Category: Passage: Chesterfield Reef to Australia

We arrived safely at Rivergate, Brisbane at 0830 local time this morning. The last day of the passage was nearly perfect — the wind came up and the seas stayed down. Plus, I caught a mahi-mahi. On the whole, this was a very comfortable passage, although a bit slow. But what’s the rush? More later.

M.

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Beautiful sunset and moonrise. Full moon in a clear sky. Calm seas. What more can one ask for except a bit more wind? It is on and off sailing and motoring as the wind comes up and then dies down, and repeats. We should be at Rivergate, Brisbane by 8:00 am local time tomorrow (Wednesday) morning.

Position at 2230 UTC Oct 25 is:

S 24 41.3
E 154 08.0

M.

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Sailed all day then motored all night. Beautiful full moon. All is well. Position at 2145 UTC Oct 24:

S23 54.6
E155 32.2

M.

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Slow progress to Brisbane. Yesterday had squalls and showers, today the sky is mostly clear. We expect to arrive on Wednesday afternoon given our progress to date and the forecast. Allis well.

Location at S21 53.1 E156 53.8 at 2100 UTC Oct 23.

M.

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We will leave the “Trois Ilots” anchorage at Chesterfield Reef at 0600 local time tomorrow morning (Saturday, October 23) heading for Rivergate, Brisbane. The passage is about 550 nautical miles on a heading of 216 degrees true. The forecast calls for fairly strong winds of 22 – 25 knots from the east-southeast during the first day, declining to 14 – 18 knots on the second day, and then 6 – 12 knots on the last day. Seas are forecast to be 3 meters the first 12 hours, then declining fairly quickly. We hope to be at the Customs Dock at Rivergate, Brisbane before 6:00 pm on Tuesday (October 26).

“Wombat of Sydney” with Mike and Lynn aboard will be leaving when we do, although they are planning to make landfall at Coffs Harbour in northern New South Wales, before proceeding on to Sydney. The course to Coffs Harbour is quite close to the course to Brisbane.

M.

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