Sailing around the world

A ripping crash, followed by a desperate yell – “JAMES – SOMETHING BROKE, THE MAINS GONE”! What the hell was that!.........

Arrived in Aus safely but there is more to tell than just that, stuff always happens along the way….

I was aware something was wrong as I tried to become fully awake. It was Lorna’s watch and she had persuaded me to take an extra half hour break as I had done most of the work the past 15 hours. It is after midnight, there is no moon, the silver sliver that existed had long since set. The otherwise beautiful starry night sky is covered with cloud and the wind has just started blowing about 20 knots on the beam. We had only just started making way directly to our destination for the first time in 20 hours and at good speed too. We still had over 400 miles to go to Australia.

The sea state can best be described as seriously f****d up. The wind over the last 24 hours had gradually swung a hundred and eighty degrees. At one point it was coming at us from the west - directly from where we headed. We had been struggling the whole day, sometimes in rain, to make a decent course and tacked on shifts when appropriate. Every so often we would pick up a great wind shift and think, yes, this is it we are on our way, then a few minutes later be pushed way south or north. We mostly headed south as Southerlies, and then South Easterlies were predicted on the grib files that we downloaded in New Caledonia before we left.

The boat was lurching bucking in the wave action as I made my way to the cockpit and then on deck to find out what was going on. I could see only half the main but could later make out that the upper half had fallen down behind the lazy jacks. The first job would be to get the main down, then assess the damage and what could be done about it. Gone was any hope of doing this trip in great time. I was hoping for 4 days and the way we were going initially during the first day or so, 3 days would not be out of the question. We were doing up to 12 knots at times with just the main and jib.

The main halyard at the jammer cleat end was slack so that was not holding the main up at all. We released the lazy jack lines and lowered most of the sail as it was tangled up in those. This still left part of the main jammed against the mast with the battens forced against the mast cars. After pulling down really hard on the luff of the main sail we managed to get all but the final 2 meters above the boom, dealt with. By standing on the boom I unbolted the batten from the mast car and attached the topping lift to part of the sail resting on the jammed mast car. We freed the jammed car with a few taps of a hammer, then managed to stow the whole sail and secure it with the boom to the coach roof.

We could then start looking at what happened and how to fix it if possible. I initially thought the halyard had broken or the head had torn out of the main but seeing it when we got the sail stowed it was all in tact including a shackle through the ring on the headboard. Lorna then found a piece of stainless steel bar lying on the trampoline. It was the shackle that joins the main shackle to the main halyard block. It had been bent completely open. The pin had broken and part of it was still stuck in the thread. What a relief, it should be a real simple repair, replace the shackle and we are underway again.

Trouble is, we have a main down here and a main halyard up there, 60’ above our heads. We look up and shine the 1000 candle power torch up at the top of the mast. Lorna says, “Don’t even think about it, no way, I am not winching you up there”. I had no intention of tackling it then as I can see that I would never be able to cling to the mast even halfway up as it gyrated, pitched and whiplashed sharply through the air. We continue the rest of the night under jib, bumping our way at approx 3 knots in the general direction of Australia. It is a big continent and not too hard to miss from where we are.

I could not wait for the morning to arrive so that we could see clearly how to deal with our latest crisis and see if there was any other damage that we had not anticipated. We could not be sure that the halyard block was at the top of the mast and in one piece. I would have to be winched up on the topping lift, a much harder job for Lorna as the winch is much smaller and does not have the leverage of the main halyard winch. It is also single purchase halyard which makes the going even harder.

As dawn broke it still looked pretty horrible out there. The sea was bleak, grey and rough with plenty of white on the wave tops. I plucked up a bit of courage, put on a brave face and would not show Lorna that this was anything but a routine job. I just hoped she could not see my knees trembling. The last time I remember doing anything like this was early on in our cruising in the Southern Ocean when I went to rescue our only means communication – the VHF aerial. So we should be old hands at this. We had a cup of coffee while I explained what I was going to do. I told her I would not attempt this if I though that it was remotely dangerous. Lorna was probably thinking, save all this persuasive and reassuring talk, you will have more luck talking young women out of their virginity. We have heard horror stories how people have got tangled up in the rigging while doing this type of job, so I was really cautious.

