Pastime of Sydney- 2006 Adventures

Now that we are back and have unpacked the boat, we are reviewing the list of commitments we have made to people we met in Vanuatu and the Solomons.

There are some projects which we would like to undertake to help some of the people we visited. Here's the starter list. Just send us an email if you are interested in helping out in any way.

A. Portable solar lights for a clinic in Vanuatu. We will obtain three such lights and then get them to the clinic, hopefully by finding a yacht that is travelling there next year. You will remember that this clinic was built by AusAid but the water supply was never connected, there are no lights and no screens on windows or doors (to keep out mosquitoes and flies).

B. A HF radio, solar panel and battery for a very remote village in the Shortland Islands.

C. Printing of a hymn book in the Alu language for villagers from about 14 villages in the Shortland Islands. We'll be looking for a good printer who might assist "on the cheap" plus money for freight

We have other ideas as well. However, the above is quite a list in its own right.

Best Regards,

Dave & Penny

Hi folks,

The time in Coffs Harbour went quickly. We purchased a replacement autopilot which took a day to install. The following day, our good friends Peter & Ruth took us to their new 255acre property on the Kalang river (about 90mins drive SW from Coffs Harbour). We thoroughly enjoyed looking at the new property and talking about it and many other things. Sunday, we performed the sea trials for the new autopilot in preparation for departure Monday. Ruth and Peter in Byamee also planned on sailing down to Pittwater on the Monday.

We had a good run down from Coffs harbour to Pittwater. Our plan to go well offshore (up to 35NM) did give us a push from the East Australia Current, but not enough to make up for the extra distance travelled.

Overall, we did 252NM is just under 40hrs which is an average of over 6kts- always pleasing. When we were about 8hrs out, we saw threatening and towering clouds behind. The wind got up to 45kts. We reefed and hung on. Then there was an announcement of severe hail and storm warnings from the weather Bureau. Oh dear, just our luck to be right in the path of it! Fortunately, even though the seas got up and the wind howled, we just rode it out and the whole thing fortunately fizzled out within an hour.

We got in to our mooring just before midnight and are now back home in Avalon trying to readjust to life ashore. The land will stop rocking in a few days but other adjustments will take longer.

Overall, we travelled just over 5,750 Nautical Miles which is almost 11,000Km.

We had a wonderful trip and this time our mast stayed up. Indeed, we had very few problems and even though it was a windy season, the boat and ourselves managed it all comfortably.

We are sad that this adventure of six months and 10 days has now come to a conclusion. However, we have plenty of follow-up activity as we promised lots of different things to different people- so plenty of things to keep us out of mischief.

All the best and thank you all for your interest. We never expected that there would be this many "hits" on our web pages when we put this blog together.

Penny & Dave Kerr

Before this BLOG ends, I thought I would mention to all my friends at Sun Microsystems that our web site and this BLOG run on the Sun Solaris operating system on a PC. The mail software is Surgemail.

Everything went fine from April until September 12th when the server failed. A week later, Bernadette our daughter, who has been house-sitting, switched over to our backup server. This is a complete Sun system made up of of a Sun Ultra-5 that I bought on eBay for A$100! It runs SPARC Solaris 10 and has been running non-stop from April (when we left) until now. Being old, it is a bit slow, but at least it works

Per my usual experience in the past, Sun systems (even old ones) are much more reliable than PCs. The UNIX Sun Solaris operating system far outstrips Windows from Microsoft. After that free plug for my former employer, back to sailing....

Dave

Hello from Coffs Harbour. We had a fast run down the coast, with excellent assistance from the current. Overall, we sailed 260NM across the ground in 40hrs. We had a lot of ships overtaking us and some the other way so this kept us on our toes. At least 15 ships which is a record for us in such short time.

One whale jumping and plenty of large dolphins.

We had one nasty spell of strong winds- nothing below 30kts for about 9 hours. This kicked up a nasty sea with the occasional large breaking wave (probably because of the current where we were). Vey "wet" making and it meant we became a little sleep deprived.

We made it to the Coffs harbour entrance just as the Southerly arrived- it was quite a few hours ahead of schedule so it was just as well we were also early.

We are anchored in the harbour, there being no room in the marina here. We do not mind because this is one of the "less good: marinas around.

We plan to head for Pittwater on Monday and arrive Wednesday.

Dave & Penny

The wind has eased a little quicker than expected, so we are off to Coffs harbour within the hour (i.e. about 1300). We should be there before noon on Thursday and want to try and beat the next Southerly change.

Dave & Penny

Friends at beautiful Marau Sound at the bottom of Guadalcanal in the Solomon ISlands.

Beautiful Twin Waterfalls in the Banks Islands.

Most dangerous volcano! Only a thin crust separates this freshwater lake from the magma. It was a really tough slog getting to here and we enjoyed swimming in the slightly sulphurous fresh water with puffs of ash coming from the other side.

Friends at Epi who showed us a good view of the nearby volcano (in the background).

Every 10 mins, there would be a huge explosion throwing rocks the size of cars and molten lava 100metres above us (and downwind).

Today, it is six months since we came on board. 5,260NM covered (that's a few hundred kMs short of 10,000kM). We hope to set off for Coffs Harbour Tuesday night and hope to just make it in before the next front comes.

Dave & Penny

We had a pleasant time in Bundaberg. The adverse winds meant plenty of relaxed reading and we did some sightseeing as well. The Bundaberg Port Marina is a great place with a free bus into town and plenty of other facilities. Very enjoyable!

We left early Wednesday the 18th for Fraser Island and the Great Sandy Straits. For our overseas readers, Fraser Island is the largest Sand Island in the world- it's HUGE. We had a great run- current with us the whole way (what a change!) and anchored with plenty of time to fire up the BBQ.

Next morning, we were up early and were able to "ride" the rising tide to the middle of the Great Sandy Straits whereupon we were then able to ride the falling tide from halfway down. Thus, we were able to complete what could have been a ten hour trip in about four and a half hours. We anchored well before lunch right down at the bottom of Fraser Island and made ready for an early departure the next day

Friday, today, we had a fast trip down to Mooloolaba where we will be a few days as another strong Southerly is heading up the NSW Coast. Fortunately we did not head straight from the Great Sandy Straits to Coffs Harbour as we would have been caught about 100NM short. While in Mooloolaba, we hope to fix our autopilot which has been broken for about three months

All the best,

Dave & Penny

We left Rosslyn Bay with high hopes of a great run to Cape Capricorn. We had forecasts from three different sources all saying mild winds and small seas. We had exactly the opposite with winds over 30kts and unpleasant swells and the usual current againbst us

Eventually, things died down somewhat and we finally anchored behind Cape Capricorn. This proved to be a very "Rolly" anchorage and we were up very early next morning to head past Gladstone for a place called Pancake Creek. More strong winds and big seas plus adverse currents! We were not the only people affected with vessels calling up the weather Bureau and asking if they were certain the forcast was right! Anyway, we talked to the Coastguard and a fellow with a huge amount of local knowledge told us of a spot we could safely anchor, North East of Gladstone. We went into this delightful spot and had an enjoyable afternoon and a great night's sleep

Next morning, it was up at 0440 to have enough tide to get out of this good spot. This we did and set off for Pancake Creek. We did have to tack back and forth for ten hours, but conditions were really good. Indeed, by mid afternoon, the conditions were the best they have been for 15 days so we decided to press on to Bundaberg. We had 10 hrs of excellent sailing and the wind died just as we were about to take down the sails. What timing!

We were tied up in a berth here in Bundaberg by 0300. It's a great spot and we can celebrate Penny's birthday in comfort

Next, we'll be off to Fraser Island in a couple of days.

Here we see Penny (on behalf of William) handing over the boxes of educational materials for 24 schools in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands to Beatta Jio. Thanks to Will for the initiative, students of St Leos College Wahroonga for their generosity and to Dr Geoff Painter for getting the boxes to Gizo. By now, most of the schools will have received their boxes.

We have had a pleasant time sitting out the strong winds. Checked out some of the restaurants and yesterday visited Rockhampton.

We visited John and Jennifer Eurell. David and John both worked at the Bureau of Mineral Resources in the 1970s. David left in 1979 to join Prime and John left in 1980 to sail (including around the world). John and Jennifer did just that, returning to Australia in 2002. Jennifer writes for Cruising Helmsman as does Dave and we made contact while they were somewhere in Europe.

So, we had a great afternoon and dinner at the Eurells meeting up after 26 years. They kindly brought us back the 40Km to the boat last night and we slept VERY well.

Tomorrow we set off South again. The first two days could be a little unpleasant as we will yet again be tacking into strongish trade winds and the leftover sea. It should moderate somewhat after that.

We hope to be in Bundaberg or further into the Great Sandy Straight sometime on the weekend. The Sandy Straight is between Fraser Island and the Mainland.

We are feeling the cold somewhat after months in the warm tropics.

All the best,

Dave & Penny

What was forecast to be several days of pleasant Easterly winds changed abruptly with a forecast of a gale warning for where we wanted to be.

So, we hopped up at 0440 on Sunday morning and set sail for an "overnighter" to Rosslyn Bay Marina in Yeppoon. This is near the Keppel Islands. Things went really well with a breezy and fast start.

Unfortunately, the wind died away in the middle of the passage so we had to motor for 14hrs. This is the most motoring we have done since leaving Gizo. Still, it's not a problem as we have used hardly any diesel fuel so far.

This time, we got the better of the current and managed to come out slightly "in front" by the time we arrived in Rosslyn Harbour at around 0600 this morning.

It's hard to imagine that gale force winds are forecast for just a few short hours from now. Indeed, the barometer has not budged at all so perhaps the weather bureau is in cahoots with the Mazrina here to entice all the boats into it? Anyway, we're happy to be here after eight days of sailing every day and we can replenish the bread and fresh fruit which have run out.

Yesterday and today we had fine displays of whales leaping out of the water and wagging their tails above the surface. Our first dolphin (since arriving back in Townsville) visited us this morning.

Every day since we arrived back in Oz has been sunny, blue skies, beautiful sunrises and sunsets. So, we are due to a bit of rain and howling winds. Ah well, someone has to do it........

See you,

Dave & Penny .

Note the armchair for comfortable fishing!

We enjoyed a pleasant few days here at Liapari before departing for Australia

Log reads 4,850NM.

Over the past three days, we have sailed through the Whitsundays to a beautiful, but stark, island South East of Mackay. We have learned that at this time of full moon, we need to get up at 04:45AM and get going quickly so that we can have the strong tidal currents flowing with us most of the time.

Not much to report other than beautiful days, fantastic sunrises and sunsets, giant sea turtles and beautiful scenery. Finally, we have a few days of Easterly winds so we are making the most of them. Perhaps we should just sail overnight to really get some miles in before a strong Southerly change hits on Tuesday.

We'll think about it over a glass or two of chilled white wine and barbecued Mackeral.

Dave & Penny

Log sent on 4/10/06

Upstart was a surprisingly pleasant place. This time we anchored near the headland rather than deep in the bay. It started off being really hard slog from Upstart to Gloucester Island. We had the usual knot of current against us and the wind coming from where we wanted to go.

The day before, we had hooked something big on the fishing line. Indeed, it was too big to drag in and finally bent the hooks and escaped. Perhaps it is just as well! Just past Cape Upstart, we hooked a very good Mackeral, weighing over 10Kg. David filletted it and Penny stowed it away in the 'fridge. The Mackeral will keep us fed for many days.

About 11:30AM, there was a very welcome wind shift which greatly helped our progress. We still had half a knot of current against us and could not make the course, but at least one tack was much more favourable.

It was a very rough passage and when we came to start the engine about an hour out from Gloucester Isla

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

Charlie left us today. His 'plane was 45mins late but this is of no account as the International flight is not until tomorrow afternoon. We transferred his 910 photos onto a CD and he kindly bough us a parting meal at the Gizo Hotel. We hope he is going to be okay because he has been having tummy troubles for a number of days. So, we sent him off clutching Lomatil and other such potions. Dr Sandy who joined us for lunch gave him a parting gift of some activated charcoal tablets. Charlie has been an excellent companion and crew member and seems to have enjoyed ebery moment of his time. We are sorry to see him go. His tummy seemed a lot better and despite suggestions that he should get back into food slowly, Charlie had two courses for lunch plus a couple of beers. Best Regards, Dave & Penny

We set out for the Rural Training Collage at Vanga on a fine Monday morning. This was to be a 24hr overnight sail, against the wind. We caught a good Kingfish on the way out although it was yet again mangled by a shark. Still, a number of good feeds were still available. Once we got out into the open ocean, the wind built to 25-30kts, far more than expected. The seas were also big. Yuk! In the end, we abandoned the overnight sail and headed off for Choiseul Island at a very fast clip. The seas were big and really strained the self steering- so much that we broke two steel cables that had been in place for eight years. They had corroded just inside the swages in a spot that was invisible to the naked eye. Next time, I will replace them after 5 years. We were able to replace them with pieces of rope for now. Then dark fell and with it, the compass light failed. This does not sound too grim, but in reality with no starlight or moonlight, it soon became a pest when hand steering. We were headed for Moli, where we have fortunately been before- but never in the pitch darkness. Charlie was on one side of the boat gauging the distance from the crashing breakers (50 metres...45 metres... but 40 metres on the other side). Penny was watching us crawl across the electronic chart. David was steering. The scanning sonar showed "brick walls" 90 metres ahead several times and we had to change course appropriately. It was really hard to gauge our direction with no compass light. Anyway, we made it and anchored with relief. Next day, we set out to tack down the coast of Choiseul. This was successful- even where the fringing reef came in really close as we were able to fit the tacks between gaps in te reefs. Finally, on the third day, we had an excellent sail to Vanga Agricultural College. This impressive place trains 132 boys in motor mechanics, farming, woodwork, building etc. It is a two year course, much sought after and the standards are high. There is also a Teacher Trainig College which turns out teachers for all the RTCs in the Solomons (and sometimes other parts of the Pacific). We rested for a couple of days at Vanga and spent some pleasant time with some Queenslanders who arrived in their trimaran- built by Doug 24 years ago. He last sailed to the Solomons 22 years ago. We had a great old natter. Finally, it was off to Gizo which was a pleasant 15NM sail away. The CREW

