Never leave on a strong wind warning!

Okay.... so here was my 24 hours from 9am Wednesday, July 2nd to 9am Thursday, July 3rd....

9am, eat breakfast (crumpets with cheesybite). After a little discussion we made the decision to leave. There is a strong wind warning but it seems as though the wind will be from behind. Unfortunately the waves and swell made the strong winds 10 times worse.

10am leave Lakes Entrance. The water is a rough, rolling, lots of swell, the boat is rocking and lurching, it's fairly windy. Sails up for the next 26 hours.
 
10.15, take Kwells sea sick pill
 
10.30 ..... run downstairs to the toilet and vomit
 
Have a cup of tea, grab the bucket that's tied to the back of the boat.... vomit. That bucket will be my close companion for the remainder of the journey.

Vomit again, go and lie down for a few hours. It's now 11.30am.
 
Up at 2pm, vomit 2 more times throughout the afternoon
 
Afraid to eat now so sip water.... vomit.
 
5pm, Dave's getting tired so he goes to lie down ready for his watch. He should be up at around midnight or so.

I bid him goodnight by vomiting.
 
I eat some dry crackers, take Kwells, take a No Doz
 
Within 5 minutes I vomit again and then yet again a little later. So much for Kwells. Then I vomit once more for luck.

Dave gets up at 7.30 as the wind has changed and it's getting rougher... he can't sleep so he empties my bucket and joins me in the cockpit. I vomit.

8pm, I have developed the shakes, am feeling completely shattered and, at Dave's prompting and reassurance that he'll be fine, I go back to bed and vomit

5am I get up because I know that Dave must be exhausted. He takes one look at me and orders me back to bed. I have a splitting headache (most likely caused by dehydration) so take panadol with a sip of water, hoping it'll stay down.... it does and I do as I'm told and go back to bed.

Up at 8.30am and fine now that the weather has calmed and it's daylight.

By 9am, I feel fine.

It was an 11 vomit journey, a record for me so far. 


Poor Dave had been at the helm all night and almost all of the previous day, setting his alarm for every 15 minutes so that he didn't sleep but could doze a little. He was exhausted when I eventually got up but wouldn't go and lie down so he dozed in the cockpit for a little while, then would get up, tweak stuff and not settle. Eventually the wind dropped away to almost nothing, the seas calmed and the sails came down and engine turned on. I then ordered him downstairs and into bed. He stayed for a little while.


Seriously, I never want to sail when there is a strong wind warning, especially when it is going to be through Bass Strait, one of the most notorious pieces of water in the country. I NEVER want to break that record again.

Location: Eden NSW, Australia
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