We furled the jib, stopped sailing to windward and let the boat just drift side ways on the swells. We watched the boat action for a while; the violence lessened substantially but was still not acceptable. We then started the engines and set them to idle and headed the boat downwind, we were now suddenly doing 6 knots heading north but with the wave action mostly behind us. This in my opinion was good enough for a quick trip up the mast snatch the halyard block at the top then be lowered down and the job is done.

Lorna would have none of it but after I hooked up the bosuns chair and started climbing the mast myself she decided to help mumbling discouragement and what a bad idea this was. I was climbing to help Lorna on the winch and clinging on as best I could. I took breaks when arriving at each of the 3 spreaders. It is amazing how calm the sea looks but does not feel once you are near the top of the mast. My arms were already lame when I got to the top and then had to let one hand go from clinging to the mast to retrieve the stuck block and halyard. Waiting for the boat to steady in a more stable patch of sea I lunged for the block. I managed to work a bit of halyard loose, when I had enough slack, jammed it in my teeth. I continued working it that way until I had about 2 meters of slack before I got Lorna to start lowering me.

The trip down was better and faster than the trip up and I was happy to be back on the deck in an unsplattered format.

Soon we were underway once more and making great time to Bundaberg. We had to slow the boat down as we would arrive over the weekend and incur the extortionately exorbitant rates for the quarantine fees charged. We timed our arrival after dark on Sunday as we knew the quarantine officers would have better things to do than try to get a few extra bucks out of us.

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Monday 19th July

Arrived Bundaberg, Australia. Safe and sound.

We spent yesterday idling across Hervey Bay wondering where the Land of Oz was. It is all so flat that form any distance there is nothing to see. We tried to time our arrival after the weekends’ double time charge. A whopping $330 normal week day rate for the privilege of letting Quarantine take away our food stores is expensive enough. At least they were friendly. Arriving after business hours this becomes $660!

A standard blue water, rhumb line trip is 780 miles. We had planned to leave the beautiful Ilot Maitre mooring at first light on Tuesday but by early evening the chop and swell was making the anchorage a bit too bumpy and next minute it was “let’s go now”. Made it through the Pass just after dark and from then on we had a reasonable angle to the wind with nothing in the way.

Chomped through the miles for the first day and a half. For a time it looked like the very light wind day we were expecting was not going to materialize. Up to that stage with our good speed and progress we were on schedule to arrive just before the overtime hours.

Spent the daylight hours in the calm without too much flopping and then picked up a good breeze early through the night. Chugging along nicely around midnight when “bang” the main sail collapses halfway down. We can’t see what has broken and the sea is too lumpy to do anything but wait till morning so have a long night with good wind but only the jib to drive us.

James insists on going to the top to retrieve the block stuck up the mast. One madman aboard is bad enough. We have two. I don’t like to but I winch him up there. We have enough rice aboard to see us to Aus if we have to take weeks under jib alone. James turns the boat downwind and running with the waves and under engines reduces the wobble and not much later with James safely down we are sailing properly again. I don’t think he likes rice that much.

Have a huge pod of spinner dolphins join us for one sunset and see a humpback whale not too far away. James also sees a big shark. We must be nearing Aus with the creatures that bite and sting.

We have arrived safely in New Caledonia after a rough trip that saw some gusts over 40 knots and very little down wind work. We would be fast for 12 hours but then painfully slow for the next 12. Overall the trip was slow – 6 days, with the weather mostly light but interspersed with stormy conditions, usually at night. Fortunately we did not break anything due to weather but the Radar sometimes stops working, the fridge is still a problem despite spending a fortune on it in NZ. A spinnaker is blown again, some lines badly chaffed and the house batteries are dying.

As you can tell, life is completely normal aboard Mind the Gap.

A brief catch up from the last 6 months…………

NZ Season 2

Our six months in New Zealand has gone in a flash. Where did the time go this year? Last year we still managed a road trip down to South Island.

Once again we loved NZ. We cruised the north eastern shores from Opua in the Bay of Islands as far south as Whangamata on the Cormandel Peninsula. All in all not very far but we dropped anchor at so many beautiful bays for an overnight or longer stay. It feels like we have hardly scratched the surface of all the anchorages out there. Along that stretch of coast there is another sheltered anchorage every 35 miles or so which is easily reached in a days sail.

