Pastime of Sydney- 2006 Adventures

This was our best ocean passage yet. We sailed 965NM which took just under one week. Our actual sailing speed- discounting stops for repair etc- was just over 6knots. Only minor things went wrong and we only used 6 litres of diesel fuel from go to whoa.

The Passage Planning software was a great boon and our studies of weather seem to have paid off.

Our new device (made by David) the SRS1 which detects ships over 300 tonnes was great. Particularly within the Barrier Reef at night. We also had a few worries another night when we encountered four ships- a bit of a record. Our SRS and the chartplotter showed two ships, one just behind the other and on a collision course (with us). We picked them up almost an hour before we could see the first one. Even then, the second ship was almost impossible to see until it was very close. Even though we had their names and other pertinent information, neither ship answered our calls on either VHF or HF radio. We even called them with what is called Digital Signalling which would have rung an alarm on their bridges. Nothing!

They obviously knew we were here because we could see them making very small course corrections (invisible to our eyes) which moved their closest point of approach and kept it at 1.3NM. Now, this is not very far, especially on an inky dark night. If we ha not had the SRS and chartplotter, we would have reversed direction to keep well out of the way. So, all was well. The ships were obviously travelling together and were from some Slavic country as the ship names were full of Zs. They did talk with one another once on the radio and we could not understand them. Presumably, they had no-one with English on their Bridges at 3AM.

Well, we are gong to spend several days varnishing, restocking and sightseeing.

We were very excited to receive an email from our son Paul to say he was over in Townsville (from Perth) for a few days and looked forward to seeing us. We had an extremely pleasant reunion dinner with him and caught up on his and our last five months.

All the best,

Dave & Penny

Wow! We've been scooting along with 150NM logged each day. The seas have been kind to us with nary a drop onto the watch person. Of course, there is the occasional exception when a burst of spray runs down your neck just before finishing a watch.

We used some passage planning software before setting out. It contains 100 years of observed data on currents, wave heights, wind directions etc. It showed that rather than sailing a direct line from Gizo to Townsville, we would be much better sailing in a big arc looping to the West at first then more Southerly at the end.

So far, this has proved to be remarkably good. We've had a push from the current and the wind and sea directions are perfect for speed and comfort. What a pleasant change from 2002 when we lost our mast out here!

The last day was a little tougher than those preceding it because the wind direction hardened up to be more from the South and we were close hauled. Fortunately, even though we were well heeled over, the seas were good due to the protection of reefs to our East. Wind strength was only about 12-15kts and we were making good speed. We had current against us for the last 24hrs. We were not really bothered by this because sometimes it helps and sometimes it hinders. Overall, it helped.

We were spotted by Coastwatch aircraft. Amazingly they claimed not to know that we were there even though we had emailed Townsville Customs. They said they would contact Customs (after all, they are the same government department) to advise our latest ETA. It turns out they did not do this.

Finally, Penny took us through the Great Batrrier Reef into the protected inner waters. Only 68NM to got for Townsville!

For the last couple of days we'd seen no ships, 'though we were expecting plenty once we reached the Barrier Reef shipping lanes. Sure enough, they started to appear with about 40NM to go. We were awake for the last 40NM and the SRS1 and chartplotter were on the whole time to show us the location of other ships and reefs.

For the last 20NM we had to tack because of the wind direction. This slowed us down somewhat so that we arrived at 7.30AM Tuesday the 26th of September. Ten minutes after we arrived, we were visited by Customs, Immigration and Quarantine. This went very smoothly and the people were very pleasant. By 0830 we were officially back in Australia and tied up in the pleasant Breakwater Marina. We had several hours pleasant sleep before arising to tackle our chores.

More later,

Dave & Penny

Things have been going very well since our coffee break. The wind and seas have stayed reasonable. We were sidetracked 15hrs by events so it is possible we will arrive Townsviille on Wednesday not Tuesday. However, we have also partly unreefed from storm sails and our course since Rossel Island has been about perfect so we are making up time.

At noon on Saturday, we have about 400NM or 750Km to go. We've done 500+NM or over 1,000Km. IN terms of sailing speed, we've been averaging 6kts or better the whole way- which is excellent.

