Episode 9 Sail North – Steering by the Stars
As soon as I got on the plane I thought “Why haven’t I done this more often?! It is so easy!!” All troubles and obligations and bills completely forgotten, that was yesterday stuff, I was on my way to adventure. Adventure had already begun, I was flying before dawn and it was still an amazing and captivating sight, the fluffy clouds below the massive tons of metal. Then there was a soft soft pink glow that soon turned bright gold, sunrise over the horizon below the plane. Amazing…
My travel bag was full of racing gear, the weight and bulk of the harness, tethers, torches, batteries, life jacket, sea boots, wet weather jackets/trousers, sea rug etc added up to a lot so there were very few personal items -simplicity and creative living for the next three weeks. Also had to remember to declare about the open bladed knife, gas cylinder for the life jacket, and the EPIRB.
Soon the shuttle bus plonked me in front of the Hog’s Breath Café at Mariners’ Cove near Southport Yacht Club at Gold Coast. Skipper had to moor his 34 footer Van der Stadt Savage from Melbourne there as Southport was absolutely crammed with yachts that had just finished the Sydney Southport Yacht Race. Stepping on the boat was a magic moment, my boating adventure was now REAL. Skipper said he ought to administer Valium to calm me down. The boat was actually a mess and boom-less as it and other things were being fixed/adjusted/serviced. Always something needing doing on a boat. I helped do this and that and we went to look at them boats that just finished the Sydney Southport Race. All yachts great and small bustling with yachties at various stages of ‘the morning after’, there was some mention about partying till 5 am. Caught up with a few people and chatted with some people whose names I read about before and that was exciting. Rather disappointed that the boat SULA was not there and I couldn’t get to Brunswick Heads to see it, I talked on the phone with the owner solo-circumnavigator later and thanked him for sending me a signed copy of his Manual of Yacht Navigation that had sea stains of the adventure, “As this book has sailed around the world, so one day may you”. I was very touched. Hero worship.
We then went shopping for some tools and provisions, had to walk miles, in fact half run to keep up with the six-footer lamppost. Laying out my things in the bunk for the evening was another mark that this boating adventure was real, sleeping on a boat! Woww… felt like a kid setting up in a tree house. Then a message arrived. Surprise. Magic moment. Felt as if finding a message in a bottle, found me all the way here.
Off we went in the morning to the open sea, well, coastal sea. Thrilled to bits. First time sailing one-up while Skipper was below. Two-hour watch. Full alert and 360° vigilant. In fact spherical vigilant, also watching compass, wind indicator, waves, sail, anything out of place and listening to everything. Plus the weather, the sun during the day and the moon and stars during the night. This kind of focus and awareness has been said to put a person ‘in the present’, a special state that heightens the being. Much more so during racing and any competitive sport or extreme sport, and it was said that this state is uniquely fulfilling that the person keeps coming back to it. That would explain how people are drawn to it with passion.
Poor Skipper/Navigator, he set hourly alarms to get up and check that all was well. I was no use with anything below deck and any small writing, because of being easily seasick. Except bravely sponging the bilge a few times in dead calm seas. Very kind people lent me a total of 9 books plus charts mostly on navigation, which I devoured and understood (I think), although it was like 2 weeks reading the first book and 2 hours flipping through the other 8 before returning them a few days before the trip. I was happy and confident but alert, and preferred to have Skip sleep a little longer and he did the same for me. Neither of us was any good with moving about below, in regards to sea-sickness, and not wanting to eat anything so we ended up eating ‘by duty’ things like snakes (sweets), biscuits for him, apples for me, cup-a-soup, noodle-in-a-cup.
The winds were relatively constant, we had a south-westerly and south-southwesterly between 15 – 20 knots occasionally gusting 20 – 25 knots, waves were probably around 1 to 1.5 metres but we did get soaked lots of times. Had No 2 reefs in so we didn’t have to worry about the runners. Tiller steering made it a twist-about one-sided labour. By night time it got more tiring, the tiller got heavy, the waves more playful, it became ‘battling the helm’ for me, salt water kept splashing into the eyes and constant staring at the compass got quite blurry, luckily it was ‘steering zero’ so it was relatively easy to differentiate it from the next mark of 350. By near dawn, after a 2 hour stint I said to Skipper “please do come up I am falling asleep”.
The next day got easier, Skipper left me to sleep in, the weather warmer and the wind right behind, but that meant we were surfing and sliding with some big waves such that we couldn’t quite leave the job to “Otto” the auto-helm. We were doing about 4 hour watch then and had to be disciplined, even when not tired and would rather sunbathe I made myself go down to sleep as a duty!!