Opua, Pahia, Urapukapuka, Whangaruru where we promised ourselves a return visit that is now still on a “to do” list. Whangamumu, another promise to return here and Tutukaka where there was no radio signal so early morning we sailed out through the narrow passage between rocks only to find ourselves in thick fog with the radio warning of 40 knot winds in the next few hours and no sign of the safe anchorage we had just sailed out of.

Urquarts Bay near Bream Head and up river to Whangarei a town so convenient for yachties. Back down river and on to the beautiful Kawau Island that is still a favourite. Up the Maharangi River for a haul out at Robertson boat yard that turned out to be a “never go there again” experience. Polkingholmes Bay and Orewa Beach where a trip to the supermarket gave us soggy breadrolls when a wave swamped the shopping bags while we tried to get the dinghy back out through the building surf.

A brief stop at Tiritiri Matangi (Bird Island) then on to Auckland where James enjoyed watching the Louis Vuitton Challenge and the boat show while I visited Renee in Queenstown. The City of Sails’s many stops of Little shoal Bay and Watchman Island just up from the bridge, to way up river towards Herald island where the new motorway bridge was too low for our mast to clear and the convenient but sometimes bouncy Mechanics Bay. After an evening out we returned to the marina where we had left the dinghy to find the gates locked. Climbing over the fence to hang by our fingertips over the water while skirting around the side of the gate brought the security guard with a severe admonishment until he recognised us from last years fence climbing episode and he unlocked the gate for us.

A short hop from the city is Motuihe Island where we spent Christmas Day with the boat bedecked in Bouganvillea, and Waiheke Island with its many stunning bays was one of this years favourites and Rangitoto with a walk over the still raw and rough volcanic stones to the summit of Aucklands youngest volcano.

Happy Jack island, Port Charles, Mercury Island for a lively New Years Eve Party, Whitianga, and back north via Port Jackson and the many bays of Waiheke. In March after the haulout we sailed south again as far as Whangamata, for the annual beach hop. We had a ride in a Lincoln Continental (same as JKF was shot in) for the thunder run to Onemana. After the weekend beach hop Lloyd and James had a blast on the Blow Cart(land yacht), zooming up and down the beach on 2 wheels in the blustery conditions.

Leaving Whangamata, we stopped again at Mercury Island (a firm favourite) for another chance to collect the calcite, jasper, obsidian, jet and other beautiful stones from the beach.

North to Great Barrier island’s Whangaparapara Bay, Smokehouse Bay where we met someone that grew up in Cape Town, less than 1 mile from where I did. He even went to the same high school and was the one that caused havoc at my years final assembly by lobbing an egg! At Port Fitzroy we traded some beers for freshly harvested green lipped mussels.

Onwards past “Happy Dragon” (Taranga Island) and the Hen and Chicks with texts to and from Lynn who watched from a patio the tiny white speck out in the bay sailing past her “back yard” and turning in to Bream Head as the sun went down. Time was up and we were back in Opua for checking out.

Those were the memorable stops but however beautiful the Island or picturesque the bay they can’t compare with the wonderful Kiwi hosts. Our New Zealand friends both new and old have shown us the most generous hospitality. They have fetched us from the boat wherever we happened to be anchored and taken us back later with full tummies. We have had trips to their homes, trips out sightseeing and been carted here there and everywhere for shopping. We also had the use of those wonderful electric machines that do the washing! An outing to an unforgettable Christmas Carol Service at Auckland’s Vector arena that I recommend all Aucklanders put in their diaries now as an event not to be missed.

Most recently while waiting in Opua for the right weather we hitched into town during a rain break. Caught a lift on the back of a truck and were a little dismayed when the driver turned off the road. We thought it would have been better if he dropped us at the junction so we could walk the rest of the way. When he stopped at his house he said “there is my car use it to town and we’ll see you when you are done”. When we returned the car we were invited for tea and freshly made scones and a lift back to Opua was arranged in a car as it had started raining again.

It has been an unforgettable time. So good that we have the forms to apply for NZ residency! However after our sail away from NZ we think all sailors that brave the trip to NZ should automatically be granted residency.

