Journal Entries

October 2004 - Life Onboard

I have been living aboard now for a couple of months and settling in fairly well. My house finally sold this month and this has forced me to start moving items onboard. I put most of my larger belongings in storage and what was left over I left for the new owner. This included over 100 compact discs, dozens of books, my beloved espresso machine and a load of other items. I figured I was making a new start and by the time I tried to store them somewhere it would be more of a hassle than leaving them. I think the new owner got a good deal.

So now I have only a few possessions which are onboard. It's amazing how few things you really need. How much money is wasted buying little trinkets and ornaments you place around your house just to fill it up. Living on a boat truly teaches you the art of minimalism.

The location is amazing. At night it is just beautiful and most nights I just sit up on deck and watch the passing ferries and pedestrians while doing some work or reading.

I am only a 5 minute walk to my office and there are cafes, restaurants and every convenience I could possibly need at my doorstep. I would much rather be out cruising, but this is a pretty good compromise for the moment.

I finally found an upholsterer to attend to the interior cushions. They are looking pretty tired and I would like to spruce the place up to make it home. I decided to go for a beige leatherette. I have concerns about my choice, as a cloth fabric may have been more comfortable in hot weather, but I will wait and see. I can always change it again next time.

My neighbours are all good people and I have been extremely fortunate to find such a nice group of people. We all look out for one another and there is always someone to have a conversation with when I get a little lonely. There are a great range of personalities here and everyone seems to get along well. Even the security guards are a good bunch of guys, who check in every now and then.

There is even a little dog named Barney who belongs to Simon and it's great to come back to the dock and be greeted by Barney.

I have to take a trip down river this weekend, as I am very low on diesel and haven't started the motor since I arrived a couple of months ago. I will wait for an outgoing tide to take me down to where I can buy diesel. I will also use this opportunity to try and find the oil leak in the engine. That thing has been bugging me since Sydney and I'm hoping that it is just a leaking pipe or something simple. If it is the sump gasket I will have to lift the engine to get it replaced. That is something I would like to avoid if possible.

Sunday 31 October 2004: I Finally went out for a sail today. I really needed to get some diesel and LPG. After speaking with a couple of the guys who are on the dock, they told me to go to a place at Dayborough Creek. It was about a two hour trip down river and then a sharp right turn into a little creek.

Since coming up river the first time against the tide I had decided to always plan my trip around the tides, as it is not uncommon for the river to be running at 4 knots. The tide was due to change at approximately 1pm today (Sunday). My dock neighbour Colin decided to come along with me, as he had been to the marina several times before. There was a good breeze blowing and we only needed to motor a couple of hundred metres before we were under sail. I ran with the Jib and stay sail and this was sufficient to push us along nicely at around 4knots.

The river is such a great place to sail, as it is totally different to sailing out at sea. There are high rise buildings all around and people walking by. The river is quite deep throughout and it is common to have 20 metres underneath. It is a strange feeling to be sailing only 10 metres away from pedestrians.

Three hours and much tacking later we arrived at Dayborough creek entrance. The water is quite shallow and at times we had only 2 metres beneath the boat. It is not the most attractive part of Brisbane river, and there is a constant smell of sulfate in the air. For those who don't know what sulfate smells like, think rotten eggs. Below is a picture approaching the Gateway Bridge. The Brisbane River is a busy port and there are always many tankers and freighters along the river banks.

I had been warned by another sailor that this was a difficult area to navigate and was quite treacherous to pull up to the marina. He advised me that if another boat was at the fuel pump, I would need to continue, but not too far, and come around from the other direction. I don't know why he was so nervous about this area, but upon my arrival at the fuel jetty a trawler was refueling. I simply hung back with my motor in reverse very slowly to compensate for the current. After approximately 5 minutes the trawler pulled away and I cruised straight up to the jetty. Colin was most impressed with how easy the Westsail was to maneuver. I am afraid of getting a false sense of confidence, as I find pulling into docks, jettys etc.... so easy and really don't know why people make so much fuss about it all. I guess it's easy when you have a Perkins 4108 with 50hp to push you around.

