3.7knts
24hr: 88.1nm

Today was an un-eventful day. Having no main sail we put up the trip sail and mizzen to stop the boat rocking from side to side as we motored 30 degrees to the wind and waves. We have been tacking back and forth all day under motor, with a couple of attempts to sail. Under sail the angle was so wide we were only making 1knot towards Brisbane dispite doing 4 or 5 knots boat speed.

Yesterdays events and today’s wind direction mean we will not make it to Brisbane till Tuesday. 

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GPS: 23 59.059S 155 28.869E

Run: 170.4nm (308.4km)
Avg: 7knts
24hr: 167.6nm

This morning brought sunny skies, less than 1 metre swell and 12 knots of wind. Wolfgang who was on the helm was eager to unreef the mainsail and put out the headsail but had to wait until everybody had had their breakfast. Before we had chance to reset the sails it was Cindy’s turn to helm and she noticed a large area of rain on the radar so we decided to leave the main reefed and run with the staysail.

As we approached the rain we could see sheet lightening in the clouds so we turned most of the electronics off, brought in the staysail and turned the motor on. We motored through the rain for about an hour with the wind at only about 12 knots when suddenly the wind changed direction by 180 degrees and within 2 minutes was over 40 knots. Andrew steered into the wind to take pressure off the sails but it was too late, the mainsail was shredded. About 10 minutes later the wind was back to 14 knots and the rain was easing.

With nothing else on the radar we put up the mizzen and staysail to help balance the boat. We left the motor running at lower revs until Sue at the helm noticed the wind getting high again up to 31 knots and called Andrew and Wolfgang to take in the sails and we were back to motoring. A couple of hours later with Wolfgang on the helm and very messy 2m waves we decided to try the staysail again half reefed to give the boat a bit more stability. It’s now 2 hours later with Cindy back on the helm we are running full staysail and motor. The sea is slowly calming down so we’ll see what the moonlit night brings (full moon).

We’ve just enjoyed a very tasty dinner cooked by Wolfgang of pork chops, potato and veggies.

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GPS: 21 53.307S 156 53.476E

Run: 167.5nm (303.2km)
Avg: 3.6knts
24hr: 87.2nm

From hardly enough wind last night where we had all 4 sails up, during the night the squalls came meaning Andrew and Wolfgang had to go out in the early hours of the morning to reef the mainsail and take down the mizzen. Both were safely in their lifejackets, harnessed and tethered to the safety lines as Sue took Imagine into the wind. The swell was about 2 to 3 metres and the sea was quite messy. After they were safely back inside we went back on course.

Cindy had been feeling good the last few days and hadn’t taken any seasick tablets but with the messy sea she suddenly had to lifejacket/tether up and hung over the side to feed the fishes. She has since had some tablets and slept some and is currently on shift.

We’ve been sailing with the mainsail and either the staysail or headsail for the rest of the day averaging 7 to 8 knots this afternoon. We’ve just reefed the mainsail and put the staysail out for the night which will slow us down but make it a better ride for the night as the wind has picked up again. It was predicted that we would get 2 or 3 days of no wind but fortunately we haven’t struck that yet and are making good progress to Brisbane.

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A delicious breakfast on the foredeck this morning, basking in the sun under a beautiful blue, sunny sky and taking in the wonderful view.

After breakfast Andrew and Cindy cleaned the cockpit and windows whilst Sue cut Wolfgang’s hair (glad he wasn’t going to look in the mirror). After reviewing the latest weather report Andrew suggested we leave today to make the most of wind opportunities as to date it looks like we were going to get a few days with very light or no wind (no good for sailing! ).

We had a last refreshing swim in beautiful blue, clear water. Leftovers were on the menu for lunch so another lot of kiwi hamburgers were devoured. After lunch Andrew put the go pro on a pole and took it round the boat so we could hull was clean. After final checks we departed this wonderful place, heading through the reef at this end with Andrew up the mast, Sue on the helm and Wolfgang and Cindy also looking out for any reefs or bommies.

