Today was the day, we finally decided to leave the safe haven of Ulludulla Wharf and begin our adventure. We had mechanic look at our generator and we were arranging for a part to be reconditioned in Sydney. We figured we were going to stop in Sydney over the next few days and so we could arrange the reconditioning then. We also were arranging for two new sails to be made. The sail maker also in Sydney has agreed to have them ready for us to collect when we get to Sydney.
Organising to leave had been an 8 week process extended to around 10 weeks. Packing up the house, arranging for most of our furniture and electronic devices to be sent to the auction house and sorting through what we didn’t fit on the boat or leave with relatives to sell at the local Trash and Treasure markets all took a great deal of time and hastiness.
As much organised as physically possible given we wanted to leave today, it was about 2.30pm in the afternoon and we cast off. We were under motor and had probably travelled 50 metres when our motor stopped. Dave quickly launched for the sail and raised our headsail and with some luck the wind was coming from the right direction so we could use it to get ourselves onto a safe course. Phew. We made a decision to keep heading for Jervis Bay as planned and we will try and fix the motor problem on the way. It got dark but the visibility was good and so we kept on track for Jervis Bay. A few hours went by and we were about 1 hour outside of the Jervis Bay entrance when our boat did an about turn. Dave was a bit surprised asking “Bron, what are doing where are you going” to which I promptly replied, “Anais did it”. As hard as I tried I could not prevent Anais from doing a 180′ turn. So, Dave took the helm and sailed us back on course. Again, approximately an hour out from Jervis Bay the boat did exactly the same thing with Dave at the helm. It simply turned itself 180′ around and headed back for Ulludulla. At this stage, Dave and I were discussing what we were going to do as his efforts to start the motor were unsuccessful. So, since the boat was pointing to Ulludulla and we knew a mechanic there who would probably be able to fix the problem we headed back from where we had started. Not a great start to our trip.
Ah, but all is not over. Since all this happened at about 11pm, and we did not want to enter Ulludulla at night it meant we had 6 hours of darkness where 4 would be consumed in travelling back to the harbour and then 2 with just hanging around. So, we locked in on two land marks and sailed up and down in between them for the spare two hours. Fortunately, it was fairly comfortable sailing with a light breeze and next to no swell.
As daylight broke we reluctantly called upon the coast gaurd at Ulludulla to give us a hand into the harbour. We didn’t fancy our skills of sailing in and parking the boat and thought we save ourselves a front page story in the local newspaper ‘Boat causes havoc as it tries to dock without motor’. The coast gaurd towed us in towards the shore before pulling up beside us to secure their boat to us and for some reason as we got closer to shore the swell developed making the task all the more challenging. Couple that with a snapping line and the two boats clashing together from the uneveness of the seas – put alot of people at risk and I know atleast two people suffered wrist injuries one of which was Dave. The coast gaurd soon gained control of the situation and motored us to a safe mooring at the wharf. Anais was battered and suffered a broken railing. It was soon fixed along with the motor. It turned out the component for the generator we had removed for repair was an integral part of our fuel system so, the engine stopped because it had no fuel.
Bron at the helm enjoying the challenge.