Day 5 - Paradise!

Last night we had wild weather - lots of wind (and we weren't in a very sheltered spot) and a bit of rain, so we thought today would be a write-off. But the wind wasn't too bad, so we packed up camp and set off. Not making enough progress considering the amount of power we were having to use (due to the head-wind) - only about 1.8km per hour, so we just crossed to the ocean side and found the most beautiful spot. White sand dunes, fronted by a natural spring (currently filtering some water to have a nice bath) and soft spongy grass. The sun is out but it's not too hot. Nice and sheltered with the dunes behind us. Some members of the party have suggested we stay here for the entire trip!
Have realised that we are not going to make a return trip in the time we have allowed; we're not travelling fast enough and for enough hours in the day, so we're just going to go as far as we can and organise a lift back to collect the boat trailers. Hopefully we'll still make it to the end though!
A special note for Will. We'll try and update later tonight with a location we'll be Saturday afternoon, but at this stage we think we'll be just past Meningie. Depends whether we'll be able to travel this afternoon/evening or not. Try and call Sarina's mobile if you need to.

Day 4

Another early start with favourable conditions - nice tail breeze slowly increasing. Speed was up to about 4km per hour (nice land-lubber measurement specially for Vincenzo). We spotted in the distance a distinct line in the water which turned out to be a big line of "bombies" which proved nearly impossible to cross. Then we had to quickly learn the process of having a spotter to watch out for the bombies so we didn't crash into them. The swell picked up considerably and it got dangerous enough for Vic to put her life-jacket on (yes Mum we know we should always have them on at all times on the water anyway). The wind pushed us around too much and we suddenly got fearful of an apparent big patch of bombies that the wind was pushing us into, so we headed as fast as we could to shore to wait out the bad weather. Weather was scorching again so the boys set up the tents for the girls to try and rest in - sweat boxes really - but not too bad with a wet sarong draped over us. Late in the afternoon, we gave it another shot, and the apparent big patch of bombies was now no longer to be seen. We realised that it must have been a cloud creating a shadow that fooled us. The wind was still too strong, though, so we couldn't go far and set up camp on the other side of the Coorong (not the ocean side).

Day 3 - Last Barrage to Long Point

We've found that with the electric motors we need to travel with either wind behind us or very limited head-wind, which means that we are travelling early morning and evening. Our panels are pulling in 6Amp and motors are using between 9 and 16Amp depending on speed setting, so we have to be careful about using power so that we don't deplete the battery power. It also means we can only travel for about a third of the daylight hours.
Today we left nice and early and had breakfast on the boats. Tried a new system - we linked the boats together and turned off one motor. Then we tried turning one on mid speed and one on low and found that we didn't lose much speed, but using a lot less power. And with a tail-wind we made good progress today.
It was also a fun way to travel, because we could play games and chit chat, and share snacks.
Had to watch out for bombies (outcrops of coral that rise out of the bottom of the coorong).
It was sooooo hot today - 37 degrees in Adelaide, so who knows how hot it was here. Also the water is very very salty. Our clothes are stiff and the deck of the boat is covered in a crust - not to mention our skin from swimming.
We moored about 3pm today when the wind got too much - opposite some shacks on the other side of the coorong - near Lake Albert? It's a bit stinky here and the flies have driven us mad today. Found an old scary ruin.
We plan to see off a bit earlier tomorrow to take advantage of the no-wind time of day.
Our Kayaking friends should catch up tomorrow. They no doubt had a similar trouble with the wind.

Day 2 - Barkers Knoll to End of Barrages

Woke up to a nice wind-free morning and left camp early about 7am. Lots of people camping and lots of boats passing us on the way (lots of well wishers and people interested in our quiet travel and solar panels). Travelled for approx 4 hours and wind picked up so we were forced to turn in for a few hours at the first barrage. Ate lunch, slept, read, explored, swam, fished (no luck), then ate dinner and headed off again for an hour and a half in good conditions. Quite a few pods of dolphins (big black ones) and lovely sunset views. Camped near the last barrage near some old fishing shacks/sheds?

Day 1 - Hindmarsh Island Marina to Barkers Knoll

We loaded our boats at Hindmarsh Island Marina and headed off toward the barrage, departing at approx 10am. We went through the lock without incident (although lots of curious stares). There was a seal sunning him/herself on the pier. Speed was approximately 1.8 knots, running at 60% of power. The wind picked up as we got closer to mouth and we upped our power to 100% to go past. It was a bit hairy as the water was flowing out the mouth. The Kaczkowski boat suffered a few mishaps in the wind; their sun shade blew off the boat along with some of their drinks and in the process of retrieval they ran aground and their motor came off it's mounting whilst running. Luckily Ryan had a hold of the motor at the time and kept it out of the drink. Our speed dropped to 0.5 knot in the wind, so we decided to pull over for the night earlier than planned, and camped at Barkers Knoll in the Coorong National Park.

Trials at Clayton

Sunday afternoon was spent testing our catamarans. We experimented with steering systems and weight distribution. The blue cat performed well even when tested with excess weight and the white cat showed some problems with windage intially however these were corrected with the use of a more conventional steering system which uses rudders rather then the outboard to steer the vessel.

We had a lot of enquires from locals who were puzzled by sailing boats not having any sails.

In was nice to see Clayton bay full of both water and boats again.

The vessels were loaded with weight so as to gauge how much we could take in the way of supplies for the journey. A speed comparison also showed both vessels were very evenly matched despite being quite different in configuration.

On the Saturday we drove to the southern Coorong area to survey some of the passages, check water levels and locate possible areas for restocking of provisions.

The Girls are busy dehdrating food for the trip so as to reduce reliance on refridgeration and also to reduce weight (of the supplies that is).

Thanks to the Fairfax press for covering our journey in last weeks stock journal.

Stay tuned.

Preparation and Objective.

We are planning the first ever solar powered full navigation of the Coorong system .

Using demasted catamarans with solar panels we plan to cover the distance in around 14-18 days.

We are hoping this will help people to realise what a unique area this is and to get out there themselves and experience it.

We will update this blog daily from the 28th of December till the end of the trip (this is contingent on Internet reception).

The Coorong has an uncertain future and we reckon you all should see it as it is whilst you still can.

Cheers