East Cove, Deal Island

Sunday 26 January 2020 (Australia Day)

Australia Day dawned with the good ship Chimere rounding Wilson’s Prom lighthouse, the crew of six having shared three-hour watches through the night. And what a beautiful night it was.

What the sky lacked by way of a moon, it more than made up for in stars. Individual stars, clusters of stars and misty clouds of stars … all hanging above us on that black velvety background.

Wind through the night was variable and at times non-existent, requiring us to fire up the engine most of the time, with our speed averaging around 6 knots (approx. 10-11km/h)

Before departing yesterday, Jorge (pr Hore-hay) did amazing work getting the satphone operational, with fully functioning weather forecasts, email and texts … plus voice.

This will be invaluable in enabling us to plan our route, avoiding future adverse conditions, as much as possible. As it stands, the forecast appears very favourable for 5-7 days, which is an amazing lessing, given what has been dished up over the past few weeks.

Once we were clear of the Nobbies and had set a SE course down the coast I went to bed for a break. The roster saw Jim start out till 9:00pm, Gee till 12 midnight, Jorge and Jodi till 3:00am, John from 3:00 till 6:00, with me “floating and available” to assist with sailing and engine activity; to match the changing conditions throughout the night. This involved sometimes sleeping in the cockpit and sometimes in my cabin,

Sharing the load meant that we each obtained a generous amount of sleep, made even more pleasant as a result of the calm seas; the noise of the engine being easily endured.

A brief anchor-stop at Refuge Cove broke things up a bit, but by 8:30 we were off again, this time south east in the direction of Deal Island in the Kent Group.

Whilst not directly on an easterly course to New Zealand, Deal Island is a beautiful place I was keen to share with the crew, with only Jim having been there once before.

The calm start under motor soon gave way to a rollicking ride at speeds of up to 10 knots assisted by a 20 knot westerly breeze over slight seas, resulting in us having to reef both the mainsail and jib

By 4pm we were dropping anchor in East Cove, Deal Island, soaking up the sunshine, along with the magnificent surroundings.

Having been “cleared out” (of the country) there was no opportunity to go ashore, but even if we did, both dinghies were firmly lashed to the deck. Which would have made it a long drawn out process to launch it over the side.

With each crew member becoming more familiar with Chimere and her ways, each contributing in their own unique way, there was a real feeling that an effective team was starting to come together. Stories were being shared, vulnerabilities exposed and encouragement given at every opportunity.

After just one night and day at sea, it’s pretty safe to assume that a “6 O’clock Sundowner Routine” might have been established. This involved the ringing of the ship’s bell – not something done lightly – and everyone gathering in the saloon to tell stories, have a drink of our chosen beverage, prepare for dinner, and bring up any “issues” or “gripes” … none of which have emerged yet.

Special mention at this point must go to Jodi, ably supported by Jorge, for the preparation of last nights – and tonight’s – dinner. Whilst tonight’s feast was brilliant, the thing that stood out about last night was that it was available in a big pot, for each person to dish out their own as they came on watch. The sign on the top indicating there was also a vegetarian version in a separate bowl.

The total distance covered so far has been 158 nautical miles, and after watching a film in the saloon together after dinner, everyone has now gone to bed – John and Gee each also enjoying a hot shower; not together you understand!

Tomorrow we set sail in earnest for New Zealand. The weather forecast enabling us to effectively draw a straight line on the chart to Picton and go for it.

Smooth seas fair breeze and the “weather window” is now open.

Rob Latimer

Bass Strait

Saturday 25 January 2020

It was calm, the sea was still and like a mirror reflecting the orange glow of the morning’sun.

The big day had finally arrived. Border Force customs officials would be arriving at 11:30 … in just a few hours … to handle the formalities and issue us with our departure papers.  The all-important document that our New Zealand cousins would be asking for in around 10 day’s time.

For now, it was a case of finishing off the stowing of food task … making sure to record where everything can be found.  For this we use a form that illustrates all the main stowage spots on board – around 40 of them – with space to record “what” and “where”.

By 11:15am, the last of the shopping had been completed – ably assisted by our wonderful ground crew (and wife) Linda. 

Linda would be joining Chimere for two weeks, along with Matt and James, later in the voyage, as we explore Fiordland, from Bluff to Milford Sound.  Then in March, Linda, Matt and Cathy will make their way back across the ditch again, to join us in the Bay of Islands.

