alecann's blog
Hello Again
Well we have been here in Phuket for nearly a month now and by first appearances we though the place was rather over-run with tourists and tourist things, but we are really enjoying the place now that we have had a good look around. One can either go with the tourist flow or it is very easy to go off and do your own thing. The climate is perfect at this time of the year with temperatures around 32 degrees during the day and dropping to about 25-26 degrees at night. We have a lovely breeze of around 10-15kts most days. The sun shines and the water temperature is perfect. We have had the odd shower of rain in the evenings which has been most refreshing. The people are lovely, the food is great and the place is a shoppers dream. I brought myself a lovely pair of silver shoes last night but have no idea when I will get to wear them, but could not resist them at only NZ$10!! The NZ couple who we were out with said I will just have to wear them when we have drinks in the evenings. They will look great with my swim suit!
Alec decided in all his wisdom that the quickest and easiest way to get around was to be like everyone else and hire a motor bike!! Our Lonely Planet did warn us that it can be a ‘high risk proposition' as hundreds of people are injured or killed every year on Phuket highways. So with this in mind off we set to do jobs and explore the place with me clutched to Alec's back like a leach. If I was going to fall off he was coming too! Funny thing was after the first day I really started to enjoy the ride even if I did yell into his ear from time to time to watch out for the vehicle in front or the bike coming in the opposite direction but on the same side of the road as us! It certainly makes getting around the congested roads very easy. You are first in the queue at the traffic lights and just hope that when they turn green the other bikes will fall into a sort of orderly queue as we all pull out at the same time. Once we got totally lost in Phuket town but it really is a great way to see the place. We had reports of Phuket town being run down and dirty, but we found that quite to the contrary. It is a bit of a hotchpotch, but the place is very clean and the local people are making a huge effort to keep it that way. They are always sweeping the streets and washing and cleaning their little patch around their business whatever it may be.
One day while looking for one particular business we ended up on a road that took us to one of the high hills that overlooks much of the southern end of the Island so on up we went. It was here at the summit they are building this huge Buddha. The view was great looking down on both sides of the Island, but these Buddha's really are very ugly. On the way down we came across an elephant sanctuary where to raise money to look after them you pay for rides, so we stopped and spent about an hour or so learning how they had come from the logging camps on the mainland and that the authorities were most concerned about their wellbeing and inspected them often. After photos and a short ride we were on our way again.
After ten days moored at Ao Chalong at the south eastern end of the Island where we took the main sail off and put it in for minor repairs along with our MPS, plus had sun cover made for the tender along with other odd jobs, we dropped the mooring line and moved around to the western side of the Island for a look. Our first couple of nights were spent at Nai Harn, a charming bay where we swam then went ashore in the evening for a beautiful seafood meal. We then moved on to Patong where its foreshore lined with hotels, restaurants, shops, night-clubs etc all of which overflow into the back streets. We spent another couple of days there swimming reading and relaxing during the day and going ashore in the evenings then back to the boat in time to watch the different fireworks. Not sure of the reason but some of the resorts seem to let them off every evening. Well this is the high season for tourists. Then we headed back to Al Chalong to pick up ordered goods before heading up the east coast to ‘Yacht Haven Marina' where we are having yet more jobs done. No SHAMAL is not falling apart, in fact she is in very good shape, but as many of you will know owning a boat is an ongoing maintenance thing. All part and parcel of the cruising game. Alec has serviced one of the winches and is currently working on the anchor winch. Cosmetic really, it is just that the paint on the outer casing is starting to bubble so he is scraping it back and will clean it up and give it a repaint. We will move on out of here next week once all is finished and the boat has had a buff and polish.
We have not done as much sailing as we would have liked but hope to get out for a few days to explore some of the Islands to the north east of Phuket Island which are said to be just beautiful. We have met lots of people from all around the world, some who are doing the same as us and will keep on moving, and others who are finding it very hard to leave this part of the world and have been in the area for a couple of years or more. Sri Lanka is our next destination passing through the Nicobar Islands on the way.
We found this quote in a local yachting magazine and think is very appropriate for us and all our friends out there.
TWENTY YEARS FROM NOW YOU WILL BE MORE DISAPPOINTED BY THE THINGS YOU DIDN'T DO THAN BY THE ONES YOU DID DO. SO THROW OUT THE BOWLINES. SAIL AWAY FROM THE SAFE HARBOUR. CATCH THE TRADE WINDS IN YOUR SAIL. EXPLORE, DREAM, DISCOVER. --------------------- MARK TWAIN ---------------------
OK that is all for this letter. Hope all is well with you all. Again many thanks to all who have written to us.
Lots of love from
The Admiral and The Captain
Hello To You All
Well we are heading North (in the not so distant future we will change direction and head west). As I start this letter it is the most beautiful day - like most we have been having - with the sun out and the temperature a lovely 30 degrees with a cooling breeze off the sea. The water temperature today is a barmy 29 degrees. My fishing line is out and Alec is navigating our way between coral reefs, cays - small low islets composed of coral and sand sometimes with scrub or mangroves and maybe the odd coconut palm growing on them - and islands - with more vegetation . It is just beautiful, and to date our chart plotter and maps are all accurate. We have just had a little black and white sea bird land for a rest.
OK our last news letter came from Cairns. Our three nights and two days there were great. Cairns was great. The first morning I set off to find a dentist who was quite impressed with my temporary filling I had done myself. Alex headed off in the direction of Whitworths - one of Aussies great chandleries, for the next chart plotter card to get us up into Indonesia and across to the Gulf of Oman. It is like a camera card and holds all the charts in digital form for designated areas and is inserted into the chart plotter. Great invention. We still carry the paper charts for back up and cross reference, and the local Cruising Guide for each area. That evening we did the supermarket so as to leave the whole of the next day free to see something of the local area.
