Around Australia - again

I'll get back into this blog soon. I have just entered the 2011 two handed around Australia Yacht race. I did this in 1988 with my co-skipper Catherine. She said she would marry me when I asked her crossing the finishing line. I plan to do the 2011 race with my Daughter Estelle as crew. Catherine and the boys will drive around Aus as our land support team. At this stage we are planning on using Chaotic Harmony - renaming her 'eDoc.net' as our sponsor. More to come.

Cyclone Hamish chased everyone out or Marlin Marina, Cairns. Although he skirted along the Queensland coast and missed Cairns it was a good exercise to get all the boats up the mangroves into the Cylone moorings.
We were first out in the morning and back into the Marina. I've never seen it empty before. A tad errie. Chaotic Harmony alone.

Chaotic Harmony, crossing the Coral Sea at nine knots to windward, full sail up, boards down, helmsman tucked in for cover.

Punching to windward

Punching to windward is what you have to do to get places. It is not always the way that we want to travel, but it is usually the direction. Over the past 20-odd years of multihull sailing the most rewarding adventures have come from or after having made that windward bash. The decision to go to sea is always a hard one. When the weather is against you and you are warm and snug in a harbour then it is easy to wait another day. But in life that is not where you get the rewards. Life is not about sneaking up to the grave well preserved comfortable and cozy. It is about being sliding in all beat up, every bit worn out with effort and with a smile on the dial screaming wahoo! Since we left Australia in July 2006 we have put in 3500 nautical miles. Nearly all to windward.

The start

You have to start somewhere. Although I am keeping a photo weblog of our journey through the Pacific at http://www.multihullbooks.com/ I thought it would be useful to have an ideas blog where I can get feedback. Chaotic Harmony, our 14m Catana catamaran, is currently in Fiji. The cyclone season is nearing a close and we are about to head off. I am cruising with my family and our objectives are vague. The first is to spend quality time with our kids. Time is all we have, it is all we take with us and the reality is it passes in a flash. Travelling at six knots everywhere (10km per hour) tends to slow it down a bit and the adventure of being out here makes most days into a memory.
We have spent much of the Cyclone season at Navini Island and Vuda Marina. The host of characters we have met have been wonderful. Cruising on a yacht is about many things and for each of us there are parts that are the most significant. For me it is the colleagues out here who similarly face the same challenges, who have their own unique reason for breaking the bonds with the shore. As the cyclones whilt away the cruisers will start arriving.