Then the phone call from Linda, who was still transporting bags from the car …  “They’re early, they’re here, the customs guys are walking down the wharf!”

As the deck was receiving its much-needed scrub … one of the final tasks on the list … it was time for me to call out …  “Everyone, grab your passports.  All in the saloon.” 

In the end, the formalities were pretty simple and straightforward.  Each crew member was identified from their respective passport.  I answered a list of questions about whether we had drugs, more than $10,000 dollars, firearms and the like on board and after they’d taken a heap of photos, and issued me with the Departure Notice, they were away.

As it was explained, the Border Force “computer” now assumed we had “left Australia” … even though we’d still be in Australian waters for the next couple of days … and so if this was to change for any reason, we were informed,  we should give them a call; leaving me with a business card.

Linda asked if she could take a photo, but for some reason, the three guys appeared a bit shy, preferring to opt for the … we’re “dentists” so we can’t show you our face … routine.

After a quick dash back up to the shops to buy more fishing gear, some final good-byes and, of course, lunch … we got away from the marina around 2:00pm.  Just in time to catch the perfectly timed outgoing tide.
  
We were finally on our way.  We had untied all the lines, disconnected the electric power lead from the shore, and headed out into deep water. 

The sun was shining, the seas were flat and a steady breeze was blowing.  What’s more, the forecast for the next few days was looking good – with no sign of an easterly, or anything with an easterly component, for a week or so.   

Making use of the smooth conditions, we continued with our preparations for sea.  Which included transferring the small dinghy from the stern davits to the foredeck, disassembling the boarding ladder on the port side and stowing it on deck, lashing both dinghies down securely … along with everything else that could possibly move around.

Soon enough we were passing The Nobbies and Seal Rocks at the western tip of Phillip Island with the open sea before us.

Out of the confines of Western Port harbour, we were now free and on our own … heading southeast over smooth seas, down the Victorian coast, the engine making up for what the wind lacked. 

Smooth seas fair breeze and the big day has arrived

Rob Latimer

Western Port Marina

Friday 24 January 2020

Tomorrow we plan to set sail for New Zealand.  Yesterday the boat looked like a construction site.  And today, with six of us – the full crew – aboard we are frantically tackling the urgent and important remaining tasks.

Only three days ago, Chimere was returned to the water after two weeks up on the hard-stand, where I sanded and painted the hull.  In addition we replaced two sea cocks and serviced the engine and generator, with an additional high-capacity bilge pump also being installed.   And yesterday morning, despite the torrential rain and howling wind, we returned to the slipway (from our marina pen), to have a crane re-install the mast.  

The mast … for the past two weeks … has been lying on its side in the rigger’s factory, not far from Hastings.  It’s here that all the old cable (standing rigging) was replaced with shiny new wire and turnbuckles and all other fittings checked and replaced.  This included an aluminium reinforcement thingy, custom made by boat-partner Barry. This very strong little unit was inserted into the mast, where it supports a big stainless steel (tang) bolt that runs through the mast, just under the first spreader bars.  No more will the force of the downward strain be able to bend the tang bolt and affect the integrity of the mast. 

Having the mast down was also a great opportunity to replace all the wiring that snakes its way up to the navigation lights.    In addition, wind instruments were added, which was truly a big advancement because for the past 14 years we’ve been relying on lengths of red wool tied to the side shrouds to tell us wind direction.  Spreader lights, which I’d bought 7 years ago but never got around to fitting, were also attached and of course there was the sanding back and painting of the small patches of corrosion that had lifted the original paint here and there.  Oh, there was also the reconditioning of the three furling units that attach to the forestays and which allow the jibs to be rolled in and out depending on the conditions.  Plus, we shouldn’t forget the cut and polish which helped to bring the mast up to a near-new look.

Having the boat in the water, re-united with the mast, was a great feeling.  It was then a case of tightening, or tuning, the rigging to the correct tension.  As for the many wires that emanated from the base of the mast, these needed to be re-poked back through the deck and reconnected correctly.  These included … radar and chartplotter, the new wind instruments, a new white navigation light, the existing tri-colour navigation light, new spreader lights, VHF radio aerial and … I’m sure there was one more??!

The good thing is, we had local professionals doing the wiring and the rigging for us – Dale from Clow Marine Electronics and Craig from Superior Spars and Rigging.  Great guys who have worked on Chimere over the past seven years or so.  All I can say is a massive thank you to Craig and Dale for making time for the work at hand and completing it as promised with literally hours to spare.