The following morning we caught the Kuranda Scenic Railway up through the Barron Gorge National Park to kuranda. Vivienne and Helen B you would really enjoy this one. The railway winds its way up to 328m going through 15 hand dug tunnels. You are given a commentary on all the sites as you pass them. Kuranda is a full on tourist village at the top with every shop either selling curios or food!! The ride up in the train was great. After two or three hours of wandering around the shops and markets and doing a lovely tropical rain forest walk we descended back down to earth on the Skyrail Rainforest Cable car. That was quite spectacular but one needed a good head for heights. There we were skimming just above the rainforest, or in places way above it, for 7.5km. There were a couple of stations were you hop out and a ranger gives you a guided tour which was interesting. Then back on board to watch tree tops skimming by and views down-nnnn into Barron Gorge and then out over the Coral Sea. All in all an unforgettable experience. Back down in town again Alec and I took our little folding bikes out for a cycle along the Cairns Esplanade which is a 6km return ride. Then it was dinner at the Night Markets. A lovely end to a lovely day.
Next morning it was farewell to Cairns and on out of our Super Yacht berth where we were next to "Keri Lee", our 100ft plus neighbour, her 32ft Boston Whaler with 2 x75hp motors "Keri Darling" and then her tender "Keri Baby". We wonder who Keri Lee is? Alec said he would love to meet her!! By the time we had refuelled and cleared out of the marina it was nearly lunch time and with very little wind we motored sailed out to Double Island for the night only 10nm away. We could see Bush Fires burning along the coast that evening. The fire season is here already. This was our first encounter with the Prawn Boats which work the waters from here North over the winter months. As we come into an anchorage at the end of a day, they are getting ready to leave and fish all night and then the next morning as you are getting ready to leave they come back and anchor and sleep all day. We have seen dozens of them to date and sometimes anchored in the lee of a small cay or just a sand bar way out on the Great Barrier Reef in the middle of nowhere.
Next morning we did the short run up to Port Douglas going up the river for a little way just to have a look. We went back to the public jetty and went ashore for bread and milk. Then we headed out to Snapper Rock. On the way great excitement. Caught my first fish in Aussie waters. A good size spotted mackerel. Once anchored I went ashore to do my usual beach combing, then back on board for a fish BBQ. From there the next morning it was a 59nm run up to Cooktown. This was a superb run with the MPS spinnaker up all the way. We spent a couple of nights and a day here so we could have a quick look around. Yes we are in outback Oz here! The main street is so wide it could be a four lane motorway. There really is only one street! There were more tourists in their 4x4's doing the great Oz outback adventure than locals. Our book says it sits at the mouth of the croc infested Endeavour River - still have not seen one!! We walked the town, visited the local town and country show which meant the shops (there were more pubs than shops) were all closed as everyone was at the show, and also visited the James Cook Museum which was most interesting.
Next morning it was up anchor for a 54nm run up to Lizard Island. The day started a little cooler with lots of cloud about and the odd squall which we managed to miss. I pulled in three fish over the course of the day. Craig, Warren and JG they were too big for Alec to clean on his bait table so we had to roll the floor matting up and he cleaned them on a board on the floor. Thank goodness for the salt water wash at the back - how about that!!
Lizard Island is one of the furthest north of the Great Barrier Reef resort islands. It is a beautiful spot. We anchored in Mrs Watsons Bay where the water was so clean and clear and again beautiful white sandy beaches. We joined lots of other boats here, but we could not believe who we should anchor next to - ‘Keri Lee' and her wee fleet!! We took our tender ashore to walk the beach and explore the tracks, one of which has a board walk through a mangrove wetlands, and signs giving you the history of the place. Sad but most interesting. While her husband was away on a fishing trip Mrs Watson left the Island in a tub with her baby and Chinese servant only to perish on a cay with no water trying to escape from some aborigines in 1881.
Next day (we are up to Wednesday the 26th August) we do a 69nm leg up to Bathurst Bay just around the corner from Cape Melville. Again a lovely MPS run and also another fish!! I go ashore to check the beach just before dark.
Thursday sees the MPS up again but by 3.00pm the wind has increased so a quick sail change takes us the 71nm to Morris Islet. One of these coral cays. There are another three yachts here. Think they are going in the opposite direction from us as we did not see them during the day. We go ashore but are horrified by all the rubbish on this tiny islet right out in the middle of The Great Barrier Reef area.. Also rats!!! We are miles out from the mainland and the islet is so small. How on earth did they get there? But the place had plenty of bird life. We even saw pelicans.
Friday morning we are buzzed by Coast Watch then came the radio call from them wanting to know where we have come from, where we are going to etc etc. Another good run of 61nm and we are at Portland Roads. Again ashore we found a tiny settlement with a restaurant that was only open by appointment for lunch, a guest house which had a no vacancies sign up and a notice board on the beach giving you the history of the place. We also meet a guy parked up among the mangroves on his home built alloy catamaran with two masts, not painted, and no dagger boards or keels with a draft of one foot sitting out on his deck drinking tea. A real character, who had many a story to tell - gone a bit troppo - but the way he talked he had seen plenty of those elusive crocs!!
Saturdays run of 54nm has us at Shelburne Bay just north of Cape Grenville. We had half a dozen dolphins swim along with us for a good half hour in the morning. At the cape we passed an Island with a resort on it. Now we are in ‘no man's land' , miles from people, so who would even know a resort was up here? This part of the coast line is not very remarkable. The hills are mostly featureless with scrub on white sand dunes or rocky hills. The mangroves seem to grow any and everywhere. We are now only about 80nm from Cape York.
Next morning we are up for another early start heading for Escape River. We are going through one of the Barrier Reef ‘No Fishing' zones - a Marine National Park. Pity. Again a run with the MPS. These South East Trade winds which blow for most of the winter in this area are great for the yachts heading North. In the morning we have a number of porpoise swimming along with us and later in the afternoon we are joined by dolphins. We arrive at Escape River just on dusk and as we motor sail up the river we are met by one of the locals in his boat who runs the pearl farm here. He welcomes us to "his little corner of the world" and then after telling us a good spot to anchor tells us emphatically "do not go swimming or even linger about on your back steps"!!!! I told him I had not seen ONE yet. He said, "they have seen you"!!!! So with the water temperature a wonderful 31degrees, my swim was definitely out!! And so was Alec's idea of giving the hull a good scrub from the tender!!
