Thanks Shaggy.
Yes MB was in her element although at times I reckon she would have preferred to be somewhere else. I know I wanted to be somewhere else but if you are in the thick of it you want to be in a boat that is tougher than you.
Rog and I spent much of our watches down below with the Fleming or Simrad steering. We would get up every 20-30 minutes to check on things. There is no traffic out there but sometimes conditions changed.
On Sunday night I had midnight to 0300 and came up to find Rog had set MB up very nicely. We were averaging 7 kts so I did a bit of trimming and as the wind picked up we were often in the 8's. After watching for about 30 minutes I went to my rack. Not long after I woke up to a different rhythm. Speed 1kt, no wind. Start engine and get back on course 240. No sooner on course but we are skating along at 8kts. Rog takes over the watch and soon we are motor sailing in glassy calms.
We motored from early morning until near Sydney. The chance to see marine life you can only see in glassy calm made up for the lack of sailing. The deep ocean blue has to be seen, it is like another dimension.
Open ocean sailing isn't for everyone nor all the time, It is often challenging, more often boring. Sometimes frightening. I can suffer from seasickness but put up with it. DrRog organised the victuals and was chef for this trip. My mal de mer was short lived and our diet was really really good. Nutritious tasty food is essential and I'm no cook so his efforts made this trip my most enjoyable yet. Meals can break the boredom if you look forward to them.
I don't know whether I really enjoy it or do it anyway. The comradeship of those who do the BBQ I do treasure. A wonderful collection of people with a close bond.
A few rambling thoughts.

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MorningBird said..

Having said that, I am not planning to do this trip again next year. The camaraderie among the sailors who attend the bbq is something to be treasured but I think the three is enough, maybe time to move on.

I will believe that when I hear you say it in October next year.

Sounds like you had the same kind of conditions as we had last year but in a different sequence. Coming out of LHI with 35 kts SW is a daunting prospect which would put a damper on the good feelings from the previous few days and the BBQ.

Good to hear you are safely back and I hope Rog will treat us with pics and vids a bit better than mine last year.

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cisco said..


Good to hear you are safely back and I hope Rog will treat us with pics and vids a bit better than mine last year.

Damn work is getting in the way but I'll get to some words and some footage asap.

Much thanks to John for all the learning and MB for being unflappable (though I can't say there was no flapping whatsoever).

John, another viable option on that fin - mola / sunfish, especially given it seemed to be solo and the flapping about. I'll have to have a closer look at the very poor footage I got of it.

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shaggybaxter said..
Please Morningbird,
if the whim takes you, give us more info. I always enjoy reading about other peoples experiences. Every year i read this and you write well, it makes we want to do the trip.
It is interesting how different boats handle different wind conditions, by the sounds of it MB was in her element!

Might be time for Fusion to take a run over there Shaggy? Should be able to make it in a day and half each way in a Pogo!

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DrRog said..

cisco said..


Good to hear you are safely back and I hope Rog will treat us with pics and vids a bit better than mine last year.

Damn work is getting in the way but I'll get to some words and some footage asap.

Much thanks to John for all the learning and MB for being unflappable (though I can't say there was no flapping whatsoever).

John, another viable option on that fin - mola / sunfish, especially given it seemed to be solo and the flapping about. I'll have to have a closer look at the very poor footage I got of it.

I suspect you are right on the sunfish rather than a killer whale, although that fin looked very much like the latter. I have been up to Bathurst today so haven't had a chance to look at it.

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cisco said..

MorningBird said..

Having said that, I am not planning to do this trip again next year. The camaraderie among the sailors who attend the bbq is something to be treasured but I think the three is enough, maybe time to move on.

I will believe that when I hear you say it in October next year.

Sounds like you had the same kind of conditions as we had last year but in a different sequence. Coming out of LHI with 35 kts SW is a daunting prospect which would put a damper on the good feelings from the previous few days and the BBQ.

Good to hear you are safely back and I hope Rog will treat us with pics and vids a bit better than mine last year.

All the boats are back now and emailing their experiences. It is tempting to go again. Bugger!!

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Wander66 said..

shaggybaxter said..
Please Morningbird,
if the whim takes you, give us more info. I always enjoy reading about other peoples experiences. Every year i read this and you write well, it makes we want to do the trip.
It is interesting how different boats handle different wind conditions, by the sounds of it MB was in her element!

Might be time for Fusion to take a run over there Shaggy? Should be able to make it in a day and half each way in a Pogo!

K!
But then, what if I jinx the fleet (sometimes known to happen) and it was super light airs all the way, and the Pogo came last.

Edit: funny little things these emoticons, they're so small I don't know what expressions I'm posting.
Stupid emoticons.

Shaggy, you might just have to let Cisco and I take it over for the maiden voyage, if anything went wrong it was our fault not the boat's or yours (clown face emoticon)

Thanks Wander,
mate, how could I say no? keys are in it, bring it back with the tank full, and leave the kitchen...err. sorry, mental digression detected.

I have had thoughts of taking Second Wind to LHI which I am sure she would be quite capable of but I try to dismiss them as soon as they occur.

I've had thoughts of taking Pelican Bob. Crusty sea dog at LHI said, "It'd be fine - it's an Adams". But after bouncing around the inside of Morning Bird, a boat twice as heavy and designed for ocean sailing, I think all crew would have to be lashed to their bunks. I'm thinking maybe a 40+ foot ferro.

...and then on to Fiji (as long as my internet business takes off).

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cisco said..

I have had thoughts of taking Second Wind to LHI which I am sure she would be quite capable of but I try to dismiss them as soon as they occur.

