Monday 15 October 2011: 19 NM
After three days at Stonehaven Anchorage ( NW side of Hook Island ) it was time to move on, with a brief stop over at Hamilton Island.
The wind was still blowing at 25 kts from the SE, and it was now quite rolly at Stonehaven Anchorage, so a move was timely.
SILVER MINX was also headed for Hamilton Island for some supplies and to collect two guests. As their water was low, Capt Barry suggested LAST WORD take SILVER MINX'S bed linen and towels and put them through the washing machine and dryer on route to Hamilton Island, so they could be collected by Vicki Player when SILVER MINX arrived at Hamilton Island later that afternoon.
Capt Barry managed to put the large tender away , up on the rear of the fly bridge deck, with the assistance of rear admiral Julie.
Due to the wind and swell entering the anchorage, Capt Barry considered towing the tender back to Hamilton, instead of trying to stow it in the rolly conditions, but as we were expecting a rough trip into the wind, and there is no place to tie up the tender in the marina and as the davit had a hydraulic slew function , Capt Barry decided to see if we could stow it properly first.
There was no real problem until the tender was fully lifted and Capt Barry started to swing the tender over the fly bridge rail. Just then , the Good Lord, decided to send some bigger rollers through the anchorage and turned LAST WORD 90 degrees so it was side on to the swell ( the double wammy ), and LAST WORD developed quite a sideways roll, with Capt Barry hanging onto the tender ( trying to lessen the tender swinging ) at the same time he was trying to position the tender over the cradle to lower it into its final resting place.One second the tender was over its cradle, then the next it was swinging over the water outside the railing.
Capt Barry told rear admiral Julie not to stand underneath the tender ( in case the unthinkable happened ), and after about four rolls , managed to somewhat dampen the swinging tenders arc, enough to lower the tender onto the cradle in roughly the right position, then when the rolling subdued , lifted and jiggled the tender into the correct final position. Thank heavens for a fully hydraulic davit boom, as Capt Barry would not have even considered trying to stow the tender in such conditions if the swing function ( side ways movement ) was manual . ie not hydraulic.
My advice to fellow boaties, is, don't even think about stowing a tender in such conditions unless you are sure the rope/cord is in good condition and the connection points and the davit are rated well above the tenders weight, and the davit has a hydraulic slew.
We let the mooring rope go at 10.00am , and headed south for Hamilton Island.
The sea, once outside the protection of the other islands, was about 1.5 to 2 M , into winds gusting 25 to 30 kts. Not to bad, in a vessel like LAST WORD. The stabilizers are fantastic in such conditions.
On route to Hamilton Island we received a radio heads up of a large turtle wallowing around on the surface from SILVER MINX (which was about 1 NM ahead of LAST WORD ), and sure enough, the big fellow was still there when LAST WORD reached to same spot, and Capt Barry altered course to let the exhausted turtle continue with his surface swim in the rough conditions.
On the trip back to Hamilton Island Capt Barry deviated through Cid Harbour , to check out the sea conditions ( which were fine ) in the stiff SE winds.
After arriving l at Hamilton Island , Capt Barry gave LAST WORD a quick wash , spliced a new anchoring bridle , caught up with some of the skippers nearby, and returned the fresh laundry to SILVER MINX which used the fuel wharf to resupply and collect their guests.
Capt Barry decided on a NO alcohol policy that night and cooked two poached eggs on toast then retired early to be fresh for the next days challenges ( whatever they may be).
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