Monday morning we are able to have a later start as it is only a 20nm run up to Cape York and Alec is working the tides and currents in this area. We go through the Albany Pass on a rising tide to give us a push. At exactly 4.00pm as we enter the passage our log turns over to 10,000nm. How about that. SHAMAL has done 10.000nm in just under two years. It is quite beautiful passing through the pass, the mainland side with white sandy coves and beaches with coconut palms to the beach edge looking more like something you would expect to see in the tropics - ah yes well that is just where we are!! Then Albany Island with a rich history, once hoping to be the ‘Singapore' of Australia on the other side. Once through there we are only a couple of miles to Cape York - The very Northern tip of the great land mass of Australia. The cape is low and barren with termite mounds and what look like some sort of ancient burial rock mounds on the skyline. We round the top two islands Eborac and York and come into the bay and drop anchor. With a glass of wine we celebrate as a huge orange sun sets in the west.
This morning we went ashore to walk out to the cape for the photo to say ‘been there, done that' and met other s doing the same. A guide taking another couple (who just happened to be called Anna and Alex) took our photo at the Cape making us hold up the Australian flag! We then went back to the beach for a lovely walk through tropical bush to the ‘Wilderness Lodge' which was Government owned and sold back to the Aboriginal community in 1992. It is now no longer is running. Great pity as it would get many tourists who pass through in their 4x4's and the cruisers during the season.
It was back to SHAMAL and now we are doing the short run to Thursday Island out in the Torres Strait. We are at 10 degrees south. The sun is shining, it is a barmy 30 degrees c, the sea is the most beautiful turquoise colour and the water temperature 31 degrees. We have a breeze of 15kts and are sailing along at 5kts. Down wind. What else could we wish for.
A little later - We have arrived at Thursday Island but won't go ashore till tomorrow.
Cathy, Dave and Murray W, we still have ‘Wilson' on board. I am rather loath to give him away now. I have even given him a face!!
OK will sign out for this letter. Not sure if I can send it from here or will have to wait till we arrive in Darwin.
Love to you all
The Admiral and The Captain
Hello again one and all
As I start to write this we are back out at sea once more heading North up the Australian East Coast with a few more little adventures in the wake behind us.
First I must say a big thank you to all of you who have been sending us emails along the way. We love hearing from you and catching up with your news.
Well our last email I see was from Airlie Beach in the Whitsunday Group. Here we had the starboard trampoline repaired and then with great difficulty Alec and I attempted to put it back on. We wasted nearly a whole day struggling with it, then gave up and the next morning Alec too it back to the guys who had sewn it up to find it took five of them to thread a pipe back into it which the two of us were unable to do, and had no hope of doing - no wonder - they had sewn the new strip too tightly!!! We were now at the end of our first week in Airlie and were still waiting on some important mail to arrive, so decided to spend the weekend exploring some of the Islands. It was Friday afternoon as we set out and Alec kept saying the steering was too heavy, so he took it off auto pilot and hand steered out to Hook Island where we anchored in a lovely quiet inlet just to blob out, only to be joined by another half dozen boats. We stayed on for the Saturday taking the tender further up the inlet and then into the beach for a look see. Alma I am back shelling again! On the Sunday we sailed to Whitsunday Island and anchored in Tongue Bay where we went ashore and walked to an outlook looking down on the famous Whitehaven Beach which is 6kms long, Betty's Beach and up onto Hill Inlet. Talk about a pristine beautiful pure white silica sands. We could see the stingrays basking in the clear turquoise waters just below us. We went back to the tender and explored the top end of Tongue Bay watching turtles sunning themselves before taking SHAMAL down to the far end of Whitehaven Beach for the night. We went ashore for a walk just before sunset. Talk about beautiful clean sands. It was like walking on icing sugar that literally squeaked when you walked on it. The Aboriginal name for it is "whispering sands" and how appropriate that is.
Monday morning saw us heading back to Airlie Beach as we really needed to get this steering sorted out pronto and pick up our mail. Funny isn't it when you want to move on in this cruising game there is always something else to be done. We phoned the boat factory and then waited till the following Monday for the parts to arrive by courier post!!! On the Tuesday a couple of the boys from Charter Yachts Australia very kindly fitted them with Alec watching on, while I did a last laundry and shop. We filled in some of that extra time that week with a couple we met from another catamaran parked a little further into the bay. They had do a road trip back to Mackay and invited us to go with them which was a fun day. We had meals with them and they joined us on board for a meal.
Then the day dawned - Wednesday 5th August - when we could finally move on out and start heading North again. We sailed to Cape Gloucester - 22 miles up the coast - for the first night where we dropped the anchor then went ashore for an evening stroll and watched kangaroos grazing just in from the beach. Next morning we headed out for Cape Upstart some 50 miles on up the coast, but, only a few miles out we noticed trouble with the steering AGAIN, so Alec went down to investigate, and found that one of the cables was not on a pulley. A job that really could not be done while underway, so, it was a divert into the township of Bowen just 12 miles away. We were told this is the town where the film Australia was made. We pulled into the visitors pontoon where Alec then took the next few hours fixing the problem. It was about mid afternoon when he had finished so we decided to spend the night there and move on in the morning. The marina asked us to move out onto their pile moorings. Not something I want to do again!! Tying up to two posts - one in front and one behind - in very strong cross winds, is no joke!! We recruited the help of a couple of guys who were on the pontoon and it still took us about half an hour to get SHAMAL properly tied up. We then went ashore to the local yacht club for dinner with one of the guys who had helped us, his wife and another couple. Both have catamarans and are travelling up the coast together. Nice evening.
Then first thing the following morning we were on our way again to Cape Upstart. 40 miles later we drop anchor and went ashore for a walk along the beach. Next morning as we were heading out Alec spotted a whale as we were putting the sails up. The winds were not very strong so we did a sail change and put up the MPS - our lovely big colour sail for light winds - and had a great run up to Cape Bowling Green. Don't you just love all these wonderful names the Aussies have for their Capes! The following day saw the same sort of winds so it was another run with the MPS all the way into Townsville.
Here we spent four nights. The first night we anchored up behind the breakwater, and then on the Monday morning we moved up into the Ross Creek to the Townsville Motor Boat and Yacht Club. Again so we could do boat jobs as well as visiting the sites. One of these jobs included a slight alteration to the sail bag which involved sewing. Alec, in his great wisdom, said it would be so easy and I should use my sewing machine. Fine - no - as he would not take the bag off the boom, as that was too big a job! I was to take my machine up on to the roof and do the job up there!! Well after a couple of hours in temperatures around 29 degrees I managed to complete the job, but as you can imagine it was not easy sitting on my bean bag with the machine at knee height on a box, the sail bag still attached to the boom, and working the foot peddle with one knee.
