Melbourne to Vanuatu Yacht Race - Day 3 - Gone Sailing / Jumping

Gone Sailing / Jumping - Issue 3

We are excited to report we have done "the jump", after hugging the coast for most of the evening we decided to bear right just north of Goalen Head around 0600 this morning. This has instilled an element of excitement and a buzz amongst the crew as that liberating feeling of the start of a true ocean passage sets in. After our benign previous 24 hours, the wind gods have decided to give us a little more puff to push us up the coast - perhaps they are actually appreciating the undie ceremonies?..!?...

A consistent 15-20 knots mainly from the south-west has seen us moving at an average of 8 knots - a marked improvement on our previous 1-2 knot average. Other than a few hours of a very confused sea state (where Bass Straight meets the east Australian current - think Nemo)giving us the feeling we were cruising the coast on a pogo stick the conditions again have been exceptionally comfortable.

Right now the big kites up, with the main eased we are steering north-east (towards warmth - yippee!), averaging 8.3 knots and most of the crew are on deck enjoying the sunshine and eating freshly cooked popcorn ala Mike. Nick Fo has just entered the galley arcing up the jaffle iron for lunch time toasties, his comment "they will take a while and they wont be pretty but gee they'll taste good!". The first one has been served and I am unsure whether Mike's comment about whether he can obtain carbon credits is a compliment or that burning smell has seeped through the iron...Legend effort I say Nick any galley action is good action!

Notable achievements:
* Nick Fo - speed record thus far - 12.7 knots
* Most useful crew member - Carolyn Stoopman (again) - Vege Pie was great, I even managed to compliment it with pasta that held its shape. Have shied away from rice and pressure cookers for the moment.
* 6 out of 8 crew have had an undie change day - ewww! YOu guess who is saving themselves for a special moment...

Hallucination of the day:
Leon mentioning to watch out for Cruise ships out Shepparton... mmm???

The weather pattern for the next few days is looking good if anything a little light, we are still in the hands of the weather to determine our arrival time but a quick calculation with approx. 1450 nautical miles to go if we average 7-8 knots = 8 days this is a very rough guess and we will keep the ceremonies going to keep Huey the wind god excited!

After a good sleep catch up after watch this morning it is easy to put down the book and enjoy every moment of days like today. Watching the land disappear behind us, the feeling of sailing into the big blue yonder is hard to describe but somehow it puts perspective back into everything. With so much time for the simple things, it also makes you realise and reflect on how lucky/privileged we are to be in the position to be able to undertake a journey such as this - this humbling feeling and genuine appreciation is certainly not lost on any of the Samskara crew!

Must fly and enjoy the fun on deck!

Signing off on behalf of the Samskara Crew,
The Ships Cat.

Today's ditty dedicated to competing boat and good friends, Rosie and David from "Ingenue"
By Nick Foa

Ingenue she has many strengths
She might not be fastest,
but she has sailed great lengths
But to jump the start on an 1800 mile race,
was a move that we we all think is ace
Go Rosie and David!

Melbourne to Vanuatu Yacht Race - Day 2 - Gone Sailing / Drifting

Gone Sailing / Drifting... – Issue 2

48 hours of our journey complete and we are reassessing our finish times and dates. We covered a mere 74 nautical miles over the past 24 hours, with a day and night of fickle breeze often dying out to
nothing at all.

Flat seas are making the good ship extremely comfortable but certainly not fast! We are all still looking for the Palm Trees and margaritas! It was a cold night with clear skies allowing the milky way and a small moon to light the sky and give us some steering reference. (unlike the eerily black night the night before).

During many moments of drifting with the current, we were visited by pods of dolphins who never seem to tire of playing on our small bow wake. The phosphorescence in the water making them look like fluro dodgem cars driven by teenage boys as they play chicken and whip and weave with each other and us. Two seals were also given a sharp awakening this morning as Samskara ghosted up to them and woke them from basking in the sun - they were not happy!

The sailing conditions for making progress is not ideal but is certainly conducive to clearing the saloon and enjoying a super civilized, sit down, cutlery and serviette team dinner of delicious spinach quiche with home made pastry (ala Caroline Stoopman) and some not so successful rice (first attempt using the pressure cooker – not so flash!) cooked by me (Kimbo). Think primary school clag glue... thank god for soy sauce and chille flakes to mask the taste. Oh well it has provided the source of many a joke since!

The evening was passed with a few card games with James winning two out of the three games of "Shite Head". Guitars strummed by Mike, Leon and Fo serenaded us over white castello cheese, salami and crackers at sunset. We are lapping up the good conditions while they last as we are all aware of the changing conditions we are likely to face! It would be unheard of to do a passage of this length and not get a hammering at some point....

The Crew:
Current status:
Leon steering, Mike, Stoopy and Fo on deck giving morale support and telling jokes - possibly tweaking some strings from time to time. Rick bunked in aft cabin reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". Jesse in saloon making a new play list on his ipod (we might find something later than the 80's!), James in starboard aft catching some zzzzz'sss. Me writing this update, must be having computer withdrawals from work - NOT!!!