Tomorrow is David's birthday which is likely to be rather low key.

We are doing 3hr watches on and off. Have got used to it. Much better with three or four crew but we only have the two of us.

The next blog will hopefully be an "arrived" one.

Cheers,

Dave & Penny

Day 1

We left Gizo at 8:00 on Tuesday 19th. The Police wanted us to go ashore & make official statements about the solar panel as well as allow them to inspect the damage.

This would have required anchoring again plus waiting for the rubber ducky to dry out again so we decided to just leave. We did email a report and will send photos from Townsville. Really, the chances of getting it back are slim. It was only 6 months old, but the smallest panel so things could have been much worse.

We had a pleasant sail to start with. Then the wind and seas rose and rose and rose..... We were scooting along way too fast. So, we reefed down to storm sails but the wind got up more to 30->35kts. Still, we were going too fast at over 8kts. It might have been okay in a race, but we were getting drenched in spray. We were doing almost 9kts and every now and then would plough into a wave.

So, we hove-to for three hours that evening. When the wind died down again to around 25-30kts, we got going again. Unfortunately, the head broke off a bolt in the self-steering. More correctly, the bolt holds a block (pulley) which joins the self-steering to the rudder. Both Penny and I were ill from sea-sickness, so it was a while before we got out the tools and replaced the nut and bolt. Finally, we got going again.

Needless to say, all we had to eat on this first day was water. We were also very wet (but not cold).

Blog for Day 2- Weather improves.

Conditions on day two were better with the wind around 25kts. Still very rough so no food taken. The wind direction was tightening up so that we could barely make the course.

Blog for Day three- Coffee Break.

Day three saw the seas drop down somewhat but now we could not make our course because of the wind direction. To complicate matters, the GPS started to fail. Initially, it would stay on for 30 minutes then turn itself off.

The good news was that the mal-de-mer has abated so we are eating again. In the early hours before daylight, the GPS got much worse and it was hard to get a navigation fix. We decided to tack out and away from dangerous reefs around Rossel ISland PNG. Just as we completed a long tack to clear the reefs, the nut unscrewed from the replaced bolt in the self-steering!

At this point, we decided to anchor at Rossel Island and effect repairs, commission the spare GPS etc.

We got in through the reef okay and by 9AM were anchored in a pleasant lagoon. We had showers and David even shaved. The offending bolt was drilled out and two of them replaced with larger ones. The broken one had been 8 years old.

We programmed the second GPS and checked it worked when connected to the boat's system. We found rust in the battery compartment of the main GPS. A wire soldered across the suspect area of copper has solved the GPS problem.

We met some of the locals who came to visit. They wanted us to stay for Sing-Sing and dancing but sadly we declined (as we have no PNG Visas).

Penny made a delicious lunch and finally we got under way again at 1430, feeling much refreshed and happier with things.

As we skirted the extensive reef, we were surprised at the size of the modern-looking shipwrecks on the reef. It would be very easy to pile-up here on a dark night!

A brightly coloured dot sped towards us and turned out to be one of the fabulous Louisiade Sailing canoes. How we wish these could be introduced to the SOlomons. They had obviously received dinghy sails from yachties and these had been stitched together. The people were gay and friendly and had a good look at us while we photographed them. One of them even had an armchair lashed to the deck and was fishing at the same time!

Dave & Penny

We forgot to mention that with the pre-departure busy-ness, we decided to take a few days off. We sailed to Liapari Island on the SE coast of Vella Lavella. We went into the middle of three delightful lagoons. Getting in was a tight squeeze as the keel brushed the bottom. We were travelling very slowly due to the depth in the narrow access through the reef. We believe this was blasted by the Japanese in 1942. Also in evidence was a WWII bridge over the entrance to the second lagoon. This bridge (also made by the Japanese) effectively connected Liapari with Vella. It was quite hot, with even the lagoon temperature 29degC so we had plenty of swims and a good long walk ashore. This was an ideal spot to check the stitching on the sails and finish some other tasks requiring a calm spot. Dave & Penny