Townsville really is a mixture of the old and new with some wonderful old Queenslander Buildings. It has the world's largest living coral reef aquarium which was fascinating. We also caught up with one of the couples we had met in Bowen which was fun. Then just 11 miles off the coast is another famous resort Island - Magnetic. We moved out there into Horseshoe Bay which was lovely. The following morning we had a quick visit ashore and on the way Back to SHAMAL we went aboard "Champagne Charlie", the other people from a cat whom we had met in Bowen, for a detailed brief on the trip to Darwin. They are from Lake Macquarie and on board they had their neighbour who sails with them every winter to the warmer north. Sid was 94 and reminded me so much of Dad. He was just delightful.
By 1.00pm we were on our way again, this time heading for the Palm Islands. This was a day for a bit of self dentistry!! Yep I was eating some almonds when I broke a bit off a tooth. No problem - out came my little kit my Dentist at home had given me and after about 20 minutes I must say with some difficulty and a lot of dribble I had managed to put in a temporary filling!! Alec wanted to help but I decided his skills lie in different areas!
After a night anchored at Great Palm it was on to Orpheus Is. and into Yanks Jetty. Just catching up with local history. Then on to the Hinchinbrook Channel. This is a 26 mile channel which runs between the main land and the Island of Hinchinbrook. We were now entering real croc country. I really would like to see one but from a distance. This place was like entering another world. The tropical rain forest comes nearly to the water's edge where the mangroves then take over. There are creeks and channels leading off in all directions. The water changes to a muddy brown and it was like motoring into a mill pond. The imagination takes over and the deeper in you get you could see anything you want to!! We anchored up for the night about a third of the way in. Everything was lovely till just after sunset when we were invaded by every flying insect that could bite. We had to lock ourselves inside. Thank goodness for the mosquito screens.
Next morning it was up anchor and we headed on through the channel passing sea snakes basking on top of the water who would uncoil and dive as you pass. We motored out into Rockingham Bay and on up to Dunk Island (another resort Island ) passing more sea snakes and also dolphins. Again a trip ashore for a good 6k walk around part of the Island through lovely tropical rain forest and past lovely white sandy beaches and, mangroves. Yes I was watching out for my croc!! That evening we were anchored beside another kiwi boat whom we joined for a sun downer and watched two huge manta rays playing about just beside the boat.
We have been having the most stunning sunsets of late. The seas turn to a sparkling liquid silver and the sky's the most gorgeous colours of pink. The sunrises also are something else with the sea the most beautiful golden colour as the big yellow ball rises for the day.
I have had my fishing line out each day but so far NOTHING. Not sure what I am doing wrong. Maybe there just are no fish up here. Talking with other yachts the fishing has not been too prolific of late.
Yesterday was a 55 mile sail towards Cairns to High Island where again we anchored in the lee for the night. The wind changed during the night and we rolled around a bit so we were up just before sunrise this morning for the short sail of 35 miles up to Cairns. So here we are now. We got a berth in the Super Yacht side of the marina and are packed beside something so huge that we look like their tender. We have had one quick walk into town. It is very much a tourist town with street signs in different languages, a huge range of international eating places and all the tourist curio shops looking like something you would see in Singapore! It is quite tropical with wide streets and lovely trees all over the place. Cairns has a nice feel about it. We hope to do some site seeing here before heading North again. Also stock up on a few fresh supplies.
Well that is enough from us for this letter so we will sign off.
Hope all is well with you all.
Love from
The Admiral and The Captain
Hello again.
Our four days in Mackay seemed to pass quickly. We discovered we were in huge sugar cane growing area with ships coming into the port to load up with sugar or molasses. Also a little south of Mackay is an enormous coal loading facility where the ships are loaded out at sea by a conveyor belt system, hence all the ships anchored offshore waiting their turn to load - more than 30 of them.
We first caught up on some much needed sleep, then spent the weekend cleaning, then exploring the marina area on our bikes, then visiting some of the cafe's and eateries. After the weekend we took the bus into the township of Mackay to restock our supplies. There were no real handy places to have our repairs done so on the Tuesday we refuelled SHAMAL and headed out to explore the southern Islands in the Whitsunday Group. Our first night was spent at St. Bees Is. We arrived just on dusk and anchored in a sheltered bay, well that was till the wind turned during the night and we woke early in the early hours of morning rocking and rolling about. At daylight we up anchor and moved on up to Shaw Is and dropped anchored in a lovely sheltered bay along with another seven boats. We took the tender ashore and explored the beautiful white sandy beaches. Next day it was on to Hamilton Is where we picked up a mooring and again went ashore. Hamilton Island is a resort Island with high rise buildings, restaurants, clubs, shops etc along with all the tourist things, and a million tourists!! We took the free bus around to have a quick look which dropped us off at the lookout. Here we had quite magnificent views looking down on the beaches and out over other Islands. It was a lovely evening with the sky turning a glorious shade of pink as the sun was setting. We walked back down the hill to the township and bought a takeaway meal and sat on the waterfront watching the day workers packing up and the night life begin.
Next morning we set sail for Airlie Beach sailing into Shute Bay on the way for a look. By 2.00pm we were on a mooring buoy just outside the Able Point Marina at Airlie Beach, kindly given to us by friends we have made from the Boat Shows we have done both in NZ and here in Oz. They own a Charter company here. We took the STB trampoline, which we blew in heavy seas just before we came in through the Barrier Reef, and the sail bag ashore to be repaired, hopefully we should have them back before the end of the week. Our other jobs will have to wait till we arrive in Townsville.
We have taken our bikes ashore and explored the local area - also to get some exercise. On Sunday Alec had us biking for miles checking out where the sail bag repair place was. We nearly crossed the State!! I was exhausted that night.
Yesterday we had the first bit of rain since arriving in Oz. It is much cooler here so we are looking forward to heading North after a visit to more of the Whitsunday Islands. It really is a cruisers paradise here with so many beautiful Islands and bays to visit. We will be heading out to the famous Whitehaven beach on Whitsunday Island next.
OK this is just a short note which I am sure you will be pleased about, so will sign out for the time being.
