Tues 7thAug07

Was about to leave Adolphus Island & final item to stow was my dive gear - left out since Cairns where I got it serviced. What a good thing I hadn't put it away before..... I spotted a strand of wire on the battery box.. I lifted the underbunk cover further for'd - horror of horrors..... the steering cable was absolutely shredded in area around a sheave- REALLY in a mess & hanging on by just 2 thin threads - lucky it got me this far.
I knew I had spare cable and I'd bought bulldog grips in San Diego, ready for rigging emergencies, but I felt sure I would have trouble cutting through cables (old & new) & also thought I'd need another pair of hands to keep tension on whilst trying to replace the damaged section. I put out a call on VHF, although, to be honest, I didn't really expect any useful reply, since so few boats are around & those that are are usually big ships, not small sailing boats. The pilot of a ship I'd spoken to the day before came up - willing to help but only able to suggest I try to get to Thursday Island for help - a good few hours sail away... Then, to my delight, 'Anitra' came on frequency - they were headed to Thursday Island and would divert to be with me shortly. Great news!! I actually needed more bulldog grips & they had some small spares. I was very lucky they were close by and able to help me.
Geoff was able (with great difficulty!) to use my croppers to cut my spare rigging cable - which we then found was way too stiff AND wouldn't fit into the sheave groove. I already had out some thinner cable (used for hoisting dinghy) so we used that (was JUST long enough & far easier to cut!) and eventually replaced the damaged section, using 4 bulldog grips, with more-or-less the correct cable tension... took quite a time to complete.
By now it was well gone teatime - so I suggested they go back to their boat while I cleared up & stowed everything away ready for the next day's passage & then I'd make them dinner - we had steak and freshly-cooked ratatouille & got to bed rather late!

Wed 8th Aug07

Wasn't up too early this morning!! But I'm now having a good sail on passage to Darwin - passed Capt Cook's stone cairn around 1030 on way past Possession Island - excellent current and good wind meant I was doing around 8knots SOG!! ... I hoped it would continue but after a while I had to let out all reefs - wind was way down on the previous 20-30 knots....

Later: Just exhausted myself!! Got a genoa 'wrap' as I was getting pole organized - took ages of heavy physical effort to persuade it to undo - I need a bit more body weight, I reckon, would have made it easier.... but eventually I undid it & poled the genoa out.

I still can't get over how lucky I was to find my steering cable problem before disaster hit me! That's the second time I've been lucky in that way - last time was last May when I was just about to take off from Pt Townsend for San Francisco offshore. Why has it gone so soon?? Cable wrong type? Too stiff maybe?? Strands woven differently? Rigging, not steering, cable?? Clearly, though, it's not running through the sheave properly.

I've now lost the nice tide advantage: Boatspeed 6kn, SOG 5.4.. We're gradually getting away from the big area of shallows as we sail W from Cape York Peninsula & the islands to the NW of it (Thursday Island, etc)- depth has been down to below 9m but slowly getting deeper.

The couple on 'Anitra', who helped me yesterday, stopped in Escape River - I mentioned that I'd given it a miss having heard about unmarked nets & difficult shallows around the entrance - they agreed - said nets were horrendous (pearl fishing, they seemed to think) - shallows bad also... they'll avoid going back there!! Seemed very concerned about crocs also, both there & at Adolphus Island...

At sunset, as the sun sank, it appeared again below a cloud, so I saw it clearly as it dipped below horizon ..& then, AFTER it disappeared, there was a tiny 'blip' of green - a tiny 'green flash'!! Not a major event, but only the second time I've actually seen a proper 'green flash' rather than the sun turning green as it disappears - which is not a flash at all!

Sun 5Aug07
Up well before dawn to raise anchor & mains'l ready for passage to 'top of Australia' (NE point is Cape York)! Only 5-6 knots of wind, despite strong wind warnings of 20-25, becoming 25-30 later today.

2pm Finally have fair current - switched over from foul a short while ago - coming up to HW around 4pm so seems must be flooding tide causing good N-bound current (display says 012T, 0.4kn!) So finally managed to cut engine, since there should be no problem now making Mt Adolphus Island anchorage under sail alone before nightfall. Wind still nowhere near the f'cast 25kn - generally been SE 15kn for a time now - a pleasant sunny day, although a 1-1.5m SE swell has built up, making us roll quite a
lot - especially since goosewinged.
Presently 4 miles off Escape River - was going to anchor there tonight but it has a very shallow bar at the entrance, is shallow inside also, reported to have lots of flies - and I'd received warnings of both unmarked fishing nets and crocodiles... Whereas Mt Adolphus Island is supposed to be very pleasant, as well as being an easy-to-enter, good, protected anchorage - worth getting up early for & going the extra distance today!
Trying to track down where a broken rivet has appeared from!.... went part way up mast to have a look around but so far nothing obvious seen up to first spreaders.

Mon 6Aug

Anchored yesterday evening in 6-7m in big W bay on Mt Adolphus Island - beautiful, deserted place. Was in good time to relax & enjoy sunset before cooking. Will rest here over morning & get boat organized for 5-6 day passage to Darwin from Possession Island. Don't think strong wind warnings of up to 30kn have come to anything around here. Expect around SE4-5 (15-20kn) for onward passage - hopefully making for nice sailing.

Later.... well, I decided to stay put! Was intending leaving for Possession Island in the early afternoon to gain some tide advantage.. but as day progressed, got rainier and windier (even got some swell creeping in around SW point nearby, so swell must have built up quite a bit in strong winds outside here)... and I've been getting some useful things done, some of which (like replacing missing telltales on mains'l and windvane & varnishing wooden servo blade on windsteering gear ) I've been meaning
to do for ages. Decided I might just as well continue the good work here, as in anchorage at Possession Island, just under 4 hrs sail away, and go there for a short stop only. Had an excellent sleep last night to compensate for several early mornings, ready for forthcoming 5-6 day passage to Darwin. Will leave for Possession Island tomorrow definitely - feel very much in Capt Cook's path around here - feel sure he must have anchored close to where I am here - & he definitely visited Possession
Island because there's a stone cairn built by his crew on a high point on the island - labelled 'Monument' on my chart!

I'm sitting out in the cockpit typing this, watching grey clouds approaching - rain?? Darkness is falling & I'm at anchor in lee of Morris Island - just a low sandy islet, on the edge of a large reef, with two palm trees,lots of bushes and what look to me like lots of agave plants. Tern, pelicans and possibly crabs (holes in sand near water's edge at low water when I arrived here) are the only signs of life. Wind has tended to die down overnight & then get up as the day progresses. Today kept reminding me of the Bahamas - sailing along in relatively shallow, pale blue water, with no land in sight, although today's water was around 15-20m deep whereas in the Bahamas it was often 7-8ft! Most channel depths inside the Gt Barrier Reef seem to be 25m or a lot less. The wind, yet again, has varied in strength a lot over the day, meaning I have had to motorsail a little (when speed drops to less than 3knots!), but mostly I had a nice sail on anything from a beam reach to a run (goosewinged) in SE-E winds. The sky has been clear, so it was nice and sunny, but it feels quite cool in the breeze with air temp of around 26C - maybe I've acclimatized! After leaving last night's anchorage, where there was one other boat, I saw two fishing boats but then nothing all day until just now when I saw a freighter passing by in the distance, headed north. Several boobies flew past, as I left this morning - but generally, there has been a distinct lack of obvious life around - no birds seen until tonight, around this islet. It's certainly not over-populated hereabouts!! And if anything should happen, you'd need to expect to be self-sufficient, although I suspect help would be available eventually on VHF or HF (no mobile phone transceivers here!). I'm checking in each morning, as I did on passage from Vanuatu, at 0800 EST with the 'Sheila' Net on 8161kHz - run by cruisers for cruisers - nice to hear a friendly voice! I'll continue to do so until Darwin and on leaving for Bali from there in mid-August.