We spent a pleasant couple of days at Gaomai and half a day at Harapa. Those of our friends and former workmates will recall the "Gomai Radio" which a number of generous people made possible for this remote village at the top of Shortland Island. The villagers told us that they are now "part of the world"...."feel connected to the rest of the world" etc. No more do they paddle for 12hrs for events that were cancelled days ago. No more do the injured and sick lack medical attention. Supplies can be easily solicited. The Primary School is now connected in a number of ways not previously possible. Examinations are now coordinated for Year 6 and critical school supplies (such as books and chalk) can be obtained easily. The list goes on. The radio is being very well cared for and is looked after as a prized possession. So, thanks again to all those who contributed just over three years ago. Your names are all inscribed on top of the radio. The community put on a dinner to say "thanks" and we had a great time chatting to people. Unfortunately, as is the custom, the women who worked so hard to prepare the food sat outside while the guests and men were inside. Harapa was the next village along as we continued to circumnavigate Alu ("Shortland Island"). This is a Kiribati ("Gilbertese") village. Anchoring was easy but getting ashore difficult because of the extensive reef system. A boy came out in a canoe to guide us in and we anchored the dinghy and then waded a couple of hundred metres over reef. Harapa is exceedingly neat, tidy and clean. In fact, we have spent a bit of time with Doctor Sandy who is here for three months from St Vincents Hospital in Sydney. She had also visited Harapa and was really impressed by the level of hygene. Apparently this has been promoted by the Clinic Nurse who awards a prize for the cleanest and tidiest dwelling (she does this from her own meagre wages). Harapa is also unusual because it is a village of United Church, SDA, Catholic and Ba'Hai AND all the dwellings are mixed in together- no lines of demarcation here. The different faiths worship separately but on big occasions all come together. Harapa has gained the commitment of neighbouring villages to build a COmmunity High School (Called "Alu West") at Harapa. This will be built by working bees from all the villages. They have no money, so it will be built from bush materials with some help from a chain saw. They have gained government approval and two teachers will start next year. Lots of energy and enthusiasm, even if there is no money. These are definitely "glass is half full" people. When we were walking back from the existing primary school and location of the High School, Charlie spotted a white carcass in the stream. "Is that a pig or something similar?". No was the reply- it's a crocodile without its skin. It turns out that a few days before, someone had come down from Bougainville and killed four crocodiles with and axe. He then skinned them and took the skins back to Bougainville. No swimming here...... Unfortunately, we left Harapa very late and made it back to Nila (completing our circumnavigation of Alu) in the dark. On Sunday, there was a big celebration of Charlie's 25 years as a priest. There was a big Mass in the Nila CHurch. There were suitable banners on the walls. The church was decorated with flowers everywhere. There was even incense- something extremely rare except on really big occasions and even rarer in the Solomon ISlands. That night, there was a special dinner with a Silver Jubilee cake. The girls put on a singing and dancing display. The visiting medical team (Dr Sandy and Silverio screening for the eye specialist Dr Painter who is about to visit) also came. Despite the overall loss of about 10Kg each (so far), we all ate a little too well in Nila. This was assisted by the generous gifts of mud crabs, lobsters and reef fish! There would be some opportunities for our ENT friend Peter here; one little girl was deaf because of an insect in one ear and wax buildup in the other. Unfortunately, Dr Sandy did not have the appropriate equipment nor did the clinic. Still, they are working on it with gentle and natural solvents. That's it for now. We have been working out how to get back 85NM straight into the wind so we can have Charlie back in Gizo for his return home (via PNG). The CREW

The fishing has improved markedly. We have caught decent fish (Kingfish and Barracuda) 70% of the times we have put out a lure. We only fish when we need more food. We've also continued to catch a few sharks and sometimes sharks have savaged fish as we haul them in, but unlike last time, the sharks have left us a feed this time. We have seen many more dolphins than in 2002. Indeed, we see dolphins and giant sea turtles nearly every day. One of the most amazing sights has been Stingrays leaping out of the water and sometimes doing a full somersault. We've never seen this before- anywhere. The dolphins are different here. They are rarely interested in the bow wave of the boat. Not sure why- perhaps the ones in Australia (and Hawaii plus other spots) have learned this behavior? Regards, Penny, David & Charlie

The Chief had told us about a shortcut through his lagoon It did not look possible on the chart, but we trusted him. It would cut quite a few miles off our trip. For once, we had a sparkling clear day so seeing the reefs was easy. The wind was balmy so we could comfortably sail, with the engine running in the tricky spots. We had our two passengers on board. Even though it was calm as could be, one of the girls was seasick again. It must have been the fear. The chief proved correct and we did not encounter any nasty reefs or shallows. Within a few hours we were in Nila. We took the girls ashore and delivered them to school. A couple of weeks earlier, an earthquake (very common here) had destroyed their dormitory. Despite that, they found a couple of spare bunks in the makeshift accommodation and promptly went to sleep! Perhaps they had been sleep deprived at Toumoa or the fear plus seasickness took it out of them. Once at Nila, we renewed old friendships as we had been there in 2004 presenting the "Hey Dad" Workshops as well as Penny doing some Marriage Education. A young fellow (11 years) came out in his canoe & was very shy. Then we noted a piece of paper in his hand. It was from his mother, explaining that he was very shy and did not feel confident talking in English. His mother ( a schoolteacher) had suggested he could talk in pidgin and we would understand (true) but he was still too shy. Mum sent out a whole lot of vegetables and fruit from her garden. So, we invited Charles on board and showed him everything about the boat. His English quickly came back and the shyness receded. We went a note back to his mum. We also fixed up with him to take us into the hills of Poporang the following day to see the WWII guns and other war relics. The kids of the area are expert in all these war relics. That afternoon, we went snorkelling on a massive 4 engined Japanese Betty Bomber, sunk only a few hundred metres away. We also snorkelled and dived on a two seater Zero floatplane which was submerged in about 8 metres of water near the local High School. Charlie also snorkelled over the remains of around 11 other 'planes that we had discovered on previous visits. The following day, Charles turned up as agreed. He had dad's long machete (machetes are as common as clothing here). Charles had also brought his 8 year old brother (Jeffrey) and 9 year old cousin (Douglas). Now, in Australia, you would never think of a group of young kids like this taking a group of adults through the jungle to visit war relics. They did a great job and we saw more this time than previously. We saw three of the huge 150mm guns that the British had installed to defend Singapore. After the Japanese effortlessly captured Singapore, they moved four of the guns to the Solomons. There were several anti-aircraft guns, communications trenches, a bus chassis and three mobile radar installations. We photographed Charlie sitting on the Despatch Rider's motorcycle (with sidecar). There is still some rubber on the wheels- 60 years later. The boys were distressed to find that the one radar installation which still rotated (they called it the merry-go-round) had been locked rigid by older boys (no adults come up here, except visitors). Soon they were thumping away with rocks to try and move the pins. So, David came to the rescue and soon thumped the pins from their seats and away went the merry-g--round. Of course, it was Charlie who made the first revolution! Many photos were taken. When it was time to return, the boys asked us if we would like a coconut to drink. Unthinkingly, we said "yes", but then realised they were going to send the 8 year old up the highest coconut tree around! We did not want to be responsible for his death. But, it was too late! With the big machete in his teeth, he climbed the tree which was at least 70feet high. When he got there, he held on with his legs and chopped away at least 18 coconuts. Being the highest, steepest palm around, it had al l the best coconuts. We breathed a big sigh of relief when Jeffrey descended safely to the ground. Then the boys hacked holes in the tops of enough to give us a couple of litres each of coconut milk. They also gave us unopened ones for the boat (which was already bulging with previous gifts of fruit and veges). Regards, The CREW

We have met our namesakes! We had heard that there were twins, named "David and Penny", in Toumoa. We really wanted to meet them and guessing their age at about 2-3yrs, we brought presents of a doll and a plastic truck, which came to pieces. We asked the Chief and he said, yes, there are twins Penny & David who are living in the next village along. He said he would pass a message for them to come along the next day (which coincidentally was William's birthday which he will celebrate this year in Borneo and celebrated in Toumoa in 2002). Well, the twins were presented to us the next day. They are identical GIRL twins! So, David is a girl! Penny surreptitiously removed the name labels from the presents and gave the presents to both girls to share. It turns out they were born on William's birthday, exactly four years previously. Wow! So, William will be pleased to hear that David and Penny were born on his birthday. The CREW

The story of the Toumoa Bell is on our website, but we repeat some of it here because we have just returned after EXACTLY four years. In 2002, we visited the village of Toumoa, in the Fauro Islands. We were the first yacht to visit there in ten years because of the Bougainville Crisis which caused lots of problems for the Solomon Islanders here. This area was occupied by the Japanese during the war. The Allies bombed Toumoa and destroyed all the dwellings and gardens. The villagers were enslaved and made to work with the little ones attending Japanese school. In 2003, we set about trying to obtain a village bell for them. This proved remarkably difficult as bells are not easy to come by. Then Mike DeBurca of the CCCA came to the rescue and was able to get some friends in the marine industry to cast one. CCCA members pitched in with a big raffle and other fund raising to pay for the materials. The people who made the bell donated their time. John Pennefather (then Commodore) used his connections and had the bell flown by the RAAF to Townsville. There it joined the Manoora, the first troopship to leave with a peacekeeping force destined for Honiara on Guadalcanal. Coincidentally, our son was on the same ship! A couple of months later, the minesweeper, Hawkesbury picked up the bell and delivered it to the village- much to their amazement. The bell is mounted proudly in the village meeting place which is run by the chief. It is used to signal work start, stop, meetings and all manner of timekeeping in the village. They are in the process of building a church up on a hill behind the village and when this is finished in a couple more years, plan to move the bell to their church. They have already (temporarily) taken it up the hill to make sure that everyone can hear it, even when the Tradewinds blow. The village is going well, though poor. The only income is from catching fish, drying it and taking to Bougainville to sell further inland. Regards, The CREW

We left Sirovanga for Choiseul's Provincial Capital of Taro. You will recall we had called there to drop off our taxi passengers. Because we picked the right tide, we again had the current with us and a good trip to Taro. David got up early the next morning to buy some locally baked buns and bananas from the small market. We weighed anchor under sail and started off for Toumoa (pronounced "Toom-wa". We'd only sailed a few hundred metres when someone came out in a canoe to ask us if we would take a boy to the Vocational Training School at Nila, in the Shortland Islands. Now this was a little mysterious because the training school is for girls who learn sewing, cooking, maintaining market gardens, craft etc. Still, having become the "Pastime water taxi", we said "yes" and sailed back. We did explain we were going via the village of Toumoa but this did not seem to be an issue. Out came an 18 year old girl who had been waiting three weeks to get there! Bad weather had prevented transport across the notorious stretch of water which if full of shallow reefs and adverse currents. The big swells come rolling in from the South Pacific. We had settled Jane-Mary and explained that yachts can lean over a lot but not to be frightened. Of course, she was frightened despite our reassurances. Then, just as we were reaching the reef entrance to the open sea, another motorised canoe rushed up with ANOTHER girl! The driver explained that Jane-Mary was his son and this other girl also needed to get to the school. Could we take Maria as well? Yes, of course! The local language does not have the concept of male and female, which is why the people when using English referred to the girls as "boy" and "son". Well. we were soon underway and true to form, the wind blew right up with big seas. The passage was VERY rough and the girls became more frightened and seasick. Still, they were very brave and hugged each other. We caught a Kingfish which was savaged by a shark as we pulled it in; there was enough left for a few nights of food, so that was good. It probably did not do the girls' stomachs much good watching it being cut up. Possibly the visible evidence of sharks was also discouraging. We had to pull down the mainsail as there was way too much wind. Unfortunately, this increased the rocking motion quite a bit. Eventually, we reached the reef surrounding the Toumoa lagoon and gained respite from the waves. The girls perked up considerably. We sailed past the village and many people came down to the beach to wave and even waded out. We needed to anchor about a kilometre away as that was the closest safe place to anchor. Where we stopped, there was a man fishing and quite a few picaninnies who had run down from the village. These were probably some of the 10 year olds who in 2002 were on the beach for hours calling out "big white bird coming". No children under 10yrs had ever seen a yacht because of the Bougainville crisis. In fact, we discovered later that no other yacht had been since our 2002 visit. With the girls' help, we explained to the fisherman (who had rolled up his line) that they needed to be accommodated for three days/nights & that we knew Chief Chris Muli. The fisherman led us off through the jungle path to the village. We expected him to take us to the Chief's house, but no, he took us straight to his house and said he and his family would care for the girls for the duration, until we were ready to leave for Nila. What a kind act- typical of what happens here all the time. Would it happen in Sydney? No, rather unlikely! Another man took us off in search of the Chief, and we had a great chat. Maria (his wife) had been in their garden, high up on the hill, and saw us coming. She thought it was us, but told here husband that she was puzzled that there were three adults PLUS two Solomon Islanders. Mischievously, she had suggested to Chris that it probably was us and that we had undoubtedly abducted the two girls! Anyway, we had a great time and "Willie Mechanical", one of the villagers, was entrusted to take us around the village as Charlie has not been here before. It was great to see the "Toumoa Bell", donated by the CCCA (Coastal Cruising Club of Australia) mounted in a corner of the meeting house. More on that in the next BLOG. The CREW

In the Solomons (much like Vanuatu), the whole place is 99% Christian. Most of the time, a single village is just one religion with 99% of the villagers belonging. In the Solomons, there are United Church, Church of Melanesia (Anglican), Catholic, Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) and a few smaller religions. We have been to villages of all these denominations (plus a couple more)! We have been to a small number of villages which are multi-faith. Usually, such villages have a "line" down the middle with (for example) one part being SDA and the other part United. Despite the separation of living space, the people still freely mix except for Church services (which will sometimes be daily). Many villages have a daily church service with wonderful singing and then a bigger celebration on Sunday (or Saturday for SDA). Many times we have enjoyed beautiful singing wafting across the water in the evenings. Most schools here are run by the Government, though they are trying to get the churches to take them back (they were originally started by the churches). As the government is doing this to try and save money, the plan is unlikely to be acceptable to the churches. Often, children walk or paddle an hour and a half to and from Primary School. Sometimes, they are billetted by families as the distances are too great. We have often been in villages where school is abandoned for a week because (a) the teacher is very sick or (b) high seas make travel dangerous or (c) high winds mean there is a high risk of being injured by falling coconuts. High school is beyond the financial capability of many families. Because there are fewer High Schools, the children invariably board. We have worked out that a subsistance family needs to sell thousands of pineapples or banana bunches a year to support a child at school. When they finish school, the prospects of a job are remote. Despite this, the people crave a good education for the children and sacrifice the little they have to make it happen. There has been a big improvement in clinics in the 10yrs we have been coming here. The improvement is due to more aid money (much of it from AUSAID with some from Japan). Now that RAMSI (The Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon ISlands) has stabilised the government somewhat, medicines are a little more available. Many clinics have been built out of bush materials by villagers. Many villagers help their clinics with free labour and other donations. Despite the clinics, many people die young. For instance, only a few very fortunate people get airlifted or taken by canoe to a hospital for serious illness or disease. Just last week, we were at a clinic where a mother with Malaria delivered a baby which also was prem. and had malaria. The clinic had requested small catheter needles (I think that's the right word) but they never arrived. So the poor staff had to try and get a drip into the baby using a full size needle. The baby died on the fourth da y. The previous week, a woman died of cerebral malaria (malaria is bad in a number of parts of the Solomons). After this educational BLOG, we'll return to our travels through the Western Province. The CREW

