The Last Leg

South Solitary Island lighthouse is within sight.

With directions for the final leg on hand and exhaustion lapping at our heels Divine Wind plunged into one huge wave and then the engine stopped.

Not a splutter or a cough. Just nothing. Zilch, zip, nada.

Within a heartbeat Divine Wind became a bobbing cork on two and a half metre seas in a thirty plus knot wind.

Not what we wanted. Not ideal.

John heroically checked the rocking rolling engine. It had been running constantly for over twenty seven hours. The Perkins diesel engine no longer purred. John tried to work in over-whelming fumes, working on a hot engine while being thrown around on unstable floor. His only light was a torch, because the power failed. Not fun. Not fun at all. And the engine refused to co operate.

Steve tried to stop the boat drifting. A sea anchor would do the trick. If we knew where the one listed on the inventory was, it would be really handy right about now. Steve risked what I considered a rather dangerous search of the forward sea locker. No sea anchor. Nothing to help slow the drifting. Trying to set the sails looked perilous, (to me). 

I must admit at this stage my stamina failed. White knuckled hanging on just to not be thrown around, watching John and Steve both doing precarious and risky tasks, didn't help my stress levels. We all wore life jackets. Steve assured me the boat would not roll over. Yeah, I believed him, but it didn't stop the wild ride or settle my heartrate.

After trying to restart the engine, searching for the sea anchor and doing all we could to slow the drift, after considering setting sails in ferocious conditions and having me losing my nerve more each passing minute, Steve called Marine Rescue at 4.28am 2nd Dec. Sunrise was still an hour away. But now help was on the way.

Waiting for Marine Rescue to arrive took a lot of patience. Steve and John still worked at restarting the engine, but to no avail. The seas didn't settle and the wind didn't drop below thirty knots.

Not ideal. Not pleasant. 40degrees one way, 40 the other, without pause. Everything, even items stored in cupboards decided to evacuate. We waited and wondered what had a) gone wrong with the engine b)how long Marine Rescue would be and c) what else could we do or have done. 

After sunrise Marine Rescue finally arrived and we began a very slow bumpy ride back to Coffs. The initial rope snapped but once Steve and the Marine Rescue crew attached a new one the tow went without incident. Up, down, up down, but Coffs was getting closer.

Finally we arrived in the harbour. An admiring curious crowd lined the southern wall. The relief was instant once we passed the entrance. The wind still blew but Divine Wind settled. We were almost home.

Safe now in the harbour I was able to get a lift to shore. Steve and John worked on the engine. They had it fixed in fifteen minutes.The difference not being tossed around makes!

The next challenge was getting the fifty foot yacht into a safe mooring in the marina while gale force winds buffeted her.

Of course we had an audience and lots of advice. Mitch, an experienced sailor, who was supposed to be sailing in my place but couldn't make it at the last minute, helped guide Steve. All the Thursday afternoon sailors, who had decided today was not the weather for sailing, were on hand to welcome, inspect, congratulate, commiserate and compare rough weather sailing stories.

Divine Wind was safely moored and we could relax.

Safely moored in Coffs marina.

Now begins the real adventure of boat ownership. 

We made the News! 

December 1st 2021

 Our journey to meet the Divine Wind  began at 1am Wed morning 1st Dec 2021

The excitement helped wake us and anticipation made the trip through rain and dark go faster.

We were all on edge, not knowing what we would find when we finally boarded the yacht. Three months of organisation, repairs, impatience and paying invoices were coming to an end.

We were about to learn the challenges of buying a boat unseen. Our decision was determined by COVID. Without Steve's long hours of research, phone calls and organisation we would still be dreaming of purchase.

Tweed River appeared as sunrise bathed the place in damp light. The rain eased and we waited for a glimpse of sails.

Divine Wind eventually motored into sight! She was beautiful. The skipper welcomed us aboard, explained a few necessities to Steve and John while Lisa and I fell in love with the boat. She was all we imagined and more. She welcomed us with her space, character and refined woodwork.

We were happy! Our boat bought unseen was up to scratch. Steve and John inspected sails, rigging, GPS etc while we absorbed the living space.

She is looking great

The smile says it all.

View into cockpit from downstairs

Moving aboard. Ready for overnight sail.

The saloon and ships bell

Yours truly trying on life jacket for bar crossing.

"Time and tide wait for no man."

So we had to navigate the bar on the Tweed while the tide was high. Time was not on our side.

We waved farewell to Lisa. Steve took the helm for the first time.

Steve at helm

The bar crossing went ok. Once out to sea we began to explore setting the sails. Watching the wind, reading the electronics and discovering how Divine Wind rode the waves.

John at the helm.

Sailing

Our plans had included weather forecast of northerly winds. "Best made plans..." and all that, the wind was from the south! Not what we had foreseen. Not what we had anticipated or welcomed. Steve persevered with setting sails, traveling at a comfortable nine knots. Our progress was great, only our destination was Coffs, not New Zealand.

We had to resign ourselves to motoring, not sailing. Our ETA changed from sixteen hours to twenty four hours.

Steve at the helm, John catnapping while opportunity lasts.

Then the wind picked up and the seas were confused. Not ideal for our shake down sail day.

Divine Wind motored well. Comfortable, she rode over or through the ever increasing waves. The Perkins engine purred, but our disappointment at not sailing dampened spirits. The rain eased but the wind didn't let up for a moment.

Steve and John discovered a few minor problems. The GPS, auto navigation, wind speed and compass refused to work. Great start. Steve had charts on his phone but was not happy about needing to rely on them.

My phone took the opportunity to die. Just stopped charging and smelt of burning. So diary videos and photos were not happening.

Mid afternoon-early evening we were still motoring. Everyone was feeling ok, tired but ready for an overnight haul through heavy seas.

The wind could/should/please do calm down after sunset.

What was doable during the daylight became more of a challenge in the dark. The wind strengthened rather than settling. The rain decided to keep us company. The sea's confusion increased and manning the helm became and exhausting challenge.

At midnight the lights of Yamba looked encouraging. At 3am they were finally in the rear view. North Solitary and Woolgoolga were welcome beacons.

John and Steve took shifts, one hour on, one hour trying to cat nap. Rain, spray, salt laden wind, every surface, every inch of the upper deck was damp and regularly drenched. Our new coats were very welcome. Nothing too 'over the top' at all. They might look unnecessarily heavy and waterproof on a sunny afternoon, but at 3am in a driving wind, rain, and pounding seas every ounce of water proofing and protection was welcome.

4am.  We finally sailed within sight of South Solitary Lighthouse. The twinkling lights of Coffs loomed in the distance. The last leg of our journey had begun. Divine Wind had the bit between her teeth and was bolting for the harbour.

Or so we thought.

SOLD: 50ft Benateau Oceanic "DIVINE WIND"

 SOLD- DIVINE WIND. The information and images we obsessed over while we wondered if we had made a good choice. All we had to go on while we waited for  all the official paperwork and repairs to be completed and a skipper to bring her down to the Tweed. Across the border. Where we could finally see what we had bought.