There has been a mass migration from the pacific islands as the cruisers from all over the world descend on NZ to avoid the cyclone season north of here. Hundreds of boats arrived in Opua this year. During the rally prize giving we were lucky enough to win a $250 discount for marine insurance.

So, what have we been up to since arriving in NZ in November?

First priority was getting the fridge fixed and eventually after spending a fortune it was working again but it only lasted a month before the fridge gas leaked out and we are almost back to where we started. The fridge has now become a distant priority.

We had a bit of an incident while in Opua, bay of islands, when in rough conditions a yacht dragged onto us and he couldn’t move forward as the engine was disabled. We then tried to get out of the way but both anchors became tangled. We eventually sorted out the mess and came away relatively unscathed. We should write a story about it sometime.


We set off heading south for Christmas in Auckland with Lorna’s sister and Mercury for the New Year party where we met up with friends and fellow cruisers. While in Auckland we met up with Paul Harris (Montego Bay) he took us to the Vector indoor arena for a spectacular carol service. We spent Christmas day on the boat at Motuhe island (6 miles from Auckland) with Lynn, Terry and their boys Bryan and Ben.



Next day Terry who is an experienced glider pilot organised flights for us in a 2 seater glider. Lorna and I each went up to about 3500 ft and enjoyed searching for the thermals the sights and pulling G’s in a few steep turns and dives. We both enjoyed the exhilarating experience.
Lynn took us sightseeing around Auckland while we were there for a few days.



Loved our time at Mercury and had a great party there with friends. Then off to Whitianga, had some work done on the boat before stopping at Waiheke island near Auckland. Beautiful anchorages and shelter if you are prepared to move around a bit. It was necessary to up anchor at midnight one night and move to shelter on the other side of the island, a 10 mile trip or so but worth it and welcome calm and peaceful sleep once we got there.



We have spent the last few days at Mansion House bay on Kawau island and now we are in the Mahurangi river channel waiting for the tide to help us clear the shallows as we head 6 miles up river to get the boat hauled out for its annual maintenance work – sacrificial anodes and antifouling etc.

Leaving Espiritu Santo after waiting for an acceptable weather window we set off hoping to get as far south as possible without too much windward work. Although we were hard on the wind and a lousy sail we could make our destination on one tack. We made it almost to Port Sandwich when the wind headed and we had it bang on the nose against wind and the current. We needed to keep tacking to make ground to weather. The swells were big with a very step chop. We smashed into these head on, at times taking water over the hulls, along with a massive thump against the bottom of the bridge deck. Thankfully we were close to a sheltered anchorage of Bangon, just north of Port Sandwich.

With over 100 miles to Port Vila we set off early the next morning, still hard going.
We could not make Port Vila in one tack and when we were headed decide to make Lamen bay on the other tack and so we went back and forth all morning until finally ending up, once again in Lamen bay. A much nicer venue with a more interesting cruising area for visitors however this gave us no chance to restock the larder. We were also onto our last bottle of cooking gas and envisaged cooking the next meal over a coconut husk fire on the beach.

We couldn’t wait for Lloyd and Ngaire to arrive. It was lovely to see them again. They flew into Lamen bay, loaded with goodies for the locals, ranging from mirrors to footballs. We enjoyed our time together catching up on all the news and news of additions to their family. After settling onboard Mind the Gap we did the dugong snorkelling thing. Although usually friendly enough to touch he proved to be a bit skittish this time.

Lloyd and Ngaire were in their element chatting to the locals and handing out gifts. It was especially gratifying to see the children’s faces light up with joy when they were given something special.

We set off to the Maskelyns, a group of small islands off the south east corner of Malakula about 20 miles north. After tucking right in between the mainland and Awei Island and sheltered behind the reef we heard the children singing as they paddled their canoe back home. Pure voices, unaccompanied save by the sounds of nature. Absolutely beautiful.

It was here that Lloyd began feeling unwell and was not his usual enthusiastic self. We headed back to Vila with stops at Lamen bay and Revelieu with James doing all the sailing and eating, Lloyd reclined like the Emperor of Rome. There was plenty of wind along the way and we did not run out of gas.

