14th June
Although today is the day we take off into the Pacific Ocean, this cruise really started back when we left our home port of Melbourne on the 16th April. Patricia had a few things to do so I brought the boat to Bobbin Head in NSW with a friend. The weather was good and neither of us was in a hurry so we decided to see if we could do the trip in day passages.
Leaving Yarras Edge in Melbourne our first day was a short 30 odd nm trip down Port Philip Bay to anchor off Portsea Pier where we had dinner with my son and granddaughter. Leaving at 05:00 the next morning to catch the slack water at the Rip and also try to get to Refuge cove on Wilsons Promontory with some daylight left. I couldn't believe how black it was and we exited the bay using the chartplotter and back leads.
We had a great trip down to the Prom but arrived at Refuge Cove just after dark in the same inkiness that we left that morning. We were surprised that there were boats already at anchor with another right behind us. When we got up next morning, we saw that another two had arrived making nine boats.
Again an early start at 04:30 with the intention of stoping at Lakes Entrance. The weather was very good and with the sand management program at the entrance, entry over the bar is now OK in anything other than really bad weather. We did arrive in time to enter over the bar in the light but after hearing the weather report decided to push on overnight to Eden. Basically the weather could not be better for motoring but it was predicted to blow up the next day. We arrived in Eden at 10:30 on the 19th April in perfect weather and anchored in Snug Cove, within easy reach of the harbour and the town.
We weren't sure about our next stop but as the passages would be shorter now, we didn't get started until 07:30 pushing into a light northerly, which gradually built during the day. We pushed on to Broulee Island just south of Batemans Bay and anchored off Tomakin Beach. This area provide a number of anchorages and would provide a good protection in anything but a strong easterly.
We thought that maybe the next day we would go into Jervis Bay but when we got there it was still a bit early to stop and it looked a bit of a long haul once inside the Bay so we continued further north and called into the Crookhaven River and we are glad we did. This is a beautiful stopover with plenty of water at the entry and very protected anchorages. Our only concern approaching the entry is that it faces north and with a northerly wind at about 20 knots, would the seas be rolling in over the bar? Even in these conditions the entry was fine.
It was now just a one day passage to Bobbin Head. We had considered anchoring in Pittwater but decided to finish the trip that day and continued on to Bobbin Head Marina, arriving at 20:00 on the 22nd April.
We had some warranty issues to be fixed while in Bobbin Head and unfortunately one job required parts to be sent from the USA so that slowed us down a bit, then my Son and Daughter-in-Law presented us with another gorgeous granddaughter and finally bad weather with cold fronts passing over every second day bring with them torrential rain and gale force winds.
However, with that behind us now and a high pressure system just passing over, it is time to go. So after a visit from Customs, at midday on the 14th we left Newcastle for the 380nm trip to Lord Howe Island.
17th June
We finally got the weather window we were looking for, cleared customs and left Newcastle for Lord Howe Island at 12:00, a distance of approximately 400 nautical miles. Leaving at this time would give us maximum spread of daylight when arriving to cover any variables along the way. As Lord Howe Island has a barrier reef, you don’t really want to be stooging about outside the reef in open water after a couple of full days at sea waiting for daylight so that you can enter the reef passage.
Although we had the weather we wanted and the true wind for most of the passage was 15 knots and below, the passage was not that comfortable. We had a 2m to 3m swell directly on the beam the whole way and the sea state was still very sloppy from the low pressure system that had passed over a few days earlier. However, although it was uncomfortable it was far from challenging!!
Arriving at Lord Howe Island and speaking with Lord Howe Maritime by radio, we were very disheartened. It had not been made clear to us prior to arriving that due to our size we would have to moor in the southern lagoon or that the southern lagoon was downright dangerous in winds above 20 knots from the SE to the NW or in 30 knots from anywhere. With a SW change coming it looked like our stay would be a short one.
