tasmansea

This episode is about sharing the lessons from an initial mechanical failure that occurred in the middle of the Tasman Sea, that set off a chain of events over the course of 520nm, resulting in the Coastguard rescue of a 45-foot Beneteau yacht and its crew of 6.

As a sequel to episode 88, skipper David Hows conducts a full post mortem with the crew, who share their thoughts on what they would do differently, how they would prepare and what they got right in this multifaceted, near disaster story that took place 4 days after departing Hobart, Australia to sail 1,250nm across the Tasman Sea to Picton, New Zealand. The crew of the Ocean Gem had to face a steering cable failure in the early morning hours, followed by two crash gybes that snapped the boom preventer and broke the boom in half. What followed 500nm later was the failure of the steel emergency tiller and then the autopilot, causing total steering loss and ultimately a call for a rescue tow from while mid Cook Strait and 53nm from Nelson.

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In March 2019 David Hows sailed 1,250 miles from Southport, Australia across the Tasman Sea to Auckland, New Zealand via Opua in the Bay of Islands with his crew of 4 onboard a Beneteau 45 named Ocean Gem. A fantastic 7-day reaching / running passage was enhanced by a series of unexpected events, starting with a cast alloy anchor stem bow fitting that broke in two, a broken steering cable 400nm offshore, a parade of 150+ dolphins and finally a crew emergency requiring ambulance evacuation on arrival.

This story reinforces that despite having great plans, you should always expect the unexpected and adapt to the challenges that occur along the way in almost every ocean passage. 

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Cruising Pittwater (15nm north of Sydney) has got to be one of the top 10 cruising spots in Australia. With deepwater anchorages right up to the shoreline, free moorings, white sand beaches, private secluded bays and the 150 square kilometre Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park littered with hiking tracks, cruising the Pittwater, Cowan Creek and lower Hawkesbury River area is simply spectacular.

This episode is about our 2-week family sailing holiday on our Beneteau 445 yacht 'Ocean Gem' that included our 700nm return delivery trips sailing from the Gold Coast in Queensland, to Pittwater, New South Wales earlier this year and 8 days of fantastic cruising we enjoyed. We share the highs and lows of the the delivery trips and lots of sailing tips and recommendations about its magical cruising spots.

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Elise Currey heads up a ‘volunteer army’ at the Coffs Harbour Marina, north of Sydney on Australia’s East Coast. With her office smashed to pieces by a storm, that sent 14 metre swells surging through her marina a few weeks ago. Elise as marina manager is literally running her operations out of a shipping container as we speak to her, while the damage repairs that will take a few months, get underway.

When your office backs onto the Tasman Sea, sometimes a breakwater is not enough to keep nature out. In this contrasting story to episode 16, we find out the challenges of being situated in a ringside seat, with a wild ocean as your backdrop.

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