We were very concerned about Lloyd but he started feeling better after some medication from the pharmacy at Vila. Their time with us was over too soon and we were sorry to see them leave.

Heard from mom and dad a couple of times since the tsunami in Samoa, they've seen no sign of it in New Caledonia. - Charles





We were anchored at the Isle of Pines (Gadji) on or own when we recieved Charles' text message but did not leave the anchorage.






Then a few days later we received an official warning via VHF. At the time we were anchored off Kuto, also Isle of Pines, along with about 20 other boats. We set off, out to sea and safety, however we saw no sign of the Tsunami on either occasion

South West bay – Malikula - Vanuatu

After the canoe race and after helping Doug of “Windcastle” sail his boat back to port Vila James flew back to Lamen Island to rejoin Mind the Gap. Bidding our farewells to “Squid” and “Integrity”, we set off the next day for the Maskelyns but as we approached the area it looked too miserable to stop. Poor visibility and reefs encouraged us to push a little further on to South West bay where more festivities were prepared for the cruisers. We caught a big Wahoo just before entering the bay and shared the huge fillets amongst the cruisers as our fridge is still on the blink and we cannot keep anything reliably cold. The head and tail and connecting bits were welcomed by a canoe paddler on his way back to the village.

We stayed a few days in this very sheltered bay joining the other cruisers on a visit to Tenstick beach where the locals had bedecked the beach with exotic flowers and greenery and set their fresh fruit and vegetables for sale on large banana leaves. A good time to replenish the stores with kumara (sweet potato) and green peppers making a welcome addition to the usual bananas, papaya and coconuts. The local string band provided the live music.



The instruments themselves were entertaining. A large wooden box with a stick protruding from the top corner with one piece of string connecting it constituted the base. The sound was worked by moving the stick around. The drum was an oddment of PVC pipe from a building site with a piece of rubber tied securely over the top end, presumably from a cars inner tube although as cars are a rarity that piece may have been specially imported. A home made ukulele/guitar from a chunk of local timber, a tambourine and a few guitars all in various states of repair with the guitar strings ranging from a basic two to a full compliment of six some of fishing line and some the real McCoy. They produced a happy and entertaining island style sound and rhythm.

The locals laid on food, music and their local dancing. We mostly relaxed. We met many new friends - Luke and Jackie on their Trimaran called “Sloopmoesh”. Nancy and Burger from “Halikai”, Sally and Geoff from “Grace” as well as Anna and Cliff from “Concerto”. We also spent some time with Graeme (Ding) Wilding (no relation) on his 50’ Italian sloop called “Conchita”.

We then headed for Espiritu Santo but stopped at the top end of the Malakulas overnight. Here, the next day Burger (a medical doctor) held a clinic under the palm trees for the much appreciative locals as we headed the 20 odd miles to Luganville, Espiritu Santo.

Espiritu Santo

We will write about out experiences in Espiritu Santo, the blue holes and the Maskelyne’s as well as Lloyd and Ngaire’s visit to us.

Read more...

Sailed from Port Vila, Vanuatu's biggest town after sewing our main which split along the seam below the 3rd reefing point.








7,000 stitches by hand with me on one side and Lorna on the other passing the needle back and forth through the original holes the main is back in great shape.










Keep going James! Only 4 meters to go.







We headed northwards via Havannah Harbour, then the islands of Emau, Epi(Revelieu and Lamen Bay), Malakula(South West bay and Malua) and Espiritu Santo, where the US ship Coolridge was sunk at the end of WW2 I think. We did not dive the wreck, it is too deep for snorkelling. After stopping in Luganville we sailed into a beautiful bay on the way to Oyster island in Peterson bay about 15 miles north.

We have met many locals and it is enlightening how little is needed to enjoy a happy and satisfying lifestyle. We have been so used to all the consumer toys and goods that we cannot imagine living without them. The locals enjoy having visitors to their isolated islands. They put on shows of traditional dancing for the cruisers and showed us around their villages. They are very generous and refused payment for food they prepared specifically for us. Maybe it was just the seasoning of our bodies before they put us in the pot. Fortunately that did not happen. They readily trade their veggies and fruit for whatever we have on the boats.

