Suva to Brisbane October 2010
Here is our soggy saga from Suva to Brisbane.
It was a sunny Sunday morning in Suva, two days before our planned departure; the entire crew was on shore. I had just filled a bucket with water, soap and laundry; then went below to start the Sabb and charge the batteries. The Sabb refused to start. It took 7 days of intense ‘trouble shooting’ to find the problem.
Turned out it was a broken piston ring. Who’d a thought? Luckily, I’d ordered a spare set of rings along with the new cylinder head last summer.
Two days later we were underway for Vanuatu. We did the 600-mile passage in 7 days. Rolling along with a fresh breeze on the quarter and a 3-metre following sea, we had our best days run of the season of 135 miles.
Anchoring in Port Vila was a lot like coming home. There were many smiling faces to welcome us ashore. Ivan from Nambawan Cafe offered to out bring pizzas if we were having a party. That was an easy decision.
It was a busy week provisioning fresh food stores and renewing registration and radio licences.
Darcie, a Peace Corps volunteer we met last season, had decided to come sailing with us. So Peace Corps asked the Vanuatu Marine Dept., that’ll be Kembro and John, to make an inspection. As it was our bulwarks were in very poor condition, it was a project we’ve been putting off for years. There were no holes big enough for someone to slip through, but they were certainly unsightly. The inspectors pointed this out. We assured them the bulwarks would be replated this summer. They also asked us to have a survey done on the next slip.
From Vila it was a 3-day passage up the island chain to Luganville on the south coast of Santo. There were islands changing shape in the mist, a familiar volcano and a port of refuge along the way where we once waited out a cyclone. We dropped anchor off the Beach Front on a Friday morning.
Project MARC’s new director, Seamus OBrien, met our shore boat on the beach. He had arranged for us to load 11 tons of cement and other building supplies at the main wharf the next day. We were to deliver these supplies for the construction of a health clinic at Wusi on the west coast of Santo.
The next Monday morning three of our crew, Pete, Darcie and Rocky, flew down to Vila and then Erromango to collect Darcie’s gear. She had decided to quit the Peace Corps and come sailing with her papa Pilot Pete. There was only one Tuesday flight a week to Erromango so it would take over a week for them to return. We boarded five Project MARC volunteers and sailed with them and the supplies to the west coast.
Seamus did a good job of organizing this delivery. There were a couple of small boats with their crew ready to take the 40 kg. bags of cement ashore and through the surf. The off loading was completed in a few hours. Then the crew went ashore for a Salu Salu ceremony, where they met and shook hands with the entire village.
When we arrived we could see the brigantine Soren Larsen was anchored a kilometre up the coast. Both boats weighed anchor at the same time. As they passed us we received a barrage of water balloons. Since we don’t usually do that, we were on the receiving end of the attack. Hey, no balloons no ammo. We were back in the anchorage at Lisburn later that evening. After a couple of quiet days anchored at Lisburn, we returned to Luganville to get ready for the passage to Australia.
It took a few days longer than expected to get Darcie out of the Peace Corps, bureaucrats, go figure. Then on the morning of our departure Darcie received a call that there was a possible medical condition with her that needed closer inspection. She and her dad Pete left the boat that morning. Delayed three hours, we sailed for Brisbane with a crew of eight.
Twelve days into the passage from Luganville We were half the way to Brisbane. We had cleared Grande Passage on the north west end of New Caledonia and were slowly working our way around reefs and shoals between our position and the entrance to Morton Bay. Our daily run ranged from 90 miles on a good wind day to 9 miles sideways in light airs.
It was the first time this season that I had a chance to slow down and relax. We had averaged less than a week in Port since leaving Nelson. Two weeks into this passage we did dog watch rotation and shifted each watch back 4 hours. We had nice weather, calm starry nights and not much wind.
One afternoon 4 adult Minke whales and a calf came to swim alongside of for about 4 hours. Later that afternoon a large Sperm whale approached from the stern and stayed about 200-metres off. After staying on the surface and breathing for about 10 minutes, the whale sounded and was not seen again
Two of our crew, Kim and Dai, were working on forming an organization they have named “Castaways”. which is dedicated to scuba diving and coral reef ecology. Darcie is our resident marine biologist. They want to implement their program into next season’s itinerary.
Our two mates, Rocky and Pilot Pete were planning to stay on for next season as well. At that point in time we had 5 people planning to sail with us for the 2011 sailing season. Plus two of our former crew, Franzi and Jay, returning for next season.