Extract from email to member of Coastal Cruising Club (CCC): Last week, we were at about 6.5 Deg latitude which is North East of the bottom part of Bougainville. In 2002, we visited the village of Toumoa, in the Fauro Islands. We were the first yacht to visit there in ten years because of the Bougainville Crisis which caused lots of problems for the Solomon Islanders here. This area was occupied by the Japanese during the war. The Allies bombed Toumoa and destroyed all the dwellings and gardens. The villagers were enslaved and made to work with the little ones attending Japanese school. In 2003, we set about trying to obtain a village bell for them. This proved remarkably difficult as bells are not easy to come by. Then Mike DeBurca came to the rescue and was able to get some friends in the marine industry to cast one. CCCA members pitched in with a big raffle and other fund raising to pay for the materials. The people who made the bell donated their time. John Pennefather (then Commodore of the CCC) used his connections and had the bell flown by the RAAF to Townsville. There it joined the Manoora, the first troopship to leave with a peacekeeping force destined for Honiara on Guadalcanal. Coincidentally, our son was on the same ship! A couple of months later, the minesweeper, Hawkesbury picked up the bell and delivered it to the village- much to their amazement. We have just visited Toumoa and found that no other yachts have visited in the four years since we were last here. The bell is mounted proudly in the village meeting place which is run by the chief. It is used to signal work start, stop, meetings and all manner of timekeeping in the village. They are in the process of building a church up on a hill behind the village and when this is finished in a few years, plan to move the bell to their church. They have already (temporarily) taken it up the hill to make sure that everyone can hear it, even when the Tradewinds blow. When we sailed into the lagoon, past the village, there were many people waving and calling from the beach. We had to anchor about a kilometre away from the village. Onboard were two 18 year old Solomon Islander girls; we were giving them a lift as they had been waiting for three weeks for transportation back to the training school on another island. We went ashore and were joined by a fisherman and dozens of kids from the village. We formed a long procession, marching towards the village, with increasing numbers of children. We had 60 or more by the time we got there! The fisherman had stopped what he was doing and kindly took the girls to his home, where his family and other villages took care of them until we were ready to sail again three days later. What great generosity! The village is going well, though poor. The only income is from catching fish, drying it and taking to Bougainville to sell further inland. That's all for now- we will be starting to head towards Australia in 4-6 weeks. So far, we've travelled 3,300NM. All the best, David & Penny, Pastime of Sydney

We had a good run to Moli, with strong winds but no squalls. It started to really pour with rain when we were about an hour out. All land (and reefs) disappeared in the whiteout so we were pleased to have the GPS and scanning sonar as there were many (charted) reefs in the area. Moli is about 100acres in size and separated from Choiseul by a 75metre channel. The tide runs at up to 3kts in this channel. The island is owned by the Catholic Mission here and has a Church, dwellings, sports ground (rougher than anything you will find in Australia!) and places for training and meetings. We ran some of the "Hey Dad" training here in 2004 and really enjoyed meeting locals and people from villages all around Choiseul. While we were at Moli, the wind howled for many days and we had torrential rain. The rain was so heavy that we pumped dry one of our 200L water tanks and then refilled in with fresh rainwater in a matter of hours. The rubber ducky (aka "washing machine") filled with enough water to do all our clothing. Of course, drying it was a bit of a problem, solved when the rain eased off and the howling wind blew the water out of the clothes. The locals kept asking us if this was a cyclone and seemed surprised when we said it wasn't even a gale. While at Moli, we celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary. Charlie said a private Mass for us and also cooked a gourmet meal in the evening. Thanks Charlie! While at Moli, David drafted a paper on correct use of solar panels in the Solomon Islands and did some practical training in battery maintenance. The locals were celebrating St Dominic's Day (they are Dominicans) and they kindly invited us to the feasting and celebrations. We walked around to the windward side of the island and marvelled at the big seas and howling winds. We wanted to sail up to the top of Choiseul and part way down the other side to Sirovanga. No motorised canoes were leaving or arriving. In the end, we decided to leave. After all, the winds and the seas were not too big for Pastime, which has endured worse. We planned to set off on Tuesday 8th August for Sirovanga (a place we have not previously visited). The Sisters from Moli asked if we could take them to Taro, the Provincial Capital, which is located at the top of the Island. We agreed to do this once we ascertained that a yacht should be able to get in. So, we ended up with four extra passengers- two for Taro and two for Sirovanga. Unfortunately, it was a little rough getting to Taro. On the good-news front, we had 2.5kts of current with us, so we sped along and were soon inside the reef leading to the small island of Taro. No-one can work out why they put a Provincial Capital in this spot (it is from the British Colonial days). Anyway, we were delighted to find an easy anchorage off the main part of Taro. There had been nothing in the cruising guide and the US Sailing Directions urged "Caution and Local Knowledge". We must have been the first yacht there for quite a time because there was a really big crowd on the jetty. We anchored with 32kt winds but the waves were okay because of the protecting reef. It took a while, but the two sisters were taken off by aluminium canoe (landing the rubber ducky at Taro was a no-no at low tide because of coral reef everywhere on shore). One of them had been quite seasick and was pleased to reach terra-firma. We set off again for Sirovanga. Amazingly, we had the same strong current down the other side of the island! Quite remarkable to score twice with current in completely different directions. The seas were rough at the start and we were pleased we were running downwind/ A while later, we had the protection of Choiseul and raced along in strong winds and no swell/sea. Sirovanga is not mentioned in the cruising guides but one of the sisters came from the village, so we had local knowledge on board. We found the excellent reef entrance and very deep access to a really good anchorage in mud, near the mouth of a river. Okay Charlie- there are no crocodiles in this one so swimming is okay! The people had seen us coming and George, a local boat driver, was sitting inside the reef to make sure we got to the anchorage okay. He also took off the two sisters. The only thing wrong with Sirovanga was the difficult dinghy anchorage. This was a long "jetty" laboriously built out of coral chunks, piled up over many years. We would throw out a dinghy anchor 10 metres from the coral rocks, then wade to the rocks with the dinghy painter. This kept the dinghy anchored in deep water but still accessible. While at Sirovanga, David saw a big (over 1 metre) Kingfish leap 10 metres into the air! It was chasing a smaller fish, which only got about 3 metres up. The Kingfish was airborne for seconds. Casting a lure around the same spot failed to catch anything. Fr. Simon who lives at Sirovanga has a house 150 steps up the side of a steep cliff. The views are absolutely fantastic- across the lagoon, the reef and then the ocean. Due North, there is no land until you hit Siberia! Simon has a keen interest in the local mariners; he keeps the beacons in the lagoon (a government responsibility) in good order and has a beacon light on his house for those navigating in the dark. It is the only working navigation light we have found anywhere in the Solomon Islands ou tside of Honiara. The local people have been building the church (also in a spectacular location) over the past few years. They have carried the timber, cement, coral and other materials up those 150 steps. Quite a feat. The sisters live nearby, but their house has been devoured by white ants and is being rebuilt. The local clinic is falling down around their ears (white ants and the environment) but handles an amazing 1,000 cases per month. When we arrived, the clinic had lost it's fiberglass canoe which apparently drifted away in the very strong winds (which also brought down huge trees in the vicinity). We hope they find their canoe, but this seems very unlikely as the next land in the prevailing downwind direction is New Ireland in PNG. Perhaps someone will have a windfall canoe wash up on their beach? Fortunately, the clinic outboard was not on the boat when it blew away. However, it is going to be very difficult for the medical staff to get to other villages or evacuate urgent cases. The water was murky in the lagoon because of heavy rain and the river, so again we caught no fish (but still had some left). We were pleased and surprised to find a small community-run store owned by the local people. We were big spenders on some Solomon tinned tuna (just in case the Kingfish runs out...), dry biscuits, baking powder, a fishing lure and other bits and pieces. On our final day, Simon and the Sisters kindly had a farewell lunch for us and loaded us up with giant paw-paws and vegetables to keep us alive on the boat. The timing was excellent as we hoped for current with us again and planned to overnight in Taro before heading off to the village of Toumoa (home of the Toumoa Bell). We had an excellent run around to Taro and were able to buy buns and some more bananas at the Market on Taro the next morning. Well, Toumoa- getting there and being there- will be the subject of another blow. We are now at about 3,200NM (getting towards 6,000Km) since we left Sydney. The CREW

We left for the Nggossele Passage in misty rain and with a rising tide. We only had 2.5kts of current with us this time, so the adrenaline rush was much smaller. We also somehow missed the reef in the middle of the channel (perhaps the higher tide was covering it). Anyway, we were through almost before we realised it and on our way up the West Coast of Choiseul Island. Choiseul, extends further North than Bougainville and is about 180Km long. Last time, when we came down Choiseul in the reverse direction, we lost several lures to some VERY large sharks. Any shark that can break a 300lb breaking strain line (as if it were cotton) is a large shark indeed! This time, we caught one shark (released) and two Kingfish, one of which escaped by breaking off one set of hooks from our lure. This is the same lure we have had for the whole trip and it is becoming quite battered and covered in tooth marks. We sailed mainly due to the frequent squalls that drifted past every half hour or so. The wind direction and strength changed constantly and really kept us on our toes. We over-nighted in the well protected Luti Bay, about 45NM from our starting point. It was not long before we were surrounded by nine canoes filled with piccaninnies. We gave them balloons. One cute boy insisted on giving us all his Ngali nuts and would not take "no" for an answer when we indicated one each would be fine. This is a United Church area and it was not long before beautiful singing wafted to us from one of the nearby villages. A couple of the locals told us this was an evening service but that those out fishing & talking with us did not find it very interesting. We learned that there was a resident crocodile, so Charlie decided to forgo his afternoon swim. As in some other bays, we were treated to Dolphins and a Kingfish leaping many metres into the air. Next day, we pressed on to the island of Moli. The CREW

We left Wagina in gentle, warm weather. We travelled through spectacular scenery (small islands and reefs) to arrive at a beautiful bay called "Bonsai Bay". There were no people living there and we had no visitors. The beach was gorgeous sand with only our footprints on it. David lost three lures trolling around the reefs in the rubber ducky and caught no fish. So, it was back to our standby meal of more giant clams. These were in abundance, though we left the really big ones that weighed a couple of hundred kilos and were about a metre across. Indeed, we decided that clams are "okay" but not as good as Kingfish. Plus, they take years (60yrs for a big one) to grow so it is a pity to gather them. The local people in this area are Seventh Day Adventists who do not eat shellfish- so the only predators are us! The snorkelling was excellent in Bonsai Bay. After a day and a half in the beautiful Bonsai Bay we then moved to Laina Bay, which is at the head of Nggossele Passage- one of our favourites. Fortunately, we caught a Kingfish along the way. The passage is about 10 miles long, quite narrow (down to 70metres) and separates Choiseul and Rob Roy Islands. Last time we came down it, we had up to 6knots of current with us. At one point, we rounded a bend to find a reef right in the middle of the channel/bend! This time, we needed to await the correct tide for a passage in the reverse direction. We anchored in a delightful spot and then made contact with the locals. We met Chief Willie and various relatives. The Chief is the Paramount chief of the area (so other village chiefs "report" to him). Willie is quite elderly and has numerous grandchildren and quite a few great grand children (one of whom visited us with his father). We learned from his son-in law that the previous week, Willie had floated all the way down the Nggossele Passage (without his canoe)! Many concerned people (in canoes) tried to rescue him, but were waved away. It will be impressive if we can manage such a feat when we have great grandchildren. We mentioned to Willie that we were out of vegetables and fruit and he said we would be looked after. Later he returned with some drinking coconuts and we were able to fix him up with reading glasses (we brought a considerable stock of reading glasses and they have gone to many worthy causes). Charlie and Dave went snorkelling on a nearby island. When they returned, Penny had lots of interesting information about the goings-on in the region and had started to amass vegetables and fruit. Indeed, within another hour, we had large quantities of fruit and vegetables. We have done so well for food on this voyage. We have also been more adventurous than last time, and thus had a greater variety. The Solomons Aelens Kuk Buk helps a lot. We'll leave the Nggossele Passage for another Blog...... The CREW

We have been so busy having fun that there has been little time for BLOG updates! We spent a couple of weeks in the greater Gizo area, mainly to visit with our friend Bishop Bernard who was about to depart to Australia for further cancer treatment..

We spent several nights at Kongulavata Bay where we snorkelled over the wreck of the Toa Maru. Bernadette, David & Will dived on this wreck in 2002 and swam through the holds as the ship is lying on its side. This time we did not go down 41metres but still had an excellent view of the side of the ship.

Sagheraghi was just as beautiful as previously and it was even better being there by boat this time. There were a few anxious moments getting through some uncharted reefs & again the scanning sonar was a huge help. We bought Tuna in the market before leaving as the fishing has been poorer than previously. On the way, we caught a Kingfish that was just over a metre long. We gave it away to Rose, wife of the former chief who died of asthma in 2004. We had met him in 1996 when we took our epic, exhausting walk.

Rose and her boys were very kind to us and we had an excellent time snorkelling and swimming in the lagoon. Swims were frequent as the temperature was 34deg each day. Even the lagoon was 28.6degrees. Rose looked very fit as she sweeps the beach most mornings, works in the garden every second day and paddles 1.5hrs each way to the Gizo market three days a week. On market days, she leaves at 3.00AM and returns in the dark.

