As I said in my update yesterday (31/3), Rusalka and crew weathered the worst of the low and front by heaving to for all of Sunday night and part of Monday.
Screenshot of Rusalka's position on Sunday night
Rusalka behaved well hove to, including bringing herself back around though 360o after being knocked off course by a wave. The swell was fairly lumpy, making sleeping difficult. This wasn’t made any easier by the bilge alarm going off at midnight and again at 4:30am. There was only about 5l of water in the bilge each time, but it still required investigation. The source seems to be water getting into the cockpit locker which drains into the bilge – most likely the result of waves coming into the cockpit during the worst of the weather.
On Monday (day 8) morning a front passed over them and for a while the winds eased so Alex decided to try to make some way to the SW towards Lord Howe Island (and Newcastle). The low pressure system that they have been skirting has decided to hang around and not move on, making it difficult to head SW. Tuesday looks like more of a holding pattern, but Wednesday should see Rusalka heading toward Australia once again.
At this point it’s difficult to say when, or even where landfall will be. Alex is hoping to reach Newcastle, but Coff’s Harbour might be within easier reach (but a longer trip remaining to Hobart). The current weather routing models suggest that they should be able to reach Newcastle sometime this weekend. Border Force in Newcastle don’t clear boats in on the weekends, so if they arrive on Saturday or Sunday they’ll have to wait on a Border Force mooring in the harbour until Monday morning to receive clearance – how frustrating!
Today’s pictures are just another snapshot of life onboard, mid-Tasman Sea.
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