Love from the Admiral and the Captain
Hello Again
As I start this email to you we are on day three of our crossing from Luganville on the Island of Santo - Vanuatu, to Mackay in Oz. We have only covered a total of 267nm. A very slow trip so far but the winds are so light we are having to motor sail. The charges for arriving in Oz are horrendous. Customs and Immigration have quoted us $400 and it is more if we arrive in the weekend, so we have seen a reef marked on the map we pass quite close by and we may stop here to pass the time if it looks like our arrival time is going to be over a weekend.
It was a sad departure from Luganville. We had not really even touched the Vanuatu group which is made up of 83 Islands and yet those that we did, we met the most amazing people. I am not sure if I am ready to face the rat race of a so called 1st world culture and all its sophistication. We have left behind a beautiful people who are not all yet touched by our western ways which was so refreshing. Obesity was nearly unseen. They are anxious to please you and greet you with warm smiles and there is a lot of waving. Even the teenagers want to talk to you. Doesn't that make a change! They don't ask you for anything but if you do hand over a second hand T-shirt or pair of your old shoes they seemed overwhelmed at your generosity. They will then run off and bring you back a pawpaw or some other tropical fruit or vege from their gardens. You just wish you could carry more with you. As in the tropics there is not much twilight and so darkness falls quickly. Electricity is mainly only found in the main centres so their way of life is very simple. You go to bed and rise with the sun. In town the other day Kathy and I saw an outer village man sitting on the back of a Ute dressed only in a beanie, sunglasses and a penis wrapper. I was too slow with my camera.
We also left behind new friends - Bridget and ken from NZ who have built a Lockwood home on the Island of Aore - just across from Luganville. They were so kind and made our stay so warm and welcoming.
Leaving and clearing Customs and Immigration was fraught with the usual difficulties which we are now getting use to. We decided the weather was right to leave first light on Thursday 2nd July so went to clear out on the Wednesday. Customs took longer than we had expected - and we did allow time - so by the time we arrived at Immigration it was early afternoon and there was a note on the door to say ‘This Office Closed Wednesday Afternoon For Sports'. I tell you one does learn patience!!!! So it was back the next morning, a job that was completed in 10 minutes but as we had to use the tender that took time to stow away and make SHAMAL ready for our ocean crossing. Then there was the last swim we had to have. We used this time to also give SHAMAL'S hulls a good clean to pass the Oz Quarantine clearance. They will have your boat lifted out at your expense if they are not happy with it. So it was not until 11.00am when we finally sailed on out leaving Santo behind. We will return one day when we are back in the Pacific and visit more of this amazing Island Archipelago.
Well here we are on the morning day 6. We have covered 670nm with an average speed of 5.6kts. Just over half way. It is an 1,100nm trip. As you can see this is a very slow trip but also very comfortable as we have been on a broad reach or running down wind. Weather wise we could do with a bit more wind. As for the rain the weather charts told us we would get this morning well, at 9.00 we had a big black cloud looming down on us from the Port beam so we put in a reef only to take it out 2 hours later with not even the hint of rain or more wind. It is overcast today with the sun trying very hard to come through but apart from that I have been fishing in the sun the other days. Caught a barracuda on Saturday which I put back. We also saw a pod of whales that afternoon playing in the sun. A couple of nights ago two boobys landed for the night and we thought that was so neat. One on the solar panel and the other on the bow rail. Well Alec soon changed his mind about that being 'so neat' when they flew off in the morning and the one on the solar panel had droppings all over it and all down the tender cover, and the one up front had sicked up tiny fish and shit all over the tramp!!
We are trying very hard to eat our way through the freezer and fresh stuff but I can see we are still going to arrive in Oz with it which customs will remove. We still have 4 of coconuts and 4 pawpaw. It is strange but we don't seem to eat so much when making a passage, but we are not doing as much exercise either.
The afternoon of day 6 sees a change in the weather. The first squalls hit at 9.00pm. Again another booby hitches a ride. He had a very bumpy night holding on very tightly to the life line just beside the helm, not in the least worried about us only being a couple of feet away. We did not have the heart to sent him on his way as he must of needed the rest and there was no land for him to rest on so I said I would clean up his droppings in the morning. Days 7 and 8 the weather changes to overcast, rain squalls, winds between 17 - 25kts, but some of that time the wind was right on the nose with seas breaking over the boat. Short sharp seas getting up to 4mts for a time. But SHAMAL handles those conditions well. We were humming along for a time doing 8kts. We reached Marion Reef, about 100nm out from the Great Barrier Reef at 2.30am on day 8 and Alec decided we would keep going as he calculated we would get to Mackay before the weekend. We reached Hydrographers Passage on the Great Barrier Reef at 6.30pm that night. The first few hours we had the wind and tide in our favour so the ride in for the first few miles was quick, but then things changed and we did not clear through till 5.45am the next morning. It was quite nerve racking passing coral reefs in the dark and not being able to see a thing, just relying on charts and our chart plotter. We chose this passage as it is used by commercial shipping and well marked with lead lights, but that also meant avoiding these huge ships passing in both directions in a rather narrow pass. At times only half a mile away but when it is dark it seems so much closer. In the morning when we were closer in Alec picked up 30 ships anchored off the coast on the AIS (Automatic Identification System which is on our chart plotter) waiting to load coal or sugar. This was confirmed once we arrived. It then took us till 3.30 that afternoon to motor sail the 80nm into Mackay.
WE MADE IT. LEG THREE COMPLETED. All 1,160nm of it in 8 days 5 hours. The Captain and the Admiral have completed their first ‘Blue Water' on their own. We were exhausted but exhilarated at the same time. Then there was the matter of our clearance into Aussie. Exhilaration turned to exasperation!! We were expecting a bit of a tough time but some of those stories one reads or hears about clearing into Australia are true. Four people march down the ramp (help you would have thought we were a cruise liner coming in) and the first question before they come aboard is, is anyone sick, and, are you carrying animals. The two custom officers were very friendly and their part was completed quickly. They handed Alec a cruising permit which is valid for six months and two post cards asking him to send them one each three months as to our whereabouts!! Very tempted to answer - weather great, having a neat time, guess where we are!!! Then the two Quarantine boys proceeded with their part of the clearance. Armed with big yellow rubbish bags they started with the freezer. They took all remaining NZ export quality meat labelled and marked correctly but told us as we had come via other places and not directly from NZ it would have to be seized. Make sense of that? About $100 worth. Fresh veges, cheese, butter, eggs-only 2 left but they had cost 70cents each in Luganville, popcorn, little steamed puddings - because they contained eggs, and my frozen bread dough as it may contain milk!!, my gluten free bread in the freezer, etc, etc. The Quarantine fee was $AU330 for the privilege!!! At least customs had no charge. We then moved SHAMAL over to a marina berth had a can of sweet corn and were in bed just after 7.00pm We slept through till 9.00 the following morning. Then we started on the big clean up. We were very salt encrusted and found we had blown the starboard trampoline in the heavy seas. Not a major repair, just a bit of PVC and some sewing. We also found that seawater came down the outlet hose on the washing machine and it was about a quarter fill of seawater!! Hence the boat has been drenched with fresh water including the washing machine!!!!