Passed Cape Flattery yesterday on way to Lizard Island!! Home page on my website shows Tatoosh Island with Cape Flattery LH at Pacific end of Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Lizard Island is part of the Great Barrier Reef and was where Capt. Cook spied a way out of the reef in 1770 from what is now named Cook Look(out). Cook Passage is actually quite small and to the SE. A larger pass further north is Two Mile Opening - used by big ships. I saw 3 this morning, turning after entering the area but then saw no other boats all day until I came in to anchor tonight.

Shortly after leaving Lizard Island in the dark, well before 5a.m. this morning, I was puzzled by the relative position of the Pleiades in relation to the 'belt' of Orion- until I realized that Orion was standing on his head...!! There was a lovely, bright, full moon still visible at sunrise - good colour contrast.

As I left, there was excellent wind for a time, but it then died somewhat & turned rather flukey, added to which my change of course put the wind dead astern.... so I was forced to motor-sail for several hours to ensure making my intended anchorage before dark. Not always much choice of path through these reef-ridden waters! In fact, the wind came up this afternoon and I had a short but enjoyable sail around dramatic, gigantic-boulder-strewn Cape Melville, which meant I made a further anchorage
- Flinders Island: lovely scenery, highlighted by a beautiful sunset as I was anchoring. I did 82mls in all, today!

Around midday (high water), I was passing through a vast expanse of seemingly clear water - but there was a big area of reef just below the surface. This is where the Gt Barrier Reef curves around to the NW & comes closer in to land.

At last, today, I benefitted from an excellent amount of favourable current for a change, as I headed N - I wonder if it's the effect of a W-going Equatorial Current, which must pass N of Australia if it's present.

Tomorrow, I'll be up at the more civilised time of 5.30a.m., instead of today's 4 a.m., ready to be well away by 6 a.m., just before sunrise.

Tuesday 31 July '07 (10am)

What a great sail I'm having just now!! Perfect beam reach in bright sunshine passing Cooktown off to port several miles away. Doing just over 7 knots with full canvas in ESE 16-18 knots of breeze, although losing a bit to current, so making only 6-6.5 SOG. (There seems to be a fairly constant S-going current so far, losing me a good knot at times.) Makes a nice change from last two days when I had to motor or motor-sail a lot to make the anchorages before nightfall - I'm hoping to make Lizard
Island well before sunset if the wind keeps up. Hopefully, it'll stay up for next two days, before lessening a bit around Friday, according to my grib weather files.

Low Islets, Sunday's anchorage, was interesting and quite busy, being so close to Cairns. As are so many islands & reefs here, it's a Marine Park & is where Steve Irwin was fatally stung by a large stingray not so many years back. I gather he pulled the sting out of his heart which then bled massively - likely he would have died from the sting anyway, even if he hadn't pulled it out - they've got pretty potent stings! No way I was going to get in the water there or anywhere else on my way to Darwin.
If it's not stingrays, it's crocs or sharks or stingers (even out of season, as it's supposed to be now, there are a few of those jellyfish around) - all can be rather terminal! I cooked myself a good meal on arrival well after sunset - prompted by the smell of another boat's 'barbie' as I passed by on my way in to drop the anchor!!

From there, I had to push with the motor, motor-sailing most of the day with only an hour-and-a-half's sailing in peace and quiet just before arrival at Hope Islands. It was low tide and the reef areas were nicely exposed, including a reef joining the two islands - makes it much safer for anchoring when you can see where the reefs are! A float-plane was the only sign of life on the islands and that took off not long after I got there - then I had it to myself. Lovely full moon...

I spent quite a time passage-planning, trying to avoid really long hops between anchorages so I can get a reasonable amount of sleep each night - it's OK to leave in the dark when you've seen the area in daylight on entering, but not so good coming in during darkness, when you not been to a (reef-strewn) place before! I'll have to leave several places really early to be sure of arriving at the next anchorage in safety - preferably without needing to motor too much. I was up at 5.30 a.m. this morning,
to leave by 6 a.m. - well before sunrise hereabouts. (It's winter here, as they keep telling me.... & I'm amazed that I'm feeling it & having to wear fleeces from time to time - despite being in the Tropics!!)

This week has been very busy with jobs on board - except for Wednesday when I took a day off work to go out to the Great Barrier Reef with Chris in the big Sealover catamaran. The 25 knot winds raised fair seas but didn't cause a major problem and I enjoyed my first dive for quite a time. There was an impressive variety of soft corals and we were lucky to see a Hawkshead turtle, in addition to a green turtle which we hand fed with red algae from under some dead coral lying on the seabed! As we started our dive, the photographer posed me in company with an enormous maori wrasse which followed him around - it was behaving very placidly, rather like a big pet dog!! It was quite awesome, being so close to such a big creature - and it didn't mind being stroked ...

Jobs have gone very well - oil has been changed (both main engine & generator) and oil & water cleaned out from under engine and in bilge - lengthy & messy, but nice to have finished!! Connecting up the cables to the new batteries went without a hitch & Theo from FNQ Electrics came to see if he could sort out my overcharging problem - the regulator seemed to have been misbehaving but after lengthy testing and trouble-shooting, Theo finally tracked the problem down to a faulty fuse on the voltage-sensing wire at the battery bank - an erratic fault resulting in false low readings being sent to the regulator, thus causing it to overcharge. Now that problem has been resolved, we should be able to benefit from the new batteries installed last week.
Winch servicing (another lengthy job - 6 winches in the cockpit alone!)) is going well and a new (correctly-sized) double clutch installed for the 3rd reef lines. I'm expecting a possible rough passage at least part of the way across the Indian Ocean, so those are important items I'm pleased to cross off my list. The only outstanding item on my joblist now is 'freeing' the inner forestay removeable fitting - another item to be dealt with before Cape York, from where I'll sail 850 mls to Darwin, crossing the Gulf of Carpentaria.
My onboard dive gear was serviced, so that's an important safety item dealt with.
Chris kindly acted as my 'chauffer' on Friday and I was able to provision and buy various other items I needed. It actually felt nice and warm for a change!
Sorting out the chaos & stowing food and gear down below is also going well.... it will be completed over the first one or two evenings at anchor as I travel north, the deck already being clear and tidy, so sailing is not compromised! I need to move on as fast as possible now, having been delayed by several days due to dealing with so many jobs & problems while here - obviously a good thing to have done. I'm feeling very pleased to have dealt with the batteries & with the regulator problem ... that last one was really worrying me, especially with new batteries in place.
The weather has possibly changed for the better (less rainy & warmer?) but wind strength may have dropped too much for good sailing - we'll see.
I'd hoped to leave around 10am on Saturday, after refuelling, in order to reach the Low Islets 35 mls away well before sunset, but getting & paying for the fuel at the marina turned into a major, unwanted, timewasting hassle, and my winches needed to be finished still.... so I ended up staying another night and left midday Sunday instead.

