The final leg of the Pacific crossing is about 1100 miles from Vanuatu to Mackay, Queensland, inside the Great Barrier Reef and, of course, as you are reading this, it means we made it across the ocean….9000 miles of it in 7 large hops! I calculated that we spent around 72 days actually at sea averaging 5 knots and of which about 10 days were motor/sailing. The strongest winds we had were on this last leg when it blew force 8 for about 3 days out of 10…nice!! More about that later…… We had a few days of flat calm and unpredictable winds for most of the whole crossing, so much for “Pacific” Ocean…more like “Horrific” Ocean on occasion! It has been said that last year’s El Nino may have altered the weather patterns but nevertheless, as a relatively seasoned ocean voyager now, I would say ”be cautious” to anyone contemplating a Transpacific and don’t believe anything that anyone else tells you about perfect conditions!!!
This last leg took us 10 days…one day or so of calm necessitating motoring, then about two days of steady winds and really rather pleasant conditions…you start to sit back and relax in the warm sunshine, enjoying the motion of the ocean. Then the sun disappeared but things were still steady and we were making slow progress WSW at a little under 4 knots in 15 knots of NE wind, yankee and mainsail set, no reefs. We were still within reasonable time for reaching Mackay before the weekend (when checking in with Customs etc means very high “overtime” charges). This state of affairs continued for a couple of days or so, then the sky started to darken from the SW but conditions didn’t change as the wind was NEish until a day or so later when the “dark cloud” hit the boat (I was down below when it hit but not for long!). The wind went from 15 to 35+ knots and swung 180 degrees from NE to SW in less than 30seconds and we heeled hard over to 35deg+. We have encountered many nasty squalls in both oceans but this was far more dramatic and sudden. We were seriously heeling and it was a real struggle to reef the sails before any damage might occur. Anyway, the boat and us survived intact thankfully and we were sailing again rather more upright, now under the trusty staysail only. Phew! The SW force 8 blew on and off for the rest of the trip and we also endured almost two days of torrential rain within this system plus the lowest night temperatures we’ve had since the Atlantic meaning all the foul weather gear had to be worn. A Queenslander we met ashore says that these conditions are unusual but that they catch yachts out and more get lost this way than from cyclones…probably because they are so unexpected.
The best part of this leg was the sighting of two humpback whales which we saw inside the reef on their winter migration to their breeding grounds and which happened about 10 miles outside Mackay. They put on quite a show, blowing, diving, breaching and lobtailing. They were too far away for photos unfortunately and my camera had no battery either of course! Incredible only to have had three or four sightings of whales across the whole ocean though we have seen hundreds of dolphins en route. I expect there have been lots though when I just happened to be facing the other way! We also provided a free overnight ride (hence the title of this piece) for four “boobies” during the rough weather who presumably didn’t fancy having to fly all night…we were several hundred miles from the nearest land. They had an awful job landing and there were many more birds flying around the boat that tried and failed to find a safe spot. I hope they survived the night….sure they did!
Soooooo here we are in Mackay, Queensland, a new and very large marina with all the usual shoreside attachments, restaurants, etc. It’s strange to be among mostly European “types” again and they really do say G’day as they pass by……haven’t seen any Aborigines but then we haven’t left the marina area yet. The bus service to town operates infrequently on Saturdays and not at all on Sunday so we will have to wait until Monday to see anything of the surrounding country. There is a lovely looking beach outside the marina so I dipped my toe in…absolutely freezing…. so no chance of me getting a final chance to swim in the Pacific unless Papua New Guinea still counts?
We had breakfast ashore and will have to eat ashore for the time being as there is hardly any food left on the boat. We were advised not to bring in any fresh food as well as lots of other restricted goods because we’d been told that Australian quarantine officers would swoop onto the boat and remove everything that could be a contaminant as soon as we arrived…they did sort of swoop but were really very nice and only removed a small seed that someone had given me in Nuku Hiva and a packet of lima beans which we bought in Panama! It would seem that the main problem is anything that could “grow” and become an invasive or noxious pest if it was accidentally dropped on Oz soil. I suppose I can see the logic in that but I wish they’d explained it better beforehand on the website. There are all sorts of heavy fines they could impose and so in fearful anticipation, we had eaten or jettisoned anything and everything… even foods prepared in Australia that we bought in Fiji and Vanuatu…. Bit of a waste in the end.
I have a feast of birds to spot while ashore. They are all quite common here of course but it was very nice to see the rainbow lorikeets and galahs as well as a cockatoo..not sure if it was sulphur crested…I shall have to look it up when I can get online later.
The boat comes out of the water on Monday and I fly out to the UK on Tuesday for my two weeks “holiday” with friends and family. Really looking forward to that…. I might even get to have a bath for the first time in a year. I realised too the other day that until Savu Savu a few weeks ago, I hadn’t even had a proper shower since February in Panama. Ooer!