Tomorrow - Monday - we will take the bus into Mackay as the marina is about 10ks outside of the town, and stock up on a few supplies, then on Tuesday if the weather is right we will head on up to The Whitsundays where we will do a couple of repairs so we could be there for a couple of weeks.
OK will sign out for this note. Thank you all for your emails and keeping us posted as to your events as well. Great to hear from you all.
Much love from
The Admiral and The Captain
Hello One And All
Well to fill you in on what we are up to. On Tuesday 2nd June we finally upped anchor from our little bay just outside Port Moselle and motored in to clear custom etc. With a little ‘help' from our new kiwi friends on board "Nutcase" ( Graham and Sandra) parked just outside the Port with us, clearance went very smoothly. Most of our fruit and veges were taken from us - and this we had expected so had run supplies down. We were allowed to keep anything we had cooked!! So potatoes and my kumara were cooked up along with some hard boiled eggs. They let me keep my carrots as well. Then there was our ‘export' meat, all $300 plus!! The rules have just changed and one is now allowed to bring in meat from NZ and Australia as long as it has the export sticker on it. Thank goodness ours did. "Nutcase" gave us help here! Can't go into too many details!!
We tied up just opposite and down two boats from another Seawind 1160 "apa lagi" ("what more" in Indonesian) The owners are back in Australia for six months we were told.
So it was then off into town to find a Bank and look for the spare parts for our loo. Parts of the old town were in about the same state as our loo. The harbour smelt like a sewage pond and their system is not working too well in some of the streets. With jobs done it was back to the boat to sort out our problems which the boys thought they had done but realised another trip was needed for more pipe. Dinner that night was in the local car park at these eatery vans. Cheap and very nice. We did a visit to the supermarket for a few supplies to find most things were more than double the price to home, but we were pre warned about this hence all my years of supplies I have onboard!!
The next day with the all jobs finally complete it was off to explore more of Noumea. We walked through the suburbs to a couple of other marinas and bays which were lovely. So there was another side with a little more of a French flare and which was nice and clean thank goodness. We visited the ‘aquarium des lagoons' which was amazing and we all were hoping we will get to see some of the same once we leave Noumea and visit the reefs and lagoons. All we need at this stage is for the weather to improve.
By Thursday we had walked the town, visited the local markets, eaten out (even if one night was a ‘Big Mac' for Alec) and done our maintenance cleaning and 5 loads of washing in my little machine - it was sheet day, we filled up with water and fuel - the fuel part took over an hour as the boys did not get the correct paper work from Customs so Alec had to go back and sort that out, THEN finally it was time to leave. Alec and Dave had walked over to Customs Immigration and to see the Port Captain earlier to check out formalities as we were told this is the only Port one can check in and out of in the whole of New Caledonia. Two hours later they returned. We had been given ‘trois' days to clear the country!! Pity none of us can count in French. We were heading South East, back to the Isle of Pines about 90 miles away. That afternoon we headed down the west coast of the main land and motored into Baie Ngo. It was not dissimilar to being in the Marlborough Sounds back home. The main difference being the hillsides are not covered in lush native bush and beautiful ferns, but a low scrub which is growing over the open cast Nickel mines which have left horrendous scars on the landscape, and are evident all around these bays.
Next morning we only went 14 miles - to the bottom of the mainland where we motored into Baie De Prony, dropped anchor and set of exploring. The sun was out and now things are starting to look more like those glossy brochures depict. Clean clear waters and a few coconut palms among other trees along the shore line. We collected coconuts and walked the reef as it was low tide. We watched a local (Kanak) cleaning octopus which he had just caught on the reef. Then it was back to SHAMAL for our sundowners - hard life!!
Saturday saw us up early and leaving for the Isle of Pines. Usually the winds get up about 10.00 each morning from the wrong direction making sailing impossible but this morning they were from the north and came in early so by 8.30 we were sailing at a lovely 8kts in a 15kt breeze. By just after midday we were anchored in Baie De Kuto - the main village on the Pines having covered the 48nm in just on six hours. That left us the afternoon to explore. We visited the old Prison Ruins and Dave climbed the highest peak for some photos.
Next day we motored around the corner to another beautiful bay and used our new power snorkel for the first time. The coral and fish were lovely but not quite what we had seen in the aquarium. The water temperature was perfect!
Monday saw us heading to the top of the Island negotiating our way through numerous reefs with Dave in the Bosun Chair half way up the mast looking out for coral bommies. We arrived in Baie De Gadji, the most beautiful spot so far. Clean clear waters which reflect the most vivid turquoise as the bottom of this lagoon has such pure white sands. We spent the afternoon exploring the Islets dotted around the bay and snorkelling out on the reef. Now we were seeing the corals and fish we had seen at the aquarium. It was just beautiful.
Tuesday saw us leaving this little spot of Paradise and heading back to the main land and then on up the East coast. We are sitting between two stationary weather fronts which gives us no wind at all so we have to motor. Dave and I got into the tender and motored along the reef for about an hour with the fishing lines out but to no avail. SHAMAL stayed outside. Then we climbed back on board and motored inside to find a spot for the night. We found a place at the entrance to a river mouth at Nahoue. A strange little place where at first we thought no one lived, but after dark lights moved mystically along the shore line and a small motor propelled a vessel in total darkness somewhere out towards the reef. Where Alec started seeing sharks which turned out to be jagged rocks of the partly submerged reef. The sea and sky became one.
