# 31 Rough passage to Bundaberg

We had a rough last passage from Vanuatu to Bundaberg. Within 24hrs of leaving Port Vila we were caught in a 35-46 knot storm that lasted all night. Seas were 4 - 6m! There was spray everywhere (including in the boat!). This then calmed down to mid 30's and eventually to 20 - 25 knots. We then had about 36 hours of nice conditions. In the first two days we averaged 160nm per day.

As we approached Observatory Cay the wind went to the NE. This meant we could not anchor there for a rest. We sailed past the cay and as we got into open water again the heavens opened up with rain, thunder and lightening. the wind went N, NW, W and then SW. Smack on the nose at 20kn+! After a few hours it went more southerly and we were able to hold our course towards Bundaberg. Next few days had wind from S to SE so we had a bumpy ride. Nani was very sea sick. On Saturday night we sighted the N cardinal light off Fraser Island and on falling winds arrived Bundaberg early Sunday morning.

Our last passage of 1000nm took just under 7 days. Average daily run was 143nm per day!

We cleared in with customs and then had a long, long sleep. We're home!

Many thanks to those sending us emails congratulating us and for Peter McKenzie who came to Bundaberg to greet us.

We are now packing up the boat to be hauled out and stored. We'll be back in Melbourne in a about a week or so.

Thank you for sharing in our 3 year adventure from the Caribbean to Australia.

# 30c ETA Bundaberg!

We will depart Port Vila tomorrow (Sunday 24th Oct) for Port Bundaberg Marina, Bundaberg. ETA 1st or 2nd November!

# 30b Leaving Port Vila fo HOME!

We have cleared out ready for our 8-9 day passage to Bundaberg. We hope to leave on Sunday. ETA Bundaberg 2nd/3rd November.

# 30a Arrive Port Vila, Vanuatu

We cleared out with customs in Lautoka in pouring rain late Wednesday afternoon (13th Oct). The following morning the decks were covered in ash from the sugar refinery. At 0830 we set off for the 535nm passage to Port Vila still in pouring rain and with light wind. We cleared the Molo Passage into open water about 1300hrs and then the wind picked up to 15-20kn form the SE. We enjoyed some good fast sailing and made 142nm in the next 24hrs.

The skies gradually cleared and the rain storms became less frequent. By the end of the following day (Sat) the winds were dying and moving more to the east (from dead astern). We rolled along and eventually had to put on the iron topsail (engine). The winds dropped to about 5kn and we motored the last two days in calm seas to Port Vila arriving Monday 0945hrs. We cleared in.

We are very impressed by Port Vila. It is very pretty and the locals are very friendly. It does remind us how close we are to Oz with many Aussie tourist in the city. The supermarkets carry a much bigger range of products than Fiji and even VB (Victoria Bitter) is on sale.

We hope to continue home to Oz on Sunday or Monday after some bad weather clears through. It has been flat calm since we arrived.

# 29i Departing Fiji (2)

The weather is looking better so we'll check out of Fiji today (Wednesday local time) and set off for Port Vila, Vanuatu, tomorrow morning. ETA Monday 18th October.

# 29h Departing Fiji

The weather looks like it "may" be OK to depart Fiji on Thursday. We will sail to Port Vila, Vanuatu, and then to Bundaberg, Oz. The passage to Port Vila is about 535nm (4.5 days). The passage from Port Vila to Bundaberg is 1025nm (8 - 9 days).

# 29g Happy Birthday

Happy Bithday Nani! xxxx

# 29f Vuda Point Marina, Fiji

It is Friday 8th October, 2010. We are now berthed in the marina at Vuda Point. The weather is looking dubious to say the least. We were to leave for Port Vila or Tanna,Vanuatu today but a weather trough is hanging overhead. This is bringing no wind and the odd heavy thunderstorm. In the next 3 -4 days we are expecting 25 - 35 kn winds and big seas. We are not moving!

# 29e Lautoka, Fiji

Early Tuesday 5th October we weighed anchor and set sail for Momi Bay about 55nm to the west. There was almost no wind until 1030. The wind steadily increased to 20 - 25 kn occasionally touching 30 kn from the SE. This was a fast sail and we sailed through the Navula Pass at over 7 knots with winds of just under 30 knots. We had three strikes on our lure but no fish landed. Narid caught nice mahi mahi.

