Well, that pretty much puts an end to my plans of sailing across from Australia to Hawaii using only a rickety fishing boat. I’d done all my research, calculated how much supplies I’d be needing, patched up the boat as best as I could, mapped out my route…only to find out that the coastguard won’t allow it. Apparently it’s tantamount to suicide, and you’re not allowed to commit suicide in Australian waters so they won’t let me go.
RUDE. Anyway, I have to steadily improve my boat until it reaches international water law standards, whatever that means. People are sponsoring me for this as well, so i’d better find a way to make it happen.
So…first up, I need to find a place that repairs anchor winches in Melbourne. Apparently, just having an anchor on the end of a chain doesn’t fit the law’s standards; I also have to have a way to reliably lift it back up, hence the anchor winch. I can SORT of understand…but meh, I don’t really have that much of a problem. It’s good back exercise hauling it back up. Also, I need to get an official to make sure I’ve got this outboard motor thing down pat. For real: I can’t even do the rowing myself. Apparently there’s a certain distance that you can row, and after that it violates some kind of maritime law they put in place after the great Australian boat tragedy of 1976. And look, I know many people were lost, and the whole thing was poorly planned, but I wasn’t going to be like that. I HAD a plan. Also, it’s 2017; you can hold WAY more food in small spaces. One protein bar can keep me going for days. Like, a day maybe. An afternoon, definitely. But now I’m scouring Melbourne for outboard motor servicing, because it’s the law. What am I going to do with all that time I should’ve been rowing? Guess I’ll…read some books?
-Darren