Saturday, 14 August 2010
Sunday, 1 August 2010
Blong yumi ia
Musket Cove Marina, Fiji. Moonshiner in the middle!
Jeff's house in Ba, Fiji......it goes back a bit but not far!
This is the boat that Jeff built. The plan is that it should be his dinghy for his escape from Fiji. Not sure how it is going to be transported to the coast though and the driveway to the road is pretty twisty and steep too....
This is almost how I imagined jeff would be spending his days, under a mango tree
Musket Cove is one of those purpose built resorts where people come in groups to stay in villas and they never have to leave the place because everything is available on site. It’s very nice in its way but one really could be anywhere in the tropics I think. But it is nice to be in the company of the rest of the Rally again and we have spent some time catching up with news as well as socialising. We are all due to leave tomorrow for Vanuatu and so we will be sailing in company for the first time in this ocean where I have yet to get into the water..but that’s another story!
Today (Sunday, 24th ) was spent on a mission, “Finding Captain Jones” last reported alive and well earlier this century and living somewhat frugally just outside the one horse town of Ba in Viti Levu. Our mission began with an early morning ferry ride from Musket Cove island to Viti Levu and then a long car journey to where our target was last seen. We stopped en route to ask a man selling fish at the roadside if anyone knew of his whereabouts and were surprised to discover that he was actually known by him! Further enquiries narrowed down the search to a Pentecostal church where our quarry had run to ground, seeking sanctuary?
Good old Jeff! He hadn’t changed much at all in he 15 years since we last saw him in Guernsey, maybe a little greyer and thinner..well aren’t we all? Maybe not thinner but greyer probably! It was lovely to see him again. We had a passable lunch in the town at an Indian restaurant where we reminisced a fair bit, then we drove to Jeff’s spread to see how his mango trees were coming on. They are certainly big enough to sit under now. We had coffee and more reminiscing and then it was time to go so that we could get the last ferry back to this island. Jeff doesn’t do computers which makes it hard to be able to help with his plans (he wants to get back to the UK before it’s too late). He would love to be able to sail back via the Indian ocean into the Med and thus complete his circumnavigation that he started in 1991 but the plans would require a suitable boat and this he doesn’t yet have….though there is “something in the pipeline”. Those of you who know Jeff will understand!
And now it’s several days on since I started this piece and 500 miles further west meaning that we are in Port Vila,Vanuatu. The sail here was the first for which we were in company of most of the Rally boats, though we all lost sight of each other within the first four hours or so and kept in touch via radio. I’m very pleased to say that absolutely nothing went wrong for Moonshiner just for once during the four night crossing but several of the other boats had fairly disastrous trips. The weather was quite awful for the whole time, the worst we’ve encountered in this ocean, consistently blowing over 25 knots and occasionally reaching 40 knots. We bounced along uncomfortably but safely and steadily under the trusty staysail mostly doing 5-6 knots, occasionally 9+ in squalls however! Other boats had set the mainsail on leaving Musket Cove and this caused many problems for them as I understand it. There was a knockdown, several sail breakages, damage to rigging and cockpit flooding. One boat was completely swamped and all the electronics destroyed. This is definitely not what the “Pacific” is supposed to be about!
The weather here is still pretty awful, wind and rain throughout the day and night. I was hoping to get to Tanna, another island about 100 miles to the south and a must see, so they say, as there is a live volcano to which it is possible to get very close. Others who have visited however say that it has been disappointing as the weather makes the trip up the mountain very difficult and the rain causes the volcano to emit clouds of steam which obscures everything. It’s not cheap either as it entails a return flight and an overnight hotel stay. I might just end up googling it….there’ll be others….and we did see the slightly active and incredibly smelly volcano in St Lucia last year. My interests are geological not touristy!!! I don’t really enjoy all those stalactites and stalagmites either. It’s what’s going on deep beneath the surface that fascinates me.
Vanuatu is a strange place from first impressions. The people are very dark skinned but not African so I think they must be Melanesian. They speak a wonderful pidgin English. We asked what “ blong yumi” meant as it appears everywhere….it means “belongs to you and me”. We would just say “ours” but blong yumi sounds so much kookier! I bought a local newspaper as a souvenir which was celebrating the 30th year of independence and it’s fascinating to read and try to translate. Blong seems to be their favourite word! A lot of the women old and young wear the strangest costume…I mean to get photos…soon. The baggy dresses look like pantomime clothes, very elaborate and colourful with frills and flounces all over. Where on earth did they come from? We have already decided that the high necked, yoked, ankle length dresses worn in French Polynesia must come from Victorian nightdresses donated by female missionaries who couldn’t cope with all the nakedness around them! I reckon that the Polynesian women must have loved the feel of soft cotton as a welcome change from grass and so wore these unflattering sacks happily. They were eventually adopted as a sort of national costume….mostly worn by larger women nowadays! The Vanuatu women’s dresses are just that bit more over the top but possibly have the same origin? I mean to buy one!