The past three weeks seem to have passed very quickly. Penny's dad became quite ill and so she travelled back to Australia to spend some time with him. Fortunately, he is now much better. Her trip was relaxing in the middle but not at either end. We had prepared triplicate letters advising Immigration that Penny was temporarily departing the ship and returning one week later. Unfortunately, Solomon Airlines would not let her onto the Brisbane flight because she did not have a return ticket! The advice we had received from Immigration was incorrect and as well as the letters, there needed to be something official from Solomons Immigration. So, she had to buy a redundant ticket and hope for a future refund. There waws a further complication in Honiara when Penny had to pretend she was flying out again rather than rejoining the ship! Her waitlist also did not come through. However, the very kind Dominican Sisters form Honiara met her at the airport and put her up for the night. There was much Tok-Tok (I could hear it from Gizo). So it was a finally relaxed Penny who got off the Gizo flight on September the 10th. The front end of the trip was complicated because they do not take credit cards in Gizo. No problems, pay at the Solomon Air office in Honiara. Well, first Penny arrived and went to the ATM to get some cash. Unfortunately, the machine gobbled here card which has expired while we have been away. So, she had exactly A$1.50 for two meals (dinner and breakfast) preceding the International flight. Then she went to the Solomon Air office to pay for the International Ticket. The only person who can handle credit cards had not come to work and could not be located! Fortunately, in the end, someone at the airport was able to take the credit card details so she could make the flight. While Penny was away, I did a number of jobs preparatory to setting sail back to Australia. Most of these went well. However, on one particular day, I took the eye team (doctors and nurses, mostly from Australia and including our friend Dr Geoff Painter) for snorkelling at Olassana Island. The day started well with splendid views and ghreat sunshine. Then the alternator belt snapped. No worries, we have a spare. I thought there were two but in fact there was one. Then the autopilot died. We do not use it much but it is very handy when there are only two on board. Oh well...... Then, when we were at the precarious daytime-only anchorage, there was a big squall with heavy rain and shifting winds threatening to push us onto the reef. We avoided that by motoring awayt every time we swung close. Then I replaced the alternator belt. Finally, it was time to go home. We sailed for a while until the wind died & then motored. One of the nurses asked "what is that smell of burning rubber?". Just then, there came a loud clatter from the engine and some blue smoke. Our spare alternator belt had destroyed itself, littering the place with bits of burning rubber. Sigh! Fortunately, Penny was able to procure spare belts in Canberra but in the meantime, our batteries were quite low after cloudy windless days. I had to carefully husband our power for the remaining 8 days until Penny's return. Overall, we did quite well with only one hour of engine battery charging in a total of fourteen days. While Penny was away, I also sailed back to Vanga where I fixed a couple of computers, a keyboard and did most of the remaining tasks preparatory to our return. After Penny returned, we were again busy doing stuff with computers and generators ashore. Wonderfully, the boxes of books and other school items also arrived from Honiara. Geoff Painter had generously sent them to Honiara with his medical equipment. They then disappeared for months. Geoff and a couple of his nurses went through the four Customs warehouses and tracked them down. A Honiara nurse also negotiated the storage down to 50% of what was demanded and one of the Ozzie nurses paid it. Geoff then got a utility and put the boxes on the Pelican Express for Gizo. Penny has now unpacked and repacked them and they are all labelled to the twenty four schools which will receive the materials. Freight internally is cheap and we have left funds to ship them out. Indeed, all the boxes for the Shortland Islands are leaving tomorrow! Thank you St Leos and Dr Geoff Painter! We have been embarrassed by fareleww dinners and speeches with the last tonight. Unfortunately, last night while we were having dinner with Dr Sandy (3 months from St Vincents & in Gizo Hospital) someone cut and wrenched off our small solar panel. We almost made it through this and the previous trip without theft so this is a bit disappointing. Ah well, perhaps someone will get some use out of it but most likely it will be taken far away and sold- perhaps even in Bougainville. I will make the replacement mounting out of stainless steel rather than aluminium. Well, that's it for now. Unfortunately, our web site was down for 5 days as was the email server, but Bernadette has got the backup working again so hopefull our mail and blogs are again accessible. We set sail for the 900NM to Townsville mid morning Tuesday 19th and hope to arrive on the 26th. That's less than half the distance home but is the toughest part of the whole trip. See you all, Dave & Penny