ISIS Cyclone Season Update

James Finan with me and Linda the night I finished the 2009 Sydney Hobart Race - New Year's Eve!!!



Here's an update from my mate James Finan who owns the Contessa 26 I sailed around the world and who is in Bundaberg where my current 'base' away from France is currently located - the Vega 27 "ISIS", residing up the river next to the Bundy rum factory while we cavort around the Southern Ocean delivering boats across the Great Australian Bight.

I'm lucky to have a good friend in that neck of the woods - especially as this update was from a week ago and they are about to get hit again ... not to mention Fiji and Tonga - it's turning out to be one hell of a hurricane season in the South Pacific! Thanks James!!!

Hey Brian,

Just wanted to let you know shit's been hitting the fan up here in Bundy...Don't know if you're on land right now or have seen/heard any news, but there's been massive rain inland for the past couple weeks and the damn here up the river finally overflowed and sent a heap of water down on top of us down here at the marina...

We've got heaps of stories for you, but to cut to the chase, Isis is safe and sound tied up behind Mai Miti on the inside of the trawler wharf up against the mangroves at the marina...

I was on Isis at the tiller and Ray, the owner of the marina drove the workboat and towed Isis into the ~7kts of raging river water, but we got her tied up in the marina. I had to cut your mooring lines, sorry mate, they were bar tight and the straight down because of how high the water was all the moorings were probably about 6-8 ft underwater, there was no way to get them undone...

Not too sure what's going to happen next as none of us have moorings anymore, not sure where we're going to go...it's chaos down here at the marina with piled up damaged and broken boats...Littlest Hobo got their outboard smashed off the stern, bent up their pushpit/pulpit, and holed their deck, when their mooring broke loose and smashed into boats in the marina...feel bad for them, trying to help with repairs right now...One dude fell between two boats trying to fend off and got his pelvis crushed...he got taken away in an ambulance and we haven't heard what happened to him...

Don't know if the marina's tried to contact you, they've definitely had their hands full...

Give me a call when you can mate.

-James