The plan is to leave here in about three days for the 1100 mile sail to Mackay where the boat comes out of the water for a couple of weeks and I fly home to friends and family most of whom already know about this. I reckon that I shall cope with the 29hour trip to the UK easily having spent much of the last 6 months trying to sit upright on watch during the nights at sea.
In the meantime, I hope to get this published while ashore today (Sunday 1st Aug plus photos from the previous islands…including one with Jeff resplendent on his bucket!.
Today (Sunday, 24th ) was spent on a mission, “Finding Captain Jones” last reported alive and well earlier this century and living somewhat frugally just outside the one horse town of Ba in Viti Levu. Our mission began with an early morning ferry ride from Musket Cove island to Viti Levu and then a long car journey to where our target was last seen. We stopped en route to ask a man selling fish at the roadside if anyone knew of his whereabouts and were surprised to discover that he was actually known by him! Further enquiries narrowed down the search to a Pentecostal church where our quarry had run to ground, seeking sanctuary?
Good old Jeff! He hadn’t changed much at all in he 15 years since we last saw him in Guernsey, maybe a little greyer and thinner..well aren’t we all? Maybe not thinner but greyer probably! It was lovely to see him again. We had a passable lunch in the town at an Indian restaurant where we reminisced a fair bit, then we drove to Jeff’s spread to see how his mango trees were coming on. They are certainly big enough to sit under now. We had coffee and more reminiscing and then it was time to go so that we could get the last ferry back to this island. Jeff doesn’t do computers which makes it hard to be able to help with his plans (he wants to get back to the UK before it’s too late). He would love to be able to sail back via the Indian ocean into the Med and thus complete his circumnavigation that he started in 1991 but the plans would require a suitable boat and this he doesn’t yet have….though there is “something in the pipeline”. Those of you who know Jeff will understand!
And now it’s several days on since I started this piece and 500 miles further west meaning that we are in Port Vila,Vanuatu. The sail here was the first for which we were in company of most of the Rally boats, though we all lost sight of each other within the first four hours or so and kept in touch via radio. I’m very pleased to say that absolutely nothing went wrong for Moonshiner just for once during the four night crossing but several of the other boats had fairly disastrous trips. The weather was quite awful for the whole time, the worst we’ve encountered in this ocean, consistently blowing over 25 knots and occasionally reaching 40 knots. We bounced along uncomfortably but safely and steadily under the trusty staysail mostly doing 5-6 knots, occasionally 9+ in squalls however! Other boats had set the mainsail on leaving Musket Cove and this caused many problems for them as I understand it. There was a knockdown, several sail breakages, damage to rigging and cockpit flooding. One boat was completely swamped and all the electronics destroyed. This is definitely not what the “Pacific” is supposed to be about!
The weather here is still pretty awful, wind and rain throughout the day and night. I was hoping to get to Tanna, another island about 100 miles to the south and a must see, so they say, as there is a live volcano to which it is possible to get very close. Others who have visited however say that it has been disappointing as the weather makes the trip up the mountain very difficult and the rain causes the volcano to emit clouds of steam which obscures everything. It’s not cheap either as it entails a return flight and an overnight hotel stay. I might just end up googling it….there’ll be others….and we did see the slightly active and incredibly smelly volcano in St Lucia last year. My interests are geological not touristy!!! I don’t really enjoy all those stalactites and stalagmites either. It’s what’s going on deep beneath the surface that fascinates me.
Vanuatu is a strange place from first impressions. The people are very dark skinned but not African so I think they must be Melanesian. They speak a wonderful pidgin English. We asked what “ blong yumi” meant as it appears everywhere….it means “belongs to you and me”. We would just say “ours” but blong yumi sounds so much kookier! I bought a local newspaper as a souvenir which was celebrating the 30th year of independence and it’s fascinating to read and try to translate. Blong seems to be their favourite word! A lot of the women old and young wear the strangest costume…I mean to get photos…soon. The baggy dresses look like pantomime clothes, very elaborate and colourful with frills and flounces all over. Where on earth did they come from? We have already decided that the high necked, yoked, ankle length dresses worn in French Polynesia must come from Victorian nightdresses donated by female missionaries who couldn’t cope with all the nakedness around them! I reckon that the Polynesian women must have loved the feel of soft cotton as a welcome change from grass and so wore these unflattering sacks happily. They were eventually adopted as a sort of national costume….mostly worn by larger women nowadays! The Vanuatu women’s dresses are just that bit more over the top but possibly have the same origin? I mean to buy one!
The plan is to leave here in about three days for the 1100 mile sail to Mackay where the boat comes out of the water for a couple of weeks and I fly home to friends and family most of whom already know about this. I reckon that I shall cope with the 29hour trip to the UK easily having spent much of the last 6 months trying to sit upright on watch during the nights at sea.
In the meantime, I hope to get this published while ashore today (Sunday 1st Aug plus photos from the previous islands…including one with Jeff resplendent on his bucket!.
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