12/08/2025 Back to Oz.

As I write this I am approximately 150NM out of Darwin.  It is a clear clear night with a full moon and Sea Otter is running before a 20Kt wind on a calm sea doing up to 7.5kts.  I am very nearly at the end of this first excursion for the boat.

I left Gizo as scheduled on Saturday 26^th July.  The immigration guy came onboard early morning and carried out the necessary paperwork, slugged me a couple of hundred dollars for outboard fuel as he had to come out on a Saturday from the main town of Noro on a different island and then issued us the relevant approvals.  I made a quick trip into the markets to pick up some fresh provisions and finalized our outbound clearance with customs and then returned to the boat and weighed anchor.

The planned route was to head south west to round the Louisiade Archipelago (part of PNG) which would take approx. 2 days and then turn due west towards Australia for another five days to arrive at the Great Barrier Reef.  From there it is another day to navigate through the reef system and the Torres Straits to arrive at Thursday Island off Cape York which was the planned Port of Entry.  Once cleared I intended to push on immediately for Darwin.

The weather forecast we had was favourable for the most part.  After leaving Gizo the wind was very changeable and it was necessary to motor for extended periods of time between the wind dying and then filling in again.  The good news was the repaired autopilot worked faultlessly much to my relief.  Having the autopilot makes the passages infinitely more enjoyable.  Near the turning point at the Louisiades there was a patch where the boat motion got very uncomfortable but that only lasted for 6 to 12 hrs.  Rounding the Louisiades I poled out the jib and set the main on run – and that was how the sails stood for the next five days.  This was perfect trade wind sailing conditions and it was magic – following seas of 1 to 2m and constant winds between 15 to 20 kts.  Every now and then I had to take a reef or adjust the trim but apart from that the boat just sails quietly along.  Sea Otter is very impressive and was easily doing a constant 6kts with bursts of 7kts in the stronger wind.

View from the helm

The Great Barrier Reef is a pretty amazing natural wonder.  When you look at it on a chart you realise how huge it is and the vast area it occupies stretching not just 1,430NM north to South but also up to 150NM east to west.  I had to negotiate the reef to get access to the Torres Straits and spent a considerable amount of time prior to departing Gizo  looking for the right route.  Eventually I picked a lesser used route starting at an island called Raine Island and then weaving through the inner reefs.  As usual I was pretty wary of this stretch of the passage in part because, given the length, I would have to do one nights sailing in the reef.

Raine Island came into view as planned at dusk on the 1^st August after an uneventful sail for the previous 5 days.  We entered the reef as night fell and followed the route I had mapped out.  There were some very shallow patches but generally given the modern navigational aids I have on the boat it turned out to be a relatively straightforward passage albeit one which required pretty constant focus.

By mid morning on the 2^nd I was through the reef and sailing off Cape York and the outlying islands that make up the Torres Strait in near perfect conditions heading towards Thursday Island.   There were a couple of other sailing boats around but by and large we were on our own until Thursday Island came into view.  We announced our arrival to the port authorities and as anticipated were instructed to anchor and await the arrival of customs/immigration and biosecurity personnel which would not be until Monday morning.  Until then we were instructed to remain onboard the vessel.  We dropped anchor off the town in the afternoon in a windy anchorage and settled in to wait for the authorities.

Thursday Island is an administrative centre for this area.  The Torres Straits are a major shipping thoroughfare and given the environmental sensitivities marine pilots are mandatory for much of the commercial shipping and these are staged out of TI.  There is not much to the town but from the anchorage it looked very neat and orderly after having been in the islands for the last three months.

We were cleared in on Monday morning by very efficient and courteous Australian Border Force personnel.  They looked the boat over, took away some remaining fresh food which was still onboard and then gave us our clearance. 

Free to leave the vessel I went ashore and bought some food.  There is only one supermarket on TI but this was like a mega store to me having left the shops in the Solomons and Vanuatu.  The shop was airconditioned and the selection of food whilst standard for Australia was really novel for me.  It was great to be back in Australia seeing familiar signs and hearing familiar accents.