After some consultation with Lord Howe Meteorology and Lord Howe Maritime it appeared we may be OK for the time being so decided to stay put, but we had to be available constantly on the VHF radio, taking the hand held ashore, in case we had to leave in a hurry. This is definitely not the stuff of comfortable cruising. I, like all other cruisers, want to be at sea when things are settled and seek shelter when they get rough, definitely not vice versa.
Lord Howe Island is a rugged and beautiful place and has been on the World Heritage Register since 1982. In June it is very quiet but even in high season, it is limited to a maximum of 400 tourists. The main attractions are hiking, snorkelling and fishing (outside the Marine Park area) and the main means of transport is the humble bicycle. So it is a place for rest and relaxation, not for night life.
Buena Vista dwarfed by Mount Gower
23rd June
We managed to spend two comfortable nights in the lagoon on Lord Howe Island before the expected change came through at 7am on Friday morning (18th). It blew at 30 knots from the west, which is about as bad as it can be where we were. We readied ourselves to leave in a hurry but didn’t get the call, instead the front passed over very quickly and the wind died down 10 knots or so.
However, the wind was still from the west and the mooring area, while safe, was uncomfortably rolly and it was also raining. I therefore requested all the weather forecasts I could through Saildocs & Buoyweather and also spoke with Lord Howe Met Bureau. The short of it was that the weather at Lord Howe was not going to change much in the foreseeable future and in fact the wind would pick up again, but behind the change was stable south westerly air for the trip to New Caledonia. So we decided to leave that afternoon and head straight to Noumea, rather than our original plan which was to go to Noumea via Middleton Reef.
Although our short stay was disappointing, we saw enough of Lord Howe to consider a return visit. Next time however, we would take the advice gathered from the locals during this trip and visit in the January to March time frame when the weather is apparently most settled and westerly winds are rare.
The trip across from Lord Howe to New Caledonia is about 700 nautical miles and took three and a half days and apart from some periods when the wind and the seas got up a bit, it was a pleasant trip. We adjusted our speed along the way so that we would arrive at the Passe De Boulari, the entrance through the barrier reef to New Caledonia’s southern lagoon, at first light on Tuesday 22nd. The entrance through the reef was straightforward and we entered at 7am local time (6am Australian Eastern Standard time).
After coming from a particularly cold spell in NSW, the thing that struck us was the heat, it was 28C and 84% humidity at 9am. At one point at about 4am, we had a yacht stooging around on our path, presumably waiting for first light to pass through the reef and I was out on the Portuguese Bridge in shorts and tee shirt keeping a watch on him ……. after track suits and jumpers during the day, how good was this!!
There were no berths available at the Visitors arm of the Port Moselle Marina when we arrived so we dropped the anchor just outside and had a hearty cooked breakfast while waiting for someone to vacate a berth big enough to accommodate Buena Vista. This didn’t take long and by 10:30am we were tied up and completing a mountain of forms and waiting for the officials to come down so we could clear Customs, Immigration & Quarantine. This was all done efficiently and courteously and we were free to roam around.
As we were here in 2006, we knew our way around a bit and went off to their equivalent of downtown, a 10 minute walk from the marina, to see if much had changed … it hadn’t …. same shops, same cafes and restaurants, same everything. Although French is the standard language, most businesses speak some English and the folk at the Marina speak very good English.
After we arrived, the wind got up a bit, 20 to 30 knots, for a couple of days so we were happy to relax and stay in the marina, catch up on some rest and take in some restaurant dining.
Yacht Club Marina in Baie de L’Orphelinat Noumea
4th July
Getting a bit stir crazy in the marina and eager to get off cruising, we left on Saturday 26th even though the wind was still blowing. We were keen to get off to the Isle of Pines but as that is about 8 or 9 hours away, we left at lunchtime and went to Baie de Prony on the first day and left at 6am on Sunday for the trip down the lagoon to the Isle of Pines, arriving at 10:45am.
Ahhhh just as we remembered, white sandy beach, protected anchorage and a bonus that there were only three other boats there. Next on our ‘eager’ list was to test out the new kayak, we had never been on a kayak before so wasn’t really sure what to expect. It is great, we love it, what a great way to look around an area with clear water and lots of reef and perfect for nipping across to the beach and good exercise too, we will both have shoulders like Arnold Schwarzenegger by the time we get back home!!