We spent a pleasant day at Olasanna Island with Bishop Bernard plus friends, helpers and volunteers. We were pelted with rain on the return but the 25kt winds meant a brisk sail!

After Gizo, we commenced a trek around the large Western Province. This will take us about five weeks. We overnighted at Ringgi Cove, a Forestry Settlement on Kolambangara Island & then proceeded to the beautiful Vona Vona (pronounced "Wana Wana") Lagoon. There, we rested, snorkelled, fished and had a couple of excellent meals at a nearby resort.

We spent a half day at the Kiribati village of Canaan visiting friends. Then it was off to Bat Harbour on Kolambangara Island to visit our friends Ellen and Solomon Ngana. We were disappointed to find they have moved to Ringgi Cove where Solomon now has a job with the logging company.

We did manage to speak with Ellen who was there briefly to pick up produce from her garden, which is now sadly being overgrown by jungle. They are extremely hard working people who were always quite poor financially, so we hope this change will assist them. Ellen owns the land so they might return to Bat Harbour eventually. We were assured that the crocodiles have departed Bat Harbour, so Charlie got his swimming done.

From Bat Harbour, we moved up the coast of Kolambangara to Poitete Bay, which has a small logging facility. The snorkelling there was absolutely first class and David managed to hook a Kingfish for dinner while trolling the Bay in the rain.

From Poitete, we travelled to Wagina Island which is at the bottom end of Choiseul Island. We are now at latitude 7degrees, so are getting closer to the equator. On the way, we had strong wind/rain squalls, saw a pod of whales close by and giant sea turtles. The wind strengthened and was from the wrong (and unforecast direction) so we had to tack most of the way. Indeed, we got through a gap in a reef after sunset and were soon engulfed in total blackness, with zero visibility.

We were fortunate in finding a shallow & protected patch to anchor. Next morning we did the last few miles and anchored in a magic lagoon with barely enough room for one yacht (us!) There, we collected giant clams for dinner (a new taste sensation) and Penny did a load of washing ashore where there is a village fishing co-op with large rainwater tanks which the villagers said we could use.

On Sunday, Charlie said Mass in the large Kiribati Church at Wagina. The singing was fantastic, with tremendous music from Pan Pipes of all shapes and sizes.

Even though the fishing has been poor (perhaps because of the weather), we have collected enough calamari for a couple of meals and picked up a few fish from time to time. Perhaps the fishing will improve further from the larger population areas.

The Crew

A memory from Sydney - The first time any Kerrs visited Sagheraghi (apparently pronounced Saggeraggy) was 10 years ago in 1996. David, Wendy and I (Bernadette) set out in the morning with a drink and two breadrolls each for a short (a few km) walk to a beautiful bay and village. Unfortunately for the intrepid adventurers, the walk was several times longer than expected (somewhere around or over 20km), and we didn't return until the evening. Exhausted and hungry, we were salivating at the thought of some fresh bread rolls from the Gizo bakery and a cold bottle of Coca Cola. Too late! No wishes granted there, but nevertheless, the walk was worth it. We passed through a village where the children had not seen many white people, and walked with us the whole way. One of the little boys had one enormous basketball boot on. He was very proud of it. We visited the village at Sagheraghi, paying our respects to the Chief. Wendy and I used his cottage to get changed in to go snorkelling. We've since heard that the Chief died. I remember the beautiful flower gardens in the village - very colourful and well kept. We snorkelled on a sunken boat. I'm sure the Pastime crew will have some more adventures/great experiences in Sagheraghi this time (without the long walk)! The Avalon crew
 

Log reads 2,910NM.

We have travelled over 5,100Km since leaving Sydney. We are also less than 500NM from
the equator and over 1,000Km West of when we rounded the bottom of New Caledonia on
the way to Vanuatu.

We are spending a couple of weeks in the general vicinity of Gizo, before heading
further NorthWest on exploration of the Western Province. Some visiting of old friends
and some exploration of new areas.

We have restocked from the markets and caught up with friends here, including
Bishop Bernard and many others.

We have been moving anchorages, preferring the lee of Logha Island most of the time.
It is away from the hustle and bustle of Gizo and very protected.

Yesterday, we took the yacht to Nusatupe Island. This is an atoll which is 90%
the airstrip for Gizo. We anchored off the Western end- just out of the way of
aircraft which land from this end. We were disappointed by the snorkelling as
the coral has been severely degraded since we were last here. The same is true
of the snorkelling around Logha. It seems that global warming, a major earthquake
and people damaging the reef system have all played a part.

Later that day was much more of a highlight. We called our friend Cletus on the radio.
He manages the Clam Farm on Nusa Tupe and has worked there over 10 years. In all our
times here, we have never got around to visiting the farm.

There are many aspects to the clam farm, which has been running for 20 years and is
funded by "World Fish"- an international organisation. basically, they breed and
cultivate clams which are then sold to the aquarium market. They have also
introduced programs whereby villages "adopt and look after" small clams for a
year or so. When these clams are sold, the villages receive a percentage.

They are also cultivating black pearls and again some of the work will happen at
village level. Other work is being carried out on corals, Beche de Mer.

After touring and learning of the research work from Ian, a visiting
NZ Marine Biologist, we were taken out to the
netted enclosures where the clams grow. Further out on the edge of the reef
were the really BIG clams- over a metre across. There were hundreds, perhaps
even thousands of clams. The fact that this is a Marine Sanctuary also means
that the fish life was exceptional. Wow- what a day! There is even a resident
Dugong, but he/she usually comes out in the evening and we were too early.

Regards,

The CREW

When the time came to leave for Gizo, we managed to stuff the lobsters into the 'fridge
along with the Mahi Mahi. Charlie went to get his swimming pants which he had left
hanging from the life lines the night before. The three pegs were still there but
of the pants- no sign!

Someone had come quietly in the night and removed them. We will never know if it was
Tony, one of the other guys or just someone passing by. If there had been a village
there, it almost certainly would not have happened.

The pants themselves had always amused us as there was a logo (looking like an "A")
followed by the brand "heist". At first glance, the pants had always appeared to be
labelled "Atheist" and we had ribbed Charlie about them several times. Ah well,
someone from the area is now the "atheist" and looking very smart in blue pants.

Charlie has since replaced the swimmers with a rather glamorous floral arrangement
from a shop in Gizo.

The CREW

We left the Marovo on the 5th of June for a small Bay near "VisuVisu" on the Northern
part of the very large New Georgia Island. The weather has generally improved and this
was reflected in the better fishing, with a good sized Mahi-Mahi for the 'fridge.
There were plenty of the small Solomon Islands dolphins leaping and frolicking to
entertain us.

The bay was very well protected and some young men who were fishing inside, welcomed
us and showed us a good spot to anchor. This was confirmed by the scanning sonar. A
river flowed into the bay (without crocodiles) and Charlie was soon in and swimming.
The strong flow of water from the river kept the yacht perfectly oriented, despite
the wind.

This bay has temporary accommodation for people from a couple of SDA vilalges- each
with over 1,000 people- a few Km up and down the coast. People come here, stay
overnight and then go early to their gardens several Km up the river.

The people we met wanted tobacco- which we refuse to carry- so we ordered some
lobsters and agreed a price. They do not eatr shellfish but are only too happy to
catch them for others. As they said, "Stuka lobster" which is SI pidgin for "very
many". We gave them torch batteries and our request for three large lobsters.

Later, another fellow called Tony came by. He was a wheeler dealer and managed to
get magazines, empty bottles and some other bits and pieces. e told him that lobsters
were already committed and he set off to see the lobster getters.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the lobster getters came back with Tony as their spokesperson.
Charlie lent them our snorkelling gear which we were a little worried by when darkness
fell and there were no signs of activity anywhere. Perhaps we had lost our snorkelling
gear?

An hour later, the people returned with our snorkelling gear and five lobsters.
One huge one and four medium sized, so we gave them a bonus. They came onboard and
we chattered about all sorts of things. We boiled up a bottle of water as they wanted
to make tea. We thought this would signal their departure, but this did not occur and
the water cooled. People just like to talk!

Finally, they left and we went to sleep. Next day, we were going to Gizo and would be
in time for the Independence Day celebrations on June the 7th.

Regards,

The CREW

We sailed up the side of the Kolo Lagoon on the East side of Vangunu Island. This lagoon
is similar to the Marovo lagoon. These huge lagoons are full of small islands and reefs
with some shallow water and well over 150metres deep in other parts. There is an inner
ring on narrow islands protecting the lagoons and an outer ring (also of narrow islands)
outside those. In all, VERY beautiful scenery.

We entered the Marovo Lagoon through the deep Tongoro Passage. The sailing was quite
good- in light winds- until a few miles before the passage when we were whited out by
a torrential downpour and strong Northerly winds, which impeded progress somewhat. We
waited until the rain cleared before entering the lagoon. Once inside, we searched in
vain for a narrow entrance in the reef which was supposed to provide access to a
protected anchorage. The GPS position given by the Cruising Guide and the written
description were of little help. Finally, Dave took to the rubber ducky while Penny
kept the yacht at a safe distance. After an hour of searching, it was clear that there
was no opening in the reef, so we elected to go somewhere else. Clearly the Cruising
Guide was somewhat inaccurate.

Within the lagoon, we found that the chart is reasonably accurate but you do not dare
go over anything that is indicated to be less than about 10-20 metres deep. At one
point we tried where there was supposed to be over 4 metres depth and had to pull out
when the depth got to 2.3 metres.

So, we penetrated further into the lagoon than we had planned, but this was an
excellent result as we anchored off a small island with sandy beach and plenty of
good coral around. The water was crystal clear and we had plenty of wind for the
wind generator.

We took the rubber ducky to explore and snorkel on adjoining islands.

The Marovo Lagoon proved to be every bit as good as the eloquent descriptions of it.
The rapacious logging of earlier years (and consequent pollution and runoff into
the lagoon) seems to have abated and so perhaps the World Heritage assessments will
prove more positive as time passes. We could happily spend several more weeks in
the Marovo and maybe this will be possible later. This lagoon areas is huge; just the
East side is about 170Km long, so there is plenty to explore.

Regards,

The CREW

The Russell Islands are made up of 99 islands and islets. Some very large and some
very small. It is a beautiful spot, though difficult to find good anchorages as the
bottom is very deep and then comes up to shallow reef right at the shoreline.

The Copra Plantations are all inoperative. Some, because the workers have been on
strike for two years while others are abandoned. Some of the former workers are
still working abandoned plantations and making much more money than when they
received salaries. Not surprising when the money is staying here and not going out
of the country.

We sailed past beautiful lagoons in the North part of the islands and took
many photographs. There were some good anchorages in a couple of Bays fed by rivers,
but as these were crocodile territory, we avoided them.

We did find a good spot to anchor at the head of a bay, in just 3 metres of water
with good snorkelling quite close. We were a little nervous as there were sometimes
coral "Bommies" just 30cm beneath the keel. Still, all was well and we were more
relaxed swimming away from the crocodile haunts.

We met "Casper", the wise chief of a nearby village. He told us quite a bit about
how he was leading his village and we were impressed. Indeed, other villagers we
spoke with were impressed by him ('though they did not all favor his prohibition
on drinking and smoking for health reasons).

Finally, the time came to leave the Russell Islands and head for the Marovo Lagoon
(described by Mitchener as the eighth wonder of the world).

Our plan was to go to Peava, on the East Coast of Nggatokae Island. One of our
Cruising Guides suggested that "...a fast yacht could make this passage during
daylight hours..." and we managed to do this quite easily. The sailing was very
pleasant and we caught a large shark but no fish. AS usual, extricating the lure
from the shark was a difficult process.

The entrance into Peava was a 10 metre wide and 3.2metre deep gap in the reef blasted
by explosives in times past. Just as well we did not reach it after dark! Peava is in
a beautiful enclosed lagoon with a backdrop of steep mountain and jungle behind. A
little like Visale on Guadalcanal. The lagoon was 20metres deep everywhere with a
fine sandy bottom- excellent for anchoring.

A few people paddled out to see us but we did not go ashore as this was but an
overnight stop.

The Crew.

On Wednesday 28th of June, we waved goodbye to the Police who had kept an eye on Pastime and also to the friendly folk on the boat next to us. We had no wind (which was blocked off by Guadalcanal) and had to motor all the way to a beautiful Bay called "Visale" near the top of Guadalcanal. Here we met a nephew of Fr Geve (A Solomon Islands politician) who was murdered by Harold Keke. James identified his body and had also had to testify in court. We had been in the Solomons when this tragedy occurred and it was unnerving to hear it again from someone so close to the situation. We visited the teacher training school, another school and other parts of this beautiful place. It also has a huge church, which used to be packed to overflowing according to James. Behind Visale are high, very steep mountains. It would take a huge effort to climb them. 13,000 Japanese troops were evacuated from a similar hill/mountain nearby and a number fell to their deaths trying to descend the steep slopes. We saw the remains of a WWII Zero fighter on the reef (but we've seen others in much better condition elsewhere) and snorkelled in the rather unclear water. James came out to the boat to chat some more, but first he had to locate his canoe which had been taken by five boys who paddled out and spent most of the time hanging off the side of our rubber ducky. The next morning, after a good sleep-in, we set off in light winds for the Russell Islands. Once we were out of the shadow of Guadalcanal, we had winds of 30-40kts (again!) and handling the boat was a little tough. We arrived at our destination quite quickly but the suggested (from a cruising guide) anchorage was way too dangerous in the howling wind. We could see rocks sticking out of the water all over the place. This could only be described as a calm water anchorage and it was anything but calm. So, we set off for "Faila Island", some 10 miles away, with just the headsail, again in gale force winds. We got to a suitable Bay, but again the suggested anchoring spot was way too exposed. We searched the whole bay and after two failed anchoring attempts, finally found a suitable spot. Locals visited us from an abandoned plantation and we traded for some coconuts. Since the plantation workers have been processing their own small quantities of Copra, they have been making more money than as salaried employees. It had taken us almost three hours to get anchored and we resolved to move to another bay next day. This we did after a pleasant snorkel. It was easy to anchor in the new Bay and we passed two shipwrecks on the way in. Upon arrival, Penny and Charlie went snorkelling while David started this blog. A short while later, we were visited by the son of the chief from a nearby village. Charlie was soon out of the water when he learned about the resident crocodiles and that a couple of people have been eaten in the past few years. Charlie then asked Penny to come to the boat so that he could tell her something special (he did not want to alarm her). Of course, Penny wanted to know his secret before getting out of the water. Once she learned of the danger, she was also quickly out! Ah well, no swim for Dave. Some of the locals have been out and we now have local oranges, Ngali nuts and other delicious food to supplement what we bought in Honiara. Now, we need to decide where to head next. Should we stay here with no swimming or move to another bay or head off to the Marovo Lagoon. Decisions, decisions. The CREW