As we approached Momi Bay we dropped the mainsail and as we went to drop anchor. A local man sped up to us in his boat. He wanted Karva for us to anchor there and was none too friendly. We (and Narid) decided we would rather anchor anywhere else so we sailed out of the bay. The problem was we were loosing daylight and there are lots of reefs that you need to see. We decided to head for Yakuilau (Nadi Bay). We dropped anchor there just after dark. Had a nice large run & Coke and then a good sleep.

The following morning (6th) we sailed the short distance to the port of Lautoka to clear in. We then went ashore to the town and the market. Over night so much ash from the sugar cane refinery fell on the boat that we decided to head for the marina at Vadu Point.

# 29d Vananui, Fiji

At 1300 Monday, 4th October, we set sail for the small bay in between the reefs at Vananui. There was very little wind so we motor sailed to the anchorage arriving at 1630. Narid (BEL) was with us and two other boats were already at anchor in the bay.

# 29c Mbennga, Fiji

We weighed anchor at Suva on Sunday morning 3rd October. We set off for the 25nm trip to Vaga Bay, Mbennga (Beqa) Island. This was nice easy sail to and though the surrounding lagoon. We anchored near the village of Naiseueeu.

On Monday morning we went ashore and visited the chief. We gave him some Karva as is the traditional way. Two of the villagers took us for hike along a track so that we could see the views. They then climbed a coconut tree to get us coconuts to dink and eat.

# 29b Suva - Picton Castle

Late Thursday we bumped into an unexpected acquaintance - Taia from Palmerston Island! Taia's father was our host when we visited Palmerston at the end of August. I had asked Taia if she would like to leave the island and she firmly said no, so we were surprised to bump into her in Suva. A square rig sailing ship called the Picton Castle has visited the island the day after we left. Taia was offered a position on the boat as crew and accepted!

We were invited on board the Picton Castle on Friday 1st October and given a tour of the vessel. It was good to meet Taia again.

# 29a Suva, Fiji

We arrived at Suva, Fiji on Thursday, 30th September, after a good 4 day passage from Tonga. The first night was very rough with confused seas and then it steadily improved. We sailed through the Oneata Passage (Lau Group) in light winds early Wednesday morning and we crossed the International Dateline at 2125 that evening. We are now on the eastern side of the world.


We dropped anchor in Suva harbour at 1500 Thursday and cleared in (we thought). Next day we had to visit customs to complete a form, then we had to get a cruising permit, then pay for the health check on the boat. This pretty well took up the whole day!



The local market was amazing and the biggest we'd seen. Nani bought 7 mud crabs for A$25! Suva is a very busy city and all local produce and eating out is fairly non expensive.

# 28 Vava'u, Tonga

We had a rolly trip from Niue to Vava'u with winds mostly 20kn E but sometimes 25kn. The 3-4 m swell abated to about 2m by the time we sighted Vava'u. As we rounded the northern coast the wind dropped to abot 10kn. We arrived at the wharf in Neiafu for clearing in.

On Monday we motored to the lovely anchorage off Mala Island and spent two very nice days there. Then we sailed to Tapana for a night and then to Kapa. Kapa is a beautiful and protected anchorage.

We have now cleared out of Tonga but will not leave until Sunday for the four day passage to Suva, Fiji.

# 27b Nuie (depart)

We will be leaving Nuie tomorrow morning (Wednesday local time). Forecast is 20-25 E but still big seas of 4m+. We are heading for Vavau, Tonga. The passage will take about 2 days.

# 27a Niue

We are still in Niue waiting for the right conditions to set sail for Tonga. The winds and seas are unusually high for this time of year. We may be able to leave around Wednesday although we still expect a high swell of 4m+. Meanwhile we are enjoying Niue and the usual social life with other the other cruisers in the anchorage. We are now well behind schedule and need to get moving to get back to Oz by end of October.

The snorkeling is very good. The water is very clear and there are many sea snakes which make Nani very nervous. She almost 'walks on the water' to get away from them and get back to the boat!

# 27 Niue

We left Palmerston on Wednesday 1st September. The passage from Palmerston Atoll to Tonga started well with light northerly winds. On the second night dark clouds spread out across the horizon as a front approached. Soon it was upon us with winds of 20 - 25+ knots soon coming from the SE. The weather files had shown 8 - 11 knots for this period. There was another weather front on its way which we would hit on Saturday. We decided to divert to the island of Niue and hope to shelter in the only anchorage at Alofi. We (Freezing Rain and us) pushed ahead hard to reach Alofi by Saturday morning arriving just as the weather changed with torrential rain and high winds. We were happy to tie up to a mooring. You cannot anchor due to the coral chasms which jamb your anchor.