One hundred and twenty dollars later, we sailed away from the fuel jetty and back toward home. The tide had turned and we were running with the current. The wind was coming from behind and this was a great opportunity to use the whisker pole. I didn't know how to get it down when coming from Sydney and had I known, it would have proved valuable as I was either beating directly into head winds or it was coming straight from behind.

Despite having an auto pilot, Colin was keen to hand steer. He owns a beautiful 35ft catamaran which is spacious and luxurious, but he sincerely loves my Westsail. He has his on the market currently and wants to buy one exactly like mine. I can't say I blame him, but I really thought at first he was just being overly polite with his comments about how wonderful my boat was. Having been unable to prize him from my tiller all day, I know he is genuine.

It was a great sail and nice to get back out on the water. I still have my oil leak, but didn't lose much today as I hardly used the motor. The winches were also a little squeaky and could do with some lubricant. I also need to replace the ropes to the jib as they are getting old and worn. Other than that she performed beautifully and made my weekend the best so far. If the wind is blowing next weekend I think I might go for another sail. I'll keep you posted.

November 2004 - Living in Brisbane

5 November - Something amazing has happened to the Brisbane River water. The normally murky brown water has cleared over a period of about 3 days. The water is so clear and deep that it is almost a black colour. Nobody seems to be able to give a definite explanation for this, but it is fantastic. Normally I can't see 1cm into the water here, but now I can see for about 3 metres clearly. Below are some photos taken on the dock of the rudder and prop. You probably need to know the Brisbane River to fully appreciate these photos.

10 November - My upholstery is finished and installed. It's a huge improvement on the old blue interior and really brightens up the interior. I also bought some new cushions which you can see in the left of the picture below. I will be changing the colour scheme of the boat gradually and eliminating all the blue. I like the classic colours of just beige and white and will eventually get all my exterior covers done in beige.

24 November - A new boat arrived at the dock today. She is a Sea Witch design of 30'. Jason and Linda are the owners and have decided to go cruising. They are a really great couple and they are just so passionate about what they are doing. We got talking last night and 4 hours later we couldn't believe it was 10pm. Linda suggested we go to China town for some chinese food. We finally found a place which was still open and had a great meal. These guys are a perfect example of the cruising mentality. They have quit their jobs and arranged their lives to live very simply. They are going to be around for a few more days as they haven't decided what they are doing just yet but will probably head north to the WhItsundays. Below is a picture of Linda & Jason and their lovely little boat "as you wish".

25 November - Last weekend I finally found a mechanic willing to come out and take a look at my engine. It's not so much that it needs attention (other than the oil leak), I just wanted to have it in good order. I've decided to err on the side of caution and replace all the hoses. I was so lucky to come across a mechanic named Todd. When I first spoke to him he told me he wasn't that keen to work on it, but then we got talking and he had a boat of his own. He seemed like such a genuine guy and said he would come out on Sunday to take a look. He came out and spent about 1/2 hour looking over the motor and another hour just chatting about sailing. He told me he will come and work on the boat in the evenings and weekends. It's great to meet someone so genuine. We will probably go out for a sail sometime as well. On item I was concerned about was the new engine mounts which were installed in July. The washers on top appeared to have sunken, but Todd informed me this was the way they are designed.

Today I ordered 100metres of new rope. The ropes were all pretty worn on my yacht, so I thought it best to upgrade the lot. I also decided to treat myself to a new ships clock and barometer. The existing ones are pretty corroded and with the new upholstery and upgrade to the interior I really wanted her to look fresh.

