Introducing the new Lady K

Lady Katherine to be precise. And no, we didn't name her; it's just an extraordinary coincidence that she happened to be named as such, and be the boat that we could afford. However, I think it may have been an influencing factor in the purchase decision. It's also convenient that I can continue with the same blog!  And ironically, the renowned American yacht designer Doug Peterson named this boat design the Serendipity 43, so how could we not purchase her?

The Peterson 43 was specifically designed to compete in the 1980 Southern Ocean Racing Conference in IOR class for racer/cruisers. All Peterson 43's were originally built in production fibreglass, like Bacardi, who has competed in 28 Sydney to Hobart yacht races (the most ever sailed by an individual yacht!), but Lady Katherine is the only one built in aluminium, as far as we know.

Lady Katherine is in current commercial survey for 14 people and has been a sail training vessel since her inception in Brisbane. Originally named Envy II she did spend some time as an overnight charter vessel here in the Whitsundays (as all good racing yachts do at some stage), before making her home in Brisbane then Townsville and acquiring her new name. We thought it only fitting she return to Airlie Beach. So, on a northerly breeze in late September we delivered her home.

After dropping off the one way hire car in the city and all the gear required for our passage at the Townsville Yacht Club Marina, we prepared the new (well not so new really) Lady K for departure. Fuelled up and all safety gear checked, we dropped lines at midday and motored out through the leads of the Port of Townsville to begin another adventure. Weather and sea conditions were benign, and were expected to be so for the next two days. We radioed Townsville Coastguard of our intended passage, hoisted sails and turned south.

Departing Port of Townsville

The AIMS Research vessel, the Cape Ferguson, passing below us at Cape Cleveland

With me at the helm (along with Albert, the autopilot), Gary plotted our course on the chart down below in the navigation station. As darkness fell, we just managed to round Cape Bowling Green as planned, which was the major hazard of the passage. Donning self inflating life jackets we then proceeded with three hour watches throughout the night, using the GPS to plot regular fixes to ensure we were still on the rhumb line.

Cape Bowling Green, flatter than a shit-carter's hat.

On watch

Sailing at night is a wondrous experience. On a clear night the stars are countless and bright, and when the moon is full its reflection on the water is mesmerising. Safely navigating at night can be challenging, especially for a novice like me, as it's hard to determine a light's distance and therefore it becomes confusing as to which light it is in relation to the chart. At one stage I couldn't identify an amber light in the distance, which grew as we approached. It turned out to be an enormous bulk carrier (otherwise known as a 'yacht squasher'), anchored off the Abbot Point Terminal and waiting to load a portion of the 50 million tonnes of coal that is exported annually. We were awash in its bright lights as we quietly sailed past its near 200 metre length.

AUS286, one of three charts used in this passage

Calm northern Whitsundays waters - the engine was useful at this time

In the early hours of morning, the breeze dropped and we started to move into familiar waters; the Whitsundays. As we turned on the iron sail to make way, a pod of dolphins greeted us and swan with the boat for a few minutes. The dawn light revealed countless bluebottles floating on the surface, creating a breadcrumb like trail leading us around Grimston Point and into Pioneer Bay, off Airlie Beach. The wind picked up mid morning to carry us across the bay and have us tied up in Port of Airlie by midday; and fast asleep by 5.00pm. A 24 hour adventure averaging 6 knots over the 145 nautical mile journey, we are very happy with the new Lady Katherine as she sails beautifully. It ain't Wild Oats XI, but it's ours!

New home for Lady Katherine