On Monday we visited Ilot Moro, which is only about 3nm miles (about 5kms) from Kuto Beach so rather than complete 4 up and down operations with the anchor, we took the big dinghy over there towing the kayak. What a great little spot, after working our way around the surrounding reef, we found an opening and entered a protected lagoon and a beautiful white sandy beach. We then took the kayak for a circumnavigation of the island and checked out the reef before having our picnic lunch on the beach.
The following day the wind dropped, which is a mixed blessing as down came the armada from Noumea. From 4 boats including us , the ranks grew to 12 boats in Kuto Bay and another 4 boats anchored in Kanamera Bay, plus the cruise ship Pacific Jewell arrived on Tuesday morning followed by the Pacific Sun on Wednesday, they only stay a few hours but in the meantime manage to disgorge 100’s of tourists onto ‘our’ beach. Yes I know, I know it is there for all, but we are cruising now and therefore protective of our solitude.
The weather now is perfect, mid to high 20’s, clear skies, light winds an absolutely flat anchorage and beautiful sunsets ….. what more can you ask (well we could ask that the cruise ships don’t come here …… hahaha only joking …. well sort of). This weather is forecast to last until the weekend and then blow up a bit and swing through the north and around to the south west, so it will be time to move, this is not a good anchorage in any wind from the west.
Therefore we reluctantly left the Isle of Pines to head back to Noumea and check out the latest regulations on visiting and clearing customs and immigration on the Loyalty Islands. From there we can plan when we will leave for Vanuatu as we expect the Melbourne – Vanuatu yacht race to finish around the middle of July.
Our trip back to Noumea, on the 2nd July, was uneventful and undertaken in glorious boating conditions. On the way we visited Ilot Mato, which looked like it had fantastic snorkelling but the anchorage being a bit exposed and the threat of bad weather on the way, we stopped, looked and moved on to Port Moselle, dropping the anchor outside the marina.
The following day, we took a day trip to Ilot Maitre which is only 3 or 4 nautical miles off Noumea. What a great little spot and a very nice resort. We went ashore and relaxed over a couple of drinks at the bar while gazing out to sea. That night we had to drop the anchor again as the marina was full. The next morning a berth became available so in we went and caught up with some cleaning duties to get rid of the salt from the boat.
Buena Vista at Kuto Beach at the Isle of Pines
12th July
As we wanted to get to Port Vila for the end of the Melbourne to Vanuatu Yacht Race, since we were there on Point of Sail for the finish of the last one in 2006, we had to start looking into clearing customs and immigration and finding out how long we could stay in the Loyalty Islands on our way out.
So having completed the formalities and finding out that we only had three days to get from Noumea and see the Loyalty Islands before having to leave the country, we left on the 8th July, but not before filling up with duty free diesel, which was an impressive 92.6CPF per litre (A$1.08).
As we didn’t have a lot of time we decided to travel overnight to Lifou Island rather than look for an overnight stop on the east coast of the mainland and do it in two day trips. We left Port Moselle at 8am and as we didn’t want to get to Lifou in the dark, we stopped for lunch and a relax at the Baie de Prony on the way. We then left at 4pm and arrived at Eacho on the west coast of Lifou early morning.
This is an amazing spot and full of sea life. During that day we had many large turtles around the boat and the highlight was seeing a 2 metre Manta Ray swim lazily past the boat only about 5 metres away. We were greeted with the usual friendly visit from the locals in their kayaks who brought us a freshly caught mullet for dinner that they were spearing when we arrived. The Pacific Island folk really are friendly and generous people.
Early the next morning we left for Ouvea as we wanted to get a quick look at as much as we could so we could plan our trip back here after Vanuatu. Ouvea is a curved shaped Atoll around a white sandy lagoon, very pretty. However, it is open to the west and as we arrived the wind started to build from where else but the west!!