We were disappointed not to go ashore at Wango Bay. It was an excellent anchorage, with a river in it. The people ashore seems delighted to see us but did not paddle out. This was just a brief overnight stop for us. The next day, we set sail for islands 15 & 16 in the Marau Sound. This area is immediately South of Guadalcanal. Just after we left, the mechanical wind indicator from the top of the mast hit the deck- right next to Charlie- with a large "thunk". Due to metal fatigue, the bracket had fractured. As we moved along, we disturbed many flying fish. One even bounced off the Mainsail! As the flying fish were disturbed, large birds would swoop low and snaffle them from the air. Much more efficient than having to dive into the ocean for dinner! Unfortunately, the wind kept rising and rising until it reached 40kts (gale force). The seas also grew very large. In the end, the boat became uncontrollable as we had too much sail up. The solution was to heave to for a while, but until we got this setup right, we had the starboard side decks almost a foot underwater! Once, we were comfortable, Charlie and WIll reefed down to storm sails. Reefing this way is not something we have done before and we'll use the technique again if necessary. Once we had less sail up, the boat became manageable even in 35-40kts. We surged towards Marau Sound at around 9kts. When we arrived there, we discovered that one of the two leading beacons was missing (a common occurrence in the Solomon ISlands). We later learned that strong winds blew it away! Still, the GPS and charts proved accurate and we were soon anchored in a tiny cove where we used our scanning sonar to scope out exactly where to drop anchor so that there was room for the boat to swing without hitting any reef. We enjoyed a couple of days here, meeting everyone in the two small villages. We heard the detail of when the ethnic tension was at its peak. It sounded quite chilling, with the locals making traditional weapons such as bows and arrows with which to defend themselves. About 1,500 extra people took refuge on their island for a couple of years, severely taxing all the resources. As always in the Solomons, the locals offer their hospitality to those in need without question or request for payment. We took advantage of the calm conditions to hoist David to the top of the mast and replace the wind indicator. There was a big audience in the villages. A plan to hoist a camera to the top was thwarted by the strong winds up there. Charlie said Mass for them on Saturday as half were Catholics and half Anglicans. As in other places, they said this was the first time they had encountered a minister of religion travelling by boat. We left on Sunday 25th June and had a good sail up to Tenaru Bay, some 10NM short of Honiara. On Monday morning we went to Honiara. There, the Police and local fishermen recommended that we anchor near the Police Wharf and run a long line to the breakwater wall. This proved an excellent measure and was far more satisfactory than anchoring near the Yacht Club. We re-provisioned in Honiara and also finally completed our Customs etc. It was strange getting a "Permission to disembark from Ship" authorisation after we had been ashore so much in different places! Everyone is still very unclear as to when or if Customs/Immigration will return to Santa Cruz Island. Still, we did all the right things and the authorities were very happy with us. Total fees were five times cheaper than Vanuatu and less bureaucratic. We had dinner with the Archbishop of Honiara and also with our long-time friend Bishop Bernard who just happened to be in town. All in all, Honiara was much better than we expected. Everything went very smoothly. People seemed happy and the place was "buzzing". We found someone to wash our clothes and also found the food at the yacht club to be excellent. Bishop Bernard had kindly purchased Will's ticket to Australia for us and we farewelled him on Tuesday- about 20hrs after he "officially" entered the country! The CREW

Will and Charlie were the main explorers on Santa Ana. They walked to the other side and saw the Custom House with skulls and bones going back over 500yrs and preserved war canoes. On the way back, they visited the internal lake which is very picturesque. They had a guide, which was just as well because they returned to the boat well after dark. Fortunately, they had real fireflies to guide them as well. The Santa Ana Bay is very beautiful and this was enhanced at both sunrise and sunset by the 15 to 25 canoes out fishing around the reef entrance. In the end, it was time to leave and we set sail for "Wango Bay" on the East side of Makira. This was not the original plan as Will was going to fly back to Australia from Makira. With the Customs/Immigration issues, we now had to make it to Honiara within the same time frame. We had an excellent day sail, running through the 65NM well before sunset. This was despite a late start caused when one of the villagers failed to return some loan DVDs at sunrise. Will and Charlie rushed ashore at the last moment and found a friend to wake up the person responsible. So, we got the DVDs back. They had been for a fund raising event the night before but unfortunately, their DVD player went on the blink. This is the fate of much modern electronics in the tropics. On a more positive note, our digital camera is fixed. The problem was perspiration which soaked the case and got into the buttons at the top of the camera. Washing/drying the case and a light mist of WD40 on the buttons fixed things. The satellite phone we are trialling is also working better and we have all made a number of calls and even spent a few minutes on the Internet. It seems to be getting better the further West we go. A few days ago, we had a dolphin display with a difference. We encountered a pod of the smallest dolphins we have ever seen. They leaped and played like other dolphins but were no more than a quarter the size we are used to. The CREW

Message from the crew - Pastime and the crew are safe and well, anchored 11 NM south of Honiara in Tenaru Bay. In a change from the original plan, the crew must visit Honiara for customs and immigration. They plan to 'sign in' tomorrow (Monday). Happily, the situation is much calmer at the moment, and Honiara is currently safe. Will is farewelling the crew to fly home on Tuesday. He'll just scrape in to the country (officially) before leaving, and then have five days in Sydney before departing for Borneo for three months. What a life! The blog will be updated in about a week.

We spent a relaxing couple of days in Graciosa Bay. We anchored off a very pleasant sandy beach with a freshwater stream running into the ocean. So, you could have a 28deg "Sauna" in the salty water and then move a couple of metres to 20deg fresh water. VERY relaxing. Indeed, Graciosa Bay was very pretty and one of the best anchorages we have had. We met up with some Malaitans working a logging concession. Like the Ni-Vanuatu people, they are passionately interested in soccer and the SI DID beat Australia in one of the qualifying games where Aus ended up on top. They were hoping we had TV on our boat. We explained that humble Pastime does not run to TV! Charlie said a "family Mass" for one of the Malaitans (Godfrey) who is sad there are no Catholic facilities in this Province. He was very appreciative & it was rather special sharing with him. With some excitement, we saw a small ship coming into the Bay. It was the "National Geographic" on an expedition and carrying tourists. We radioed them and learned that they had Customs and Immigration staff on board. Our hopes were dashed when they said they did not have the correct forms for yachting people. Before leaving Santa Cruz, we went the 20NM to the NE side of Santa Cruz and spent a very pleasant 24hrs in "Kala Bay" which is an abbreviation of Carlisle Bay. We inspected the local school, handed out balloons to the kids and magazines (courtesy of the Holmwoods) to some of the adults who read them with delight. We also provided business advice to the Chief's son who wants to start some Village Stay activities. When we left the village to return to Pastime, a bunch of kids came too. First prize went to three boys in a canoe who beat us in the rubby ducky at full throttle! So, three Solomon Islanders equals 3.3 horsepower of outboard. All of us went swimming (ah yes, the water is 28.2deg Celsius) and soon all the kids were in too! No matter that the canoes were sinking as the kids leaped out. All in all, great fun for all and it was with the usual sadness that we departed next day for the island of Santa Ana, off the SE corner of Makira Island. This passage started out with rain squalls and deteriorated that night with strong winds from every direction of the compass, interspersed with no wind for periods of a couple of hours at a time. Next day was dismal with an almost continuous torrential downpour ALL day and some of the night! At least the canopy drain filled our water tanks to overflowing. The final morning started with 30->35kt winds and us racing along way too fast at around 9kts with a 2 metre sea on a 4 metre swell. We took down the main sail and were still fast enough but more comfortable. We had to sail 33NM extra due to current and did the 250NM in just under two days. It was very demanding with sail changes and continuous wind direction and strength variations. Here we are anchored at beautiful Santa Ana Island. First settled in 1380BC it is a great place to be. Kids have been swimming out to us to "see DVDs"! Our Cruise Directors (Charlie and Will) diverted their attention by playing noughts and crosses & Bingo with them for a couple of hours! There were about 16 children crowded into the cockpit and it was all great fun with lots of noise. Finally, we had to send them away so we could have some peace and quiet. Well, time do do some swimming and snorkelling. See you (someone has to do it), The Pastime Crew

We were pleased to leave Sola with the dust and very rocky anchorage, not to mention plenty of flies. Our Passage planning software suggested we would get to Santa Cruz in 7hrs less than 2 days, but we tought it would take more like 48hrs, so we left at 10AM. The wind was strong and the waves about 2 metres on a 3 metre swell. Soon, we were reefed down to storm sails and still doing 7kts! We rattled off 145NM the first 24hrs and it became apparent we would arrive at night. Not good, as we had a choice of a very narrow passage or many more miles to a much wider one. We decided to go for the narrow passage and use the GPS, scanning sonar, paper charts and electronic charts. We would "back out" and go the long way if the water was too shallow. Things went well until we were 25NM from Santa Cruz and had an ETA of 2230 for the channel. We were hit by a very big squall with howling winds and torrential rainfall- all from the North (where we were headed). We hove to with David above and P/C/W below. After an hour, we were able to get under way but close hauled in very light winds whereas the 25-3-knot Trade Winds had evaporated! In the end, we motor sailed for many hours and negotiated the narrow channel in moonlight. The scanning sonar was fantastic in side scanning mode to keep us in the deepest part of the channel. The channel is supposed to be 13metres deep but an old chart from 1895 shows depths down to 7 metres and extremely narrow in places. Amazingly, the ancient chart was most accurate of all with the electronic chart again being the worst and showing us cruising over reefs at some points. Then we had to find somewhere to anchor in the dark. Not easy in this 200metre deep Bay with steep sides. Finally, using the sonar, we found a spot and anchored at 0500. We then fell into an exhausted sleep. Some hours later, we cooked up our remaining fish and tidied up over a leisurely breakfast. We were at anchor in the Solomons (so a bottle of champagne went into the fridge). The day was beautiful and this Bay (Gracioza Bay) is absolutely beautiful! It is wonderfully protected and perhaps the calmest anchorage it could be possible to have. Of course, we met many locals before the time came to clear customs, immigration and Quarantine. We sailed over to the small Provincial of Lata and by the time we arrived, there was a crowd of around 100 people waiting on and around the wharf. It soon became apparent that tying to the concrete wharf was fraught with danger as the wind and waves would have pounded us to pieces. We anchored in 26metres (very deep) with the stern close to the reef. Will and Penny stayed on board in case the anchor dragged while Dave and Charlie went ashore. We soon met "John Young", who was "Just Strolling" and offered to show us short cuts, government buildings etc. We shook so many hands and said "Halo" to so many people... Well, we found Customs and Immigration okay, but there have been no officials here for over a year! Penny had received emails from Honiara in February confirming that Lata is still a Port of Entry. Well, seems the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing in the Solomons. So, we cannot clear in and William cannot leave the country next week (for Sydney -> Borneo) because he is not legally here! Ah well, change of plans. David & Charlie went to the Police Station and we handed over passport numbers etc. The Police chief said he'd fax the details to Honiara and tell them we are detained due to bad weather. He sees no problem with doing whatever we want to- even so far as not doing Customs etc in Gizo! ZHowever, we have decided to go to Santa Ana, Makira, Guadalcanal and Honiara where we will officially clear in and despatch Will to Australia. Lata is very cut off, with all recent flight cancelled and only the occasional supply boat. The stores have many empty shelves though a few things such as oil, pegs and soap are available but little else. We met quite a few locals and spent some hours in "Tok Tok". Charlie was delighted to meet a PNG policeman, here on assignment, so they could converse in PNG pidgin. We also met the RAMSI policeman, a Federal policeman from Adelaide, here advising and training the SI police. We ascertained that though there are a couple of crocodiles here, there have been no attacks. So, no-one should mention this to Charlie's mother! A Swiss yachtsman was eaten from his dinghy on the island South of here (while his helpless wife watched on). Now Charlie, what is all the big splashing over on the shore? From here, we will explore the North side of the island and then undertake the 450KM to Santa Ana island off the South of Makira, probably on Sunday. Pastime Crew

We set out for Sola in light NE winds. This involved tacking up the West side of Vanua Lava. The winds are very often this direction on the lee side of the Vanuatu islands. When we got to the top, we encountered very strong 25-35knot winds and very rough seas. The rubber ducky flipped so we hove-to and the menfolk pulled it onto the foredeck and lashed it tight. We then tacked all the way across the top of the island and then out wide (to avoid the reefs) on the other side. It took us about seven hours and we were pleased to reach the large Bay which is called Port Patterson. Unfortunately, the anchorage was excessively rocky and rolly, being quite exposed to the prevailing swells. The dinghy landing was also very difficult, and youngsters were surfing their dugouts into the beach. Still, we made it safely. David achieved Customs clearout quickly but the policeman/immigration was nowhere to be found. While Penny, Charlie and Will went in search of bread and some other supplies, David quizzed every person he met to determine last known location of the policeman. After an hour's walk, there was still no sign. David found where the policeman lived and then his father. Secure in the knowledge that the policeman was likely to knock off work early, David chatted with the locals, in front of the Policeman's house. Eventually, he turned up and we went to the police station. So far, the process had taken 3.5hrs! Then he found that he was missing his immigration stamp and paperwork! He also discovered we were Aussies and not Americans. He is a total soccer "nut". While a messenger went for the immigration objects, he pulled out his police notebook and told us all about every soccer team playing in the World Cup. He was very excited about that night's game between Aus and Japan. He pulled papers out of envelopes on his desk, and they all related to soccer! Draws, locations, times (converted to Vanuatu time) etc. The messenger returned but with the wrong items. He was sent again to the Policeman's nouse, which gave him more time to tell us about soccer. There is no doubt that if we were not Aussies, we would have not been cleared that day. As it was, the process took for ever, but it did get done. During all of this, Charlie had found a local bar and was having cups of coffee with a local and learning lots about the area, the crocodiles, the agricultural training centre run by his father (the Anglican minister) and other useful info. Charlie was also able to replenish dwindling beer stocks. On the way out from the beach, a wave soaked much of our purchases, including bread rolls (we had had no bread fort over a week). Still, a spell in the oven fixed the buns and we prepared for our departure to the SOlomons the next day- Tuesday 13th of June. Happy Birthday to my sister Rose for today the 13th! All the Best, THE CREW

