Thanks to Barracouta Sails, Te Moana now sports a new Trampoline. Back to sailing!

On Sunday morning, Joy and I were taking our time taking up the anchor, washing the anchor chain as we went (Jerusalem Bay has good holding, but very sticky, thick mud), all 60 meters of it.

Unfortunately I lost my balance standing near the Anchor locker, took some heavy steps on to the trampoline to regain my balance and consequently gave it a solid stress test. The result is clear, we need a new trampoline.

All five crew agreed that this was one of the best "cruises" they'd been on. And it isn't hard to come up for some reasons for that.

• Breakaway is a great all round cruising boat. Comfortable, well prepared and just the right boat in a 55+ knot breeze in Stockton Bight.
• A great crew composed of a top notch skipper, Graeme Fraser and a great mix of old and new friends.
• Favourable weather all the way made light work of the distance.

Thanks Graeme, Claudia, Maurice and Tim for a great trip!

At 0800 yesterday, we came around Cape Byron. It's always a magic spot.

Having 5 crew on the boat makes sailing non-stop a "breeze". Graeme has proven to be a most amiable and competent skipper and there is much to learn from him.

Breakaway has everything anyone would wish for. The the least of which is very convenient internet access, which makes it easy to update this weblog and "Where is Breakaway" while underway. At the time of writing, we are off Fraser Island, after a night with sporadic rain, but which was otherwise uneventful.

As of 8.00 am today, we've travelled over 500 nautical miles  (900km) in three days and at the current rate we'll arrive in Mackay by Monday. Provided we don't stop over for a couple of days at the Percy Islands, of course...

The picture above is the best I can do in demonstrating how close an encounter we had with a whale this evening. Just on sunset, near South Solitary Island a whale crossed right in front of our bow. The picture doesn't show the whale but where he had just been...

In case you weren't already underwhelmed by my photographic expertise, be sure to click on the picture for the full size version of the photo.

We departed as per plan at 0700 today. The forecast was for winds reaching up to 40 knots off Newcastle, and they were right. Including the 40% higher warning which accompanies marine weather forecasts nowadays (for a little while it was well above 50 knots).

Breakaway took it in its stride and as the wind was a westerly, the seas were moderate, although Graeme got a bit damp...

The crew is in good spirits and we should continue to make good progress during the night.

1900 hrs - near Seal Rocks. [Where is Breakaway]

On Tuesday I'm off sailing on Breakaway, helping deliver her to Mackay in North Queensland. While it has only one hull, this Buizen 48 is very well equipped and looked after by its owner, Carr Hordern and I'm looking forward to the experience. We're hoping to do it non-stop, taking 7-10 days depending on conditions.The forecast looks good at this point, with a nice South Westerly breeze to get us going.

I'll keep in touch by writing here as well as keeping a position log on skipr.net

While we've been very happy with Vicsail, Lagoon and Te Moana, we can't say the same about Christophe Vanek, the guy who sold us the boat.

Christophe's fate was sealed by a certain event at the start of the 2002 Sydney to Hobart. When last  heard of, he was starting a Beneteau agency somewhere in a desert.

Until now, that is... It looks like he was on board this tri when it broke up the other day.

According to The National:

"We were going full speed and suddenly the boat broke," said Christof Vanek, a member of the crew. "It's very unfortunate."

The flags on our boats looked particularly colourful at dawn. Craig is coming down by car and will help me take the boat back non-stop to Pittwater. We'll take around 22 hours and expect to depart mid to late afternoon.. If you're interested, you can follow us on "Where is Te Moana". ]]> http://coomans.com/temoana/2008/03/festive-ulladulla.html http://coomans.com/temoana/2008/03/festive-ulladulla.html Cruise Report Sun, 23 Mar 2008 11:00:23 +1000 We left Greenwell point early yesterday in order to catch up with our Alfreds Cruising friends and to try and arrive together at our Easter destination, Ulladulla.

We weighed anchor at sunrise and were rewarded with a magnificent sight. Our arrival in Ulladulla was a little challenging, but we eventually settled in OK.

A bit of a Southerly didn't stop the other boats from moving on at daybreak, and we might follow later today.

We dropped our mooring at 6.00 am to return to the club, but as our berth came into view, it was clear someone had been reading the blog entries, realised there was a vacant spot on F arm and was enjoying a berth at Pittwater's best marina! Joy and I have been known to lose our temper at such unauthorised use. However, as we neared the boats, it turned out to be "Red Undies", Ken's pride and joy. Ken is one of the world's true gentlemen and is solely responsible for quite a number of New Year's bashes at his Lake Macquarie home. So we refrained from waking him and used the fuel wharf instead. Be our guest, Ken