Cairns - work stop! Up the mast again...
Originally uploaded by svNereida.

Saturday 21 July

Trip up mast today to take off tricolour/anchor light fitting - couldn't undo top to change tricolour bulb so brought whole unit down after managing (with difficulty!) to unclip base from mast top. Unit was eventually opened by using water to dissolve salt in dirty join - no broken plastic!! Cousin Susie suggested replacing BOTH bulbs since 10 yrs old - sensible idea... So back up mast on Sunday to replace unit. Most of Sunday will be spent finishing domestic battery connections (job started on

Saturday) - all cable terminals being cleaned/sanded to bright metal before being replaced onto new batteries (slow going!), along with completion of windlass servicing and dealing with deck cable fitting.

Has been very windy (& cold) for last few days & forecast to remain so over next week. Regularly using my warm Musto fleeces & jacket - never expected to need those onshore in tropical Cairns!! They're getting unusually cold weather just now, they tell me.

Last week was very busy - hauled out on Monday at Norship Marine & pressure-washed keel ready for antifouling. Jotun (Australia) kindly donated self-polishing bottom paint ("Nereida" has always had Jotun antifouling applied & I've found it very good) & the prop was cleaned and coated with a 3-part system. Local OCC Port Officer John Cornelius has very kindly been giving me a lot of time & help with a variety of jobs, taking me around in his car to chandlers/shops etc & making use of his local knowledge

- all very useful & much appreciated. My cousin Mandy and husband Chris have continued to be really supportive & helpful in so many ways. Various people at Norship have also been very kind & helpful - of several of them, I must especially thank Rex & Stef for their help in sorting out shaft seal & seacock access problems and battery bank replacement (I hope Rex's back recovers!) & Hermann in the paint shop (& also Bill) has gone out of his way to chase up various people for me. By Thursday afternoon,

"Nereida" was back in Marlin Marina - who I must sincerely thank for their unexpected generosity in waiving their berthing charges during my stay in Cairns. The staff there (Sandy & Joe especially) have been very friendly & helpful.

Items dealt with so far here have been:

* Icom SSB radio repaired by Brian Swinton - many problems found, but now working beautifully...

* Laptop repaired by Steven at TJ Microsystems - coming to the end of its life, but now useable again (for the time being!)....

* Evinrude outboard repaired - will be a back-up now to the new 2hp Yamaha outboard purchased here (can't afford to be without a reliable outboard motor!)

* Mast/vang connection re-made after I found previous one 'eating' into Al vang end-fitting on my way here- Georgina at Blackwood's was very kind & helpful...

* Prop anode replaced & keel antifouled

* Engine oil & filter changed

* 1st reefing line replaced

* Ants (from Fiji) eradicated... I hope!!!

* Incorrect Zodiac rowlock/oar parts replaced - hopefully, I'll be able to row it now without oar 'popping out' all the time!

* All pillows/cushions/carpets cleaned

* Updated Nobeltec world charts 'dongle' received & activated - especially useful for passage-planning (very 'user-friendly' software, I find, & GPS positioning is pretty accurate) - latest Australian charts included so will be immediately useful for passage north to Cape York/Torres Strait & across Gulf of Carpentaria to Darwin.

Jobs outstanding, & to be done before moving on, are (in addition to replacing tricolour fitting at mast top & finishing battery connections):

* Servicing of Anderson winches (usually a job I enjoy, but well overdue). Good thing they're so well engineered that they survive long service intervals!!

* Re-bedding of fitting to deck where electric cables come down below from beside mast foot (hoping to prevent major seawater leakage I've been getting in big seas)

* Generator oil change (& cleaning away old oil from under engine)

* Wrongly-sized new double clutch for reefing lines replaced with correct one

* Freeing up of 'frozen' removable inner forestay fitting

* Tidying up of present chaos onboard....!!!

* Provisioning with Indonesia & Indian Ocean passage in mind.

I've thoroughly enjoyed being massaged twice by Alison, at the local fitness centre. After an active, rough sail here from Vanuatu, my upper body felt it needed some sympathetic treatment! She definitely made me feel pampered!

An unexpected coincidence was the arrival in Cairns of the Latymer Rugby Tour group from the school in London where I used to teach Mathematics - I spent a pleasant evening with them on Friday - and the weekend has seen my aunt Sheila and cousin Susie flying in to spend time together - I've not seen them for quite a few years so we've had a good reunion.

After TV, radio & newspaper interviews/coverage, I'm finally getting boat jobs dealt with... outboard & dinghy (oars) problems, SSB radio, computer, cleaning above & down below, dealing with leak by mast, engine & generator oil changes, replacing broken first reefing line and wrong-sized clutch, antifouling, tricolour bulb, etc ... the list is long!!
My dock neighbours on the fishing charter boat 'Kohara', skippered by Jeff, looked at my trolling line & decided I needed help to organize it better with appropriate lures, wire leader, bungy etc, so I'd catch something as I sail north soon. They very kindly spent some time on two lines - "guaranteed to catch fish with that".... We'll see...... I've promised to email them with news of my catch(es), after I get going finally!!
Sunday was spent relaxing - walking my cousin's dog on the nearby beautiful beach in the morning, under a clear blue sky, & then looking around Cairns and the Tablelands (old volcanic plateau) and its tropical rainforest and other sights.. trees, ferns, birds all very different, of course, from European and American ones I'm used to seeing... an enormous 'curtain fig' vine, growing high up and hanging down to the ground,... bush turkeys, kookaburras, ibises, & many more birds...

Just a short note to confirm safe arrival in bright sun in Cairns - lovely last sail after lumpy seas & variable wind under grey skies for the previous few days. Pacific leg completed...
Quite a group of people on dock at Marlin Marina - being made a fuss of by Cairns media & townsfolk ... all making me feel very welcome - very pleasant!
Lots of work projects to get done during time here - so will be busy. But cousin Mandy making sure I get to see Cairns and surroundings also - looking after me well!

At sunset this evening, I'm pretty sure I sighted Australia.... from 100 ml off the coast, I could see what looked like red mountains low on the horizon below the grey clouds - land ahoy!!! ETA Cairns sometime tomorrow, possibly before midday. Never having been to Australia before, I'm looking forward to it, although I have such a long joblist & so many boat problems to sort out during my 10 days in Cairns, I'll be lucky to see much of the area apart from yards, chandlers & workshops!

Today the wind has been up & down like a yo-yo - one moment we're speeding along at just over 7 knots on a close reach, and I'm thankful I only let out the 3rd reef & no more this morning, the next, the wind has died and we're lucky if we're making 4 knots, on a beam reach... could be the broken cloud cover, but quite frustrating - difficult to know how much of which sail to have out for the best. Overnight, the wind was strong and big, lumpy, beam seas had built up, regularly throwing us around. I reefed right down, mainly to avoid making Cairns around dawn (the result of our good speed over the last couple of days) but partly to try to make the boat more comfortable!

