Day 8

Sorry for silence but we have been slightly preoccupied by Mother Nature in all her glory. We should pick up where Day 5 left off as things started to really become interesting later in the afternoon…Winds picked up to over 50 knots at times the wind gauge being well and truly off its scale with gusts up to approximately 60 knots. Waves increased and Nellie started to really rock and roll. Many confined to bed with sea sickness and dinner was an amazing juggling act as Nellie healed to 50 degrees and we experienced the weightlessness of the boat getting to the bottom of the wave troughs. The dumb waiter became a mix of fish pie (dinner) and banoffee pie (dessert) with the mess crew doing a wonderful job in really difficult circumstances. It truly was an experience not many of us will forget! The aftermath of the night was one unlucky voyage crewman taking a bad fall and requiring Liz and Alison doing an amazing job putting in stitches on the roll and pitch of the boat. Three of Nellie’s sails were torn through the night, with the wind finally dropping at 5am, much to our relief! She certainly looked battle scarred as we came into port at Eden on Day 6.We all took the opportunity to get onto land and celebrate our survival of the Bass Strait, with many tales of near misses and survival. We had a quiet day exploring the beautiful town of Eden with everyone ready and raring to set sail the following morning. Within minutes of leaving port we enjoyed saw seals, we were surrounded by dolphins and also enjoyed a spectacular show by a mother and calf Humpback whale breaching off starboard. With smiles on our faces and adventures so fresh in our mind we sail towards our final destination. The Lord Nelson may not be in the prime of her youth but she surely is a trustworthy and stoic ship.

Forward Port – Marion, Lindsay, Sue, Andre, Andy, Robin, David, Yvonne and Farren.