Quite possible providling you have removed all the worms and replaced it with epoxy !

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DrRog said..
I've had thoughts of taking Pelican Bob. Crusty sea dog at LHI said, "It'd be fine - it's an Adams". But after bouncing around the inside of Morning Bird, a boat twice as heavy and designed for ocean sailing, I think all crew would have to be lashed to their bunks. I'm thinking maybe a 40+ foot ferro.

...and then on to Fiji (as long as my internet business takes off).

All you need to do is learn to trust the boat and go to sleep. I tried to set an example!

Dr Rog
Much appreciated the pictures. I happened to be a visitor on LHI when the bbq was taking place. Pure coincidence but I also was affected the high winds that week leading to cancelled flights on a number of days. Could you let us know what sail you were using when the winds were as shown in the picture. Sailing could still be a more reliable method to reach LHI.
Thanks in advance and thanks to all for your reports and comments. Maybe next year ......

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lauriel said..
Dr Rog
Much appreciated the pictures. I happened to be a visitor on LHI when the bbq was taking place. Pure coincidence but I also was affected the high winds that week leading to cancelled flights on a number of days. Could you let us know what sail you were using when the winds were as shown in the picture. Sailing could still be a more reliable method to reach LHI.
Thanks in advance and thanks to all for your reports and comments. Maybe next year ......

Not sure what photos you mean lauriel. The ones earlier in this post were as we approached Lord Howe on Saturday morning, calm conditions prevailed.
Rog has some footage, I think, of the rougher stuff which he might get the time to put up.

Right. Sorry for the delay; the workload after LHI (and the flu prior) was a bit heavy.

Finally went through the 2 1/2 hours of vids and pics and put together:

a 15-min version:

and a 'director's cut' 40-min version for you tragic sailing vlog fans:

Hope you enjoy and it gives those interested a taste of what the passage was like. Having never done any ocean sailing it was a good experience for me - long enough and strong enough weather to illustrate how things can be when you can't just duck back to the mooring or find the nearest port, but not too difficult that I'll never go to sea again.

I learned a lot on this trip, so many thanks to Morning Bird's captain.

Regards,

"Roger The Cabin Boy"

Ahhhhh.... I'm itching to get out there!

When i saw it was 41 min long i thought itd be worthy on the big screen!

Thanks for the vids rog. Huge effort to do that.
Geez lhi looks.super.windy

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Sectorsteve said..
When i saw it was 41 min long i thought itd be worthy on the big screen!

Oh dear - me on the loo on the big Sony.

What a great adventure Fellas.
Thankyou for posting the video.

Cheers Chris.

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DrRog said...
Right. Sorry for the delay; the workload after LHI (and the flu prior) was a bit heavy.

Finally went through the 2 1/2 hours of vids and pics and put together:

a 15-min version:

and a 'director's cut' 40-min version for you tragic sailing vlog fans:

Hope you enjoy and it gives those interested a taste of what the passage was like. Having never done any ocean sailing it was a good experience for me - long enough and strong enough weather to illustrate how things can be when you can't just duck back to the mooring or find the nearest port, but not too difficult that I'll never go to sea again.

I learned a lot on this trip, so many thanks to Morning Bird's captain.

Regards,

"Roger The Cabin Boy"

A brilliant portrayal of our adventure. More than a cabin boy mate, you're a sailing legend.

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DrRog said..
Right. Sorry for the delay; the workload after LHI (and the flu prior) was a bit heavy.

Finally went through the 2 1/2 hours of vids and pics and put together:

a 15-min version:

and a 'director's cut' 40-min version for you tragic sailing vlog fans:

Hope you enjoy and it gives those interested a taste of what the passage was like. Having never done any ocean sailing it was a good experience for me - long enough and strong enough weather to illustrate how things can be when you can't just duck back to the mooring or find the nearest port, but not too difficult that I'll never go to sea again.

I learned a lot on this trip, so many thanks to Morning Bird's captain.

Regards,

"Roger The Cabin Boy"

Great vids DrRog. You could not have picked a better boat or bloke to experience your first offshore with.

Your sailing tracks were a lot better than we had last year but it looks like you had more extreme conditions ie big blow and no blow.

Cheers Cisco.

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cisco said...

DrRog said..
Right. Sorry for the delay; the workload after LHI (and the flu prior) was a bit heavy.

Finally went through the 2 1/2 hours of vids and pics and put together:

a 15-min version:

and a 'director's cut' 40-min version for you tragic sailing vlog fans:

Hope you enjoy and it gives those interested a taste of what the passage was like. Having never done any ocean sailing it was a good experience for me - long enough and strong enough weather to illustrate how things can be when you can't just duck back to the mooring or find the nearest port, but not too difficult that I'll never go to sea again.

I learned a lot on this trip, so many thanks to Morning Bird's captain.

Regards,

"Roger The Cabin Boy"

Great vids DrRog. You could not have picked a better boat or bloke to experience your first offshore with.

Your sailing tracks were a lot better than we had last year but it looks like you had more extreme conditions ie big blow and no blow.

Cheers Cisco.

Yes mate. Straighter runs but more extremes. Over 30kts a lot and over 40 too often, but usually from a favourable direction hence the straight tracks.
The only time I was a bit anxious was getting out of the lagoon. I think we were both puckered until well clear.
This was the best of my 3. Still contemplating whether to book a mooring for next year. I like two handed and DrRog was fantastic, but it isn't easy.

Thanks fellas, really apprieciate you sharing that.

Good stuff enjoyed that.

Rarely an easy passage to Lord Howe!