I've been feeling quite cold, especially after sunset - my cousin tells me it's 5 degrees C colder than is normal at this time of year - my luck! So I've had to dig out my nice warm Musto gear - I can't get over how very comfortable, as well as warm, the bottom & mid layers are. From what I've seen on this 1200 ml passage from Vanuatu, I'm expecting to need to use the sturdy outer Musto Ocean foul weather gear for the Indian Ocean crossing, when I'll have similar winds (SE Trades) in possibly stronger conditions. Amazing how quickly the seas get up in strong winds & knock you about!! (Later: Just had to go up and furl in the genoa a bit more - the sky has cleared, in part, it's pitch dark, except for some stars, the wind is up more & we were rushing along, heeling overmuch, especially as a wave hit,... things were beginning to jump about down below...seas have built up again... oh, what fun...we're still doing over 7 knots at times!!)

I've been emailing a lot, talking to my cousin Mandy who has been fabulously helpful (for which I'm extremely grateful), organizing a lot for me in advance of my arrival on the boatjobs side - & she has included in that several TV & newspaper interviews on arrival, as well!

I've done quite well on the 'forbidden' food side - very little left that I'll be sorry about losing to Quarantine when they come on board tomorrow at Marlin Marina (where I've a berth waiting).

I've actually seen just 3 ships over the last two days, although several showed up on my AIS unit as I came close to Australia - several Chinese and Japanese heading N, making for their home port from a port in either N.Z. or further south in Australia - but nothing since leaving Vanuatu prior to that. With my path being directly across the shipping lanes here, it was comforting to have the AIS alarm 'beeping' at me to warn me when one of them was within 16 miles of me, so I could check to see if there was any problem arising.

24hr distance run to midday (by log), having slowed down overnight: 124 n.ml

Midday (EST) posn: 16 06'S, 148 06'E Distance to Cairns: 145 n.ml. (At 9pm, EST, distance: 85 mls, ETA ~ 10-11 am)

E.T.A. Cairns: early Wed morning 10th July '07

Sitting watching the sunset with a mug of tea in my hand, wondering where today's strong wind got to.... We've been mainly ambling along since this morning, with the odd gust of wind pushing us up to 6 or more, rather than around 4.5-5kn! (Presently 11knots of SE wind, boatspeed 4.6, SOG 5.7 (that fair current doing a good job!).... 5 mins later: wind SSE 14kn, boatspeed 5.2, SOG 6.3 - up & down all day!)

I forgot to add statistics for last two days:

24hr distances run to midday(by log): Sun:137 n.ml Mon: 147 n.ml

Monday midday (EST) posn: 15 48'S, 150 18'E Distance to Cairns: 278 n.ml.

E.T.A. Cairns: early Wed morning 10th July '07

Sun
Unscrewed & removed both varnished ledges and companionway hatch cover after seeing 3 more ANTS...!! No sign of any nest (or even of more than just one ant 'passing through'), but gave me the chance to spring clean the area - & set my mind at rest that there weren't lots hiding in there! Saw no more for rest of day, but keeping a wary eye out...
Beautiful day's fast sailing - mainly 15-20 kn of SE/SSE winds, either on or just for'd of the beam, giving usually well over 7 knots SOG, with fair tide. Foul tide is less than fair and doesn't last for long during the day. Put one reef in mains'l overnight but didn't make any difference to speed, just reduced heeling in the bigger seas we were getting. Still have little stays'l hanked on - so still cutter rigged! Interesting to see how it affects genoa (hardly, from what I can see - but then
it is v. small) & speed (think we're going a bit faster with less heel).
Suddenly occurred to me that one leg of my proposed course, between South Willis Islet & Magdelaine Cays and Coringa Islets & on past Holmes Reef, would be untenable in the forecast strong S wind for today - so changed course to take us 5 ml N (& so safely to leeward) of Sand Cay, Diane Bank - means a slightly longer passage, but not by much (about 10 mls). It would be nice to reach that point in daylight so I can see where any shallows are - hopefully well off & out of sight to port! No telling
how accurate chart is re GPS positioning. (My other route would have given me the chance to judge that from the position of the S. Willis Islet LH.)
Found a very small flying fish on deck - totally different from ones I've seen before - mottled brown & black wings and body.

Mon
What a lumpy sea around sunrise and on into morning! Decided it was result of combination of SE and SW swells - certainly made things jump about. Had to rescue the port nav light which I noticed dangling on its cable from the pulpit holder. Took off my trousers to go forward (yes - it's got cool enough for me to be wearing some!) knowing I was going to get thoroughly wet retrieving it..!!
Found a good-sized flying fish this morning - the kind I've seen previously - will have it for lunch.
We've made such good progress, that not only are we expecting to arrive Cairns Wednesday, rather than Thursday, but unless I can keep my speed down to around 6kn my E.T.A. is around dawn - I may have to slow down to arrive at a more 'civilized' hour for berthing & contacting Customs!!

What a great day's sailing! After an uncertain start, the grey clouds disappeared, the wind backed and increased slightly - and we've been beam-reaching at well over 6 knots ever since. Although there is an increased swell (from the S & so on the beam), it hasn't been too bad & we're not getting thrown about (yet!) as we were on Tuesday..
"Nereida" is 'creaming' along - absolutely 'in the groove'. When she's sailing along like this, I often think, fronm below decks, that she's slowed right down, she is so quiet - but on, checking, I see we're going fast but smoothly - beautiful!! Whether having the staysail up has made a difference is difficult to tell - but I suspect it has. We've more sail area out lower down, so maybe not had to reef as soon as otherwise we might have had to... We've also a bit of a fair current, so our S.O.G.
has been well over 7 knots a lot of the day - at this rate, we may get to Cairns on Wednesday, rather than Thursday ... but still too early to be sure of anything where landfall is concerned.
Winds are forecast to strengthen a little to around 20kn on Monday, just for a day, and all the forecasts for the next 5 days show SE-SSE winds, maybe just S of SSE - so that all looks good!
Actually, I just checked - wind is now already SE 20knots, our boatspeed is 6.5, giving 7.3 SOG as I write this (1600 EST/0600GMT). Lovely to have such a good current helping us along!

24 hr distance run to midday (by log): 138 n.ml.

Saturday midday (EST) posn: 16 15'S, 155 32'E Distance to Cairns: 580 n.ml.

Thursday was a real 'ambling' day. The wind, having filled in strongly over Tuesday night, gradually died down over Wed ... & kept on dying, so most of today has been really light - - motored twice for a couple of hours, when speed got down to 2.5-3.5 knots!