Today again we have no wind and it is grey and overcast. We have been following a track along the inside of the reef. It must be the weather as today we have caught fish. The first a big skip jack tuna and then just over an hour later a big fat kingfish. The freezer is full again. Just after we had finished cleaning the fish Alec claimed he saw a shark, and sure enough he was right as we all saw it. I think it was after our fish scraps!! No swimming today!! We are making our way up the coast to a place called Poindimie' - about 2/3's of the way up. It will be about day ‘trois' by the time we have visited there so it is here we will leave for Vanuatu.
So far it is all going well and we are enjoying it all. Well I have gone on for too long as usual so will sign out for this letter. Photos following.
Love to you all
From the Admiral, Captain and our Crew
Hello to you all out there
Well with all jobs done, our crew of Dave and Kathy settled into the guest cabin, custom formalities all completed and a lovely fresh coffee from the new marina cafe, at 1030 we motored out from Opua on a lovely sunny but cool winters morning on Leg one - heading for Noumea. We then motored for the nearly 20 hours with not enough puff to raise a sail. The seas were calm with hardly a ripple. So much for the Bob McDavitt's Voyage Forecast in which he said we would have SSW winds of 15kts. Alec said he owes him 50Lts of diesel!!! Then just after 0700 the next morning when we were off the top of North Cape we were able to raised the sails with the wind increasing to a good 20kt from the SE. At last we were on our way. Squalls have been about most days, until today - day 6 - but nothing to worry about. The strongest gust in those squalls was 30kts and only lasted a few minutes.
You may well ask what we do with our time when out on a passage like this. Well I can tell you this trip we have had plenty to fill in the time. First our radar decided to have a little hiccup. It decided one evening it didn't want to work anymore. But as with electrical stuff if you sometimes turn it off and leave it alone for a while it will miraculously works again. Alec had his books out reading up on it and he and Dave had an in depth discussion on it. So that took up time. The conclusion they came to was when our battery bank falls too low the radar cuts out. All sorted once we started the engine and let them recharge for a while. Our new wind generator does not work very well when we are running down wind - that is with the wind nearly behind us. Lovely point of sailing but no good for charging.
Another job that kept us all busy was our loo blocked up!! Oh help I would not wish this on any one. After two stops each of a couple of hours, and one with Dave going over the side to try from the outside, we discovered a valve had all calcified up. Not Pretty. We need some extra pipe so that is a job which will be completed once we get into Noumea. I can tell you there was plenty of cleaning and washing done with that job.
Then there was our fishing. Yes there are fish out there unlike our Tasman crossing. We pulled in a beautiful Mahimahi a good 4 foot long. We were all so excited. It was pulled on board and processed and in the freezer - apart from what we kept out for a couple of meals - and the boat all cleaned up in record time. At least it was all over for the poor thing as it did would not know what had hit it!
Another little bit of excitement was when Kathy spotted a buoy floating by. So around we turned and picked it up. At the moment it is tied up the front. We may be able to use it for trading with a local fisherman for some fruit or coconuts!!
This time we were not alone here in the ‘big blue'. Alec had a big cargo ship pass us when he was on night watch so called him up on the radio to have a chat. He was on his way to Wellington. Then the first day that we were having loo problems there was another yacht that came over the horizon then passed us. Well as we were stopped this was a bit much for the boys, so once we were underway again we had to pay catch up. Which we did and had a chat to them on the radio. They were a German couple who left Opua the day before us and were also heading for Noumea. We then sailed on ahead of them much to Alec's delight.
Sunday 31st. May
Well we have made it. Here we are sitting at anchor in a small bay just outside the Marina. It is after 11 am and Customs are closed for the day so we are unable to clear. Looks like we will have to wait till the morning. It has taken us exactly seven days. We did slow down so as to arrive just outside the reef in daylight plus there were those other stops. All in all it was a very good trip. We all enjoyed it. The sea conditions were very good. So now Alec and I have done our second ‘blue water'.
Monday 1st. June
This morning a kiwi couple came over and had coffee with us and told us the procedures here, and also that today is a Public Holiday would you believe!!!! We have been told so many different stories as to how things are done here that the boys have decided to take NASEEN - the tender - ashore and find out for themselves. Now they are back and yes it is a holiday and yes we are meant to stay on board till we are cleared and yes we could lose a lot of our ‘fresh' supplies, and all that beautiful NZ meat, so we are doing a huge cook up at the moment!!!
First impressions of this Tropical Paradise - well the sun is trying to shine through heavy grey clouds which are dumping on us every so often. The seas are not that aqua blue in this bay and the beach is stony not beautiful white sands!! Palm trees - well few and far between, but in saying all this we are more or less in the Port area which usually not the pretty part of any town. As we were coming in we did see a little of the above and once the weather has settled and we head off exploring we will in no doubt anchor in some of those beautiful bays. Can't wait.
OK will sign out for this note.
Love to you all
The Admiral, Captain and our wonderful Crew
Hello to you all out there
Well with all jobs done, our crew of Dave and Kathy settled into the guest cabin, custom formalities all completed and a lovely fresh coffee from the new marina cafe, at 1030 we motored out from Opua on a lovely sunny but cool winters morning on Leg one - heading for Noumea. We then motored for the nearly 20 hours with not enough puff to raise a sail. The seas were calm with hardly a ripple. So much for the Bob McDavitt's Voyage Forecast in which he said we would have SSW winds of 15kts. Alec said he owes him 50Lts of diesel!!! Then just after 0700 the next morning when we were off the top of North Cape we were able to raised the sails with the wind increasing to a good 20kt from the SE. At last we were on our way. Squalls have been about most days, until today - day 6 - but nothing to worry about. The strongest gust in those squalls was 30kts and only lasted a few minutes.
You may well ask what we do with our time when out on a passage like this. Well I can tell you this trip we have had plenty to fill in the time. First our radar decided to have a little hiccup. It decided one evening it didn't want to work anymore. But as with electrical stuff if you sometimes turn it off and leave it alone for a while it will miraculously works again. Alec had his books out reading up on it and he and Dave had an in depth discussion on it. So that took up time. The conclusion they came to was when our battery bank falls too low the radar cuts out. All sorted once we started the engine and let them recharge for a while. Our new wind generator does not work very well when we are running down wind - that is with the wind nearly behind us. Lovely point of sailing but no good for charging.