Another massive thank you goes to our regular all-things-boat-guy Steve, from Professional Marine Management.  Steve serviced the engines, fitted the bilge pumps, installed the toilet holding tank and pump-out system, monitors all systems onboard and basically checks to make sure future problems are either eliminated before they occur, or at the least, minimised.  Thanks again Steve.

Departure is just one sleep away.  All crew are now on board; including me.. And in the early evening, with all the big jobs complete, or at least under control, (including re-attaching the three headsails to the forestays, not to mention the boom to the mast) our attention turned to food.  Not the evening meal, but specifically, what are we all going to each for the next 10 days or so?!

Fortunately, Jorge and Jodi’s super-powers included, amongst other things … provisioning, stowing, preparing and cooking FOOD.

Naturally, a list was compiled, with input from everyone – no alternate days of tinned beans and spag aboard this vessel,  No sir-ree.   We had things like carrots, spring onions, cabbage, flaked dried chillies, cuss cuss and bananas.  Of course, there was a lot more besides, and looking back, even though the local Coles supermarket closed at 11:00pm, we should have arrived earlier than 9:30pm.  To buy everything in one and a half hours was really ambitious, or as Sir Humphrey would have said … “A courageous move Prime Minister…”.  So it was that with three mountainously-piled trolleys, we gingerly approached the checkout at 10:59pm.  

“Are you all together?” inquired the nice young lady  at the register.  “Ah, yes, sorry about this, but we have left things to the last minute haven’t we…”   given there had been two friendly “store closing” announcements in the past 15 minutes.  Announcements that had merely spurred us on to go faster in filling the trolleys, rather than making our way to the register to “finalise your purchases”.

Along with another staff member, (or was that “team” member), the goods were zapped through in record time, with Jorge, Jodi and I – plus the extra assistant – stuffing each into bags just as son as  they left her hand.

“Wow, that was quicker than I thought it would take”, said the young lady, “thanks for helping with the packing “.

“Have you had a purchase this big?” I asked.  “No I don’t think I have.  The docket’s as tall as me”, she said, holding it up beside her.  “Oh wait, I sold $10,000 worth of cigarettes to someone once, but I don’t count that” … the mind boggles!

It was around 11:20pm that the two young girls at the checkout finally saw the back of us.  After which we loaded the car to capacity and headed back to the marina to start the daunting task of transporting, then stowing everything aboard.

With the saloon awash with bags of food and my credit card suffering from its $1,100 beating I staggered off to bed around 1:00am for a good 6 hours sleep before getting up for the final sprint to the line.

Smooth seas fair breeze and food glorious food

Rob Latimer

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Western Port Marina
Thursday 23 January 2020

Sounds like an offer too good to be true doesn’t it?! Step aboard and sail away across the South Pacific … albeit the more southerly reaches of the South Pacific.
But whilst a few friends and family were signing up for the “Bay of Island” leg of the upcoming NZ adventure, few had signed up for the Trans-Tasman leg; the delivery stage.

That is, except for my good ol’ mate John Land. I first met John in 1980 as a fellow flat mate at university in New Zealand, and it was John that would be travelling with me for most of the voyage.

So here I was, 10 days out from departure, with John flying in from New Zealand three days before departure, with no other crew but each other to make the passage.
“Get on the web” … suggested a fellow yachtie staying aboard a boat on the hardstand at Western Port Marina. “Yeah, all ya do is put up your profile on Find-a Crew, tell em where ya going, and you’re bound to get a crew”.

He then went on to describe finding two absolute sailing-novices in North Queensland … “seeking adventure and friendship” … who turned out to be fantastic. After a few weeks of training and direction they could even sail the boat … which was a … “hell of a lot cleaning after they came aboard than before”. One of the girls stayed a few years, but that’s another story!

So, I gave it a go … on findacrew.net and crewbay.com. And who would have guessed, within 7 days I had a ship’s complement of six vastly different souls, ready and willing to take part; three of whom actually flew down from Queensland. No doubt you’ll be learning more about the valient crew of the good ship Chimere more in the days to come … John, Jim, Ghigo (pro Jee), (and young couple) Jorge and Jodie … plus me make six.