30 November - I have been trying to decide on a new name for my Westsail for some time and I wanted to have a domain name which would reflect the new name. Since I haven't been able to decide on a name, I registered the domain name www.westsailor.com. So it is now a little easier to remember how to get to my website and I figure a Westsail really stands for everything I am trying to achieve with this website ie: pursuing your dreams. So I think the new domain is appropriate. If you haven't had a chance to read the articles in "My Yacht" section take a look and you will learn the significance and philosophy of a Westsail. They truly are the most wonderful voyaging/cruising yachts.

December 2004 -

5 December - Todd (the mechanic) came out and looked at my engine today. He thought he had identified the leak last time he visited, but it appears now that the problem is more serious than first thought. We ran the motor for approximately 40 minutes and finally a drip began at the rear of the engine. The conclusion Todd came to was that I would need to replace the rear main seal. I don't know much about diesel engines, but anything containing the word "main" sounds serious and expensive. It may be possible to have it replaced in position but since the yacht will be hauled out in February or March for some major work, I figure I might have it replaced then and if finances permit a major overhaul might be in order. This would involve lifting the engine out. Thankfully this is not an overly difficult job in a westsail.

After lugging all of his tools over to the dock, spending approximately 2 hours on a Sunday morning, crawling around in my engine bay, I asked Todd how much I owed him. His reply was, "$10.00 for my parking". Despite my pleas he would not take anything more so I promised I would make it up to him. I said I'd take him for a sail. These are the type of people you meet when you have a boat.

Shade Issues

I have been wanting to have an awning made for the yacht to provide some sun protection during the hot summer months and I had real difficulty finding anyone who knew what I was talking about. It would basically be something I could fit while on anchor or in dock and still be high enough to allow me to walk around on deck. After having no success with anyone I telephoned, I finally decided to call an old family friend, Brian. I was reluctant to ask Brian because he is such a nice man and always does favours rather than accepting fair payment for his work. I really didn't want to impose on him, but I knew that he would be able to do the job I wanted. He truly is a master at his craft and when I telephoned him all I needed to say was, "I'd like an awning type of thingy, to keep the sun off" and he replied, "no problem I know exactly what you mean, I've made them before." He did know exactly what I meant and he came out today, measured up and will let me know when he can do it. There are some amazing people in this world and I think Brian is one of them. He is the sort of person who can picture something in his mind and build it perfectly. I know whatever he makes for me will be the absolute best. Wait and see. I'll post the photos when it's fitted.

On Friday a man motored up to the dock in his zodiac tender and asked me how to get a berth here. I gave him the details and he said he had a 60ft catamaran to bring in. Unfortunately the size limit for the dock is 40ft so he was forced to anchor out in the river. His catamaran "Ocean Surfer" from Switzerland is incredible. It has no bridgedeck accommodation and looks like a giant racing catamaran. I suppose with 60ft there is enough accommodation within the hulls not to worry about bridgedeck space. The yacht just screams "FAST". It was a grey and rainy day today when I took this photo and the actually colour of "Ocean Surfer" is light grey. It looks like a stealth bomber. The photo just doesn't do this yacht justice.

8 December - Finally a Name

I finally decided on a name for my Westsail. I was basically forced to make my decision as I had previously sent through the transfer documents for Australian Shipping registration, however they went astray and it actually worked out well for me because it is cheaper to change the home port and name at the same time as transfer of registration. So the name I have decided on is "El Viajero". It means "the traveler" in Spanish. I will of course have to perform a proper name changing ceremony to avoid bad luck and I will most probably do this in the new year once I get the work carried out on her.

I am really looking forward to taking some time out sailing on Moreton Bay this Christmas. I'm hoping to get some diving done and take plenty of photos. I will head out by myself, but will try to catch up with Colin, who will be out on the Bay in his catamaran "Manyana" and I might even get to catch up with Linda & Jason from "as you wish" if they are still out on the Bay.

Equipment Testing

Last weekend a friend of Simon's brought a dinghy mould down to the dock. Simon is going to make a dinghy from the mould for his yacht and wanted to test it before making one. He wanted some volunteers to test the capacity and buoyancy and the photo below was the result. He assured me it could hold one more, but I was willing to take his word on it. That's Colin, Huey and Simon in the boat.

