Great Australian Bight Crossing

Well, we are almost there. Will be leaving from Port Lincoln early Wednesday 28th February. Had the boat craned out in Port Lincoln. The reverse pitch problem on the propellers has been fixed. The starboard prop had blade 3 aligned with the blade 1 mark and the folding gear timing marks were not in line. The port prop also had the timing marks miss aligned. The motors no longer blow black smoke when in reverse and can now get above 1600 rpm in forward and reverse. The boat is now far more maneuverable when going into a pen.

The starboard skin fitting for the forward head was replaced with a stainless fitting, as the previous one was plastic and only holding on by a couple of threads. The bottom was also given a scrub. The stockless marsh anchor has been installed along with a new bridle. The new isotemp hot water system has been installed in the starboard side engine bay and it works a treat.

The 4 man liferaft didn’t quite fit on the foredeck, as it would have fouled the headsail sheets, so it will sit in the cockpit for the trip. Will be out of range late Wednesday for approx 6 days, so will try and update the site from middle island or Esperance.

The weather pattern has 2 highs coming across the bight with 10 to 15 knots easterlies, with a south east in the middle. Swells are predicted between 1 to 3 metres.

Fingers crossed……here we come.