Voyage of the Innovator.
Written by Geoff
Tuesday, 18 March 2014 06:29
A Compass points north.
Around Easter 2013 my wife Janette and I acquired a Compass 33 Innovator called Nfiesa. This was the defining step of commitment to do the winter milk run up the Qld coast. This was a dream long discussed and debated, now a slightly scary reality.
We planned to depart Moreton Bay in six weeks time and had a number of social and work commitments that made the available time disappear in a flash. With a 97 item “to-do” list we prioritised points of safety, boat functionality and comfort. Leaving the nice but not necessary stuff for on the way (yeah right, that list is now actually longer after 5 1/2 months live aboard.)
With enough provisions to circle the globe, a plimsoll line vaguely visible below the water and a comprehensive range of clothes, toys and spares we set off 9hrs late at 2:00pm. We figured we could make Redcliffe about 15 miles away and reduce the distance to Mooloolaba the next day. First rookie mistake, by underestimating the wind force (20-25 kt sw) and, believing the forecast when our senses told us it was at least 15% more than predicted. The upside was a quick lesson on reefing everything right down and a confidence inspiring performance by the boat despite her novice crew. Bearing in mind we had been out on this boat only three times and had logged maybe 40 miles in her this was a great initiation and helped inform and temper our decision making from then on. We were accomplished small boat sailers and gunkhole cruisers but have never skippered anything over 23ft. We abandoned Redcliffe and put in to lie off Birkdale (4nm from our mooring) just barely afloat at low tide with the wind rattling and shaking the boat half the night.
We quickly learned as we went along and found any sundowner session was an opportunity to discover more. We always had a bunch of questions about electrics, refrigeration, navigation and cruising destinations. The generous welcome extended by almost every cruiser was fantastic and we count ourselves lucky and privileged to have had such great company and support along the way. It really is a nomadic village out there with the neighbours and or neighbourhood always changing but consistently helpful, playful and generous.
Natural phenomena abounds along our coast and we had daily whale sightings for months, occasional fish or crabs for the larder, a myriad diversity of bird life, dazzling sunrises, soporific sunsets, an uncanny afternoon sea fog and ever changing sea state to engage and enthrall us. Highlights were many and hard to narrow down but a dozen strong escort of Minke whales frolicking around the boat (belting along at 6kts), the magic of being woken to land birds at anchor and the exceptional snorkelling around the Whitsundays are a few examples.
On the maintenance and reliability side of things we had very simple and repairable issues. The 80 watts of solar we started with was never going to suffice, a few blocks and fittings carried away through unplanned gybes and other crew misdemeanours. Of more concern was a sudden increase in bilge water levels with the remedy being to service the stuffing box. (It is amazing what you can learn on Google these days) Then there was the gas alarm incident that had us reaching for the survival grab bag whilst shutting down the gas bottles, batteries, solar etc. After several “false” alarms we finally found the cause. The skippers’ occasional flatulence being politely aimed out the companionway must have been sinking down to a sniffer in the battery area beside the steps.
Our early 1980’s cruiser did everything we asked of her with the usual leg between 50 to 60 miles and the occasional section much longer. We could mostly average around 5kts, albeit with a fair amount of motor sailing if our speed dipped too low for too long. This seemed the norm for many a cruiser on our trip and we were out for a good journey without getting too fatigued or stressing the gear just to satisfy a purist notion of cruising. Our longest leg was 87 nm from Great Keppel to Hexham Is. A leg necessitated by the closure of the Shoalwater Bay military zone for exercises. Not a trip we would have chosen but we were not inclined to wait 4 more weeks for the closed anchorages to open. It was on this leg we had the Minkes for company, were abeam of an Aussie frigate firing live rounds at Townsend Is and coped with a lively sea and 20kts of wind all day. Here is an excerpt from my journal of that passage.
Thurs 1:00 am start, pitch black a few hrs before moon rise and several very large unlit rocks to avoid along our path, luckily partially marked by the two warships anchored off the islands. It is an eerie start relying on the Navionics and dead reckoning to guide us through but as always the rocks appear off our beam at the appropriate time. Spectral dark shapes with white frilled breakers looming less than half a mile off.
Finally the recumbent crescent moon rose above the sharp prow of a warship like a Cheshire Cat grin. Ya don't see that everyday. The last few hrs of dark we have a yacht coming up along one side and another heading south that has been in radio contact with warships ahead.
Shortly after dawn as we close on an anchored aircraft carrier he gets under way and turns to run across our bows, without a by your leave, where's the respect I say. OK he does weigh about 250,000 tonnes more than me and has more than enough technology to know he will be gone way before I get there.
The seas have been large all night and the morning brings more of the same. From dawn we have been running parallel to the military zone and things are getting busy on the radio. We have been forced well out to sea by the closure and are tracking as close as we can along the boundary, along with a few others in front and behind. From time to time a call from one or other warship asks for specific vessel to stand clear. Never quite clear who they are calling, it requires us to check our exact position at that moment in time to compare with the co-ordinates they rattle off.
We managed for 5 months without a grounding, this was one thing we really worried about given a draft about a metre more than our previous boat . Ironically when we get back in the familiar waters of the Great Sandy Strait, having just negotiated the shallowest watershed at near low tide ( and passing 2 grounded yachts on the way) we put Nfiesa aground whilst reconnoitering a small anchorage to see if there was enough room for another vessel we expect later on the flood tide. Some days later it was at Inskip Point poised to do the ocean leg back to Mooloolaba that we fell afoul of a fierce afternoon storm that put us ( and the other boats around) up on a bank as soon as it hit. One skipper told me his instruments were showing over 60kts. We were heeled over on a sandbank with hail passing horizontally under the bimini. Wild windshifts occurred every few minutes and after about 10 minutes a windshift picked us up and blew us back out into the deep again. By then we weren’t sure if we were better off afloat or aground as distress calls were going off all over the place with even a trawler coming to grief. We sustained no significant damage but it was a good reminder that even sheltered good holding ground anchorages have their limits. One chap had his snubbing line part, the capstan let the chain run out and the preventer at the end of the chain just snapped clean off. This was a big powerful sports cruiser and it went aground just like that!
A few days later we were back in Moreton Bay reluctant to end our 1800 nm journey. A modest feat for many, but given our lack of coastal and keel boat experience, a new (to us) and untested boat we were proud of our achievements and now have moved from “We’ll do one trip and sell the boat” to “We really enjoyed it so much more than we expected we must do another season at least.” Our choice of the Compass was a blessing as she was roomy safe and performed well.
Roger & Janette
Innovator 33 Nfiesa