The Western Pacific - Pacific Crossing Notes: A Sailor's Guide to the Coconut Milk Run - page 415

New Caledonia to New South Wales
After balking at several weather windows not quite stable enough for our liking, we on
Namani finally dragged ourselves away from New Caledonia. And a good thing, too, be-
cause the pronounced high-pressure system we rode turned out to be the last chance for
several weeks. Waiting any longer would have pushed us into cyclone season (at least, the
insurance company's definition of cyclone season). Having spent two months in sheltered
waters, we needed twenty-four hours to find our sea legs again, but smooth seas and sunny
weather made for a pleasant start. Namani herself had no such issues, romping into blue
water at a six knot pace.
Our log book reports all the hallmarks of a comfortable passage: reading, baking bread and
brownies, home schooling, not to mention the occasional bucket bath and dolphin sight-
ings. For once, wind and seas direction matched, both abaft the beam. Our only concern
was how long the fair conditions would hold. The forecast called for a trough and a low to
sweep over the coast of east Australia about eight days after our departure from New Cale-
donia. We'd have just enough time to squeak in ahead of it - if the trough developed as
foreseen.
Weather was just one of several “invisible” factors influencing our trip. Another was the
current: not only the mighty East Australian Current, but also the large eddies swirling
through the Coral and Tasman Seas (delineated roughly along the line of 30°S). Even half a
knot of speed could make the difference in avoiding the trough, so we made several course
alterations to skim contrary eddies along the way. Finally, there were also seamounts to
dodge, not for any solid danger but for the lumpy seas they can kick up.
Taking the south-setting East Australia current into account, we took aim for a way point
well north of our destination, Coffs Harbour. But as Namani approached the coast, so too
did the oncoming trough, along with high wind warnings and an increasing swell. If we
didn't make it in to port by about noon on Saturday, we risked hitting thirty knot head-
winds. And so the race was on for the last forty-eight hours of our passage. By Friday
night, the wind was a mere puff and the sky alive with lightning, heralding the arrival of the
trough.
Thus all the action in our week-long passage was squeezed into the last twelve hours,
which went by in a flurry of sail changes and anxious skyward glances. The wind waffled,
puffed, and suddenly roared to a hefty thirty-plus knots on the beam. We hastily reefed both