Our friends on Narid and The Road decided to continue on to Vavau, Tonga, thinking that we were being over cautious. In the evening we spoke with them on the HF radio to find they were in 30 - 40 knots and seas of 4 - 6 meters! The Road had had items washed off their deck and both had had their cockpits filled with water from the breaking seas. They still had two - three days of 25 - 35knots to go before arriving in Tonga! We enjoyed a rum & coke and were thankful we'd made the decision to stop at Nuie.

Niue is the largest raised coral atoll in the world. On Monday we visited the Togo chasm with Freezing Rain and Trim. The weather is looking very bad for the next week or so. We'll stay until it settles down before heading for the two day trip to Vavau. Right now the wind is whistling through to anchorage but we are safe and secure.

# 26 Palmerston Atoll, Cook Islands

After a five day (champagne sailing) passage we arrived at the isolated Palmerston Atoll 0n Friday 27th August, 2010. We picked up a mooring on the west side of the atoll near Palmerston Island. Bob Masters and his daughter Taia were there to greet us and became our host for our stay at the island.

We had a great time at Palmerston. A truly different experience. In some ways the tropical Pacific atoll that we imagine, in many ways, not. We went crabbing, coconut crabbing and bird picking with our hosts and their children. We were made unbelievably welcome by the inhabitants. We helped unload and then load (with frozen fish fillets) the first supply ship to visit the island for about 8 months.

The inhabitants originated from William Masters and his three wives who settled at Palmerston in the late 1800's. There are now 67 inhabitants, all related.

Palmerston is a great stopover and a truly unforgettable experience.

The weather grib files we received via our HF radio and Pactor modem were showing signs of bad weather on the way so we left Palmerston (along with Narid, The Road & Freezing Rain) on Wednesday 4th September bound for Tonga.

# 25d Bora Bora, Society Islands

On 18th August we sailed the 25nm trip Bora Bora. We anchored in 4m above sand at the SW end of the main island.

We leave for Tonga this afternoon and will have no internet access for 10 - 14 days. Sorry we couldn't add more info and photos but the internet access here is very bad.

# 25c Tahaa, Society Islands

On Tuesday 17th August we motored to the NW anchorage of Tahaa and anchored in 2.5m sand. Just beautiful!

# 25b Raiatea, Society Islands

We left Fare, Huahine, for Raiatea early Saturday morning (14th) in the rain. We had a brisk sail across to Raiatea in about 15 - 20 knots SE winds. By midway the rain had cleared and we entered the pass into the fringing reef at Raiatea about 1100hrs in bright sunshine. We motored to the town quay and tied up alonside.

I had cracked a tooth on our way into Huahine so our priority was to get that fixed on Monday. We found a dentist and he fixed the tooth so we were able to leave for Tahaa Tuesday. We also did a final stock up of supplies as we'll soon be on passage to the Cook Islands and Tonga (about 14 days passage).

# 25a Huahine Socitey Islands

Tuesday 10th August we set sail for the ovenight passage to Huahine. Initially conditions were good with 13 - 16kn E as forecasted. By midnight winds were around 20 knots and we were getting increasing numbers of squalls to 30 knots! As daylight broke we sailed i nto the lee of the island with rain and squalls. We were pleased to enter the pass into flat waters at 0730. We then motored south behind the fringing reef to the SW corner of the island and Baie D'Avea.

We enjoyed a lovely couple of days in the sheltered bay. On Friday we motored to Fare the main town (near the pass) ready for our passage to Raiatea.

#25 Moorea, Society Islands

We finally managed to get the our course computer (with new PCB) returned from Raymarine and refitted on 5th August.

We set sail for Moorea on 7th August after commissioning the new unit and it performed well on the passage. The seas were very uncomfortable and from time to time Joule rolled violently before reaching the lee of Moorea. We anchored in just over 3m of crystal clear water behind the fringing reef near Opunohu. A truly beautiful anchorage.

Whilst in Tahiti we managed to get a new laptop PC bought in from UK by Kathy (Legend II), so we are now able again to send and receive emails etc.

For the last two days we have had strong winds. We hope to be able to head for Huahine tomorrow night (Tues/Weds).