Here’s my profile and see if you’d be willing to sign up …

“Rob, 60, seeking short term relationship for the duration of a voyage to New Zealand” … no, sorry, that’s NOT it (Linda) … here’s the correct one …
https://www.findacrew.net/en/boat/348224#avl

Rob, 60 Sailing vessel, Cutter, 16.2 m (53 ft), sail, monohull, Custom-built One off
Destination planned to take the vessel next ; New Zealand – Marlborough – Picton
this destination is around 1,338 nm from the boarding location
Team request: position for individuals only
Nationality of crew: anyone
Gender of crew: anyone
Age of crew: preferably between 25 to 65 years of age
Eating: Preferably crew with an unrestricted diet and aboard any or no specific diet is fine
Drinking: Anyone and aboard moderate drinking is allowed
Smoking: Only strict non-smokers and aboard there is strictly no smoking
Nudity: not relevant
Romance: No romance and please don’t contact me if looking for romance! Only members not looking for ‘romance’ are included in your search results or notifications.
Your profile is only shown to ‘non-romance’ members. Find a Crew™ is not a dating site! Your true intentions make the difference.
Experience: Coastal/Ocean sea time, preferably crew with at least 3.3 months spent at sea Coastal/Ocean sea miles, preferably crew with at least 5,000 nm (nautical miles) logged Contribute, preferably from $30.00 AUD to $50.00 AUD per day
Dear Shipmates
Introduction: Having used our boat to transport medical teams around the remote islands of Vanuatu since 2009 as part of Medical Sailing Ministries Inc, I am now planning a 4-5 month “recreational voyage” to New Zealand – to fulfill a 42 year dream. I have recently retired and with a view to putting our beloved yacht on the market later this year, this will be something of a farewell to her. My key and immediate task, however, is to first sail the yacht across the Tasman. Most of my friends are still in the workforce and with a couple of crew having to pull out recently I am keen to lock in a delivery crew as soon as possible. A friend suggested I register on this website, so here I am. A little about the boat, the plans, and the current crew usually clean, comfortable, very safe, seek adventure, fulfill a dream.
The yacht has 5 cabins, can sleep up to 10 in reasonable comfort. She has a big saloon, a cosy, warm, enclosed cockpit, immensely strong steel hull, satellite weather, tracker, text and email plus most of the comforts of home – no hair dryer though!?
I have co-owned this yacht since 2006, having originally sailed her from Perth (WA) to Melbourne, around Tasmania and 4 times to Vanuatu where we spent 6 months each time transporting medical volunteers around the remote islands; truly a unique experience.
I grew up on dinghies and have a lifetime’s experience on boats. I try to maintain behaviours and attitudes that reflect my Christian values and beliefs, and appreciate patience, compassion and understanding in others.
Having made it to the age of 60, I suppose I’m just looking for a commonsense, no-nonsense person with some sailing experience who can fit in with others to assist me in delivering the yacht to New Zealand.
I hope to have a total crew of around 5 or 6 people and based on a 48 day trip I did around Tassie earlier this year I expect the cost to be around $30 per day. You’ll also have to get a flight back from New Zealand, assuming you aren’t already a New Zealander.

https://www.crewbay.com/owner/8923/edit/adverts

With seven days to go … I now had a crew. Which ticked one BIG item on my “To Do List” . So here’s hoping the 10 day sail across the Tasman won’t end up being a cross between Survivor, Big Brother and Lord of The Flies. What can possibly go wrong?!

Smooth seas fair breeze and Sea-Harmony

Rob Latimer

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Wednesday 22 January 2020

Western Port Marina

NZ2020 – In the wake of Captain Cook … is billed as …

“… a 113-day New Zealand voyage aboard the good ship Chimere, conducted in multiple stages between Saturday 25 January and Saturday 16 May 2020*

* Terms and Conditions apply, see store for details.

In summary, the sailing itinerary looks a bit like this …

But of course, before we embark on Stages 2, 3, 4 and so on, we must first complete Stage 1 … the Trans Tasman delivery voyage. Which looks a bit like this …

In essence … we’ll hang a left turn once we’re out of Western Port, then keep the sunrise on the bow and the sunset on the stern for about 10 sleeps and hey presto, we’ll strike New Zealand.

With two and a half days to go before the Border Force customs officials pay us a visit to formally “clear us out”, our attention is currently focused, however, on getting our mast re-installed tomorrow morning. After that, we can start to relax a little, with minor things like buying food, tidying up around the place and getting the sat-phone weather and tracking system operational.

Smooth seas, fair breeze and stay tuned…

Rob Latimer