19 December - I have been receiving some emails recently from people who have visited my site which has been great as I don't track my statistics of visitors and have no idea how many people visit or who actually looks at my site. The emails have been really positive and have mainly been from people considering buying a Westsail to fulfill their dream of voyaging. To those people who have emailed me, thank you so much for your kind words and I truly hope my site has been of some use. I will hopefully add some useful content in the "articles" section at some point and expect to see a few videos and more photos in the new year. If you have any questions, feel free to email me.

This weekend I am busy preparing for my Christmas trip. I will leave on Christmas eve and spend Christmas anchored off one of the islands out in Moreton Bay. Below is a picture of the chart area I will be sailing. The black pen line with the arrow points to the main Brisbane river channel. I will sail along that course and up to the top of Moreton Island where there are some interesting ship wrecks to dive on.

Rigging Repairs

Since I am putting new ropes on my genoa I figured that I should probably replace the blocks which the ropes run through. The nylon wheels inside the snatch blocks are well worn and have broken away in some places and the sharp edges are probably going to damage the ropes. I went for a run out to the local marine shop yesterday and to replace the blocks it would cost over $100 each. I had a close look at the blocks and figured I could replace the nylon wheels which the rope runs on by drilling out the rivet and replacing with a stainless bolt and nut. The nylon wheels were $6 each and the stainless nuts and bolts were a couple of dollars. For under $10 I will have 2 virtually new snatch blocks for my new ropes. Below is one of the old snatch blocks with the new (yet to be fitted) nylon wheel and stainless nut and bolt sitting next to it.

The other block needing replacement is the one which sits on the caprailling and guides the rope around a 90 degree turn onto the winch. The starboard side block has already been replaced at some point with a newer Schaefer brand (as pictured below).

I will probably buy another Schaefer to replace the broken one (pictured below), although I think it wouldn't be too difficult to take it apart and just replace the aluminium plate on the top which you can see from the photo below is broken.

22 December - Ok, the blocks are now fixed and the new ropes fitted to the genoa. You can see from the photos below the repaired blocks. The one directly below has a new aluminium plate, replacing the one which was cracked (see photo above). This saved me buying a new Schaefer block.

Below is the repaired snatch block with the new plastic wheel installed. You can also see the new 14mm rope. The whole rig runs so smoothly now.

New Toys for Christmas

Below is my new barometer and ships clock installed. They are a beautiful heavy solid brass and are a real improvement on the old corroded ones. I adjusted the barometer and it appears to be very accurate.

It was just like Christmas when all my new gear arrived from Melbourne this week. My favourite item (other than my new clock & barometer) was my new binoculars. They are some serious goggles, with an inbuilt electric & illuminated compass and range finder. I decided to get the best binoculars as I had found when sailing at night offshore it was difficult to judge distances. I recall sailing off some rocks and not being able to judge the distance due to poor light. I could hear the waves breaking on them but a range finder or at least good binoculars would have given me some comfort. Below are my new "voyager" goggles.

24 December - This morning I did my final shop for provisioning the boat. I hope I have everything I need. I am a little concerned about water as I removed one of my water tanks and only have 150 litres. I figure I will use the salt water pump for most things. The reason I removed one of the tanks is because I have a watermaker but I haven't yet used it and will try to get it running on this trip.

I left the marina at 12.30pm and decided to anchor at the mouth of the river tonight as the weather forecast is not good and strong wind warnings have been issued. The anchorage is very protected and I will assess the weather in the morning to see if I can make the trip over to Moreton Island. Below is a photo of my current location at sunset.

25 December - MERRY CHRISTMAS! I can't believe it's Christmas day. It feels a bit odd not having any arrangements or people around, but at least I will be spending it the way I want.