Hi Everyone, We set out from Losalava (perhaps this means "lots of lava") on Saturday 10th of June. The winds were strong and behind us, so we used only our head sail and (foolishly) towing the rubber ducky rather than stowing it on deck (which blocks the air flow into the front of the yacht). We raced along at 7kts and all was fine until we got near the island of Vanua Lava, where we encountered very rough and "bositerous" seas. One huge wave broke on top of the rubber ducky, filled it with water and plucked out the centre (inflatable) seat which was never seen again. Well, we can live without it. The underwater camera (very expensive) also stopped functioning some weeks ago as has our Olympus SLR digital camera (which has always been kept in a sealed dry bag). Oh well, back to the 35 year old Olympus SLR film camera which has worked well all our married life. We reached the very calm Waterfall Bay very quickly and were greeted by John who is the son of one of the Custom Chiefs. When we went ashore later, they performed a pleasant welcoming ceremony in Chief Kerely's Yacht Club (which is a pleasant leaf house with concrete floor). We exchanged small gifts and the Chief showed us their fantastic waterfall which has thousands of litres a second flowing over twin falls. Of course, Charlie was in and attempting to swim to the falls themselfs within a minute of our arrival! The katabiatic wind coming off the falls is awesome, at around 25KM/hr! We donated a Cosatal Cruising Club of Australia to join the many other flags there and also filled in the guest book. Several of our fellow CCCA members have also visited in the past. the Chief's wife (Elizabeth) and daughters agreed to do all our laundry so far. The methodology is similar to that found by David in India. Flog the clothes on the rocks in the river! They were returned a day later very clean. We also scheduled a Custom dinner for Sunday night- our last local dinner before the Solomon Islands. For five dollars each, we had Cassava, Taro, lobster and cooked freswater prawns. Wow! All the people at Waterfall Bay and the village (3KM away) are Anglican and so people from near and further away attended a Mass celebrated by Charlie on Saturday morning. The people were delighted and told us that the last time a visiting clergyman had performed a service for them was a American Pentecostal man twenty four years previously. While at Waterfall Bay, we also met Chief Jimmy, who lives on the other side of the twin Waterfalls. He is the elected Chief and the day of our arrival he had been elected the Chief of all the land of Vanua Lava. He was a kind and gentle man with much wisdom, so this augurs well for any land disputes on the island. We got an excellent pineapple and other fruit from his children. It was fun watching the kids surf their outriggers across the reef outside their home. Another time, we met former Chief Nixon, who "rents" space on the beach from the Custom owners. He is from Mota Lava. We traded with him for excellent bananas. Overall, our short time at Waterfall Bay was wonderful and we could easily have stayed longer, as did a German boat (called Calypso) which had come from the Marshall Islands and Kiribati. They had waited six days at Sola (Provincial Capital) for Immigration, who was never there (he is also the local Policeman). We knew that the trip to Sola would involve lots of tacking as we had to sail clockwise around the island, but that's another story. Best Regards, PASTIME crew

We left for Losalava on Thursday 8th June. It was a tough sail tacking up the West side of the island into North-Easterlies. Then, at the top of Gaua, we had to tack into strong Easterlies through a very rough uncharted area containing many reefs. Wally the Wahoo was gone, so we really wanted another fish. We hooked a good sized Mahi Mahi and got it within 15 metres of the boat and then lost it. THIRD time we had lost a fish- in a row. We had never previously lost more than one. Out came the pliers and we managed to partly repair the hooks bent by Godfrey the shark. 20 mins later, we hooked and this time retained, a decent 12Kg Wahoo which we have named "Wilma". We tacked for the last couple of hours with Wilma sliding around in the cockpit. The crew kept feet off the bloodied floor! We came through big seas into Losalava and were met by Geoffrey and his son Kenneth. We quickly got them on board as their dugout was sinking rapidly. It really was not capable of operating in the big sxceedingly well that night. Next stop is Waterfall Bay on the West Coast of Vanua Lava. Unfortunately, we think the winds will be rather strong, but we need to move along as our visas and cruising permit are running out of time. Until next time, The CREW

Due to lack of wind, we motored from Champagne Beach to a small, uninhabited island called Lathi on the North Eastern tip of Santo. Anchoring was a challenge on a small, rocky platform. On the way, a large pod of dolphins came racing across from about a kilometre away. They were flying right out of the water, in pairs, as they raced to us. They then played in the bow wave for some time before disappearing. Some of them managed to get several body lengths out of the water. As we approached the island, we hooked a fish. There was still one night of "Wally" left and while we were hauling it in, the fish got away. Not a common occurrence to lose one but at least we still had dinner. As we had been approaching Champagne Beach, we had hooked Godfrey the shark. He had proved somewhat of a handful. However, with Charlie holding him on the gaff, Dave was able to free the hooks from his jaw. Our dentist would have been impressed with his bite of perfectly matching teeth! We saved the shark and lure, but the lure hooks had been damaged, probably losing us the next fish. The following day, we were up early for the 45NM sail to Lakona Bay on the West side of Santa Maria. We hoped for a return of Trade Winds and these indeed arrived after a couple of hours. We then had a perfect beam reach in 12kts of wind, with the boat surging along at 7kts. As we approached Lakona Bay, we hooked something very large. The pull was equivalent to the 40Kg Tuna of several years ago, so perhaps it is as well that this fish also escaped- those damaged hooks again! We had a fantastic time in Lakona Bay, interacting with the Dalov Villagers. William recorded on a short video clip, the fantastic "Water Music" performed by the women clapping and moving their hands underwater (in the sea). We also visited the local clinic, run by "Charles". This is an AUSAID project. The clinic building is great but a few things are not right. There are no lights so night time is a problem. There is no sink for washing things- Charles lugs a bucket along. There are no fly screens on the windows or doors. There are some old hospital beds, but no mattresses or sheets. The supply of medicines is largely from passing yachts and pretty sparse. Some Government supplies arrive sporadically. We intend to obtain four solar lanterns and ask friends to bring them here next year. There is too much more to describe in this blog. We all had a fantastic time here and it was with reluctance that we finally took our leave. A number of the villages waved goodbye f rom the hill top. The CREW

We left Aore on Saturday June 3rd. There was no wind so we motored nearly all the way to Champagne Beach, which is in "Hog Harbour". By the way, henceforth, Paul will become "Charlie" in these blogs. We all call him that, so it's easiest. (He walks the same funny way as Charlie Chaplin). Water temp is currently 27.4. Air temp during the day a hot 33degC. Humidity 88% in the mornings and 75% in the evenings. Champagne Beach is supposed to be Vanuatu's best beach and is certainly extremely picturesque. No surf, but proper white sand & fantastic visibility in the water- also cattle drinking at the end of the beach. Will and Charlie, our explorers, have established that there is a spring or stream full of fresh water there. The cruise ships bring their people here, fortunately not today as that would increase our local population by 3,000. Charlie plans to say Mass on the beach later. He came with a cruise ship years ago and has fond memories of this place. A film crew is filming here for "The Great Outdoors" and they were admiring "Pastime of Sydney" from a distance. We believe we are probably in the film! The snorkelling was reasonable and the water exceptionally clear. It was an exceptionally good anchorage. The lack of wind continued, so today (Monday) we have motored to a small island just off the Eastern tip of Santo and hope there is wind in the morning to take us to Santa Maria. We should not have complained about too much wind as there has been virtually none for five days while we sit in a high pressure system. Perversely, there is not much sun either. We are finding that Vanuatu (at least at the moment) is the land of clouds, with almost no sunny days so far. We are about a week behind our "best efforts" schedule set before we left home, so that's not too bad. The wind will come again one of these days and we expect the Trade Winds to return overnight. Regards, THE CREW

Date Wednesday 31/5/06 We set sail at 0630 for Luganville. There was a brilliant full rainbow to see us off. The wind was straight behind and Flinders (the wind vane) steered us well with the sails "goose winged"- which means on opposite sides of the boat. Things went fine until the wind went to 25->30kts and we needed to reef the sails. Then the brilliant, fast run continued all the way with the boat running at 7 to 8 knots. We only pulled down the sails about 100metres from our destination. The fast trip got us there several hours before our estimated time. We decided to moor (rather than anchor) at the Aore Resort, which is on a sheltered shore opposite the town of Luganville, on Espirito Santo. At Luganville, we visited the markets and extended our cruising permit Northwards. We had a very pleasant time with sundowners at the resort each of the three evenings we were there. We met lots of people including a German/Columbian couple with baby. They are circumnavigating the world in their catamaran. We also had a very pleasant dinner at the resort. We will hopefully soon send a photo of Penny and her "twin tub" washing machine. For two days, we had torrential downpours of about 200mm rain. These enabled us to refill our water (the Waterlog watermaker is again defunct- probably terminally). The rubber ducky was also full of water & Penny also decided that she could stomp on the clothes in one half of the rubber ducky (with detergent), then carry out a rinse cycle in the other section. This worked exceedingly well, with David providing the final two rinses in buckets on the yacht. The large amount of money saved paid for many Pina Coladas! The rain also helped remove more of the black volcanic ash from the boat. I forgot to mention previously that we could hear the volcano's explosions from our anchorage which was 15kM distance. That area is obviously a dramatic one. In 1453, the island of Epi was blown apart by a volcanic explosion (of Kawae) equal to 20 million atomic bombs! The ash and other effects were felt around the world- including at the fall of Constantinople. Best Regards, THE CREW

[Log reads 1,750NM (somewhat over 3,000kM)]

 Monday morning, we had a last brief goodbye to the folks ashore and promptly set sail. We were headed for a place on the East side of Melakula called "Black Sand Beach" which would be protected from an anticipated Westerly change.

Sailing was great most of the time (our SECOND good sailing day in Vanuatu) until the wind died to nothing. We had been making excellent time and had decided to press on to a better location called "Crab Bay". We had to motor the last few hours with the lack of wind. No problem really because we use the motor infrequently.

We made it to the wide reef opening by 1600 and came into the lagoon here. The water was murky and we could not see the internal reefs. However, again our scanning sonar (which shows what is in front of us) allowed us to find a spot right in the middle of the three reefs. The sonar showed we had 160metres between reefs and so we were able to anchor in the middle. We anticipated we would swing around with the wind change in the night. If we had used the publicised GPS waypoint in a couple of cruising guide, we would have been on the reef at about 0300 when the wind did indeed come around from the NW.

Today, Tuesday, is a snorkelling and exploration in this deserted place which has recently been designated a marine sanctuary and is Tabu for a number of things (which we will not be doing). Reports from Will and Paul (who are already in the water) are that the coral is the best so far in Vanuatu.

Tomorrow, we head off for Luganville on Espirito Santo as we want to get our Northern Cruising Permit and maximise the time in the Banks Islands before setting off for the Solomon Islands.

The Crew

[Sometime between 24th May and 29th May . . . ] Finally, we had an excellent sail to Epi. No squalls and only one tiny rain shower. We did 7kts most of the way and it was great! This is what tropical sailing is SUPPOSED to be like.

The anchorage at Epi was excellent and we met many of the locals. Most yachties seem to gravitate towards Tasso, who runs a guesthouse there. However we spent quite a bit of time with the family next door; the husband is Tasso's brother in law.

Saturday morning was Market Day. David was up just before sunrise and went for a 1hr snorkel around the bay. He was looking for the tame, gentle Dugong ("Sea Cow" of 420Kg) which frequents the bay. There was no sign of the dugong and we later learned that he had not been seen for "some time" which seemed to mean an indeterminate period of at least two months, but maybe much longer. Still, we did get to snorkel with giant sea turtles.

After David's swim, the crew was just stirring from their slumbers. David took a string bag and headed off to the market around 0800. Alas, the market was finished, apart from a few scrappy bits and pieces (which David bought). Everyone was very friendly, but there also seemed to be a lot of mirth. A lady called Bennington (named after the nurse who delivered her) explained "Waetman up too late. Market start 0530 and all finis long 0630"). Waetman=Whiteman. Kindly, she offered to get us some bread and veggies/fruit from her own garden. We gave her several kilos of Wahoo. Later on, everyone came ashore and there was much Tok Tok (talk) and we collected lots of goodies.

They are Pentecostals and when they found out that Paul was a Catholic Priest, they asked us to their service the next day and for Paul to give a sermon. They also invited us to Kai Kai (lunch).

That evening, a 100ft yacht came into the bay. Wow, what a monster! It made Pastime look like a toy. Their tender (dinghy) had a 50HP engine which is twice the horsepower of our yacht engine. Onboard were four crew and 8 American guests of the owner (who was not there).

Epi was an excellent place with one temporary drawback. There is an island called Lopevi about 10NM away. This has usually been Vanuatu's most dangerous volcano. Last year, it hit the world news when the adjoining island of Paama had to be evacuated. Since then, it had quietened down somewhat. It must have heard we were coming because a few dfays before, it roared into action again. So, during our stay at Epi, we could hear explosions and rumblings. But the worst was the layer of black volcanic ash which rained down on us day and night. One day, we completely washed the boat twice and it was still ashy. It got into everything, including bedclothes, clothing, pillowws, the autopilot......

On Sunday, we attended the colourful service and Paul gave a great sermon. This was as much appreciated by the locals as the eight Americans. Teh Americans declined an invitation to Kai Kai, saying they had to set sail. They did not actually set sail for hours. This was not lost on the locals. Perhaps the Americans were afraid of local food or wanted hamburgers (my apologies to the Americans reading this!)

Anyway, we had a fantastic time and the food was superb.

After Kai Kai, we decided to walk to the other side (of Epi) for a better look at the volcano. Five local kids (aged 8 -> 11) took us and Apia's and Bennington's 21 year old son (who had struck up a friendship with Will) followed later. We had a great view of the volcano from about 8Km away. The volcano is 4,500 ft high and the ash was going the same again or higher. We were lucky to see it because the next day, when we sailed past it, the whole lot was shrouded in cloud.

We were able to equip Bennington and Apia with reading glasses and sunglasses for the soccer-mad Eric plus some magazines kindly donated by the Holmwoods. We parted great friends and will be in touch when we return home as they are starting a guest house and we can help with advice etc. We were sad to leave and wanted to stay, but the volcanic ash was becoming a real pain.

