Mission Accomplished!

14 August 2024

Where am I? 

Latitude: 27°51.2 S

Longitude: 153°21.8 E

Berthed safely at Sanctuary Cove Marina, Gold Coast.

How is the weather?

Cold enough at night to need a duvet but warm enough during the day for shorts and a tee shirt!

What am I feeling?

A sense of relief and achievement in reaching our destination safely, without any major injuries, equipment failure or mutinous crew! Also, looking forward to returning home and reconnecting with friends whom we’ve not seen for too long already. 

What has happened this week?

We cleared into Australia at Bundaberg Port Marina on 30th July. We had expected a tough inspection but the officials who came aboard were friendly and helpful, clearing us in without any issues being raised. Much easier than we expected.

We bade farewell to Andrew, Anne and Ferry who had joined us in Fiji and survived some quite tumultuous conditions in nearly 2,000 miles of open ocean sailing. They did really well, displaying remarkable traits of grit, determination and positive spirit in the face of adversity –  you’re all very welcome to join us again on a future voyage. Anne deserves special mention, dealing with the conditions like an old hand while whipping up a storm in the galley!

After a few days in Bundaberg, Elizabeth and I took Fujin out for her last sail, down to Sanctuary Cove Marina in Gold Coast, just south of Brisbane. The initial plan was to sail outside of Fraser Island and then go south, taking 3 days for the trip. However, I was convinced by the skipper of our neighbouring yacht, a very pretty Sweden Yachts boat of 48 feet or so, to instead take the short cut between Fraser Is and the mainland – ie the Great Sandy Strait. I had initially discounted that route as being too shallow for our 2.4m draft. 

In the event, it was the right call, although we did actually touch bottom in one spot which was particularly shallow, even at high tide – shallower than the chart indicated. We exited the strait and decided that since conditions were favourable, we would sail direct to Gold Coast rather than anchoring for 2 nights on the way south. So, after departing on Monday morning, we arrived at Sanctuary Cove Marina on Wednesday morning at high tide.

Actually, Tuesday night proved to be a bit of an ordeal with us motoring into wind and waves with a lot of slamming and water coming into the cockpit – not the idyllic last day of sailing we had hoped for! And then the navigation up the Gold Coast Seaway and the Coomera River was quite stressful as we had 20 knot winds and very little room for error with extremely shallow water everywhere.

Thankfully, though, we made it without going aground, and our manoeuvre into our slip was executed well by first mate, dock hand and skipper!

I felt intense relief after stepping ashore – it was a stressful night and morning, so being safely tied up in the marina was a relief. A sense of accomplishment washed over us as we headed to the cafe on the dock for a huge Aussie breakfast, followed by a 3 hour snooze back aboard!

It’s hard to believe that this voyage is now at its end, after so long dreaming about the trip, planning every detail and then sailing the 10,000 miles to Australia. None of it would have been possible without the support of our friends and family who joined us along the way – Patrick, Rod, Per & Anne, Ian & Chris, Ferry & Anne, Andrew, Katie and Will. You not only made a dream happen but you did it with humour, grace and determination under pressure. Crossing an ocean is no mean feat, even in today’s StarLink enabled world – so congratulations and thank-you all!

And of course, thanks to my first mate Elizabeth who, despite her eloquently expressed trepidations about ocean crossings, executed not just one 1,000 mile voyage but three – Panama to Galapagos, Bora-Bora to Tonga and Vanuatu to Australia, along with all the other slightly shorter passages along the way. It takes a special kind of courage to face down one’s fears, something you did with great aplomb. You took it all in your stride like a pro – thank you for doing it and making it fun along the way!

Finally, a thank you to Fujin II for keeping us safe in some pretty uncomfortable conditions. She is a fantastic yacht to sail and she inspires confidence with her sure and steady performance under stress. A lesser yacht might have complained about some of the treatment we through her way!

Hasta luego, Fujin!

Fujin out!