Landfall for Australia was the north end of Morton Bay. There were 40 miles of buoyed channels to Brisbane Harbour at the mouth of the Brisbane River. Along the way we sighted a family of Minkes, cow, calf and escort, plus an unidentified male lob tailing in the distance.
At twenty two hundred hours we found a dock at Rivergate Marina just down stream from the Gateway Bridges. Customs and Immigration met us on the dock and cleared us in that night. The next morning Quarantine officers made their inspection. They removed a very small bag of trash and charged us $330 dollars.
The overnight rate at Rivergate is $180 AUD so staying there was not really an option. An hour long walk, around a bat colony took me back down stream to Brisbane Shiplifts, where Ben, the yard manager, let us tie up at the floating dock next to the travel lift dock at the shipyard. Coming back here was like coming home. We haul-out on their new 600-ton travel lift. This one is big enough to pick up a 150-ton Alvei stern first. I didn’t even have to drop the head stays. Way cool.
It was a routine slip, a week of painting the bottom, pulling the through hull fittings and replacing the zinc anodes. We had a surveyor sonic test and survey the hull. We were pronounced fit and ready for sea, along with telling us again that the bulwarks needed some attention, thank you very much.
However, rain and a new anti-fouling four-coat paint system, delayed our launching by another week. We had a frustrating string days being rained on and waiting for dry weather. There was no sense in putting $3000 dollars worth of paint on a wet steel hull. The crew at Brisbane Ship Lifts, Ramsey, Ben, Will and Jeff, are experienced, capable and accommodating. It was a good yard period.
During the haul out, Kim and Dai flew back to New Zealand to work. Kaz stayed on to help with the yard work and we collected Marcie from the States, Jonas and Peter from Sweden and Sandy from Germany. We had a crew of 9 for the passage.
Our crew wanted a week to have a look around Oz before we set sail.
From Nelson to our haul out in Brisbane we had sailed 4748 nautical miles, been 82 days at sea, 48 days at anchor, 14 days on the hard and 8 days tied up in the Brisbane River.
Ahead of us is a 1350-mile passage across the Tasman Sea. It will take about a 4 weeks. Please forgive us for being late, we are slow; but the wind is free and diesel isn’t.
Evan
It was a sunny Sunday morning in Suva, two days before our planned departure; the entire crew was on shore. I had just filled a bucket with water, soap and laundry; then went below to start the Sabb and charge the batteries. The Sabb refused to start. It took 7 days of intense ‘trouble shooting’ to find the problem.
Turned out it was a broken piston ring. Who’d a thought? Luckily, I’d ordered a spare set of rings along with the new cylinder head last summer.
Two days later we were underway for Vanuatu. We did the 600-mile passage in 7 days. Rolling along with a fresh breeze on the quarter and a 3-metre following sea, we had our best days run of the season of 135 miles.
Anchoring in Port Vila was a lot like coming home. There were many smiling faces to welcome us ashore. Ivan from Nambawan Cafe offered to out bring pizzas if we were having a party. That was an easy decision.
It was a busy week provisioning fresh food stores and renewing registration and radio licences.
Darcie, a Peace Corps volunteer we met last season, had decided to come sailing with us. So Peace Corps asked the Vanuatu Marine Dept., that’ll be Kembro and John, to make an inspection. As it was our bulwarks were in very poor condition, it was a project we’ve been putting off for years. There were no holes big enough for someone to slip through, but they were certainly unsightly. The inspectors pointed this out. We assured them the bulwarks would be replated this summer. They also asked us to have a survey done on the next slip.
From Vila it was a 3-day passage up the island chain to Luganville on the south coast of Santo. There were islands changing shape in the mist, a familiar volcano and a port of refuge along the way where we once waited out a cyclone. We dropped anchor off the Beach Front on a Friday morning.
Project MARC’s new director, Seamus OBrien, met our shore boat on the beach. He had arranged for us to load 11 tons of cement and other building supplies at the main wharf the next day. We were to deliver these supplies for the construction of a health clinic at Wusi on the west coast of Santo.
The next Monday morning three of our crew, Pete, Darcie and Rocky, flew down to Vila and then Erromango to collect Darcie’s gear. She had decided to quit the Peace Corps and come sailing with her papa Pilot Pete. There was only one Tuesday flight a week to Erromango so it would take over a week for them to return. We boarded five Project MARC volunteers and sailed with them and the supplies to the west coast.