I pulled anchor at around 9am and headed down the last stretch of the Brisbane river. Below is a photo of the main port at the mouth of the river, taken as I was heading out into the bay.

The main channel of the river is constantly dredged to maintain a depth suitable for these large container ships. As a result of the dredging the water is muddy. I could notice the significant difference just a 1/2 mile out of the river when the photo below was taken.

The wind was picking up quickly as I left the protection of the river and there were still strong wind warnings being broadcast over the radio. I decided to leave a couple of reefs in the main sail. When I tried to use my jib one of the ropes came undone as I had not done a proper knot. (I have to learn a bowline knot this trip) I'm still learning my knots and this was yet another reminder to learn them. Below is a photo taken about 5 nautical miles from the river in the open water of the bay. It was blowing around 15 knots and it was great sailing.

Can you tell I'm having a great Christmas day?

I'm glad I left that extra reef in the main sail as the wind started to pick up to around 20 knots. I recall reading somewhere that if you think you need to reef, then it's too late.

The Westsail was just loving this weather and this is the type of sailing it was designed for. I do need to sort out my rigging though, as it is a little awkward single handing when ropes are getting caught up the mast etc...

I caught my first clear glimpse of my destination after a couple of hours sailing. Moreton Island is approximately 35 nautical miles long and runs North to South off the East coast of Brisbane. It is mainly sand and is surrounded by shallow sand banks. There are several well known wrecks where ships have gone down and are now popular scuba diving attractions.

Finally made it to the anchorage. There are several old whaling boats lying a couple of hundred metres from shore.

One of the great things about Moreton Island is that it has a natural deep channel just inside the shallow sand banks. The depth changes from around 1 metre to 15 metres rapidly. It is possible to get across the shallow sand banks at high tide and drop into the deep channel. I decided to drop anchor just south of the old whaling boats.

Friday night was not a comfortable night. Bad weather had been looming all day and the strong wind that had been predicted, came. At around 8pm the wind picked up and at times was blowing up to 40 knots. The wind was accompanied by heavy rain and a 2 metre swell. Having anchored fairly close to the wrecks I was concerned that I might be dragged onto them. I spent the entire night sleeping in 15 minute intervals. There was a furious lightning and thunder storm which I caught on video and will place a clip in the video section of this website. All I could see during the night was the dark outline of the wrecks when they were illuminated by the lightning. This was really my first storm experienced on anchor, having only been on anchor a few times. I have read the text books on anchoring and although I was certain everything was done properly there is always a chance of something going wrong.

On Saturday the weather reports were still predicting possible storms and I decided not to try my luck again so close to the wrecks and headed south along the island. I found a nice open place to drop anchor. I will try to get back to the wrecks for a dive next week. I took this photo from the beach. You can see the water colour indicating the deep channel I am anchored in.

I have been trying to get some solar gain to charge my batteries which has been difficult due to the poor weather. Below is another photo looking south from my anchorage.

Sunday morning and the weather is looking better. I took the time out to make a good breakfast of scrambled eggs, tomato and fresh juice. It was just beautiful sitting on the back of the deck watching the ocean and eating my breakfast.

As I was eating breakfast I looked around to see 3 dolphins swimming past. I only managed to catch a photo of one. This really made my morning.

27 December - Monday has turned out to be a beautiful day, although there are still strong wind warnings and gale warnings current for Northern NSW. Hopefully that weather will miss me.

28 December - So much for my last entry. Last night at around 6pm I was onshore and the wind was picking up rapidly. It was blowing about 20 knots from the South and I was getting nervous. The swell was picking up and what is usually a calm shoreline was turning into a small surf. I jumped in the dinghy and motored back to the yacht. I was trying to go as slowly as possible as the waves were breaking over my bow and dumping a load of water onto me. I was also having to struggle with the wind.

When I finally got back to the yacht (drenched) I quickly checked everything over. All hatches and port holes closed, any loose items secured and sail covers fitted. The clouds in the distance were rapidly approaching and everything around was smothered by the shadow of the looming storm.