Once back onboard we set sail for Darwin, another 7 days away from where I will write the final chapter in this trip for this year.

25 July 2025: A Quick Passage through the Western Provinces

I sailed the 30NM from Honiara across Iron Bottom Sound to the Florida Islands on Tuesday the 16^th July and it was as if I was transported to a whole other universe.  The Honiara traffic, noise, dirt and chaos was replaced by peaceful, remote island solitude.

I pulled into a place called Roderick Bay which I had read about during my limited research.  An enterprising local had stuck down a couple of moorings for use by visiting yachts and as I entered the bay a young guy in a dug out canoe waved me toward the mooring and helped with securing Sea Otter.

Roderick Bay is a fairly large bay at the northern end of the largest island in the group called Nogella Sule.  As usual the entrance is lined with coral reefs and there are more inside.  The moorings are opposite a small one family (extended) village but you would hardly know they were there.  The main claim to fame of Roderick Bay is the wreck of the expedition cruise ship World Discoverer which now lies at one end of the bay and which is something of a tourist attraction.

Roderick Bay

Sea Otter Moored in Roderick Bay

Once settled on the mooring we were visited by a couple of locals in dug outs trying to trade food for any useful items we had such as food, batteries, clothing etc. This would be ongoing not just here but other stops in the Solomons.  I had read about the trading and so had some items already set aside.  The main articles for trade  from the village were food i.e. bananas, pomelo, eggplant, coconut etc however we also got a couple of crayfish while we were there.  In return we traded fish hooks, soccer balls, pens, notebooks, batteries, sugar, rice etc and paid cash for the seafood.  I am not a very good trader as even if they showed me items that I did not want I would still go ahead and hand over stuff they could use.  One elderly man had his grand kids paddle him out to ask for some teabags – really little things to us can mean a lot to them.

Trading Teabags

The second day on the mooring we went ashore and spoke with Joseph and Robert Ruka who were the sons of the headman John Ruka.  They then took us on a tour of the village and down to the wreck site of the World Discoverer where we were narrated the story of its demise.  The tour was really interesting and especially to see how these people live.  Their life is a very simple one and they do not have much but most prefer to live in the villages than in a place like Honiara.  There are schools for the kids maybe not in each village but certainly within the area, there is a medical clinic and they can trade some of what they produce in the markets of Honiara when required.  Their food is simple and at hand either in their gardens or in the sea.  

The two days we spent here were for me idyllic – life really slowed down.  There was not a lot to do apart from swimming and snorkeling (which was fantastic) or visiting the village.  During the day it was hot with occasional brief showers and at night it cooled off and an inky black quietness descended on the bay.  The night skies were amazing given the lack of ambient light and the water around the baot was often full of different types of luminescence.  The occasional chats with the villagers during the trading bouts or when we had to go to get water ashore were always really interesting.  The people are so friendly.

The Cooking Hut

One of the sleeping huts

The wreck of the World Discoverer was quite an amazing sight – the hull is in very shallow water close to the beach and has rolled onto its port side.  The jungle is starting to take it over and it looks like a film set from Jurrassic Park.  When it hit the reef about twenty years ago it had over 200 people onboard who were all evacuated.  Salvage attempts were hampered by political tensions in the country at the time and so the decision was made by the insurers to abandon the hull.

The Wreck of the World Discoverer

Sadly after a couple of days at Roderick Bay we had to keep pressing on.  It was sad to leave even though we had only had a brief visit.  We sailed overnight to the Morovo Lagoon and found an anchorage just inside the fringing reef.  There was already a small catamaran anchored there.  We have seen very few other cruising yachts since our time in the Solomons.  There were not that many in Vanuatu either but here I think we have seen three including this cat.  It was not long before we had some locals around us looking to trade.  This time it was wood carvings.  The main island of Vangunu is famous for its wood carvings and I was happy to find a few pieces which I liked.  Some were paid for with cash and for others it was a trade.