Gave me the chance to play with storm staysail on newly-positioned inner forestay - getting prepared for possible use in Indian Ocean, if not before!! Was taken aback to find a split pin lying on deck beside the foot of the stay - had come out of a clevis pin... how?? Needed to knock clevis pin back in place with hammer before replacing pin. Then I had to fiddle about with the sheet leads rather.... in the end, abandoned the cars and lead the sheets instead via block on midship cleat to jammer
& block on quarter & thence onto cockpit winch - works fine. With the wind just abaft the beam, the apparent wind is just for'd of the beam - so keeping stays'l up for time being to see how it goes. First time I've sailed "Nereida" with cutter rig! With full genoa and full main in 14kn of breeze, we were making about 6 knots - so was better than earlier in the day. I've also been thinking that Trades in Indian Ocean could well give same point of sail as I'm getting on this passage. Strikes me
that I won't be poling out the genoa on this passage... wind is too far forward and likely to stay so.

Been looking over food stores, thinking of Aussie Quarantine regulations - have pate (3 tins from Tahiti), meat and cheese to finish or get confiscated. So it's pate to have with fresh bread bought in Luganville for lunches (with cheese & biscuits when pate finished), had duck a l'orange (Tahiti) for dinner Wed night, have 2 tins of beef - to make curry or stew, with lime & mango pickles I still have, and will make a chilli con carne with the tin of mince still left... easily enough 'lazy' dinners
there until I arrive in Cairns and that's not touching the eggs I have and a bit of fresh meat I've still got in fridge - I'll be forced either to chuck excess overboard (before reaching Aussie waters!) or let them feel good and confiscate it from me..! Think I could well put on weight over this passage.....! Enough pamplemousse for three more b'fasts - they're gorgeous! And christophene for munching on between times....as in Mexico & Caribbean - light green pear-shaped object, white & crunchy
inside with very big flat 'seed', normally cut and skin peeled away. Can be cooked as veg, but I prefer it raw - makes a nice salad.

Have already contacted Aussie Customs by email to give notice I'm arriving next week! (You have to let them know of imminent arrival at least 96 hrs in advance)

I'm looking forward to Cairns - but I've so much to do boat-wise, I'm just hoping I'll get to enjoy the place itself before I must leave on the 24th for Darwin!! I've been emailing my cousin & people in Cairns trying to organize so many different things in advance of getting there, to make sure they all stand some chance of getting done within the time-frame I've set!!

Been chasing minute ants from Vuda Point, Fiji, again - had hoped recent heavy rain and seas crashing onto deck would have drowned them - but they obviously found a couple of protected places - and with sun today and yesterday, they've been out & about foraging...

Well, the wind suddenly picked up again just after I wrote my midday Friday log. I'd noticed an incresed southerly swell had suddenly appeared, it having been pleasantly smooth over the morning, so I had to reef the mains'l (just one reef at present in F4-5 winds: 17kn, gusting 20kn) and furl in the genoa a touch - may put a 2nd reef in mains'l if wind increases any more towards nightfall - but in meantime we're making much better speed than overnight and this morning!

24 hr distances run to midday (by log): 128/130 n.ml.

Friday midday (EST) posn: 16 10'S, 158 02'E Distance to Cairns: 728 n.ml.

Well - we certainly got the wind we wanted - and more!!
Suddenly, at 0300 over Mon/Tuesday night, there were clouds & rain... and wind a-plenty at 19 knots ..and increasing! Seas increased also - so knocked sense into the log/speed impellor - which began registering!
Winds were from S to SSE, at 20-25 knots, but the apparent wind was just for'd of the beam so we were close-reaching almost due west with a S swell - very uncomfortable, especially as the seas increased to 3-4 metres and regularly flung us onto our 'ears'. Crests were generally smooth but occasionally we'd catch one just beginning to break - bad news!! Seas were regularly sweeping over the decks & testing our water-tightness - I've one or two places to check out, once we're in port!!
Initially, one reef seemed OK, but as wind increased, had to put 2nd reef in mains'l - & also in genoa. Of course, the good news is that we made excellent speed - generally 6.5-7 kn and from Tuesday afternoon there was a very definite fair current/tide helping us along - so we were making great progress towards Cairns!
Around sunset, the heavy grey overcast moved away to the north - and the rest of the night was almost clear, with a near-full moon rising a little later - lovely! OF course, the seas were still big, but the wind has been very gradually lessening a touch. By 1am, I was able to let out the 2nd reef & now (Wed afternoon) the wind is ESE/SE 15-20 kn so we are broad-reaching under full sail with 2m seas from SE.
Today is Nereida's 10th birthday - so I've been paying her some attention, as befits a birthday girl - cleaning up a bit after our pounding. We'll shortly have a birthday tea - or at least I shall! It's been a much pleasanter sailing day today, despite the occasional big wave - more like typical Tradewind conditions, except we're not running downwind enough for me to have to pole out the genoa - maybe later....
Last night, some boobies came by at sunset, obviously thinking of roosting in our rigging - but we were moving around too violently & they soon thought better of it! This morning, I sat in the companionway with the early sun on my back, eating a pamplemousse from Port Vila market, watching a graceful, tiny petrel skimming the waves so closely it kept touching the surface with its wing tips - life seemed pretty good at that moment!

At midday today, we had covered 151 n.ml.(by the GPS) over the 24 hr period & had 974 n.ml. to go to Cairns.

ON MY WAY!! Left around 3pm EAST (Eastern Australia Summer Time) from Luganville (4pm local time) - feeling quite excited about final Pacific sail to Australia.

Having to motor (with 'push' from tide just now) to get away from 'no-wind' zone around Vanuatu, in hope I can get sailing by early Tues -wind looks as though it should be good then, although may go light again on Thurs for a day or so. Just rounded South Cape now, on SW of Espiritu Santo, & am now on course for Cairns (or, strictly speaking, on course to a little 'jiggle' around Barrier Reef islands on way to Cairns!!)

Such heavy, heavy rain overnight Sat and also on & off during Sunday - I was expecting some, but not so much... got drenched! Stopped me getting re-fuelling completed as I'd hoped. But cleared/tidied up in meantime and sorted out paper charts and confirmed route around Gt Barrier Reef area - so not time wasted. Refuelling was very slow because I used little 12V in-line pump to pump fuel out of 20l cans very low down in cockpit locker into 10l ones for pouring into tanks, but both tanks nearly
full now - leaving me feeling much more comfortable! I should have way more than I need, assuming good sailing conditions.

Monday's weather was far nicer - after more heavy rain overnight, clouds cleared away soon after I headed in to town to clear Customs & Immigration at 0700. Just as well I went in early, because I found Immigration open - but he was busy writing a note on the door telling anyone else to come back at 10 o'clock! Then on to Customs - painfully slow filling in sheets of forms... had to pay Port/Light Dues at Harbour Master's office before Clearance Certificate could be issued - I was staggered to find
the cost was 7,000 vatu (~$70 ). I only had 5,000 on me, so had to walk back into town to find bank or ATM to get cash - so much for my hoping to get return ferry back to 'Nereida' at 0830 ready for a quick get-away! (Might have managed it if I'd had the extra cash..) Anyway, had a very nice breakfast at the 'Nataranga' in the main street, since next ferry wasn't until 1130 so no point in rushing. Paid dues & went back to Customs... to find a little queue... eventually obtained my Clearance Certificate
for passage to Cairns and then filled up 2 10l jerry cans with diesel - have actually filled both tanks completely now in expectation of a day or so of motoring away from Vanuatu before Trade winds fill in, as hoped.