There were a few other yachts anchored south of me in the shallower water and they were all bunkering down for the storm. Within about twenty minutes of me getting back onboard the storm hit. The wind was furious. I started the motor just as a precaution as I was afraid of being washed onto the beach. I put the motor in forward just ticking over to take some pressure off the anchor. Within seconds of doing this, a blast of wind hit me. I have never felt anything like it. I looked around at the dinghy and it was being slammed upside down, then upright and over again. It was like someone making pizza dough with it. I had left the outboard on and was certain that it was going to fall off. Each time the dinghy was flipped upright again, there was the outboard still attached.

I had more important things to worry about right now. I was motoring into the wind and rain and trying to monitor my position. The rain was hitting me so hard that I could hardly see anything.

Suddenly, one of the yachts anchored south of me started getting closer. It was a much larger 50ft steel sloop. At first I thought it was me moving forward and that I was giving the motor too much power. I wasn't, but in fact the yacht in front had been ripped from its anchoring. It was being driven back and was directly beside me about ten metres away on my port side. I called the yacht on my radio and he was aware he was drifting. I asked if he needed assistance as I had my motor running. He informed me he had just got his motor started and was letting out some more chain.

The storm only lasted about 40 minutes, but it was pretty severe. I haven't had much experience yet, but these last couple of nights have taught me to always be prepared for the worst. I wish I could have taken some photos of the storm but I was so preoccupied trying to keep the boat secure I didn't have time.

I weathered last night's storm well and my anchor held out. The weather is fine today, but still a little unsettled. I lost my dinghy pump and oars when it was flipped over, but after some flushing and WD40 on the outboard it finally started. What a tough little motor.

29 December - The weather has been inconsistent ever since I arrived at the island. Last night it was windy and this morning was perfect. By 1pm the wind had picked up again to around 15 knots and I am finding it difficult to completely relax. There are still gale warnings for northern NSW and I am concerned about that weather eventually ending up here.

I spent the day cleaning the interior of the boat today. I will bake some muffins soon so I have some snacks for the next few days as I am expecting some more bad weather.

30 December - Strong wind warnings still current today. I think I have a good anchorage now as I'm pretty much in the middle of the channel. There have been a couple of yachts washed onto the beach around the island so the weather is a little scary. I managed to take a nice photo of my new anchorage this morning before the wind picked up and blew 15 knots for most of today. I have been relaxing this morning and even had a good sleep last night. It looks pretty much the same as everywhere else. Beautiful emerald green water.

I made a couple of great vegetarian mini pizzas for lunch today. That was my last avocado and I'm getting to the end of my fresh food supply. I enjoy cooking and I have all the facilities to cook on the boat. Where else can you get a good meal with a view like this?

31 December - The year is almost over and finally the weather has settled down. Today is just beautiful. I spent most of the day just sitting on the back of the deck in the shade reflecting on the year which has passed by.

It has been a pretty eventful year and my life has undergone some fairly major changes. I also like to think that I have changed in a positive way and grown to understand myself more.

Lunch today was some more pizza. This time tuna, tomato, capsicum, cheese and cracked pepper. This will have to be my last pizza as one of my new year resolutions is to lose some weight and get fit.

I sat around not doing much today and just relaxed for a change. I did this until sunset when I just had to take some photos. The best part of the days on a boat are the sunrises and sunsets. They are just incredibly beautiful and with some soft music playing in the background it is something which is quite moving. It's moments like these that I wish I wasn't single and had someone to share this with. It is just too romantic to waste.

