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Published: September 16th 2006
Thursday morning Paul and I arrived in Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia. It was about 12 days and 1000 miles since leaving Luganville, Vanuatu. The passage was split into two parts. The first part was 4 days from Luganville to Chesterfield Reef. This was a pleasant passage. The winds were 20-25 knots, mostly aft of the beam. And they did us the tremendous favor of reducing as we approached and entered Chesterfield. After a few days at Chesterfield we left for the last leg to Bundy. We left in light winds and probably motored for 36 of the first 48 hours we were underway. Then it all changed in less than 12 hours the winds went from <10knots to 30knots and the seas quickly followed. The run wasn’t a pleasant downwind sail. The winds were abeam to aft of the beam, while we had quartering seas. What that all really means was a rolly ride, and a wet cockpit. The last two days under sail we spent most of the time below decks. We used the radar to be our eyes, not that we could see much other than waves when we looked outside. But we made it safely into Bundy with nothing
terrible to report. There were others out there that had it much worse than we did.
Chesterfield Reef
Chesterfield Reef is a reef right in the middle of the Coral Sea. We entered through a large pass on the eastern side and anchored behind some sand cays on the southern end. We were now in calm water surrounded on all sides by reef, in the middle of the Coral Sea. How weird and exotic at the same time.
The cays were filled with bird life. The sheer number of birds rivaled what we saw in the Galapagos. There were all kinds of terns, some boobies, frigate birds, and lots of birds I didn’t know. They filled the ground and little scrub brushes on the island. As you walked around, the birds would take flight. Never really coming after you, but close enough to make you duck. At times the skies would be filled with the creatures. So much so that one might think this Hitchcock’s inspiration. One of the funniest things I witnessed with the birds was a fuzzy little chick. Paul had walked on ahead and I was following about 5 minutes behind. Well this whole flock
of fuzzy chicks was down by the water running trying to get back to high ground and away from me. One of the birds accidentally ran into Paul’s footprint. It couldn’t get out for the longest time. Finally it clawed away enough sand it could get out. The other amazing thing about these cays and birds was the complete lack of guano on the ground. You would think these birds had been trained to go out to sea when they had to go. But they never left any presents on the boat either.
The shallows around the cays were filled with sea turtles. Even on the sand there was evidence of freshly laid eggs. We probably saw 4-5 turtles a day. We were told that this was nothing in a few months you could almost walk to the islands on the back of turtles. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that some of the turtles we saw were quite happy and having “fun” in their pairings.
The show at Chesterfield was stolen by the Humpback Whales. These creatures were a totally unexpected surprised. We first spotted several different groups of them behind the boat. Most were
far off, but inside the reef. Bu there was a pair, mother and calf, only a couple hundred yards behind the boat. So we decided to try and get closer in the dinghy. We got quite lucky in this. We managed to guess which direction they were headed and went there. Luckily they breached not far from us. We saw flukes and backs and fins. Maybe most impressive was the noise. Not so much of the blowholes, but of the sound of them breaking the water. We were close enough that we could see the water rolling off their backs and the wake it created. Quite the show.
The next days show was even better. One of the other boats called and said he thought the whale was beached in the shallows. So we took off in the dinghy to see if we could help. When we got to the other boat, we realized that it was just the mother and calf feeding in the shallows. We were able to follow them for about an hour or so. At times we were probably <20 meters from the pair. Paul even managed to get in the water and snorkel with
them for a bit.
Yup, Chesterfield Reef was worth the stop.
Chesterfield Pictures Sainara Dreamweaver
Well the time has come for me to disembark Dreamweaver. Monday I fly to Sydney. This time as come too soon for me, and not in the way I wanted it to come. Before I get into that, I must say I’ve had a great time sailing. I wasn’t sure how much I would like it. After this experience I’m tempted to do more of it. Maybe get on as crew on different boats going different places around the world. Though none would be the same as the time on Dreamweaver.
So what is next, well it is hard to say. The near term is some more rest and relaxation. Sometime back in July my back flared up and starting giving me problems. It is a case of Sciatica. It is still giving me problems. At times in the last two months it has improved and at other times it has been extremely painful. On this last passage I realized that I wasn’t doing anything useful anymore. I was trying to rest my back in between adventures, like volcanoes and festivals. Then
I would be miserable and rest some more. I decided I’ve had enough. So I’m getting off Dreamweaver a month early and I’m going to Sydney to do some Physical Therapy, probably some Yoga, and Pilates, and I’ll probably have a MRI. I don’t think the problem is serious. But I think it will take a while to get all better. So I’ll be doing nothing in Sydney for 4-6 weeks is my guess.
I wouldn’t expect too many blogs, at least not interesting ones. Anyone that wants to come visit is welcome that is for sure. So stay tuned and we’ll see what happens next.
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Smitty
non-member comment
Hey Pledge
Bummer to hear about the back. Get it taken care of so you can come hit lead-off for the softball team. We are in the playoffs for the summer session!!!