Our most interesting stop was in Lamen bay where they have their annual canoe racing. This event was started years ago by Ian, Edna and their son Anthony from the cat Squid. The locals fit their canoes with sails and mast made from palm tree leaves and branches. To keep the mast in place they rig up a forestay and runners made from strips of palm leaves. These canoes sail up to 6 knots downwind to an island just over a mile away, then they dump their rig and row back. They yachties then competed in a tug of war on the beach but we lost as we did not have enough fat blokes to deal with the muscular and toned locals. That evening we enjoyed a feast prepared by the villagers and we cruisers let off fireworks and expired flares to add more fun and colour to the festivies. Music and dancing completed this enjoyable evening.

We made our way - Slowly - up the westernmost island chain, stopping for the night every 10 miles or so. Mamanuca, Navadra, Waya, Naviti, Blue Lagoon and Yasawa. Pulling into Yasawa-I-Lau I was ready to reconsider my opinion of Fiji.







This is the best. Crystal clear turquoise waters, sparkling white sand, flat calm and no wind. There are amazing formations in the limestone island, from sea level to the top at 233m. It is beautiful.






Next day it began to blow, so we stopped another night. It blew harder still, so we stayed another night. We were reluctant to head out of this well protected bay. By late afternoon it was gusting at 40 knots. By evening it was sustaining 40 knots with gusts well over that. It was bad enough having it blow so hard, worse still were the lulls and gusts with a range of 20 knots in the space of a second or two. This is a well surrounded bay with a reef stretching across in front of us that should eliminate almost all the wave action and a large island to windward that should give shelter. Still it roared in. As soon as it was dark - and why does everything wait until dark - the anchor chain makes an unusual sound. We struggle out on deck (in over 40 knots it is hard to stand up without being blown off!) and make our way to the bow. One of our inch thick bridle lines has chaffed through. We arrange a join and while James drives the boat forward I pull in some chain, retie the line and we are back to having two straps on the chain with an extra stretch of chain out. All fixed but how do you relax with the wind whistling through the rigging.

By daylight the wind is abating and another yacht heads off south. We decide along with another cat, to have a relaxing day after the sleepless night. Check the bridle and find the metal clips that connect it to the chain are bent and buckled. The afternoon is calm and peaceful but come midnight we are awoken by the anchor alarm. The wind had switched 180 degrees and we now have our transom to the reef. With the extra chain we let out last night, we are safe but it is a bit too close for our liking.

It is a pitch black night and it is only after careful observation that we know where things are. The wind is back up to 20/25 knots. I am wide awake so stay up and watch things. I notice that the other cat is getting closer to us all the time. This could be that they have much more chain out and are gradually stretching out or it could be that they are dragging anchor. I watch some lights flicker on in the otherwise darkened village and then see 3 torch lights making their way over the now exposed sand bar. Low tide makes it easier to walk closer to the coral reef where those lobsters will be out of their hidey holes and out foraging. These guys are out there snorkelling just behind our boat with their underwater torches.

The other cat gets ever closer until they are only just clearing our bows. It is time to give them a call.We cannot move back out of their way and if they are dragging they are only 2 boat lengths off the reef. They start moving forward which gives us the opportunity to pull in some of the extra chain we let out last night. By the time we have finished we see that our friends who have seen on their chart plotter that their boat is positioned on the reef (Fiji charts) and not having their bearings in the pitch black night have up anchored and are heading for the reef. We yell and wave torches until they turn and while almost moving forward out of danger clunk the reef. There is absolute panic with all 4 of us shouting and directing operations.

At the height of this chaos and panic one of the village snorkellers only a few feet from their boat pops up out of the chest deep water and with incredible calm and nonchalance calls out “Bula” (hello). What went through his mind. Did he perhaps think they were popping by hoping to buy a fresh lobster? Another kiss from a Fijian reef, a few scratches but otherwise all okay.

Next day we are out of there. Back to Blue Lagoon where we still are and it is still blowing. We will head off to Vanuatu as soon as the wind allows.

Lorna

Sailed over to Musket Cove, a well sheltered spot. A bar on a tiny sand island connected to both a marina and a welcoming and friendly resort is the popular hang out for the yachties.