I went over to the island resort at around 9pm and stayed a while. I wanted to make a few phone calls from the public telephone as I have no reception here on my mobile. I had met a few nice people during my stay and wanted to wish them a happy new year as well. At around 11.15pm I was standing on the beach looking out to my yacht and realised that I should be out there. This was the start of a new year and a new phase of my life was beginning. I quickly said goodbye to the people I was with, jumped in my tender and motored back out. I settled in to see the new year onboard and at midnight I looked back along the island and watched all of the fireworks and flares. It was a good feeling to be home, even if I was alone.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

January 1, 2005 - The weather today was perfect. The strong winds had ceased and all was calm. I spent the morning swimming and just floating around in the water.

By the afternoon a fire had started on the other side of the island and the wind was starting to pick up again.

Several hours after the above photo was taken the entire island and its surrounds where blanketed with a thick smoke and ash. The smoke was so thick that I could no longer see the island and the ash was through the entire boat. I considered leaving the proximity of the island and sailing further away but now that it was evening, the smoke was going to make it difficult to navigate. I will just bunker down for the night and hopefully the fire will end by morning and I can start cleaning the ash off everything. That is if I don't suffocate during the night.

2 January - This morning the smoke had cleared and ash was all over the boat, inside and out. I spent the morning washing down the outside and doing a quick clean on the interior, but that will have to wait till I get back to the marina. The fires had died down during the night, but they were just starting up again as I finished cleaning. I thought this was a pretty good time to leave and head back home to Brisbane. The wind was blowing North East and was ideal for the trip back.

As I left the anchorage and sailed out to the main channel I looked back and could see the fires smoking away again.

The wind was ideal and I hoisted all sails, only leaving a reef in the main. I truly think that the cutter rig is one of the most beautiful. I love a gaff rig, but I'm told they are not that practical. The cutter rig is perfect for the Westsail as it is such a heavy boat and the extended sail area the bowsprit provides really makes for a powerful sail plan.

I was making phenomenal time and with the following sea I was surfing along at around 7 knots. The main navigation channel is used heavily by freighters and these are a common sight.

On my way up from Sydney the mount for the auto pilot broke off. I repaired it, but apparently not well enough as it broke off again rendering the auto pilot unuseable. Below is a picture of the little block which is normally screwed down to the caprail and holds the auto pilot stem. Am I looking frustrated?

Not having the autopilot makes it extremely difficult to single hand the boat. I literally have a few seconds to run up to raise or drop sails before the boat steers off course. This was going to make things a little tricky, and it was a good reminder to modify the rigging to allow everything to be operated from the cockpit. I would like to put the inner stay sail on a furling system like the jib.

From this point onward I was forced to man the tiller which wasn't all that bad.

I still managed to take some photos while steering with my foot. Below is a photo of how the entire passage back home was. Fast and easy. It really was the perfect day sailing.

After a couple of amazing hours spent sailing back toward Brisbane and sticking to my compass course, I finally came across the main channel marker which identifies the start of the shipping channel into the Brisbane river.

From here it's just a left turn and straight down the channel into the river. As I got to the mouth of the river I decided I should drop the main sail since the autopilot was broken. I may not have another opportunity to leave the cockpit to do it, as there are usually many boats in the river and I didn't want to be running into any.

A couple hours later and having had the wind push me up the river all the way I finally made it back to the marina. I used the motor for a total of about 15 minutes during the entire voyage, which was only necessary to get into the marina.

I was away for a total of 10 days and I learned so much during this time. I learned to tie a bowline knot and used it on my jib, which had previously come undone on the passage over to the island. I also learnt about my anchoring tackle and what kind of wind it could hold against. Despite the weather being fairly bad at times, I am so grateful to have experienced it. I am now that little bit more knowledgeable and experienced. I also know what I need for my next voyage and have some idea about my power and water consumption.

Words cannot describe how amazing this trip has been. I will have a smile on my face for the next month. I hope you enjoyed this journal entry and if your not already out there doing something which challenges you and pushes you outside your comfort zone, then I encourage you to do it. I know I have grown because of this experience.

I'm not sure who said it, but they said, "when you look back on your life, you will have more regrets about the things you didn't do, than the things you did."