Seamus did a good job of organizing this delivery. There were a couple of small boats with their crew ready to take the 40 kg. bags of cement ashore and through the surf. The off loading was completed in a few hours. Then the crew went ashore for a Salu Salu ceremony, where they met and shook hands with the entire village.
When we arrived we could see the brigantine Soren Larsen was anchored a kilometre up the coast. Both boats weighed anchor at the same time. As they passed us we received a barrage of water balloons. Since we don’t usually do that, we were on the receiving end of the attack. Hey, no balloons no ammo. We were back in the anchorage at Lisburn later that evening. After a couple of quiet days anchored at Lisburn, we returned to Luganville to get ready for the passage to Australia.
It took a few days longer than expected to get Darcie out of the Peace Corps, bureaucrats, go figure. Then on the morning of our departure Darcie received a call that there was a possible medical condition with her that needed closer inspection. She and her dad Pete left the boat that morning. Delayed three hours, we sailed for Brisbane with a crew of eight.
Twelve days into the passage from Luganville We were half the way to Brisbane. We had cleared Grande Passage on the north west end of New Caledonia and were slowly working our way around reefs and shoals between our position and the entrance to Morton Bay. Our daily run ranged from 90 miles on a good wind day to 9 miles sideways in light airs.
It was the first time this season that I had a chance to slow down and relax. We had averaged less than a week in Port since leaving Nelson. Two weeks into this passage we did dog watch rotation and shifted each watch back 4 hours. We had nice weather, calm starry nights and not much wind.
One afternoon 4 adult Minke whales and a calf came to swim alongside of for about 4 hours. Later that afternoon a large Sperm whale approached from the stern and stayed about 200-metres off. After staying on the surface and breathing for about 10 minutes, the whale sounded and was not seen again
Two of our crew, Kim and Dai, were working on forming an organization they have named “Castaways”. which is dedicated to scuba diving and coral reef ecology. Darcie is our resident marine biologist. They want to implement their program into next season’s itinerary.
Our two mates, Rocky and Pilot Pete were planning to stay on for next season as well. At that point in time we had 5 people planning to sail with us for the 2011 sailing season. Plus two of our former crew, Franzi and Jay, returning for next season.
Landfall for Australia was the north end of Morton Bay. There were 40 miles of buoyed channels to Brisbane Harbour at the mouth of the Brisbane River. Along the way we sighted a family of Minkes, cow, calf and escort, plus an unidentified male lob tailing in the distance.
At twenty two hundred hours we found a dock at Rivergate Marina just down stream from the Gateway Bridges. Customs and Immigration met us on the dock and cleared us in that night. The next morning Quarantine officers made their inspection. They removed a very small bag of trash and charged us $330 dollars.
The overnight rate at Rivergate is $180 AUD so staying there was not really an option. An hour long walk, around a bat colony took me back down stream to Brisbane Shiplifts, where Ben, the yard manager, let us tie up at the floating dock next to the travel lift dock at the shipyard. Coming back here was like coming home. We haul-out on their new 600-ton travel lift. This one is big enough to pick up a 150-ton Alvei stern first. I didn’t even have to drop the head stays. Way cool.
It was a routine slip, a week of painting the bottom, pulling the through hull fittings and replacing the zinc anodes. We had a surveyor sonic test and survey the hull. We were pronounced fit and ready for sea, along with telling us again that the bulwarks needed some attention, thank you very much.
However, rain and a new anti-fouling four-coat paint system, delayed our launching by another week. We had a frustrating string days being rained on and waiting for dry weather. There was no sense in putting $3000 dollars worth of paint on a wet steel hull. The crew at Brisbane Ship Lifts, Ramsey, Ben, Will and Jeff, are experienced, capable and accommodating. It was a good yard period.
During the haul out, Kim and Dai flew back to New Zealand to work. Kaz stayed on to help with the yard work and we collected Marcie from the States, Jonas and Peter from Sweden and Sandy from Germany. We had a crew of 9 for the passage.
Our crew wanted a week to have a look around Oz before we set sail.
From Nelson to our haul out in Brisbane we had sailed 4748 nautical miles, been 82 days at sea, 48 days at anchor, 14 days on the hard and 8 days tied up in the Brisbane River.
Ahead of us is a 1350-mile passage across the Tasman Sea. It will take about a 4 weeks. Please forgive us for being late, we are slow; but the wind is free and diesel isn’t.
Evan