Windango Forced to Return
On Thursday, May 15 ‘Windango’ with two crew departed the Port of Bundaberg bound for Vanuatu. The weather was very mild with winds of less than 10 knots most of the time. They motored some of the time, or drifted to conserve fuel, while becalmed. It was not comfortable either with crossed seas causing the boat to roll a lot of the time. The third day out the wind was kind and they made good progress under sails alone. Unforetunately equipment failure brought the trip to a halt. First of all there were problems with getting emails to work through the HF radio. Then the crew discovered the sat phone wasn’t connecting to the service. The main GPS failed, then the nut holding the propeller shaft onto the engine coupling came undone. This can only be fixed with the boat out of the water. Temporary repairs were made and they kept sailing for Vanuatu. Then it was discovered that one of the bilge pumps had also failed. With so many things not right and still three quarters of the distance to Vanuatu ahead of them, the decision to return to Australia was made. After turning around the wind was coming from the direction they were heading, so it was a case of motoring home. With wind and current against them much of the time, it was slow going. Six days after leaving Bundaberg they were back. Customs staff made them feel better when they told them that several
other boats had also returned because of the slow conditions. The trip highlighted once again the inherent inadequacies of Windango: her limited ability to push against wind and current when motoring; her steering being too heavy for the autohelm in certain conditions, and her size. James has decided it is time to replace her with a more suitable vessel. This brings this year’s efforts to a halt for the time being.