Not a lot of wind, we’ve tried various sail settings and at the moment we are running all 4, the main sail, headsail, staysail and mizzen up making a good 5.5 knots.

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 GPS: 19 51.606S 158 18.684E

Run: 143.1nm (259km)
Avg: 5.6knts
24hr: 133.9nm

Another clear beautiful morning. With the winds dropping away we had to motor most of the night. But at daybreak we tried sailing again. We put up the genica but were not able to reach the same speeds as yesterday with such low winds. By lunch time we gave up and went back to motoring.

We reached Chesterfield Reef by 3.30pm. With Wolfgang at the helm and Andrew & Cindy up the mast we navigated across this amazingly large reef. It took us over an hour from the eastern passage to the western side where we are anchored. Most of this reef is under water 1 or 2 meters with only 4 or 5 sand spits on 1 side of the rim and one large enough for palm trees to grow. This makes it a hard place to see if you don’t have charts.

In the middle of the Pacific a giant reef and 5 other yachts arrived only a few hours before us. They are all anchored on the southern end. We opted to anchor away from them on the north western side.

Tonight Sue made Kiwi burgers for dinner. Meat paddy, egg, beetroot, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and cheese. Cindy said it was the most amazing dinner she’s had in her 3wks on board!!

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GPS: 19 20.417S 160 26.357E

Run: 156.5nm (283.3km)
Avg: 6.3knts
24hr: 151.1nm

This morning we were greeted with a nice sunrise developing into a warm, sunny, almost cloudless day leaving no signs of the excitement that happened during the night. Around 9.30 pm whilst Sue was at the helm she noticed a cargo ship appearing on the radar on a collision course with us. With the vessel being 23 minutes to collision, 10 nautical miles, Sue called Andrew to come upstairs. With 11 minutes to collision all the crew were called on deck for avoidance manoeuvres. We tacked behind the cargo ship and 10 minutes later tacked back on course. As today went on the wind slowly died to below 10 knots so we dropped all sails and put up the gennaker which surprisingly gave us a very good wind to speed ratio, sometimes achieving 6 knots from only 7.6 knots of wind. This evening wind direction has changed and has slightly increased so we have pulled down the gennaker and are running with just the headsail up averaging 6 knots. This afternoon another cargo ship passed us but with ample room no additional manouevering was required. Due to the low winds, expected arrival at the reef tomorrow is about lunchtime.

Today a bird tried to land on the wind generator breaking one of the blades. Again Wolfgang is preparing dinner for us tonight, a lovely chicken and vegetable soup.

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This morning brought a beautiful blue sky with only a few clouds and not a soul in sight. Cindy and Wolfgang are still excited about being on a blue water crossing. We are keeping the routine of us all eating together at breakfast at daybreak, lunch at midday and dinner at sunset, no matter what time your shift finishes.

There is not much to do except do your shift, eat and sleep. After lunch with the autopilot on, we adjourned to the rear deck for a quick photoshoot. As we went through the coral reefs north of New Caledonia the sea was less than 1/2 metre swell. Wolfgang was at the helm pushing Imagine to 9.4 knots until we came out the other side and the swell increased to 1 metre. At this time we changed sails to slow the boat down to 6 knots. This is so we reach our next destination (Chesterfield reef) in 2 days time at 7am Wolfgang has been busy in the galley preparing devilled sausages with creamy mashed potatoes. Dinner in the cockpit as we sail into the sunset.

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Sun Oct 6 19:27 2019 NZDT GPS: 18 16.043S 165 21.375E

Run: 151.2nm (273.7km)
Avg: 6.4knts
24hr: 153.8nm

Day 2 … in transit to Brisbane This morning brought a grey, cloudy day. Been averaging about 7 knots. Everyone has got into the rhythm of the shifts.

Once again we’ve reefed the main for the evening shifts.

Wolfgang is in the galley preparing nachos for dinner