Cruising Log—26...Double Is Pt to Scarborough

Finally we were in the sheltered water of the marina and quietly slipped into our berth. Leanne was quickly ashore to get a line on before the howling wind blew us across the arm and into the Coast Guard boat. It was beautifully done. Home sweet home, safe at last!!!! We did a few high fives on the jetty and had a big hug, before friends from other boats came over to welcome us back from our cruise. How we love Scarborough!!!!

Here is the final entry in the log:

“Arrived at Scarborough on the exact day we took possession of Masala, one year on! Momentous! Fish and chips to celebrate at Morgan’s then early to bed for a wonderful, well-deserved and RELAXED sleep – no worries mate!!”

We were doing really well until 2 a.m. when the wind died and the sea glassed out. Leanne was asleep in the sea berth. I weighed up the choices. We had to make a minimum speed or we would not make it to Bribie Island in time to pick up the incoming tide through Skirmish Passage. We couldn’t fight the tide there, it’s just too strong. I calculated our minimum speed as 3.5kts. I started the engine and found I needed 1400rpm to achieve it.

It was just as well we ran the engine as the wind did not blow again until 10 a.m. the next morning. So we ended up motoring for 8 hours.

We put up the sails and shut the engine down. We rounded Bribie Island and navigated the shoals of Skirmish Passage in great style, with the tide whipping us along. The final run downwind across Deception Bay with our marina in sight was one of exhilaration.

Half a mile from the entrance channel we started the motor and dropped the sails. By now the wind had built to 30kts from the NE and the bay was very rough. We entered the channel thinking it was all over, only to be thrown around mercilessly by vicious steep seas thrown up by the shallow water and the full fetch of the open bay. It was the scariest part of the journey as I battled to keep Masala in the narrow channel, having to rev the engine hard to give more steerage.

For the interested we include a collection of facts and figures from our cruise:

Duration: 175 days (ten days short of six months)

Distance: 1480 nautical miles (2744 km)

Longest passage: 58 hrs; 207 nm

Fastest speed: 9.3 knots (17 km / hr)

Water consumed: 1225 litres (3.5 litres / person / day; yeah yeah we know, we swam instead of showering, OK?)

Total engine hours used: 104.3 (0.6 hrs / day)

Diesel fuel consumed: 205.5 litres (1.2 litres / day)

Average fuel consumption: 2.0 litres / hour

Best fuel consumption: 1.2 litres / hour

Worst fuel consumption: 2.7 litres / hour

LPG Gas consumed: approx 18 kg.

 Since Masala carries 380 litres of diesel, we did not need to refuel at all during the entire voyage.