Luckily, we were able to fill up our water from the Kenneth's excellent well. Unfortunately, the rotten watermaker has developed major cracks in one end and is again unuseable. What a lemon it has been so far!

All the best,

The Pastime crew

We only stayed in Port Vila for three days. This was a busy time as we stocked up on food & water and did some sightseeing as well. Paul explored most, revisiting haunts from his first visit 20 or so years ago. We managed to get a spare propellor for the outboard as the we had damaged ours a little in Tanna. probably won't need it but who knows? On the last afternoon, we hired a catamaran and kayak for some exploring. We had wanted to sail to Epi in the North before a North Easterly wind change arrived. However, it was too far before the expected change, so we headed for a small island called Nguna at the top of Efate. All went well at the start as we headed North through the area where most of the big game boats troll. One of them cut across our bows (not too badly) and headed up the coast. Shortly after, we hooked an excellent Wahoo (we named him "WALLY"). Wally was 15Kg and 1.35 metres long. That's a reasonable fish! An hour or two later, we were almost becalmed when "whoosh", in came the NorEaster at around 30kts. About 15hrs early. It was then hard work tacking all the way up the Coast of Efate to our eventual anchorage. Every time we tacked, Wally slid across the cockpit floor into peoples' legs. The only good thinga bout the occasional waves over the side were that (a) they kept the fish cool and (b) they washed away the latest lots of blood. Our Nguna anchorage was ill-protected from the wind and swell direction so we needed the rocker stoppers, which made things far more bearable. David cut up the fish and our fridge was full with the 11Kg or so of fish fillets PLUS rump and veal purchased in Vila. Let's see, now we have 11 fish meals and five meat ones.... Thursday was rough with winds to 40kts. We dragged anchor but then it got under a rock ledge and we were secure again. Paul and WIll went swimming. Paul made it to shore and was soon seen chatting with a bunch of local kids. It looked too difficult to get the rubber ducky ashore, so Penny & Dave remained on board reading and doing other general jobs. Friday, we planned to head off for the 55NM trip to Epi. We were looking forward to GOOD weather- for a change- having had mediocre, cloudy, squally weather since a day before we reached Tanna. Best Wishes, The Crew

Forgot to mention that we only used 31L of diesel fuel in the month since leaving Sydney. This has mainly been for getting in/out of Lord Howe and Vila Harbour plus a number of days with no wind and no sun where we ran the engine for power.

Regds,

Dave

Joseph had sold a lot of Sandalwood and purchased an expensive TV, generator and DVD player. I was able to test his generator which had fairly variable output voltage. The modern electronics looked rather incongruous in his humble abode. I should also mention that Joseph and wife were kindly looking after 23 visitors from other parts of the island!

Anyway, we had been lending DVDs each night and on our last day went ashore to retrieve them. Sadly, they had run out of petrol for the generator but got to watch "Cry Freedom" about Steve Bico's stand against Apartheid and death by mistreatment/torture. A sad but moving movie which they enjoyed.

There was a man there who had walked from Ipota (right across the island). His wife had been in a serious condition in Port Vila hospital and he walked to Dillon Bay to try and ring from a phone to ascertain her condition. He had used the last of his money and not got through. Joseph had been accommodating him for a week. So, we were asked and agreed to take him to Vila.

The trip was much rougher than we expected. We had dinner of BBQ fish at 1600 and Massing ate with us. He is a farmer/hunter and of course had never been on a yacht before. A baptism of fire!

We had a spare lifejacket for him. The passage was 83NM and we were doing it overnight. First we had 20kt winds, then nothing for an hour (so we motored). Then it went straight to 30kts and stayed there. naturally, the seas rose a lot and became quite rough. On Will's watch, it all got too much and Flinders (the wind steering) was not coping with the gusts. So we took down the Mainsail in somewhat adverse conditions. Massing (our passenger) had felt ill. William fed him a seasickness pill and less than two minutes later he announced he was now better! Willaim kindly gave him his own bunk for the rest of the journey.

Once the Main was down, the steering was fine and we still had plenty of speed. It was very rocky without the Mainsail for balance, but at least we were dry (except for Will who was wettened by a big squall).

We pulled up at an excellent mooring in the harbour right at the appointed time of 0915. We speedily put Massing ashore as he was anxious to see his wife. We hope she recovers well and that they get safely back to their village.

Well, better go now as we are preparing for tomorrow's departure for Epi in the North.

All the best,

Dave, Penny, Will and Paul

We had an excellent time in Erromango. We got to meet and spend a fair bit of time with a number of the local people. Discovered quite a few inaccuracies in the Lonely Planet. We are compiling a list which we will send upon our return.

David and Rhonda prepared us a kastom ("Custom") meal which we ate with them one night, by the dim light of the kerosene lantern. What a great experience. David has developed a nursery for his Sandalwood trees. When they are about 600mm high, he transplants them to his land. He has been planting for about 20 years and now has 2,073 trees. His brother, Joseph, has 3,000 trees. Joseph showed us how they harvest the trees. No wonder he has a bad back. he cuts the wood into 40Kg chunks and then carries them the 9Km back from the plantation to home!

He kindly gave Will some sandalwood as a souvenir.

There is a pod of very playful dolphins in the Bay. One day, we took the rubber ducky to a beach (described in a cruising guide as "sandy white beach an easy dinghy ride away"). We have plenty of dolphins visit the yacht, but this time we had a couple of dozen converge on the rubber ducky. They were literally centimeters from us. Wow!

The beach was actually a coral beach and there was several hundred metres of fringing reef out from it. We arefully navigated in and had a pleasant swim/snorkel. We doubt the people who wrote that cruising guide had ever actually visited that beach because it LOOKED as they had described but was not like that at all.

Paul caught a good trevally on the first day. Surprising as the bottom has no weed or reef- just some monstrous Beche de Mere (Sea slugs). They are very valuable and harvested in the Solomons and Louisiades, but apparently not here.

We also acquired a couple of large sucker fish along the way. Without our book, we are not sure of their name but could be something like "Remora". At first they looked like sharks & darted out as if to attack when we put a hand in the water. They also chased Paul's trevally. Of course, Paul managed to catch both Remora on the rod so we were able to examine them more closely before gently letting them go. Both seem unharmed by the experience and continued to keep the hull cleaned of organisms.

Cheers,

Pastime crew

0957 Thursday 18th of May

The log read 1,450NM when we anchored at Tanna. Total days at sea were 13.25. We had almost three days becalmed. Overall, this was our best passage to date and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Time went quite quickly and we only got wet by the ocean on the last day (and on the way to Lord Howe). The decision to go via Lord Howe Island was vindicated by the direction of the winds and bad weather further West. The Lord Howe section also shook out some cobwebs as we had not had time for a decent sea trial first

We haven't yet told you about Customs, Immigration etc except to confess that William had been (illegally) taken ashore on the Sunday and given a tour of Peter's village and met lots of people. On Monday morning, Paul & Dave went ashore & discovered the local Policeman at the market. Of course, a 20min chat was obligatory! He told us the Police Station was "just up the road". We had also read in a cruising guide that we needed to go to the Police Station. Well, we walked up the road and were directed down a further road, then another, and another and another. Indeed, we walked to the next town (Called Iskangel) which was uphill, 4Km away and took a little over an hour. There we learned that the Immigration man had gone to our boat (or at least to the shore near our boat). So, we waited under the mango tree.......... Then Quarantine turned up. After that, the immigration guy appeared and we did the paperwork. "No problem" that Will and Penny were absent- you can sign the forms for them! The the police gave us a lift back to the boat, stopping on the way to introduce us to his mother. The police also introduced us to someone who would take us to Yasur, the "world's most accessible active volcano")

We met plenty of people and bought well at the markets (bananas are only one cent each or less- about a quarter of market price in Vila).

Next day was volcano day. Yakka turned up in a beat up old 4WD ute with one front seat (for Penny). The rest of us sat in the tray of the ute (ouch) for the 2hr ride to the volcano. Charlie, who we had fixed things with the day before, had a nicer 4WD with real seats but he had given the job to Yakka. When we saw (experienced) the road, we could see why you would only take a beat-up vehicle on it. The volcano was very impressive. We drove across ash plains and climbed the windward side of the volcano. Several times, there were huge explosions which threw rocks up to half the size of a car hundreds of feet above us. The strong Trade winds were a comfort for us as they blew the red hot rocks and molten lava in the other direction. People in 1995 and 1996 were not so lucky with three killed. It would have been even more impressive at night, but the dinghy trip to the boat was impossible at night. As it was, when we took Yakka to the boat for a bite to eat and to see it, we hit a rock and sheared off the outboard propeller shear pin (we carry spares).

Peter and his kids (plus our washing, vegetables and fruit) visited the boat on the day before we left. We said farewell and many people ashore said goodbye as did some at 6am on the day of departure. Of course, everyone ashore knows exactly what one is doing at all times.

We are now anchored at Dillon's Bay on the Island of Erromango (means "Land of mangoes"). We have already had visits from one canoe and also from a Ray boat which was out fishing. From the latter, we traded and received some excellent Wahoo. This anchorage is much more satisfactory than Lenakel where we had the rocker stoppers out the whole time, which made life bearable aboard. We needed two anchors out as holding in the volcanic rock and thin sand was tenuous.

Yesterday we had a fast 52NM trip from Tanna to here. Our timing for leaving Lenakel "Harbour" was good as the water where we were anchored was lashed into white foam from big seas lashing the reef. We had a wet ride with squalls every 20 minutes for the whole trip. Finally, the Watermaker functioned perfectly. It turns out that there was a factory defect in the assembly of the hydroplanes which has been there since we bought it and probably responsible for all the grief it has given us! This was resolved when we emailed a photograph to the UK. Yesterday, it made about 35L of water which is great. Now, our water will last until Vila where we will refill. It's a pity that the Watermaker was not working earlier as we could have had full tanks when we arrived at Tanna. Oh well, at least it is finally fixed, even if the towline is a bit kinked. We don't dare fish when the Waterlog is deployed (imagine a fish dragging the line into the Waterlog propeller...)

That's all for now. Shortly, we will visit the local village and perhaps organise dinner for tonight and tomorrow.

Regards,

The Crew of Pastime

We are now anchored in the tiny bay called Lenakel on the South side of the island of Tanna. It's called a Port, but very marginal. We got in at 19:30 Australian time on Saturday night. Saturday, the wind got styronger and stronger until it was around 25-30kts with roughish seas on a confused 3 metre swell. We had thought we were about to achieve our first ever "dry" passage but it was not to be. We took two large waves over the side, spaced about an hour apart (or the time it takes to change into dry clothes). Of course, each time, the wave selected the opening NEXT to the clear plastic screen we had on the windward side. Then came the third wave which broke from astern. Wet again, but no matter, we were surging towards the destination, fully reefed, at between 7 and 8 knots. We did about 150NM that last day and arrived four hours faster than our best estimate. Then came some planning headaches. We turned on the electronic charts and pulled out the hardcopy chart. There was at least 1Km difference between them! The sole navigational beacon, a flashing light was in yet another (third) position in the Navaid database on the GPS! So, we decided to arrive at a position that was safe on all charts and then take bearings to the only landmark, the flashing beacon. Imagine what we thought when we reached the designated point and found that there no longer appears to be a working light! Using depth contours and our scanning sonar, we determined that the hardcopy chart was correct and carefully felt our way into the very exposed anchorage. The anchor held well and we had a very difficult night's sleep with three metre swells arcing into the bay and under us- rolling the boat mercilessly. The un-wonderful electronic chart showed us calmly going over the reef, up the beach and onto the main street of the town! So much for the quality of electronic charts. A kilometre out. Next morning, with daylight, the scanning sonar and two people on the bow, we made our way into a small, moderately protected spot with some Bommies. We had to re-anchor three times. Someone came out in a dugout and showed us where we could anchor. Very close to a nasty reef (about 50 metres away). We did this and then ran out a second bow anchor at an angle in case the wind or tidal currents changed. We've now been here for 36hrs and all seems well. Tomorrow, we visit Yasaur the world's most accessible volcano. We have also met quite a few people and had a 4km trek uphill to the Police station to clear in. We have met Quarantine and Immigration but not yet Customs (missing in action). A local, Peter, kindly took Will in his dugout and gave him a guided tour of Peter's village- including Tok-Tok with all the relatives. He took away our pile of washing and his wife Mary will wash them for us! Now, if only we could get the wretched watermaker working again, we'd be totally right. Still, we have a week's water supply left and it MIGHT rain one day. Well, we're about to go to the markets again and perhaps catch some of the squid under the boat. Oh, the water temperature is 26.2deg which is wonderful. Visibility underwater is at least 30 metres. All the best, The CREW

From Bernadette:

We have had a couple of good days sailing. Are now reefed right down in moderately rough seas (perhaps "lumpy" is the best way to describe them). We are now less than 65NM from Tanna in Vanuatu. We will arrive at night and our electronic and hard copy charts do not agree! We will be favouring the hard copy ones, turning on the forward scan sonar (which shows what is ahead and to the sides underwater) and proceeding slowly into Lenakel Bay. The anchorage could be rather rolly but probably not much different from what we have now. About 30mins after yesterday's WaterBlog, we hooked a good fish. Not quite a metre long. We have not been able to identify it yet (currently code-named "Charlie"). It was beautiful green and gold with a large dorsal fin (blue) a little like a Sailfish. It is not in our fish books but we are eating it anyway! Very delicious. However the rough conditions do make cooking a bit of a challenge. It will be interesting being on or near land after almost 10 days at sea. We will not be able to clear Customs until Monday so will not be allowed ashore until then. All are well. Batteries getting power from the wind generator because yet again we have 100% cloud. Water is warming up at 25.5degC. Regards, The CREW

Progress continues to be good, even with 1.5kts of current against us as we approached New Caledonia yesterday. Penny spotted another yacht on the horizon and we chatted to a Canadian family on their way from NZ to New Caledonia. We are now past New Caledonia and on the home stretch with a couple of hundred miles to go. Just had a big fish on the lure but "it got away" which is rare once we have a strike. Perhaps better luck later today as lat night we had Naan Bread and frankfurts! The Naan bread was better fish food than for humans. Still, it's worth discovering these things.... Everyone continues to be well. We each do a 3hr watch with the first watch person also doing a second one the following morning. We have set our watches a couple of hours later as we were getting sick of the sun setting at 16:15. This morning, William cleaned all the flying fish off the deck. Nothing else to report, except that Paul spotted the Isle of Pines at first light this morning. Our fist land spotted in over a week. The batteries have been very low with cloud cover every day (little solar) and the wind turbine barely spinning. We have had to resort to running the engine for an hour yesterday and today just to keep the charge up a bit. So sorry, we've been rather uncommunicative to relatives and friends (other than through this blog). The Crew

We are moving again after a front came through yesterday followed by good Southerly winds. A change from the extremely light Northerlies we have had for days. Just last night, we did more miles than in the two slowest days.