All through the time of sailing one-up, being in the state of ‘in the present’, the mind was focussed and alert. In a way a bit ‘high’ in terms of being tuned out and blurred about everything else. In that state something surfaced that you grabbed onto and obeyed, it was what someone said before I left “…stay warm and dry. Remember sunscreen…”, following the instruction quite mechanically I tried to stay warm and dry and I remembered to put on sunscreen. Later the words would surface again at the fringe of consciousness, and I obeyed…
Soon we were able to leave steering to “Otto”, that was my first experience with an auto-helm. Still alert and vigilant scanning 360° and up and everywhere, particularly watching for ships and fishing boats as we were passing some busy shipping channels. But freed up from steering you could move around and dance about and sing-song. One afternoon I suddenly spotted some disturbance skimming the surface of the water just off port bow only about 20 metres away. After a few seconds I knew what it was!! I called to Skipper “Come up, come up now, whale real close”. Poor sleepy Skipper -appeared at the hatch looking toward horizon, I said “there, 20 metres”, the whale TOWERED up high above water, just like what you see on a poster!
That was my Magic moment. Very Magic. I had my dream. I used to say when spotting whales farther off “I want to see them up close, I want to sail past them real close.” Thank you Almighty, I am grateful. Very grateful.
The next night was quite fun, a steady 10 knots south-westerly breeze, I felt confident and happy. I was steering by the stars!!! Worked out the star formation and steered by it, now and again recalibrated against the compass as the heaven turned through the night. One time I got distracted looking at the spectacular Milky Way and billion brilliant stars. Looking back I lost my star formation! Ooopps! I went hunting for it and Whammm!!! I gybed the boat. Skipper’s face appeared instantaneously at the hatch, “What happened?”. Like a kid caught red-handed I said “Nothing” as I steered back. Whammmm!!! I gybed the boat back, right in front of him. Just as well the boom didn’t take my head with it. Felt a complete idiot with my inexperience. Poor Skipper was cool about it, said it was alright, just the noise woke him up, and he simply went back to sleep. I appreciated that, he trusted me to carry on, he knew that I did learn my lesson, and being still trusted I did better, worked out for myself what not to do and what to do. If he had lectured or abused me my self esteem probably would go down and I probably would do worse. Self esteem drives everything. A lesson about leadership.
But the moon! You’ve got to see the moon rise over the ocean. During the aloneness of small hours, just where the expanse of dark water, sparsely dotted with beautiful lights from ships and boats, meet with the expanse of dark sky richly sparkled with billion stars, and just where you continually scan for new lights, some golden glow appeared, then a tiny thin sliver. The first time I thought what mighty ship was that with brightly flooded deck lights. This became mightier and mightier, till the leap of recognition… the moon…the thin crescent moon inching up majestically, gracefully, and silently, an upturn convex heavenly-ship for me to watch. Another Magic Moment! I watched it silently, alone.
Each night after then, it was an anticipating wait of 50 minutes later, for a slenderer heavenly-vessel to sail the sky. No, I would not go to sleep, I must watch my moon…
During the day Skipper called me to look at dolphins. Several of them swimming by the bow at exactly the boat speed, and one rubbed its side alongside the boat! Skipper pleaded “Don’t take my antifoul off! Please. Just painted!” I flattened onto the deck reaching right down trying to touch the fin, I could look right into the eyes, our gazes locked, and I think the dolphin was trying to present the fin to me but I was just an inch off, nearly climbed over the rail, so much I wanted to touch and connect with the beautiful friends, amazing things -I wanted to hug them.
As we had to pick up another crew member at Gladstone we steered west (resentfully, wasting a day), approaching an unfamiliar port against the strong tide and against the setting sun. Skipper was real grumpy. Once we got there it was alright, we ate well (I had the memorable spaghetti bolognaise, which I strangely craved for, as soon as I got off the boat) and was looked after by the local friend of the crew member. A refreshing shower, laundry done and a big breakfast. That was greatly appreciated. That night I chose to sleep on the boat, of course.
Another message came. Like finding messages in another bottle, an electronic bottle, kid given a candy. Bless the sender. Keeping a seafarer anchored.
With three on board it was too easy, 2 hours on 4 hours off. More sunbathing time than sea adventure. …Stay warm and dry. Remember sun-screen... I slopped more sunscreen on. It was amazing to experience the climate getting gradually warmer as we sailed north, noticeably each day. The other two played board game while I preferred to connect with the boat and the universe around me. Skipper was counting down his mileage as he had sailed all the way from Melbourne for now nearly three weeks. We saw heaps more whales as we approached our destination, one was off starboard bow about 100 metres off flipping its big black tail in the air for a long while, spectacular show.
Countdown was now zero, Airlie Beach at last, incredible turquoise-coloured water, absolutely warm sunshine, more than 510 nM sea-miles for me, something like 2000nM for the boat and Skipper. Marina, rows of black bollards, lots of yachts, we’re ‘home’. The feeling was of success, achievement, and bliss. This is life. Now time for some hearty sustenance a seafarer suddenly craved for, by the poolside then a day free. Then…. Hog’s Breath Race Week! Here we come!!
by Solo Thesailor
http://sailingstoriesandtips.blogspot.com
