Sydney 21 April 2008

Oh, Oh! I should have known that things don't always go smoothly on yachts. After a great start, Illywhacker and her crew of 3 left yesterday at 0630hrs and I had a report from Cape Cleveland that they were doing 6 knots into the prevailing SE'lyon manageable seas. The forecast spoke of a favourable afternoon wind shift, so spirits were high. My next report, received at 2200hrs was different! Extremely short seas, strong winds and a main engine that had mysteriously cut out. We were in poor contact and as we discussed the probable causes, radio conditions changed and communications were lost. I spent an anxious night and next morning a friend driving the backroads of Queensland rang to tell me of a news item reporting on a yacht off Cape Bowling Green (some 25nm east of Cape Cleveland) that had hit a log and sunk. My heart stopped only to recover when he said that all 6 crew were safe - it was the 24m timber training ship, "Challenger Outward Bound", a sad loss. Later in the morning the call I'd been awaiting arrived to report that conditions had worsened. From the comfort of my stable house on land I was easily able to imagine how rotten it must have been on board and we agreed that the best course was to sail back before the wind to Townsville and locate and fix the problem there. Illywhacker sailed safely to the marina channel entrance at 1800hrs tonight and was towed in by a friendly neighbour. Tomorrow a diesel mechanic will assess the fault and determine the next step. Being so far away and unable to fix it myself is unbearable but I guess I'll just have to wait for the next call......