So, we should arrive on the weekend....now to sort out what to do about Customs & Immigration....

Incidentally, I forgot to mention that Paul & William had a memorable climb of Mount Gower while D&P were in Sydney for Tess's Graduation.

All the best,

Dave, Penny, Will & Paul

Well, the promising zephyrs yesterday morning lasted a few hours and then petered out. Still, we did manage 50NM in the day and have a further 550NM to travel.

All are well. Very quiet out here and no ships seen for days. We listened to the ABC news from Brisbane last night and it was almost surreal hearing of road congestion and budgets. We hope those poor miners get rescued today.

The crew

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After two days of no wind, we seem to have finally picked up a 6kt Northerly wind. Not perfect because that's the direction we want to go, but at least we are on the move again at 3 ->4 knots. We expect the wind to swing further, thereby improving our course.

We did 42NM yesterday, of which 8NM was from motoring.

It continues to be very peaceful with little swell and flat seas. Apart from some flying fish visitors, nothing much is going on. We are all getting through plenty of reading and listening to a wide range of music on the cockpit speakers.

Yesterday Fr. Paul said Mass in the cockpit. It was an excellent celebration. We must confess that we did ask the good Lord for just a tiny bit more wind! That's probably what we have now and very acceptable it is too. We are gliding comfortably through the water, with Mozart playing softly in the background.

I forgot to mention that everything is working well with the exception of the Satellite phone that we are supposed to be trialling. I spent a day installing this while we were at Lord Howe. We could only get dial tone about 15secs every couple of minutes. Likewise with the Internet access. Tough to have a 15sec conversation or Internet session! We have tried it out to sea and away from the Lord Howe hills and mountains. Same result. Ah well, we had not expected the luxury of a Sat phone and now it looks like our expectations will be fulfilled unless the supplier can think of something. We think we are too far from the main coverage paths of the satellites.

Hopefully tomorrow we will report more miles. We have finally reached 325NM from Lord Howe with 599NM to Vanuatu.

Regards, Dave

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Hi all,

We left about 22hrs ago and all is well. Making about 5 to 6kts and well over 100NM North of Lord Howe.

Good weather, mild seas and 10-20kts of wind.

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Hi everyone, after a pleasant week at Lord Howe Island, we will be sailing for the island of Tanna in Vanuatu in a couple of hours. This will take us about a week and we would like to clear Customs/Immigration before the following weekend.

It is possible we might not get out of the lagoon here as the high tide is a mere 1.1metres. Here's hoping! A front has just come through with rain and heavy cloud so we are hoping the weather behind it is benevolent.

We have around 925NM to sail (multiply by 1.87 for Km).

Best Regards, Dave, Penny, Will & Paul

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Some of you have wondered

(a) how come we were flying ABOVE Pastime and

(b) how we got to post photos to our website when all we have is a slow radio link.

The answer is that we flew back to Sydney for 36hrs to be with our daughter Tess for her University Graduation ceremony where she received her Bachelor of Business degree including making the Dean's list and receiving the Dean's Medal for being in the top 2% of students in the Faculty over the past three years. Go Tess!

The view looking North from Pastime as the sun sinks

Fr Paul on his way to say Mass at the LHI Catholic Church on Sunday. From yacht -> bicycle -> walking -> get into something respectable.

The day before we left, the First Mate (Penny) and one of the crew (Paul) could be seen scrubbing off the mess left by Pelicans.....

Here's a photo of us in the lagoon (the white speck with the tiny stick mast- which is actually 57ft tall). You can see the shallowness of the lagoon and the small boat nearby is a Dive Boat with tourists exploring the "Comet Hole" which is packed with beautiful fish and surrounded by excellent coral.

Tuesday arrived to darkened skies and an ominously large swell from a strong low in the South. The winds soon built to 30+ knots and the squalls were frequent. It really was not very pleasant but the boat stayed dry downstairs and it was snug in our bunks for those not on watch.

Paul had a particularly "interesting" watch with the wind fluctuating anywhere from 6kts up to 40+kts. He also copped plenty of rain squalls. He handled it all beautifully and became good at running the sail in and out to adjust to the changing circumstances. Of course, all this was a far cry from his "competent crew" course and acclimatization trip between Pittwater and Newcastle. One amazing thing- Paul has a wonderful stomach tested in some very trying conditions. We have decided he wins the "cast iron resistance to seasickness" stamina also possessed by our daughter Bernadette.

The other good news was that Penny largely recovered from her seasickness and we picked up positive current. Despite only sporting half of one sdail, we were flying along at over 7kts of "real speed" or "Speed Across the Ground" which is measured by the GPS system.

We contacted Lord Howe by High Frequency radio and they advised that anchoring on the lee side of the island would be highly dangerous in the dark as there was a nasty swell running. We agreed and deliberately slowed down so as to arrive at dawn on the Thursday. Wednesday night started very rough with sleep impossible due to the big seas. Things settled down later in the evening and Paul was pleasantly surprised to have an easy run. Dave was on the 3AM to 6AM watch and had 16 nautical miles to cover in three hours. The wind was around 35kts and the headsail had to be made smaller and smaller until it was almost invisible in order not to arrive too early. All this was achieved. We roused a sleepy Clive Wilson from his warm bed on Lord Howe and we got the policeman out of bed as well. The policeman is now the Harbourmaster. Getting him out of bed too about 45mins and he then needed to launch his boat. We were a little concerned at the SW swell of three metres that was slamming into the reef bordering the lagoon. Richard the policeman did not evince any concern and we did not raise any as we really wanted to be in there. He decided to bring us in the NOrth Passage (his favourite, we suspect). Well, it tuned out okay but was a ride in that neither he nor we will forget for a long time. The front "leading bezacon" was obscured by constantly breaking surf. The wind was around 35kts. He could not bring his boat out as it would have been demolished in the passage where there were waves up to about 4 metres. In we came; once started, it is impossible to stop or turn as the waves will toss aside even 7-8 tonnes of yacht like a cork. We flew in at over 8kts with the engine roaring- riding through the surf and breaking waves. Sometimes perched high on a wave and at others so low that the keel was only 90cm off the bottom. Good thing the tide was high and we did not hit the bottom. Boy, was the adrenaline running. As became apparent, he should never have had us come in this passage in those conditions which were only apparent to us when it was too late to do anything but steer with as much perfection as possible and hang on tight. It was just like crossing a very dangerous river bar, except that the waves were probably not moving quite as fast. Dave has been over the Wide Bay Bar, Yamba and a couple of others in poor conditions but even then, they were nothing like this. I am now actually GLAD those steering cables came off in the middle of the ocean- this meant that they were in fine condition for the lagoon entry.

Anyway, we were IN and soon safely moored to the strongest mooring in the beautiful lagoon- the original seaplane mooring of yesteryear, albeit with a new buoy and chain. COnditions deteriorated further so that it was just as well we came in when we did. Le learned that two other yachts had turned back to Sydney because of the conditions.

The crew can feel justifiably proud to have calmly managed the weather and adversities. We have celebrated suitably with a bottle of champagne and pleasant food.

We'll leave you at peace for a while as there are mountains to be climbed, walks to be done and repairs to be made before we head off for Vanuatu some time next week.

For the technocrats, we have removed and inspected the faulty Padeye. For something that is rated at 1 tonne, it is disgraceful. The machine welding on one end was only about a tenth of a millimetre thick and after seven years had come apart and the other end then also torn off. Gower Wilson one of the descendents of the original inhabitants of the island is kindly re-welding the faulty part and also modifying the unbroken one so that it will not cause a future failure.

Tomorrow is installation day for the rather sumptuous Globalstar Satellite Phone which we will be trialling during our trip. This is a proper marine instrument and it will be interesting to see how it goes out on the fringes of satellite reception. More on this later.

Best Regards, Dave

Once the sun was up on day two, we got out the tools and extensive spare parts. A welded loop of metal had separated from a steel backing plate, held to the hull by four bolts. We found another stainless steel fitting that could be stretched to fit over two of the bolts. Getting this into place in confined spaces was somewhat arduous, but completed within the hour. We were then able to reconnect Flinders and again set sail. Hooray! We were on the move again. AS the jury-rigged system was weaker than the original, we decided to only use the headsail, unless the wind dropped. This did not look likely. So, we were back up to nearly our maximum speed with the boat again sailing itself. Of course, there was no way to manually steer which we would need when entering the winding path through the lagoon. However, we have a second electronic autopilot which connects to Flinders and this could be used as long as we were careful.

Upon investigating the confined spaces behind Pastime's engine, it became apparent that the steel steering cables which link the wheel to the rudder had jumped off one of the blocks (=pulley). W ill and Dave got it back into place and with Flinders keeping the rudder nice and steady, we were able to tighten the cables. This was something that Dave had accidentally omitted from the huge preparation list. The big seas and frantic oscillations of the electronic autopilot had caused the cables to jump. (The cables had been replaced relatively recently, so it was a relief to find they had not broken- even though we do carry spares). So suddenly, things were back in excellent shape.

The current continued to impede us and, with the 7 lost hours and 12.5 nautical miles of drifting on Sunday night, it soon became apparent that we would not make our targeted arrival time of Wednesday morning. Instead, it now looked like a midnight arrival at the Lord Howe Lagoon.

We had reasonably pleasant sailing conditions during the day and overnight. We'd occasionally get dumped on by a riogue wave or l ashed by cld rain from a sudden squall. The latter were usually of five mins duration and most were up to 35kts with just a couple over 40kts.

Best Regards,

The Crew

The day started peacefully as we sailed out of Broken Bay on a course South of Lord Howe Island. There are strong currents and eddies off the East Australian Coast and these can significantly affect relatively slow moving yachts. We figured out that looping South would ease the worst of the current on our trip. Such was the case, but only for the first 9hrs as we experienced light Westerly winds. The weather Bureau had issued a Strong Wind Warning for the whole NSW Coast that morning (about the time we arose from our beds). They had issued the same thing the day before and noting had happened. We decided to head off anyway and get as far as we could before the Southerly Front hit and then ride with it for the expected 24hr duration.

Well, the front did arrive and was quite strong with 35kt winds. The seas got up quickly and the swell had also built, signifying strong winds some distance away.

We had experienced a very pleasant day, reading books and eating a hot dinner, courtesy of Cook Penny. The whole crew was working well together and Paul, our newcomer, had fitted in particularly well. Of course, we knew this was likely with his agreeable nature, but he showed excellent aptitude with the wind steering and other esoteric items.

So, it was a little unfortunate that some significant problems happened on Paul's watch- none to do with him- though he thought it was him at the time! Firstly, a "Padeye Bolt" on the wind steering sheered off so that the wind steering ("Flinders") stopped steering. Once we determined the problem, we engaged the electronic autopilot. This went fine for about an hour, then again Paul reported that we were no longer on course. Indeed, we were veering all over the ocean! Upon entering the cockpit, I found that the wheel was spinning aimlessly and no longer connected to the rudder! This is pretty serious and meant four of the five different ways we have of steering the boat were now out of action. Not a situation we've been in before. It was very rough with several metre seas running on a confused swell of several metres. It was dark, wet and very rocky. Penny succumbed to seasickness and Will was somewhat affected. We put option five for steering into action. The emergency tiller was mounted and we connected it to spare winches as the force required to use it in big seas is very large. Will is experienced sailing tiller-steered boats and Dave used to do so. Despite this, we found the mental and physical effort was enormous and gave it away after an hour. Dave knew that climbing into confined spaces to investigate the other problems in these circumstances would probably knock him out of action as well.

So, the decision was made to take down all sails and drift (called "lying ahull") with the wind and the current. This was safe but very uncomfortable. We had lots of empty ocean to float in and kept our usual active watch for ships. So ended day 1 and we started Day 2 in somewhat of a pickle.

Regards Dave, Penny, Paul & Will

Hi all, We picked up William from the Careel Bay jetty at 0630 Sunday morning and set sail for Lord Howe Island. Bernadette and her fiancee Steve were there to wave us off. Things were a little slow at first with light & cold Westerlies behind us. Things have improved now with about 15-25kts of wind from the South. We're expecting a strong change within a couple of hours with 30kt sustained winds so we're reefed down ready for it.

All are well and we hope to arrive at Lord Howe on Wednesday morning.

We have lost sight of land and were just passed by a large ship- which was 9 miles away (about 15kM).

Regards, Penny, Dave, Will and Paul

April 18th and 19th have brought very disturbing news from the Solomons Islands with rioting and looting in Honiara. Our concern is for those in the capital, including Bishop Bernard O'Grady who flew there from Gizo on Tuesday for a meeting. He cannot reach his destination, the Archbishop's House in Central Honiara and is returning to Gizo tomorrow. Fortunately he was able to stay at the Dominican's house near the airport, so is better off than some. He tells us of old men from Chinatown who have lost everything in the looting and burning.

We are not including Honiara in our travel plans. W e had always intended to bypass it as it holds few attractions. We will not be reaching the Solomon Islands (first stop Santa Cruz) until early June, so by then the situation will have become much clearer. We will not go anywhere where there seems to be danger. There are so many beautiful places to visit that it would be silly to put ourselves at risk.

Well, the yacht is starting to sink lower in the water. Many of the provisions are now on board as well as most of the fuel and water. Still a lot of packing to do as well as other work around the house. Here's our planned passage.

Here's our yacht. She's had new mast and sails since this shot was taken on a windy day in Pittwater, Sydney

Well, we have less than a month to go and heaps to do- both on the boat and sorting out as many of our bills (in advance) as possible. Handling the requirements of the Tax Office is a major challenge (the Tax Office will not do anything in advance) and indeed is the major stumbling block to being out of the country for six months! In our absence our daughter Bernadette will be "house sitting".

Regards, Dave & Penny