Location: 37° 32 S, 32° 118 E
Thursday 12:00, 03.08.2007

The Schooner Maggie B was at 37° 32 S, 118° 31 E at noon on March 8th. We were headed 140 degrees at 6 knots. The wind has come around to SW at 14 knots. It is overcast with some breaks to the West. The barometer is steady at 1007.

We have come 472 NM from Fremantle and have 1299 to go to Davie Straight in Tasmania.

We've had the front come through, with the windshift from north to SW. We have perfect sailing conditions for SW Tasmania, with a nice fresh SSW breeze. But we have a problem. This nice little front that just passed becomes something rather nasty by the time it wraps itself up a bit in the middle of the Bight. Winds of 50 knots with higher gusts! Yike!! So our job right now is a tough one for the Maggie B -- go slow and don't overrun the front (it will slow down a bit). So we've double reefed the main and will double reef the fore by sunset, but we are still going over eight knots....

This storm is a bit unusual in that there is less wind to the south, and also the Bight is best know for light or no winds, though the Bass Straights at the Eastern end has a nasty reputation. We'll keep a careful eye out.

From loving to stay in Fremantle and our attraction to Tasmania, we have bypassed much of Australia's Southwest and Southern Coast. Some of the names that we have missed are fascinating: Quindabelup, Mooringa, Moulyinning, Jerramungup, Warrawoona, and "Ivy Tank Motel." Less interesting for sailors is: Windy Harbor and Foul Bay.

Earlier I mentioned that Australian Customs were interested in what bottom paint we had and when it was applied. I feared that they were perhaps after boats coming in with banned bottom paint. The true story is worse. Australia is concerned that boats arriving might carry some bottom pest that will infect Australian waters. There is a proposal to make all arriving boats to have been recently hauled and had new anti-fouling applied and then are hauled and cleaned AGAIN within a week of arriving in Australian waters! It seems a little mad as I can't imagine that it will apply to all the huge container ships, so why pick on the little boats? The Fremantle Customs seemed pleased that we had been hauled and repainted in December, but there was no talk of getting rehauled. Perhaps cooler heads have prevailed.

All is well.

On the way to Tasmania

Books we are reading: Hannah is reading "Pride and Prejudice," Bori -- "The Soul in Tibet," Owen -- a Fremantle Historical Society publication called "The Globalization of Containerization," and Frank -- "Mayflower - Courage, Community and War."

Recent DVD's we have enjoyed off watch include "Cold Mountain" and "The Prairie Home Companion."

Location: 35° 37 S, 116° 39 E
Wednesday 12:00, 03.07.2007

At noon on March 7th, the Schooner Maggie B was at 35° 37 S, 116° 22 E We were making 6.7 knots more or less straight for the SW corner of Tasmania. We have gone 291 NM since Fremantle and have 1443 until Davie Sound. At this speed we will be there in about nine days.

The skies are clear and the temperature is perfect for t-shirt and shorts, though the bright sun can burn quickly. We had a lovely lunch in the cockpit -- shrimp in garlic and a big mixed salad with fresh avocado and tomatoes. We are cleaning the Fremantle dirt off and finishing all the 1000 little rigging jobs.

The moon is three days after full and gives us a lovely moonrise just as Venus is setting in the West. Jupiter is climbing into Scorpio and gives the midnight watch a perfect "steering star."

Being back at sea is great on our feet. We all are barefoot most of the time and our feet spread out somewhat. Getting squished back into shoes ashore (Hannah even has high heels!) is, literally, a pain.

We have been puzzling over the mystery of what happens to the Big Ships during the day. At night they seem to be all around us -- perhaps a dozen within ten miles last night. During the day we keep just as good a watch but there are no ships. Perhaps they hide underwater during the day like in Pirates of the Caribbean II?

We are very tuned into a front developing to the West of us. We are just beginning to see the barometer fall and some faint high clouds. The GRIB files call for winds of up to 55 knots, developing once it is past us as the front concentrates its low in the middle of the Bight. We will stay clear of that area, probably by running off to the South. Commander's Advice is going to be carefully attended.

All is well.

Know Your Boom

While in Fremantle, we also found and fixed a problem we didn't know we had. Our boom is carbon fiber and hollow. The main outhaul goes into the boom about a fourth the way back from the mast. Three-fourths the way back there is a cross-member inside the boom to support reefing lines. At the end of the boom there are two rollers to guide the outhaul line up and out to a clear, handy place to attach to the sail. It would make sense to run the line straight back and clear to the rollers. Unfortunately we found that the line had been run OVER the cross member, from which it had to cut sharply down to meet the first roller. So as the sail worked, the Spectra rope sawed into the cross member and the cross member sawed into the Spectra line. The line is now reversed and cleared and no great damage to the cross member.

