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V340 New Caledonia to Sydney 2011 Part 2

Marsha's Blogs Part 4-6

V340 Blog no. 4

Now, back to the sailing away from Lord Howe. Sails set, anchor up and the tiniest breath of a breeze. Elliot’s Jolly Roger flag barely moved as we tried to get some air into the sails. We were trying to make for Ball’s Pyramid before sun down. By the time we got the anchor up, sails set and headed in the right direction it was around 3pm. The sun on Mount Gower accented the shear cliffs and layers of ancient volcanic activity.
From around the cliffs of the mountain a strange shadow appears on the horizon. Ball’s Pyramid. A dramatic sharp rock climbs out of the ocean. There is no beach or coast just steep, smooth rock face. 1st Mate Maho worked her magic on her husband, Captain Matt, and made sure we were there in time for sun set. We took in a bit of sail and Geoff fired up the engine. As we steamed along dozens of dolphins came from all directions to play in our bow and a good sized King Fish was caught off the stern.

We delayed dinner in order to go round Ball’s Pyramid. What a sight! While our cook Mary laughed at the scary faces she saw in the rock (goblins and ghosts apparently) the rest of us stood in awe as the tiny speck on the horizon grew into a huge spire sticking out of the ocean like a dark grey thorn. The sun set with luminous hues of red and purple and the stars came out in the hundreds. For a long time there was still a red glow on the horizon which made the rock stand out as we passed around it. Then the seas lit up. When a light was shown into the water, millions of shrimp sized creatures lit up in greens, blues and reds. I have never seen the sea so thick with phosphorescence and glowing blobs. As darkness finally crept in we got back into routine with the change of the watch a little past 8pm.

The following morning Lord Howe Island and Ball’s Pyramid were still in view. The wind had disappeared in the night and we barely bobbed forward through the early hours.

MAN OVERBOARD!!! around 3 in the afternoon Captain Matt decided a drill was in order and that he himself was the one to fall over the side of the ship. As he stood by watching, Maho and Elliot took charge and the Deckhands got the Voyage Crew to help bring in sail and turn the ship around to fetch our beloved captain (in the form of a red floating rescue pole) That’s when we got glimpse of a giant from the depths.
Someone shouted just we had retrieved the pole from the rescue boat… did we really just hear that correctly?? Whale shark?? Indeed, as we all ran like mad to the port side a giant whale shark with it’s mouth gaping open to collect microscopic plankton swam slowly back and forth in front of our now tiny looking orange rescue dinghy. Suddenly the rig was full of bodies as we scrambled to get a better view. It stayed around long enough for us to all see it’s spotted back and massive size before slinking off into the blue.

We are no longer in the tropics and the air is getting colder. As the sun goes down the jackets and sweaters come out. Liz generally looks prepared for a blizzard when she comes off the early morning watch. There is almost always a hot kettle on the stove now as hands and heads are in need of a warm up in the cold nights. Some of the voyage crew look at us like we’re mental but that’s what happens when you spend months on end in the hot tropical heat. Miss matched socks and 2nd hand jumpers left from previous crew have become all the rage here on Soren and some of the crew have even started wearing shoes again. With that has come blisters as none of us have worn shoes unless we’re bush whacking our way up a mountain.

Mary has decided to have an Italian day today with minestrone soup and cheesy bread for lunch and chicken alfredo for dinner. It’s now time for me to go help with that and get lunch served to the hungry crew waiting just outside the galley door.

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V340 Blog no. 5

Well the results are in. No not the World Cup (although Mitch proudly wore his All Blacks flag in front of the Aussies and our French Voyage Crew, Jean-Louis) A bit of banter has come up over the last few days with the 12 to 4 watch talking smack to the other watches. A test of strength was in order with the game of choice being a tug-o-war. A line was run through two blocks at the bow of the ship with an end running down each side of the deck. A bright red rag was tied in the middle of these two blocks and the object was to put it through the block closest to your team. Who took on Elliot’s over confident crew? Captain Matt’s 8 to 12 watch of course! With an extra crew member you’d think the 8 to 12 would have been a shoe in for victory. However, the 12 to 4 had the right team work and technique behind each pull. After a good 5 minutes of hauling, heaving, gasping and grunting the 12-4 was victorious as Mary and Ray were in fits of laughter on the bow. This victory however has led to more smack talk so we’ll see how long it is till the next challenge.