We stayed a few hours and launched the dinghy and had a quick look around before leaving rather than stay the night and we are glad we did. The wind continued to build and swung around to the south west, it would have been a restless night at anchor!!
The trip across to Port Vila was not a memorable one, the following seas built very quickly, surprisingly so since the wind was only around 20 knots. While our last boat, Point of Sail, surfed like Layne Beechley in these condition, Buena Vista is more like a Sumo wrestler in a bathtub!! The autohelm and the stabilsers kept us safe and in a straight line but it was not pretty as we bobbed and rolled off the back of each wave. There is no surfing with a 55 tonne pot bellied boat like Buena Vista.
However it was only about 26 hours before we passed Pango Point and into the calm waters of Port Vila. As it was late afternoon, we had to wait until the next morning before the clearing formalities. At this stage, we were not sure if we would be staying in Port Vlla for long as there was a world yacht rally in town and the harbour wall was fully booked and this area is not a good place to anchor. Other than a few spots, the water is deep and full of coral, but to our surprise they had a mooring available capable of holding us. So we now have a couple of weeks here to relax, catch up on a few maintenance tasks and wait for the race competitors to arrive before a visit from some family.
A dramatic sunset over Lifou Island
28th August
It has been a while between blogs but we have been in some remote locations without Internet coverage, so this blog is a bit longer than the others!!
We were in Port Vila for about three weeks and the time just flew by as there has been so much to do. The Melbourne to Vanuatu yacht race competitors arrived but unfortunately without any Royal Brighton Yacht Club (our home club) competitors, one boat failed to start and the other two pulled out with gear failure, but seven boats completed the 1400nm race.
The World ARC yacht rally came and went and although sailing around the World is a worthy pursuit, this rally seemed more like an endurance event. The first participants arrived on the Saturday 10th July from Fiji with the tail enders arriving on the Monday, and by the Wednesday they were all off again bound for Mackay in Australia!!
We then had the big social event of the year, the Port Vila horse races. This brought out a large contingent of both locals and ex-pat’s and as with race meetings at home, the actual horse racing appeared secondary to an excuse to dress up, consume alcohol and generally have a good time among the ex-pats and a good family day out amongst the locals. The jockeys were local Melanesians, dressed in silks but riding barefoot and there was also a ladies race with he local ladies racing in their normal “Mother Hubbard” dresses.
After the racing it was the 30th anniversary of Vanuatu’s independence, an event they take very seriously. Unlike Australia where we have an Australia Day, they have Vanuatu Month. There were parades, concerts and fireworks every night during July, culminating in all night concerts on Friday 30th, the actual Independence Day and another on Saturday night. The Port Vila harbour is just in front of the Government House Park where the concerts were held and I have to say that after 48 hours of continuous Reggae music at a volume that could be heard in New Caledonia, we were a little over that music genre!! Fireworks are normally banned, but during the month of July it is open season and the harbour wall was right in the line of fire, so each morning it was clean up duty clearing the firework debris from the deck.
Liam and Kristin visited in Port Vila and experienced the culture shock, having never been in this type of environment before
……. ”Where’s Macca’s?!!!”, but they went out and about and had a good time. There was also the Bluewater Rally in town when we left, another round the world yacht rally, but they seem a little more relaxed having been away for a year already and only half way around ……. this sounds a bit more like our pace although still no time for hanging around.
The festivities over, visitors gone and wind abated so no excuses left, we had to leave to head further north. First day was an easy motor up to Epi Island, about 70nm away. We had planned to go to Lamen Bay but as we got away a little bit later than planned and a bit of current against us at the start, it would have been dark when we got there so we stopped at Revolieu Bay instead, about 10nm south of Lamen Bay. A very peaceful night, then a 6:30am start for a 45nm trip to South Western Bay on Malekula Island. This trip was even better than yesterdays, with glassy conditions and a large bay that is well protected against SW around to N winds.