So arrived back at Aore to deflate & stow dinghy & generally finish preparing for passage to Cairns - beautiful sunshine....clear water.... blue-tipped stag coral growing by jetty...fish jumping everywhere.... but NO wind...!!

Just had AIS alarm beeping at me - ship 16ml to W of me heading on 155T (I'm heading 265T) - so shouldn't be any problem - can see it on radar also.... Full moon just rising in clear sky... should be a nice night! Especially if I can stop motoring and get sailing... speed/log impeller must have some gunge in it or maybe an animal has made it's home there - it's not working!

Good news - one of the Cairns people has replied to say they can get Evinrude gasket & piston rings so that looks hopeful - I may yet get a working outboard!

Distance to go: approx. 1200 n.ml.

Thursday ended up very calm & peaceful, unlike the rest of the day which was grey & rainy. I sat out in cockpit in the moonlight, having first put plenty of anti-mosquito cream on, & after arranging mosquito netting over boat hatches!! Completely dark & seemingly uninhabited where I was anchored - & I only just managed to get there before light failed. I relied on Nobeltec charts & chartplotter (both! - trying to reduce chance of error!) for position of anchorage in lee of tiny island of Uri in
Port Stanley on Malakula island. Fortunately, they were both accurate. I'd chosen an anchorage to come into that looked fairly straightforward - no coral heads lurking too close by, nice sandy bottom instead, since distance was a bit tight for a day passage...but even so, I felt really uncomfortable coming in to anchor without any chance of seeing through water at lurking coral in the near-darkness. Other closer anchorages looked a bit dodgy for entering in bad light, let alone at night....
I'd had to motor-sail a lot, trying to make sure of getting there in daylight, with strong winds gusting up to 25kn as I left and very little a bit later - they kept being highly variable - mainly NW-NNE & so 'on the nose'! What might have been quite a good sailing day was rather ruined trying to get too far ... only benefit was batteries being well-charged!!

A couple of small boats, each with several people in them, were going back to another nearby island as I came in at sunset (not that I could see any sun.... dark grey clouds....) - smoke showed where they were probably heading for. Very basic, traditional subsistence living around here. Gather this is a marine reserve for giant clams! Had 3 or 4 dolphins leaping around boat as I made for channel between islands to get in... always nice! And actually found a flying fish on deck later in the day
- from previous overnight passage, presumably - and saw several more today - flying over surface of the sea a long way.

As I left this morning (Friday), at first light, a couple of dug-out, outrigger canoes appeared - one with a single person in it, the other with two... women, it turned out, hoping for a tow towards the local market where they were taking their oranges.. unfortunately, my path was nowhere near theirs so, regretfully, I couldn't help, much as I would have liked to if only time had allowed it.

I was hoping to get to Luganville in time to check-out for a possible weekend departure, weather permitting... although looking at the available grib files isn't encouraging - not until 2nd July (Monday) do the winds begin to look better - settled SE Trades looking more likely then, with very light & variable N winds before that.

I have various things I must do before I start that passage, so I made for a 'resort' anchorage on the island of Aore opposite the town of Luganville at the S. end of Espiritu Santo, with a regular little ferry over. On arriving soon after 2pm & picking up a mooring, having had to motor-sail all the way against a headwind, I busied myself filling with diesel from my jerrycans - I don't know yet if I'll be able easily to refuel in Luganville over the weekend.... & it was actually NOT raining for a
change!

Yet again, it was a day of dark grey clouds and occasional rain showers - the northern islands of Vanuatu demonstrating that they are in the S Pacific Convergence Zone (not the ITCZ around 5N &/or 5S, but the SPCZ around here & on to Fiji & N.Cooks which gives frequent bad/rainy weather/storms).

Saturday: Went over to Luganville to see where Customs & Immigration are- both firmly closed until Monday, when I'll clear out. Diesel situation not at all simple or easy (no fuel dock to fill up at) so will leave without buying more fuel - will use up my spare from my stowed jerry-cans instead - needs using anyway, since not good to store for too long. Will just take me a time to finish doing it tomorrow, having already spent time on that today...
Town of Luganville very run-down, with shops struggling to make a living, just two basic hotels and almost no eating-places - except one pleasant one, run by a woman from Seattle(!) whose husband runs a vanilla plantation. I shall miss diving on the 'Coolidge' wreck - pity since it's reputed to be very interesting - luxury liner requisitioned by the US in WWII for troop-carrying and sunk nearby after hitting two mines (I must have sailed over her on my way in here!) There's also a connection with
Kauai here - the story of 'South Pacific' was written here - 'Bali Hai' is supposed to be the nearby island of Ambrym. (The film was made on location in Kauai.) Lots of remnants of the US military presence here on Espiritu Santo.

Left Pt Vila an hour or so before sunset, making for Lamen Bay on Epi Island. Was surprised to find myself having a pleasant, if rather sedate, sail under bright moon, in fairly calm seas and none of the showery conditions there had been all day up to, and including, leaving - clouds cleared away completely. Boatspeed just 4-4.5kn (was 2.5 not long before!) in 10-12 kn of E wind, but SOG only 3-3.5 - clearly a strong S-going tide/current. A little later - things improved - heading due N on a beam reach, wind got up a bit & boatspeed around 5kn, SOG 4kn... But later still was back down to 4kn or less...! Seemed to vary a lot. NW Efate coast is quite low & has no lights - including one (Fl 2 (10s) supposedly) on a tiny island I skirted well off the coast - no light seen! Later still (around 10.20pm), it got quite 'bumpy' again & the wind got up quite a bit also in the open water between the islands.... & stayed that way for most of the night. I put one reef in the main & that worked quite well until morning when the wind died, so I let out all reefs..... only to find a strong NE wind gusting from time to time as I approached the anchorage in NW of Epi. Lamen Bay turned out to be very green & very big - plenty of space and the reefs well off to either side were perfectly clear to see. In fact, a French boat just leaving told me I could have found good sand & holding close to the beach anchored in 4-5 m... instead of the 9-10 m where I'd stopped well astern of two Australian catamarans (the only other boats here).

Pt Vila was a pleasant & interesting stop. Came in on Monday morning, after a 'bumpy' fast sail from Fiji, to anchor near the quarantine buoy off the town just as the sun rose over the hill behind (good timing!). One hour different from Fiji here - GMT+11hrs (PST+18). Had to wait for Customs, after calling "Yachting World" who organize check-ins here - very pleasant, helpful people. Around 9am, Moses turned up to ferry me, with several others who had arrived over the weekend, over to Customs (LOTS of repetitive forms to fill in!) and then back to our boats to await the Quarantine officials' visit - not too long to wait before the two came on board to check on a long list of items - all went smoothly and they took away some (very sour!) mandarins from Neiafu market and my rubbish - to be burned. They allowed me to keep several items of fruit & veg (also eggs) which I was about to cook or eat that same day, so long as any waste went into their yellow quarantine bins... Total cost so far.... 3000 vatu (~US$30)... then I was helped in picking up a buoy (necessary with the deep water & poor holding in most of the bay) before being taken ashore to get some cash & visit Immigration - another 2000 vatu!

