GOLDCOAST 150600ZNOV11 SKED

DATE 15.11.11

LAT 45 44.6s

LONG 151 44.9e

DTF 1616

ETA 1800 24 NOV 11

WEATHER Wind 330@27 sea 5 swell 280@3m cloud 3/8 baro 2002.3 dropping

SKIPPERS BLOG

A surprise visit was paid this morning by one of our crewmembers Gina

Gourlay who flew out from Cambridge Airport near Hobart Tasmaina in a

chartered flight 180nm to find us in the middle of the southern ocean.

Gina’s plane flew a few circles around us and we made contact on VHF radio

and had a bit of a chat and shared greetings. Gina is very excited to be

joining Gold coast Australia when we arrive in the Gold coast on the 14th

of December, and I was very happy to hear that everybody is well in

Tasmania. The plane stayed just long enough to take a few photos before

it headed back to Cambridge Airport near Hobart. A big thanks to Gina for

making such an effort and giving us a big surprise.

Gina’s visit came as we were sailing down wind with the spinnaker up in

near perfect sailing conditions. Looking at the synoptic situation these

conditions are about to go form perfectly good, to a perfect storm and the

crew have been well briefed on preparations that need to be made before

conditions worsen. The wind has already started to veer to the north and

increase in velocity warning of an approaching weather system where we may

see winds constantly over 40 kts and gusts over 70kts.

Preparations include pre-cooking food for 24 hours of stormy weather,

bending on the trisail and storm jib, ensuring everything below is secure

and in some cases screwing loose hatch covers into position and

re-arranging shelves to ensure there are no missile hazards, and of course

conducting daily checks on rig and steering even more thoroughly than

normal.

I have been in similar situations down here in the Tasman Sea and Bass

Straight before and the worst part is that the warnings given by the

Australian Bureau of Meteorology that wind gusts may be up to 40% higher

than predicted and sea state up to twice the height are often true but

unpredictable. Provided you know that you are fully prepared then

everything will be ok. The Dubois 68’s are incredibly seaworthy boats

and I have all faith that Gold coast Australia will weather the storm with

ease provided we look after her and sail with a conservative sail plan.

It’s the human factor you need to take care of, the last thing you want is

to be hit by a storm such as this with no food to eat or Coffee to drink!