More festivities in South West Bay as the “Back to the roots” festivals moved north through the islands and a visit to the South West Malekula Yacht Club (SWMYC) a small settlement just inside the entrance to the Tisri Lagoon. This was apparently an initiative of the cruising legend Jimmy Cornell. Not quite RBYC but a lot of fun.
After 5 days in South West Bay during which we sat out the next big blow we moved up to Luganville on the island of Espirito Santo, known locally as just Santo. We left at about 05:30 and arrived at the Aore Resort just across the channel to Luganville at 14:00 and were fortunate enough to get a mooring outside the resort. Some friends, Chris & Julie, joined us here on the 16th August for a week and we also joined the folks off Voyager III a Nordhavn 78.
After a few excellent days there and an “Island Night” to remember at the resort, we moved around to Oyster Island, only a couple of hours north of Luganville. This is an excellent spot with a large and very sheltered anchorage and a great little resort, complete with bar & restaurant. Obviously a favourite haunt of yachties as there were already 16 yachts there when we arrived and apparently during a rally stopover earlier, there were as many as 41 yachts anchored there.
After Oyster Island we had to get back to Luganville as Chris & Julie were flying home and it was also time for us to start our trek back south.
Our first stopover was at Wala Island, 30nm south just off the north east of Malekula Island, a very pretty island with white sand beaches and many walking tracks through rain forest. A local village member took us for a tour around the island, which is necessary as there are many tabu and custom areas; some only men are allowed, some only women allowed and some where tourists are not allowed at all.
The next day was another 30nm or so down to Banam Bay. We were particularly keen to visit this bay again as we were here 4 years ago in “Point of Sail” and were befriended by a local family. We managed to catch up with the family and particularly one of the daughters Julie, who was only 10 back in 2006 and she of course was no a young women. We were also surprised when another boat arrived in the bay travelling in the opposite direction to us and one of the crew yelled out “G’day Brownie”, it was Kate & Fitzy on Loki, a boat from our home yacht club. We had last bumped into them in New Caledonia.
Another short 30nm or so the next day had us overnighting in Lamen on Epi Island followed by an early start and a 70nm or so trip the following day (yesterday 27th August) that had us back in Port Vila Harbour just after lunch. We had not been looking forward to the trip back as it was directly into the trade winds and the seas around Vanuatu can be a bit brutal as there are a lot of tidal effects around the many islands. However, apart from a few less than memorable moments, particularly between Santo and Malekula on the first day, the trip was better than expected.
It is now time to catch up on preventative maintenance, cleaning and re-supplying for the trip down to Tanna and a visit to the Mt Yassur volcano, and then back across to New Caledonia to pick up Sara, Stuart and the grandchildren for a cruise in the southern lagoon.
Hey remember these guys used to be cannibals!!
25th September
Since the last update, a lot has happened. We had to unfortunately shelve our plans to visit Tanna Island as we were a bit delayed in Port Vila and then we had a really good weather window to get to New Caledonia and with family arriving, it was too good to miss.
Our two day trip from Port Vila to Noumea was excellent, with light winds and relatively calm seas. The only uncomfortable bit was the first 50nm or so out of Port Vila, which always seems to be the case. Even the local meteorological bureau give a separate weather forecast for the stretch of water between Efate and Erromango Islands.
Once we arrived in Noumea, we had about 5 days to clean up the boat, get a burst hydraulic hose fixed and resupply the larder and cellar before we had family visiting for a vacation.
As we had two of our grandchildren visiting, we were keen to get down to the Isle of Pines as it is without doubt the finest location in the Southern Lagoon with a magnificent protected white sandy beach.
Even though there were two nasty low pressure systems, one well south of Tasmania and another off the East Coast of NSW which was forecast to generate big swells, we did the trip 140nm round trip without problem and had a great time. On the way back, we also had an overnight stop in the Baie de Prony and an afternoon at Ilot Maitre. The weather during that period was perfect and a good time was had by all.
There were many memorably experiences during the stay, something particularly special was seeing a couple of humpback whales, a mother and calf. The water was perfectly flat and although we stopped the required 50 metres away, they were lolling around and came quite close to the boat. The children were also fascinated by other wildlife that we saw including some dolphins, flying fish and lots of turtles around the boat in Kuto Bay.