Location: 33° 59 S, 114° 39 E
Tuesday 12:00, 03.06.2007

The Schooner Maggie B was at 33° 59 S, 114° 39 E at noon on March 6th. We are still on Western Australia Summer Time, which is nine hours later than Universal Time. We were making 4.4 knots on a heading of 160, as the SE'erly was dying out getting ready for the land breeze. By 1300 we were motor sailing at seven knots. We are off the Marguerite River, and will pass the "corner" of SW Australia this afternoon. We have come 138 NM from Fremantle in the last 20 hours, and have 1563 NM to go to SW Tasmania.

Last night at 0200 hours we were under full sail, close hauled and had a medium sized ship approach us from our port side at 15 knots. Both eyeball and computer said that we were going to get very, very close, so even though we had right of way, we tacked away, which allowed the ship to pass safely less than a mile from us. They didn't reply to VHF calls nor seem to notice us in any way (deck lights were on highlighting the sails).

We had a lot of work done in Fremantle. Getting the three sails off, repaired and back on again was a huge job. Rips and wear fixed up plus five battens replaced and sewn into their pockets (see if they can get out now!). Sailmakers W.A. did a great job and provided lots of good advice. We just about lived at Wilson Marine, a chandlery, getting some new Australian blocks from them, which hopefully will last better than our Lewmars. The Chart and Map Shop is one of those stores I shouldn't be allowed into. Every sailing and adventure book, map, chart or poster one could imagine. John Mason of Creations Wood Gallery made our lovely compass piece. We polish the kangaroo penny daily. Ian Duperouzel at Yanmar Diesel had everything we needed, or found it if it wasn't already in stock. Taylor Marine took in our Furuno gear, tested everything, and reinstalled it so that it now works fine. But not having found a problem means that the gremlins are still in the box somewhere, ready to kill again. Finally, Yacht Grot, the "interestingly" named ship chandlery supplied us with lots of new rope so that all our running gear can be wear-free. While they had just what we needed, at a fair price, the colors are such that we have had to learn new names ("Haul on the fuchsia reefing line!").

All four of us found Fremantle such a nice place we all could imagine living there.

The Fremantle Sailing Club is by far the best Yacht Club we have been to. Great showers (Hannah and Bori took so many hot showers that they should be clean through the end of April). Free wireless internet in the bar, which has 12 different beers on tap. Very good food in the restaurant. Lovely people. One totally impressive thing is that one of the big varnished boards up on the wall is a listing of all the club members who had sailed around the world. Sixteen!

We managed to embarrass ourselves when we went over to fill up on diesel at the Club. We have high-tech air/fuel separators on each of the fuel tanks. In them, there is a one-way valve. That valve, after a year and 16,500 miles and a bit of salt water corrosion, can change from a one-way valve to a "no-way" valve. If that happens, and you have a filling line with fair volume, your diesel filler becomes rather like the man in the restaurant in Monty Python's "the Meaning of Life" after "one last wafer-thin mint." Not nice for anybody around. Of course, the air/fuel separator, once found and disassembled, fills its compartment (the Captain's closet) with a fine mist of diesel. Sigh. But all fixed now. We also found and fixed a problem we didn't know we had. Our boom is carbon fiber and hollow. The main outhaul goes into the boom about a fourth the way back from the mast. Three-fourths the way back there is a cross-member inside the boom to support reefing lines. At the end of the boom there are two rollers to guide the outhaul line up and out to a clear, handy place to attach to the sail. It would make sense to run the line straight back and clear to the rollers. Unfortunately we found that the line had been run OVER the cross member, from which it had to cut sharply down to meet the first roller. So as the sail worked, the Spectra rope sawed into the cross member and the cross member sawed into the Spectra line. The line is now reversed and cleared and no great damage to the cross member.

The Commanders Weather should be posted on the web site. We have great conditions now, but a front with a fair bit of power is headed our way towards the end of the week, which should make our life in The Great Australian Bight somewhat interesting. Not sure yet how we'll play the pressure, but we'll take it carefully and respectfully.

Owen made a great Fritatta for breakfast with a pile of our fresh veggies. Perfect way to start out for those of us who were interested in solid food.

All is well.

Back at sea, en route to Tasmania

Monday, March 5, 2007 €” The Schooner Maggie B is at sea again. We left the lovely Fremantle Sailing Club at about 1630 today, underway for Tasmania. I will start noon position reports tomorrow.