Wandering around town was interesting, despite being very 'touristy'. (Loads of 'Duty Free' shops aimed at the many visiting 'kiwis' - NZ is only 1000 mls away & cruise ships call frequently in season) But frequent showers... The locals are Melanesians, not Polynesians, and look very African to my eyes - crimped hair, not straight, and very dark, unlike the locals in the islands I'd been to further east - all very friendly, with lovely smiles! The covered market was great - lots of fresh fruit & veg, sold mainly by women in their 'Mother Hubbard' dresses, introduced to the island by the missionaries of the 19th century. I was fascinated by the large baskets used to bring the produce to market - made from a single palm leaf plaited & intertwined beautifully - cheap & effective but eminently disposable & degradable! While the women were waiting for custom, they sat on the ground on mats also made from plaited palm leaves. They don't seem to wear flowers, as the Polynesians routinely do. I've been enjoying giant 'pamplemousse' and papaya since my visit to the market.

There's a good dinghy dock in Pt Vila by the 'Waterfont' restaurant/bar close to the mooring field and the 'Yachting World' office & I met quite a few cruisers there - serves good food & it's a good meeting place!

I was given some very useful anchoring & other info on Vanuatu by a boat ('Drumbeat') here in the Lamen Bay anchorage - have been busy copying it all to different places so I don't lose it..!

As a result, I've just discovered why Vanuatu is so rainy and has rather unpredictable weather - it is 'permanently' in the Convergence Zone! I was lucky to see blue skies & sun this morning! Tonight, the wind is still up and there are lots of rainclouds around. Tomorrow I'll make for an anchorage on Malekula Island -54mls so have to get up early!! Then Friday, I hope to get to Luganville, ready for checking out to Cairns... we'll see how that goes!!

Been reading up on health hazards here - mosquitoes commonly giving malaria & dengue fever, sea snakes with fatal bites, many water-borne diseases caught from ice, water-cress etc, several different poisonous/spiny fish etc to step on or touch by mistake, aggressive dogs, sharks, man-eating crocodiles.... etc, etc. I'm not over-inclined to go swimming/paddling & not feeling very comfortable here....!! Even going for short walks on the islands can cause problems - need to check OK with locals so as not to offend or intrude onto certain sites by mistake.

Deep ocean sailing has none of those problems!

Wed 20th June
Didn't finally anchor off Queen's Wharf at Lautoka until about 4.30pm - too late for Clearance. A really strong NE (15-20 kn) wind came up this afternoon - as I was heading N & NE! So had to bash into 20-25kn apparent with chop building up - took way longer to get there than expected and then mosied around trying to decide where would be sensible to anchor in that wind - usual anchorage was wide open to NE wind & big chop so came around to SW of Queens Wharf in lee of Vio Island. Fine mud, so
anchor dragged quite a bit initially, but wind then died right down, so safe overnight (put more chain down...) Sunset was lovely - looking over a clear expanse of water towards a few islands way over on the horizon (usual lovely delicate colourings & bright 'evening star' near crescent moon ). Wanted to get up early to be waiting for 8am Customs opening, to get away towards Vanuatu (Port Vila) straight after. Noticed fuel seemed to be leaking from 'new' outboard....

Thurs 21st June
I arrived at the door of Customs/Immigration promptly around 8 a.m., despite having had to get towed in by helpful fishermen when the outboard stopped & I drifted well away from 'Nereida' and couldn't row back fast enough against the freshening breeze... One oar doesn't fit the rowlock properly and always keeps popping out - that doesn't help the rowing efforts. I had taken spare fuel, but actually couldn't undo the engine fuel tank cap - they'd fastened it too tightly the day before...!! And basically,
it had simply run out of fuel ...it having leaked out overnight...!

Finally, after giving me various instructions & their having also changed the gear oil for me, my outboard was carried back for me to the dinghy near Customs - first by the young lad & then by one of the security guards at the Customs gate - who wanted to know if I would find him a wife in England!! I then started off fine - but soon after, the engine died ... I suddenly realised that the fuel line had been closed ready for carrying the engine back to the dinghy ... but the switch was stuck tight
in the casing .... I couldn't budge it until I remembered I had a 'Leatherman' in my bag & so was able to prise it open... all this time I was drifting away from shore!! So I finally made it back to 'Nereida' (anchored a good distance off) & got almost to within arm's reach when the engine died again....no!... I couldn't start it... looked in the tank, not much there, so topped it up .... but still couldn't get it to keep going once started....Of course, I'd drifted well away from the boat by now...tried
rowing .... no use.... So got yet another tow in after signalling to a passing fishing boat (who thought I was just giving a lengthy, friendly wave - they only came to me when I frantically beckoned to them!!) They were all highly amused...!! I was lucky to be anchored in the path of fishermen returning to their little harbour... What makes you think I have no confidence in this 'new' outboard...??

I lifted the dinghy, raised the anchor & sailed away, late in the day, goose-winged eventually, downwind in a lovely 20 knot breeze, but that gradually died until by sunset, there was nothing. I motored on as the sky darkened & headed for the reef & Navula Passage. The pass is very wide & there was no problem seeing the flashing light on the N side, nor the quick flashing leading lights in Momi Bay behind me.... so although I came out through the reef in total darkness, I felt quite comfortable
- & the Navionics charts on the chartplotter helped in that they were, again, correctly positioned, as I could see when I passed (in good deep water!) quite close to the flashing reef light, following the (back) leading lights. I'd hoped to make that passage in daylight, but it's clearly perfectly safe at night.

Fri 22nd June
I'm now headed due west to Port Vila, Efate Island (Vanuatu) in light winds, with hot sun & not much swell. Decided to clean & adjust galley portlight - ended up taking entire inside fittings off because I'd forgotten how to adjust hinges.... good move because all now spotless (for the moment!) & hinges nice & tight. Ended up cleaning a lot of the Lautoka smuts off the deck also - no mistaking a boat that's just cleared Customs in Lautoka - smothered in black specks & cane particles from the smoke
from the sugar-cane processing plant close by!

Have also spent quite a time, on & off all day, chasing minute ants.... gained them from Vuda Pt marina via mooring lines & they clearly thought they'd found a new home... numbers are decreasing but slowly! (I'm hoping I don't have any 'cane beetles' hiding & making a family on board - I saw several before leaving the marina & was assured they're not cockroaches, despite looking very much like them.... do I believe this?)

Motoring earlier (5-9kn astern) & motorsailing at present, trying to make up for delayed departure from Fiji - hoping to make Pt Vila daytime Monday to clear in - don't want to lose yet another day to paperwork.. If wind picks up a touch more, maybe I can get rid of motor, for peace & quiet...

Just had midwinter's day here - explains why the sun is rising so late (6.46am), giving a really short day!

Sat 23rd June
Another hot, sunny day of motor-sailing - full canvas, goosewinged in afternoon with poled-out genoa. Wind gradually increased so that finally, by 4pm, I was able to switch off the motor - and sail properly... & peacefully!! Swell has built up - there seems to be some from NE & some from SE, often quite large. Near sunset, wind had increased sufficiently for me to take a reef in the mainsail, but we're still making over 6 knots... and should stay this way overnight and into Sunday, according to
weather forecasts.