Having returned to Noumea late on the 22nd September, we had the following day in Noumea looking around the city, a bus ride around the coast road and a visit to the beach suburb of Anse Vata, where the children intently watched the locals playing patonque. Unfortunately the Jean Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre was closed for the day to prepare it for celebrations the following day.
Early on the 24th September it was time for the family to leave for home, which was a shame as this is New Caledonia Day with many festivities, local custom dancing, special museum displays, lots of street stalls and general fun for all.
Now for the serious stuff today, it is AFL Grand Final Day and as Trish supports one of the teams, we need to get all out chores finished early so we can concentrate on the football. Some Aussies here have organised a Brewery/Bar in Baie de Citron to show the Grand Final live on their big screen TV.
As we are now nearing the end of our cruise with only the leg back to Australia to come, which we hope to do within the next 10 days depending on the weather.
Top seat in the house!!
22nd October
Having waited for approximately 3 weeks while extraordinary high pressure systems, up to 1045HPa generated high winds over the Coral Sea and equally extraordinary low pressure systems, down to 970HPa sent large ocean swells our way, the time had come to move.
So on Thursday 14th October we cleared Customs and Immigration but not without incident. We originally tried on Wednesday and after clearing Customs, we found the Immigration office closed. This seemed odd so after a cup of coffee, we tried again, but still closed.
Not sure what to do at this point, we walked up to the Port Captains office and explained our predicament as we needed the Customs and Immigration certificates before the Port Captain would issue a clearance. He telephone Immigration and came back amazed as he had been told the office was closed and they were not sure when it would open again!!
To cut a long story short, the Immigration officers are actually a division of the police force in New Caledonia and it appeared (unsubstantiated) that there had been some tribal disturbance up north and someone had been shot so every available police officer was sent to the scene, which of course included the Immigration officers.
However, the next day the office was open, we obtained our clearance and headed off to Ilot Maitre for a night at anchor before leaving the lagoon at about 7am on Friday morning. The trip back was 5 days and nights and provided the usual mixed bag of weather, with some calm seas and a cold front making things very uncomfortable for us for a while.
Having arrived at Newcastle on a beautiful sunny morning, things turned a bit pear shaped. Firstly we were directed to a marina where there was someone waiting, who wanted my credit card before we could tie up ….. welcome to Australia and have a nice day. Apparently, even though we were only staying as long as it took us to clear with the authorities, we were required to pay a $70 fee for the mooring.
Then, although we had given Australian Customs the required 96 hours notice with all the information they requested, it appears someone lost the paperwork so nobody knew we were arriving.
Customs seemed to take it in their stride (I guess they had to as it was them that had stuffed up the paperwork) but Quarantine was not so obliging and were doing their best to find something wrong. After a couple of hours and them just about emptying the fridge and freezer, taking things that I am sure are not prohibited imports, we finally got cleared.
This sort of treatment of visitor is what keeps other sailors from visiting Australia. Most foreign sailors comment on the reputation of our officials and more and more are going to New Zealand for the summer rather than come here. It is all a bit embarrassing.
One small story, more than anything else, highlights the absurd attitude of the Quarantine officials. They seemed to get themselves worked up because Buena Vista was built in China and no amount of explanation that it was imported into Australia, cleared Quarantine procedures in 2009 and was in fact an Australian registered vessel (which it had to be or we couldn’t have left Australia in the first place!!) seemed to get through.
They asked (well demanded really) a copy of the original Quarantine certificate, which of course I didn’t have, but I did explain to them that I could give them the HIN number of the boat and also the day and location it was originally cleared into Australia, so they could located the file. Their response ……. “that’s no good to us, we would never be able to find the paperwork” …. and the worst thing, they couldn’t see the irony!!
However, we did get cleared into Australia and quickly left Newcastle for Bobbin Head, where the boat will remain for about a month while some minor warranty repairs are carried out.
A leisurely cruise to the Isle of Pines