We hope to be in Hobart for the start of their bi-annual "Ten Days on the Island" Festival, which starts March 22 or 23. If we have the time, we also hope to explore the wild SW coast of Tasmania, especially a place called Port Davey at 43° 20S, 146° E. Users of Google Earth will notice that not only there are no buildings there, there are no roads. It apparently takes six days to walk in from the nearest trail head, or get dropped off by sea plane. It is supposed to be lovely.

We will have more impressions of Fremantle and our marvelous stay there tomorrow.

All is well.

Commanders Weather Corporation
Sunday 15:30, 03.04.2007

From: Commanders' Weather Corporation
Route: Fremantle, Australia to Hobart
Departure: 0500utc Mon, March 5, 2007
Prepared: 1530utc Sun, March 4, 2007
Summary:
See no problems with leaving tomorrow (Mon) afternoon, but we'll have to watch out for rougher conditions by later in the week, as a cold front pushes thru the area!!

Area of high pressure (1023 mb) is located south of Australia near 40s/16-130e, while thermal trough (1004 mb) resides mainly north of 30s along the western Australian coast

Trough shifts more offshore overnight, which will allow wind to be mainly light E or E-SE into Mon AM

a) Wind speeds <10 knots closer to shore, but maybe into teens offshore

3) But during the afternoon trough shifts closer to the coast, which willallow for the thermal sea breeze to form.

a) Wind shifts more into the SE or S-SE close to shore, but b) Think you could run into SE winds into the 20s later in the afternoon/evening.

4) By Tue, high pressure moves E-SE toward and close to Tasmania, while ridge axis extends W-NW to S of Cape Leeuwin.

a) Wind diminishes from the E to NE, as you near this ridge during day on Tue,

5) Low pressure organizes west of 100e during Tue and heads SE into Wed, while associated cold front tracks toward the east.

6) Ahead of this front, look for increasing NE to N winds Tue night into Wed, which then diminishes as the front approaches later Wed.

a) Will be increasing chance for squally showers as front approaches
b) Wind shifts into NW, then turns into the SW to S behind the front late Wed night or Thu AM

7) Briefly gusty behind the front, but then diminishes to the teens for much of Thu.

8) By later Thu or Fri, low pressure strengthens to the south, while highpressure (west of 110e) expands toward the east.

9) Gradient between both systems will produce stronger SW winds Fri into Sat.

a) Could be a period of 30-40 knts w/higher gusts
b) With colder SW flow, there could be some instability type clouds with showers
c) Seas may reach 15 ft

10) Conditions improve later Sat into Sun, as high pressure builds eastward.

Routing

Looks best to head SW to near 34s/114e to 37s/115 30e, then close to a direct route to Hobart

With the stronger SW winds Fri and Sat, you may have to head more east for a time

Waypoints listed below

Wind Forecasts
Wind direction TRUE, speed in kts, time is UTC
Mon, March 5
00: 070-090/8-14
06: 100-130/6-12 depart
12: bcmg 130-150/18-28
18: 130-090/24-12 Weather: Fair to partly cloudy Seas 6-10 feet, wind wave chop mixed with SW swell
Tue, March 6
00: 080-040/ 8-14 near 34s/114e
06: 030-060/ 5-10
12: 070-090/12-17
18: 020-050/16-24
Weather: Increasing clouds with a chance of showers and squalls late Seas 7-10 feet, SW to WSW swell and increasing chop late Wed,
March 7
00: 360-030/17-25 near 37s/115 30e
06: 340-010/15-22
12: 320-350/12-20, squally showers near front
18: 300-330/10-16, chance of shifting to 220-240
Weather: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers and potential for isolated squalls Seas 6-8 ft, SW swell
Thu, March 8
00: bcmg 180-210/17-25 near 38s/119e
06: 170-200/12-20
12: 200-230/10-15
18: 210-240/12-18
Weather: Variably cloudy with a few squally showers likely, then partial clearing Seas 4-7 feet, mainly SW swell
Fri, March 9
00: 210-240/18-26 near 39s/123e
12: 210-240/25-40, higher gusts?
Weather: Variable clouds with a chance of showers and squalls Seas building to 10-15 feet, increasing SW swell and wind wave chop
Sat, March 10
00: 190-220/25-40 near 40s/126 30e
12: 210-240/30-15
Weather: decreasing clouds Seas near 15 ft, large SW swell
Sun, March 11
00: bcmg light/variable near 41s/130 30e
12: bcmg 300-330/ 7-12
Weather: fair skies Seas down to 6-9 ft SW swell