#24a Tahiti

We are still in Tahiti waiting for our autopilot course computer to be repaired/replaced. It seems like we have been here for ages. We understand that our course computer will be shipped to us this Friday (from Oz) so hopefully we'll be able to get back underway by the end of next week.

We hope to be back in Oz by mid/late October so we have to get moving as there is a long way still to go. We will visit the Society Islands, then Cook Islands, Tonga (Vavau), Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonea before heading across the Coral Sea to Oz. Probably we'll go to Bunderburg or Gladstone and then leave the boat there.

We'll upload some more photos soon.

#24 Tahiti

We arrived in Tahiti on the 17th June, 2010, after an easy trip from Fakarava (except for the pass out of the lagoon which was "boiling" like a washing machine!).

Our first view of Tahiti was from 65m out and an amazing sunset over the island. Upon arrival we motored to the anchorage at Maeva Beach. The autopilot was still giving us problems so after a couple of days we went to to town quay in the center of Papeete. We attempted to get the local dealer to fix the problem but thay seemed to have less idea than us!

We have thouroughly enjoyed Tahiti and will leave Wednesday for Moorea.

#23 Tuomotus

We arrived in the Kauehi lagoon 7th June, 2010 after 4 days of squally weather. We spent a few days in this large lagoon before setting off for the 30m run to Fakarava lagoon. This was a great place with a small village and a few shops (that had beer & baguettes). The snorkelling was great and there were many sharks.

We left Farkarava for Tahiti on 15th June.

#22 Arrive Fatu Hiva, Marquesas

On 18th May, 2010 we arrived at the dramatically beautiful anchorage of Hanavave, Fatu Hiva after almost 19 days from Isabela. We had a much faster passage than we xpected with several days of winds over 25 knots. Our best day mileage was 180nm. The trip was almost 3000nm. Our average days run was 156nm.

It was great to arrive at such a beautiful island. Unfortunately we cannot add pictures at this time as our main PC has a broken motherboard. We enjoyed about a week in Fatu Hiva before heading north to Hiva Oa to clear in. We had 3 electronic problems all within a week. Our DVD player failed, followed by our PC and then our autopilot course computer. The autopilot was a major concern but we had a new spare just in case. We fitted this only to find that it would intermittently run off course.

After another week we moved to Tahuata island and enjoyed a few nice days in the bay befroe setting off for the 500nm passage to the Tuomotus.

#21h Departure Isabela

We have cleared out of Isabela and will be starting the ¨puddlejump¨ to the Marquesas probably Thursday. We´ll do our best to update ¨our position¨ daily once we are underway. The passage will take about 25 days!

#21g Port Villimil, Isabela

We arrived at Puerto Villimil in the Galapagos late Friday afternoon after an easy sail from Santa Cruz. Our friends on Innforapenny & Aurora B were in the anchorage. There are also lots of sea lions and penguins. Innforapenny had arranged a trip to the volcano Sierra Negra for the following morning. The trip included a 12m (20km) hike along the cauldon´s ridge and a horse ride.

Next morning we left the boat at 0715 and made our way to the town. The streets are made out of sand. The population is about 2000. We met the tour operator who took us to a hotel where we were directed to make our own sandwiches for lunch. Then it was to the small bus with some other people joining us for the tour. The bus trip took about 45mins and the changes in scenery as we made our way were amazing. There were arid lava fields, then a transition zone of holly trees which were a mile or two later all covered with thick vines. Then we came to the humid zone with trees and tropical rain forest style. We arrived at the park base and set off upwards towards the ridge of the cauldron. It was quite steep and when we arrived on the ridge the cauldron was covered in cloud. Within 10 minutes of our arrival the cloud drifted away. We continued our hike along the ridge.

About 1030 we were due to meet horses and ride the next 3 miles. The horses hadn´t arrived so we hiked the next 3 miles and then down the northern ridge to see the lava flows and boccas from the last eruptions of 5 and 35 years ago. Then it was time for lunch. It would have been good to have a hellicopter arrive at this point to take us back!

After lunch there was a 20 minute climb to get back to the ridge. The horses had arrived so we mounted up and enjoyed the 3 mile ride. Then it was time to dismount and walk back around the ridge and then on down to the car park. By this time our legs were like lead weights as cloud rolled in. We enjoyed the bus trip back to Villimil and a few well earned beers. We´d had a great day.