The Ship:
Still looking after us well, a gas alarm this morning created some scratching around in cupboards, not sure if wires have been cut or the issue fixed, but the alarm has stopped and no-one including resident plumber James is showing too much concern.

What we have forgotten:
Spare guitar strings. oh dear!

Special Thanks To:
Lissa Wheatley for the ships library - the books are being well read!
Caroline, Louise and Megsy again for the food - more is certainly
better than less with these conditions!
Darren for routing our emails and updating our friends and families -
you're a champ!

As I have begun to type the wind has picked up to around 10 knots and we have launched the big spinnaker and are finally making some way and averaging 8.2 knots - yippee! The last sched confirmed we had a shocker of a night but it seems most of the other boats have had the
same aimlessly drifting run, lets just hope they are having as much fun as us!

Gotta fly, the Foo Fighters version of Kung Fu Fighting is on its 3rd time round on the ipod, need to try find some new tunes to suit the new conditions.. Will know more tomorrow about arrival times and dates when this weather pattern settles in, standby...

Signing off on behalf of the Samskara Crew,

The Ships Cat.

Today's limerick:
We sail from the club Hobsons Bay
Premier offshore club of the day
We don't sail around the sticks
That's only for dicks
The ocean is were we come play.

Melbourne to Vanuatu Yacht Race - Day 1 - Gone Sailing

Gone Sailing - Issue 1

The first 24 hours on the good ship Samskara complete, 10-14 to go!

The Weather:
We are all astounded by the idyllic weather conditions thus far ... So much so we keep double checking the charts to confirm we are actually sailing in Bass Straight or if we have perhaps somehow been magically transported to be sailing the pacific islands already. The sea is flat with no ocean swell and the winds peaking at maximum 15 knots - very pleasant indeed. Today the sun is shining and as I type more and more
layers of thermals are being peeled off and discarded below. If it wasn't for the number of ships and approaching oil rigs, we could certainly be somewhere more renowned for glamour conditions.

The Crew:
All settling in to the oddity of life onboard, it always takes a few days to slip into the odd sleeping and eating hours, dealing with ever changing weather and sail plan changes called by our tyrant skipper Stoopy. The one consistency on Samskara is the frequency of jokes, banter and laughs heard throughout the ship - a happy crew making for a happy passage!

Two pairs of undies have been sacrificed to the undie weather god!

Watches - The light conditions have allowed us to be 2 up through the night. We are running 2 hours on - 4 hours off - 2 hours standby (kitted up ready but not officially on watch). Teams - Stoopy & Jesse, James & Leon, Rick & Nick (team "Ick"), Mike & Kimbo.

The Ship:
The good ship is holding up well so far, still nice and dry and toasty below. Chart plotter malfunction - lucky for 3 backups! AIS ship monitoring system a real winner!

Special Thanks!
Caroline Stoopman - your home cooked "Swiss Chicken " was deluxe - many thanks - quiche tonight!
Louise & Megsy - it is a tie breaker with the Anzac Cookies if only Fo will leave some for the rest of us - thanks girls!
Jemma Stoopman - you could win master chef with that chocolate slice - very tasty - thank you and keep up the good work!
Doc Forbes - thanks for the tips on keeping Australia to starboard - Adelaide looks great.

Quote of the Day:
"The weather is here wish you were beautiful!"

Best fly and kick Foa out of his hammock before he gets too comfy.

Signing off on behalf on the Samskara Crew,
The Ships Cat.

Harmonica Playing onboard Yacht - Turkey June 2010

New Years Eve 2009

Mooloolaba New Years Eve

Turkey - June 2010

Check out this amazing band playing at a restaurant we dined at in Fethiye, Turkey!

Dec 09 - Sailing Mackay to Mooloolaba

Once again we had a great run Mackay to Mooloolaba, I'll let the pictures do the talking.

So long since last post.... December catch up

I can't believe it has been so long since I wrote on my blog - late last year.... jeez so much has happened so much to write.

Going back in time - 6-10 December 2010 - I spent time on Hamilton Island training with the Whitsunday Holidays Team. What a fab company and great team. http://www.whitsundayholidays.com.au/

We then enjoyed Mike's brother's 50th Birthday in Sydney on the night of the 12th December while staying with our friends Bill and Noel in Pymble.

This was followed by a few nights in Melbourne and finally returning to home in Busselton on the 17th December.

We had our Portavin Christmas Party followed by Christmas lunch with the kids and granny on the 21st.

After which we flew to Mackay but not without fitting in Christmas drinks with Ben at his magnificent home on Perth.

Arrival in Mackay was a welcome relief after so much travel and activity. Here was got Sandstone ready for her annual pilgrimage south for the summer. We have been doing this yearly to avoid cyclone season and this year paid off as a cyclone went directly over where she is usually moored. More on this in a later blog!

My Book

A Gathering of Extraordinary Friends by Kim McKee | Make Your Own Book

Morning Glory

This morning the urge to walk rather than ride overcame me and what a good decision it was.

After spending the last three days working on my computer mainly on my new green skin (more details to come in a later blog) project it was a great pleasure to take a walk along the beach. Summer is trying to arrive and the Bay is looking magical.

Check out the pics... this is my local beach, Geographe Bay on the south west coast of Australia. Nice huh!