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THE DUKE ISLANDS – HUNTER AND MARBLE...continued |
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We finally realised the weather window wasn’t going to happen despite what the Bureau said, so we left. Next time, maybe.
On the day prior to departure, Leanne developed a strange pain behind her left eye. A nuisance, but hey, everyone gets a pain in the head from time to time. Little were we to know what would happen. |
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Left: Leanne loves baking bread as the finished loaf looks like a shapely man’s buttocks |
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WHY ARE WE DOING THIS? MARBLE ISLAND TO BRAMPTON ISLAND |
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18-20 JUNE. It is a long haul from Marble Island to Brampton Island. Most people choose to overnight at either Curlew Island or Digby Island along the way. A westerly component in the wind caused us to choose Digby, where we had been before, in 2006, but Masala knew better.
The sail started brilliantly, hitting 9 knots on the surf under mainsail with two reefs and a partly-furled headsail. Then the massive flood tide started to bite into the stiff wind. The sea became really rough, while the tide pushed us sideways close to Curlew Island and away from Digby. Masala was trying to tell us something, but we didn’t listen. We gybed her and ran down on Digby Island.
The seas on the western approach, forced between Digby and adjacent Noel Island, were quite nasty. It was a relief to get into the lee of the island and drop the anchor. Or so we thought. But around midnight, the rolling started. There was no sleep for the rest of the night. Even lying on the floor in the saloon didn’t help. We are both pretty robust when it comes to putting up with motion at anchor, but this was something else.
The rolling continued into the next day. We both became irritable and queasy. Despite great tiredness, it was impossible to rest. Internal organs flopped about in perfect synchronism with the boat, and this despite the fact that Masala is a great boat at anchor, moving much less than other monohulls, especially the shallow-bilged, round-bottomed modern fibreglass production yachts. Masala was right. We should have gone to Curlew Island. We didn’t because of the forecast SSW wind. To rub salt into the wound, that wind never came.
24 hours later, the wind and swell died and the rolling stopped. By now we had asked ourselves 1000 times, why are we doing this? After a few hours of flat anchorage and a lovely calm night with good sleep, the question became irrelevant. Onwards!
The key to successful sailing in these big tide waters is to work with the tides, not against them. We needed to make the most of the ebb tide to help us on the 14 hour trip to Brampton Island, and the ebb started at 1 a.m. in the morning, so that’s when we left. The other key, when the tides set crosswise to your direction of travel as in this case, is to not steer into them to maintain your proper course. Instead, allow one tide to push you off course then, when it changes, allow the other tide to push you back onto course. This is much more efficient and adds surprisingly little to the total distance travelled, even if you are pushed 5 miles off course. |
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BEAUTIFUL BRAMPTON ISLAND, THE FIRST TIME |
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20-22 JUNE. We woke to a stunning morning in one of our all-time favourite destinations. We looked across |