I had a good sail over Friday night (apart from a second major squall which backed the sails), the seas calming as I got into the lee of west Viti Levu towards morning. I reached Vanula Passage (reef pass) soon after sunrise..... good news was a lovely relaxed early breakfast under full sail to that point, bad news was the leading marks being on 077T - so absolutely impossible to see against the sun... The wind was light & dead 'on the nose' so I had to motor in. Fortunately, the Navionics charts
on my plotter were spot on, entrance was very wide and a local boat came speeding past me just then towards the entrance. Shortly after that, while I was still searching for those leading marks, a big Panamanian tanker came out through the same pass - where it had been, "Nereida" could surely go!! By then, I'd spotted the two light structures either side of the pass anyway, so all was fine. Just had 20 more miles of easy motoring in bright sun, flat calm sea & almost no wind to Lautoka where I
had to inflate dinghy & lower outboard once I'd anchored off, ready to go ashore for check-in.... all ready by 1.30pm.

I came into Vuda Pt Marina on Saturday. Very nice place, full of friendly Kiwis (& v. friendly locals - nice!), many of whom have just arrived from NZ. Quite a community here (some long-term) - a real hurricane hole! Very different from Lautoka ("Sugar City") where the check-in involved LOADS of paperwork, but all very friendly & helpful. Of course, they had to come (in my dinghy out & back!!) to "Nereida" to 'inspect' her (with soft drinks consumed & checking on declared amount of alcohol on
board), which cost me F$20 (Health) on top of the F$40 for the Customs clearance. Avoided another F$15 charge (by Quarantine) by not giving them my rubbish - was very little there & I said I'd take it on to Vanuatu(!!) with me. In fact, I added it to a newly-arrived nearby Kiwi boat's black sack waiting to be taken ashore when I chatted with them later as they were being 'inspected'. I'd had to walk in to bank in town to get money, past dozens of trucks & lorries piled high with sugar-cane waiting
to offload at the processing plant, which was giving off lots of sooty smoke - "Nereida" was soon covered in black specks.

It's Z+12 here, so at least reading the chart-table clock, set to GMT, is easy!! And I found my instructions for re-setting my barometer/clock - so that's finally been changed to local time now, not the Mexican winter time (PST - 1) it's been showing since leaving Zihuatanejo in March!

This is an excellent, large, cruising area, inside the barrier reef - lots of little islands to explore.

Big news of Saturday was that I finally climbed to the top of the mast by myself! Can't honestly say I enjoyed the experience... & complicated by trying to make myself 'safe' using harness and clipping onto steps as I went up (nothing else to clip onto!!). Started off without - and felt very vulnerable halfway up so came down ... My tricolour hasn't been working for a time (bulb presumably gone) - trouble is, having finally got up there (some difficulty avoiding shrouds etc while placing feet
on steps at top!), I couldn't get bulb out - couldn't see how to undo fitting for top bulb...grrr!!! And both hands not easily available to work with, since have to hold on to something as well - must figure out a way to deal with that - tried wrapping harness line around mast-top but not too successful... Maybe I should use gri-gri &/or jumar clips on spinnaker halyard as a safety line... But did change the steaming light bulb halfway up the mast, which had also gone, and, later, the port nav
light down in the bow ... good to have the spares on board, although chandlery here is quite good.

Outboard is playing up ... should have been one of Sunday's jobs but didn't get far with looking at it - fuel problem, it seems - carburettor? Took a long time to download emails in the morning, what with PC playing up & poor connection giving 'decompression error' in first two tries at download ....! Had to switch off & restart PC several times.... I've had to give up on the one laptop - too unreliable - so just using chart-table (Nobeltec) laptop - tried putting ferrite (choke) on wire by laptop
input - but didn't seem to help - it was still playing 'silly devils' & hanging up when I tried connecting on frequencies around 13/14MHz (OK on lower/higher ones) However, later, I noticed it was better - maybe because I'd wound the cable around the choke a third time &/or maybe because I'd moved the laptop further from the SSB radio...?? Live music Sunday after lunch was excellent - too much socialising again - gets in way of doing boat jobs! Meant I did way less than I should have ...

Was thinking of taking bus in to Suva on Monday - Queen's Birthday Public Holiday here (second Q's B'day - had one 2 wks ago in Nuie!)... but decided I'd better sort out motor - neighbour is excellent mechanic & said he'd help me. I took the carburettor off & he dismantled it & cleaned it thoroughly - but motor still not behaving. (I'll need it in Vanuatu.) Later, to get rid of salt and soot, I gave 'Nereida' a thorough freshwater hose-down in the heat of the afternoon - a thoroughly enjoyable
job!!

Tuesday was a successful, if long, day. Managed to get a gas bottle filled which they said they couldn't fill in Papeete (with butane, not propane, but that's OK). Then I was lucky to be directed by my neighbour to some really helpful, friendly Fijians close to Customs in Lautoka (Dan's Outboard Motor Repairs) who inspected my outboard, checked the carburettor over & decided the head gasket had gone due to overheating. The load of plastic that had wrapped itself around the prop on Friday after
I ferried the officials back to shore, following the check-in 'inspection', when the motor suddenly started misbehaving, must have also presumably plugged the cooling water intake. That diagnosis was bad news since parts for an aged Evinrude were clearly not available here but they then proceeded to go out of their way to find a 2h.p. replacement - I would have preferred a Yamaha, but the smallest for sale at the local agent in Nadi was an expensive (& heavy) 8hp. Then they remembered that a friend
had a 2hp Suzuki for sale (lying around for the past 18mths, it turned out, but not that old) so I was taken to look at it & bargained him down from F$450 to F$300 (100sterling) on the understanding that it would be thoroughly serviced to make sure it worked reliably before parting with any cash - a necessary proviso, since it didn't sound too much like wanting to come back to life initially, even with a new spark plug! Having explained my sailing to them, they understood my need to be able to get
to & from shore when at anchor without being forced to row (they clearly didn't think a 'lady' should have to row anywhere, let alone in a soft-floored multi-directional inflatable, and as for sailing around the world.... they reckoned that was far too dangerous!!) So one hour and a nice mug of green tea later, having parted with a total of F$330 to cover their time also, with lots of smiling, handshakes & good wishes, I was brought back to Vuda Pt marina at sunset with 2 outboards. I had also found
time over the day to get to an Internet cafe (F$1/hr, including use of headphones for Skype - about 50 US cents per hour!!) and to Fiji Meats for some good, fresh, inexpensive meat for my forthcoming passage (they will vacuum pack & freeze meat if you ask them).

I was interested to see the little single-track railway bringing in high loads of newly-harvested sugar cane in tiny trucks from further south to the Lautoka processing plant which I was told operates continuously from June to early December.

I gather the NZ High Commissioner was expelled from Suva on Thursday - but no-one seems to know exactly why (except maybe a personality clash?)!! Also heard on Sunday there'd been a major earthquake in the Solomons - tremors being felt here - but that's well off my path.

I hope to clear out tomorrow morning (2 days later than planned), ready to leave for Port Vila, Vanuatu - a 5-day passage.