Garrett’s Adventurevideo
Sailing to Sydney Harbour + First Solo Sail on my New Boat
March 15, 2026 · 25 min · 74K views · Brisbane River
What this video covers
Garrett departs Brisbane on his 40-foot monohull for a solo 60-to-70-mile coastal hop to the Gold Coast, navigating a narrow inside passage channel with strong current and shallow water on both sides.0:01 The windlass fails on the first anchorage — suspected electrical fault — forcing him to retrieve the anchor by hand in calm conditions.6:14 After fueling at Gold Coast, he departs solo for Coffs Harbor, 157 miles south, on his first overnight passage on the boat.7:20 Wind opposing a two-knot northerly current creates steep, uncomfortable seas; he motors roughly five of the first several hours, averaging eight knots with the current.10:26 The chartplotter is non-functional throughout, so he tracks AIS traffic via a VHF radio with built-in AIS.12:17 He gets about one hour of sleep before arriving at Coffs Harbor.14:59 His family joins him there, and together they sail the final 240 miles to Sydney — mostly motoring, with a large lightning storm and a complete autopilot failure forcing hand-steering through the night.21:30 Garrett replaces a leaking marine toilet at Coffs and goes up the mast to inspect a spreader light with an unsealed wire and a misrigged snap shackle.16:21 The boat anchors in Sydney Harbour, passing under the Harbour Bridge.22:32 A reliable autopilot can eliminate the need for an expensive wind vane, but its failure in heavy conditions demands a capable hand-steering backup.
Boats in this video
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