We eventually drag ourselves away and take off for a bay around the corner. We have previously made this trip but seeing a marker up ahead we are puzzled as to which side we need to be. I check the charts, and we are lined up in the deep water channel. Pop back out and head for the foredeck for the all important eyeball navigation and immediately yell “BACK BACK”. The sea bed is not that far below. It would be a bad move to dive or even jump in from here. James slams the boat into reverse but our momentum keeps us ploughing into the sand. Fortunately we have picked the one spot in Fiji that has sand and not rock hard sharp and spiky coral. We drop the dink and I try and tow the boat back while James tries reversing. All we do is make froth. Hop off the boat and take a walk around. The port stub keel is in the sand the starboard side is still afloat and a few feet further to starboard the depth plummets to over 60 foot. On the positive side we have a chance to give the hulls a clean while walking around rather than our usual swimming until the tide lifts us off forty minutes later. It was a bit surreal with us both pushing the boat over to the deeper channel, like it was a lightweight lilo and then casually hopping back on board. (There was no wind). Aside from a good wake up call for Fiji waters and charts we lost some anti fouling paint under the stub keel. The boat is designed to rest on the stub keels so no problem there.

Fiji has to be the most challenging place to sail. The coral patches are everywhere and so hard to see. Sailing is pretty much out of the question and where we prefer to be up and off early morning here we need to wait for the sun to be high, bright and a ideally a little behind us. Out track on the charts had us going right over the centre of a tiny rocky island when in fact we were safely 100 metres away. The depth guage is not much help as you can go from over 60 foot to under 6 inches in the space of 6 foot. For those metricated readers that is from 20 meters deep to under 20 cm in the space of 2 meters. We wonder if there are any yachts that have sailed the Fiji waters and not succumbed to a brief or lingering kiss after being seduced by her reefs.

Lorna

Fiji was a stop I looked forward to most. Having high expectations is not a good thing, so at first I was a little disappointed.

We arrived (from New Zealand) at the Navula Pass at around midnight. With careful navigation, leading lights, reference to books, charts, radar and another yacht not too far ahead we made it through the mile wide gap in the extensive fringing reef and snuck in to Momi Bay for a few hours of undisturbed sleep. Anchoring before checking in is not strictly allowed, but who wants to move around Fiji’s reef strewn waters in the dark. Aside from that, most charts of Fiji are not 'spot on' accurate. Maybe they are accurately depicted, but just not in the correct position.

Up anchored at dawn and motored off to Lautoka for check-in - Quite a palaver. We have found that the more third world the country, the more paperwork required. I suspect some smaller islands are secretly using all the duplicate and triplicate forms for land reclamation. On shore while buying a tiny fuse the assistant carefully rearranged two sheets of carbon paper and dutifully recorded the sale in triplicate. The cost of the fuse 15 cents. Cost of shipping the carbon paper and receipt books? We were reminded of the time we were trying to buy a phone card 10 years ago in the Caribbean. After numerous forms, passport checks, authorization signatures and James’ low level of patience, he told them
"we don’t want to buy the company, just a phone card".
The French Islands are worlds ahead for us yachties; check in and out is mostly quick and easy. Sometimes you get the feeling that they would rather you hadn’t bothered them at all.

So back to check-in. We were fortunate to have 3 other yachts checking in the same time. Safety in numbers. Things went okay with 2 officials going around and visiting the boats in turn. On ours they had a look-see at the groceries and in the fridge, then settled down for a cool beer before signing the forms. Just as well they took the time for the beer as they noticed that on one of our forms we had been renamed "Mind the Cat".

Other yachties have been given a hard time at check-in. A friend arrived about midday and after having some forms completed, he was told to come back at 5pm for the rest. Back he rowed at 5 only to be charged overtime - as it was now after hours and there is a minimum 3 hours overtime fee. Yachts have been fined for not giving 48 hours notice of arrival, yet if you have, no one can find the notification and they expect you to furnish the proof that you have sent it. I spoke to one yachtie that stood his ground and told them
"I sent it, you have it, you find it".
That response was accepted without extra charges. Arriving over the weekend is a definite no-no with the weekend fees. The couple whose boat sank having sailed in with the rescuers over the weekend got hit - even though their boat didn’t make it!

Lorna