After a few days of scarcely a breeze we now have so much wind that there is a double reef in the mainsail and we are constantly hauling in sails and then resetting them over and over again. The seas have also picked up. A few nights ago every star was reflected in the water like some giant mirror. Now massive waves come up on our starboard side looking as if they might engulf us in one swallow. But every time we glide up the side of the wave and pop up over the crest with a nice spray keeping everything soaking wet. The covers are now on the forward and main hatch and the storm boards are on the galley windows making Mary seem like she’s working in a forever moving cave. As I sit here in the Saloon below decks, the water running across the deck and over the glass deck prisms making wonderful patterns on the walls as the sun shines down. Reinhard is sitting across from me with his charts and weatherfaxes and computer and calculated we had just over 200nm till Sydney. Seems like a magical number to me.

We’re nearing the end of our journey not just this voyage but the whole season is coming to an end. A lot of exciting things await us in Sydney; with the most exciting being sailing into the harbour. Most of us on board have never been to Australia before let alone seen the iconic skylight on the world largest harbour.
Hopefully we’ll be there soon and I’ll be able to tell you all about it.

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V340 Blog no. 6

Well, we made it! The Søren Larsen is alongside in White Bay inside Sydney Harbour. If you look forward, over the bow and through the fence you see movie stars and all the goings on of a major production. If you look to our stern the Harbour bridge floats above the busy waterway.
We had made our approach to the harbour the day before and we sailed through the night as the lights from ships started to converge and the sea traffic became busier and busier. Everything was lined up and ready to go. The ship was looking spotless from all the cleaning and polishing going on. We were to rendezvous with our pilot and Tall Ship Svanen (Southern Swan) at 10am. Then, just as we were getting ready to head inside a crackling voice came over the radio saying they had no pilot for us… Great. We prepared for another night at sea.

We decided to sail north along the coast. Just as Captain Matt sat down to eat lunch we got word that they had found us a pilot for 3pm. Sweet! We turned around and headed back towards Sydney Heads. Soon we had to take in sail and rev up the engine so we would make it there on time. As we did we saw spray from humpback whales quite a distance off. There were about 6 or 7 of them. They would breathe on the surface for a few minutes before diving and popping up a while later. They were on a direct collision course with the ship. As we all gathered on the Starboard side, squealing and shouting every time they surfaced they came even closer. Then just as we thought they had disappeared they came up not 20 meters from the ship. These were definitely some of the largest humpbacks we’ve seen all season. They each surfaced 4 or 5 times before diving directly beside us and under the hull and into the darkness below. What a perfect welcome to Sydney.

We headed into the harbour and almost instantly it became apparent just how busy it is. Sailboats of every size were going every which way, ferries on their same old course not moving for anyone, motorboats ploughing through the swell, leaving a large wake behind. The small orange pilot boat guided us inside until the swell had subsided and it was a bit safer for the pilot to come aboard. It was smoko (afternoon tea) by the time he came on board. A harbour pilots job is to safely guide a ship to it’s berth. They have extremely accurate knowledge of the harbour and know how this busy waterway works. With Captain Matt at the helm, 1st Mate Maho on the bow with Maisie looking out for traffic and 2nd Mate Elliot busying the others preparing docklines, fenders and the small boat (our bow thruster) the iconic skyline came into view. Mary, our cook was crammed up on the bow with the others and started squealing when the Sydney Opera House came into view. The Southern Swan came out to visit us with a boat load of excited kids. We made our way past the Opera house and under the massive bridge. Simply breath-taking. It’s a bit of a culture shock after barely seeing anything over 4 stories high for almost 6 months.

After the lines were fast and we were snug alongside in White Bay, the Pilot left and Quarantine came by. After a quick look around he cleared us and in a flash the voyage crew all headed up to the pub. We all enjoyed a good few drinks up at the Bald Rock Hotel Pub, which I feel will become a second home to the crew sticking around.

The following morning we did our last morning muster and presented the voyage crew with certificates with the miles they racked up over the past 17 days. As they trickled away one by one we started to get lots of visitors. Past voyage crew, crew from other ships, customs, Steve, Rosie, Marty and many more.

The season might be over but the work certainly hasn’t. The crew are all still working full days and there are exciting things happening for Soren in the very near future. An enormous thanks to everyone who helped Soren in each of the ports we visited and a thanks to those who worked from a far to make sure we had everything we needed. A final thanks to all of the voyage crew who have come and gone this year (and the years before). Without you we wouldn’t be here. You’re all part of the Soren Family and each of you leave a tiny piece of you with us when you depart. You’re part of what keeps this going. We hope to see you all in the future.

For the last time, Fair Winds my Friends.

Marsha Book, Purser (2011)

Read the first part of Marsha's Blog Lord Howe to Sydney here...

See the Voyage Picture Gallery here...