Another job that kept us all busy was our loo blocked up!! Oh help I would not wish this on any one. After two stops each of a couple of hours, and one with Dave going over the side to try from the outside, we discovered a valve had all calcified up. Not Pretty. We need some extra pipe so that is a job which will be completed once we get into Noumea. I can tell you there was plenty of cleaning and washing done with that job.
Then there was our fishing. Yes there are fish out there unlike our Tasman crossing. We pulled in a beautiful Mahimahi a good 4 foot long. We were all so excited. It was pulled on board and processed and in the freezer - apart from what we kept out for a couple of meals - and the boat all cleaned up in record time. At least it was all over for the poor thing as it did would not know what had hit it!
Another little bit of excitement was when Kathy spotted a buoy floating by. So around we turned and picked it up. At the moment it is tied up the front. We may be able to use it for trading with a local fisherman for some fruit or coconuts!!
This time we were not alone here in the ‘big blue'. Alec had a big cargo ship pass us when he was on night watch so called him up on the radio to have a chat. He was on his way to Wellington. Then the first day that we were having loo problems there was another yacht that came over the horizon then passed us. Well as we were stopped this was a bit much for the boys, so once we were underway again we had to pay catch up. Which we did and had a chat to them on the radio. They were a German couple who left Opua the day before us and were also heading for Noumea. We then sailed on ahead of them much to Alec's delight.
Sunday 31st. May
Well we have made it. Here we are sitting at anchor in a small bay just outside the Marina. It is after 11 am and Customs are closed for the day so we are unable to clear. Looks like we will have to wait till the morning. It has taken us exactly seven days. We did slow down so as to arrive just outside the reef in daylight plus there were those other stops. All in all it was a very good trip. We all enjoyed it. The sea conditions were very good. So now Alec and I have done our second ‘blue water'.
Monday 1st. June
This morning a kiwi couple came over and had coffee with us and told us the procedures here, and also that today is a Public Holiday would you believe!!!! We have been told so many different stories as to how things are done here that the boys have decided to take NASEEN - the tender - ashore and find out for themselves. Now they are back and yes it is a holiday and yes we are meant to stay on board till we are cleared and yes we could lose a lot of our ‘fresh' supplies, and all that beautiful NZ meat, so we are doing a huge cook up at the moment!!!
First impressions of this Tropical Paradise - well the sun is trying to shine through heavy grey clouds which are dumping on us every so often. The seas are not that aqua blue in this bay and the beach is stony not beautiful white sands!! Palm trees - well few and far between, but in saying all this we are more or less in the Port area which usually not the pretty part of any town. As we were coming in we did see a little of the above and once the weather has settled and we head off exploring we will in no doubt anchor in some of those beautiful bays. Can't wait.
OK will sign out for this note.
Love to you all
The Admiral, Captain and our wonderful Crew
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Hello Again
At this moment we are sitting back in the Westhaven Marina in Auckland after seven months away exploring the East coast of the North Island and the top of the South Island and what a beautiful coast line we have.
We left Tauranga and headed north on 30th January. It was a lovely morning and we sailed the 23nm up the coast before crossing the bar and into Whangamata. We picked up the visitors mooring just inside the harbour entrance then took the tender ashore to check out the town. A couple whom we had taken out for a sail on our trip south came on board for dinks that evening. Next morning it was on up the coast towards Tairua. Here we met up with a good friend - "Old Dark" - and his brother, who decided that fishing was on the agenda for the rest of the day. They headed off in their boat and we went off in another direction in SHAMAL. We met again in the evening to cross yet another bar and then on up the river to their section with its own pontoon on the very popular Pauanui waterways. Well the "Port Pilots" were in front guiding us up the river which they had navigated hundreds of times before, but, we were very soon to discover they were totally blinded by the liquid refreshments they had consumed that day, and their perception of the depth was quite different from what our depth sounder was telling us. Needless to say we reached a point where we had to stop and wait for the tide to come in a little more. The "Pilots" returned to their base as their vessel was "dry", but returned to continue their job about an hour later!!!! We eventually tied up just on dark but were then cooked a most beautiful meal of fresh fish and washed down with a very nice wine to finish a very eventful day. Thanks boys.
Two days later we left Tairua and sailed on up to Whitianga where we were invited to tie up at the pontoon of lovely English couple who have a house
on the waterways there. Again hospitality was wonderful and we spent a
couple of nights there. It is just a magical spot and one we just may call home in the years to come.
We sailed out of Whitianga and headed out to the Mercury Islands. We are now in one of New Zealand's most beautiful cruising grounds. There are Islands all around this area stretching to north of Auckland. We found a perfect little bay with crystal clear waters and a clean white sandy beach to drop the anchor then headed ashore to explore. It was just like you see in those adds of some Pacific Paradise Island. Next day it was off to a bay "Old Dark" had recommended with his scallop dredge. Just want to let you know "Old Dark" that it took us nearly 4 hours to get our 19 scallops!!!!!
But they did taste good. Can't be too greedy can we. Think the bay had been well dredged over the Christmas New Year period!! Fun way to fill in the morning. That night was spent in another lovely bay. Next day it was on to Great Barrier Island. That was a lovely mornings sail of 22nm. We averaged 7kts in warm sunny conditions. Here we picked up a couple John and Heather Cunningham who were to spend the next five days with us. They are a couple who are looking at buying a boat sometime. We spent three days exploring the Islands and Bays sailing, fishing and swimming having a relaxing time then headed in to Kawau Island. This was another good run - broad reach - averaging 7.5kts for the 25nm trip. We anchored in yet another lovely bay and started fishing for our dinner. We woke in the morning to a very gently rain. The first we had seen in ages. We pulled up the anchor and motored and sailed back to Auckland stopping at Gulf Harbour for a coffee on the way. We managed to get our colourful Spinnaker sail up for a short run on this leg.
So as I said at the beginning we are now back in Auckland. It is time to start making arrangements for our big trip away in May. We will be gathering supplies, spares, and all those "things" one needs but hopes they don't have to use. At this stage we will be leaving New Zealand around the 23rd May from Opua in The Bay of Islands and heading up to Port Vila. We hope this last year sailing in New Zealand and the experience we have gained will stand us in good stead for the future.
Will keep you posted as to our little adventures as there is still some lovely weather around to keep us busy sailing close to Auckland.
This is The Admiral and Captain signing out
Lots of Love
Ann and Alec