Morovo Lagoon

I should have spent more time looking around the lagoon – it is a designated World Heritage area - but I was eager to get to Gizo and so next day we motored around to the other side of the lagoon. Really interesting journey as the lagoon is full of small islands, coral reefs and the seabed can go from 50m to zero in a heartbeat.  We spent the night just inside the western side of the fringing reef and next day motored to Rendova Island about 35NM North and the last stop before Gizo.

We anchored in Rendova harbour in front of another village of about 400 and again had a warm reception from a number of canoes with lots of kids.  Managed to speak with a couple of the older men about the history of Rendova Harbour which was fascinating.  It was an American base during the war and its main claim to fame was that this is the area that JFK had his exploits with PT109.  He was in command of a PT boat and was out one night nearby in Blackett Strait on a mission and to cut a long story short his boat got rammed by a Japanese destroyer and sunk.. He managed to lead the survivors to a nearby island and over the next few days he swam to other islands to get food and water and eventually help.  Two locals had been dispatched to try and find him and after a few days they were located, rescued and brought back to Rendova harbour.  Apparently he later visited and met the two guys who had found him.  I think they were boy scouts.

Warm Reception at Rendova

The next day we motored another 35NM to Gizo the final stop in the Solomons.  Once again we were the only yacht in the harbour.  Gizo harbour is well protected by outlying islands and reefs and we dropped anchor towards the head of the harbour off a premises called PT109  which is a bit of a well known hangout. 

I went ashore immediately to check out the town and to get started on some of the chores I had to do.  We took Wee Otter into the PT109 wharf and tied her up at the rough quayside.  PT109 has obviously fallen from its prime.  It’s a restaurant/bar but the decline in the Gozo based tourist trade has taken its toll.  But you can still get a meal and a beer here and there are a couple of really helpful ladies who run /own the place.

Gizo Main Street

I paid a visit to the customs office and after some dialogue managed to organise for our check out to be carried out on Saturday (26^th July) morning immediately prior to our departure.  Next I headed to the Solomon Airlines office to track down the autopilot which was being uplifted from Honiara for delivery to Gizo.  A nice man called Greg said he would text me once it arrived.  Finally I visited Dive Gizo and organized a dive trip for the 24^th.  I had dinner and a couple of beers at PT109 and then called it a night.

On the Thursday as arranged I joined a coupe of other people and took off into the nearby Vona Vona Lagoon for a days diving.  We dived on a couple of reef walls which were pretty spectacular with lots of marine life including rays and sharks.  We also dived on a Hellcat fighter aircraft from World War 2 which sits on the bottom the right way up.  In between the dives the guides took us to visit a place called Skull Island.  As the name suggests the island was used as a ceremonial place for local chiefs and warriors and some of their victims.  There is a large coral mound /altar which is covered in skulls.  Its pretty interesting.

Skull Island

So its Friday night now and I am all set for the 1400NM passage to Darwin which we will start tomorrow morning.  We have a favourable forecast for the first leg to Thursday Island where we will carry out the check in procedures with the relevant Australian authorities.  I fitted the repaired autopilot today and it seems to be working but need a sea trial to confirm.  We fuelled up today and topped off the water tanks so will run out to the market tomorrow and get some fresh fruit and veg and then depart.  Next stop Australia.  

The Solomons has been a fantastic experience and I cannot recommend it enough.  I think the only way to see it is by boat though.  The scenery is spectacular and the people are freindly and genuine - its a shame it cannot capitalise on more tourism.

21st July 2025: Into The Solomon Islands

I have moved on a fair way since the last post with, I guess an increasing desire to get this trip concluded sooner rather than later for no good reason other than I miss Nik and the kids.  It seems in one way like the waste of a good opportunity but this was always just an extended delivery trip and I am nevertheless enjoying seeing these Pacific Islands.  I never had time to carry out the prior research necessary before you cruise in these areas so I was always just going to be briefly visiting.

We left Lugganville and sailed overnight to a place called Sola on the island of Vanua Lava, one of the Banks Islands.  Sola is the most northerly Port of Entry.  We arrived mid morning and anchored in a pretty bay with a small town located behind the beachfront.  There was not much to the town – a few buildings and houses stretching down the coastal road with one or two small shops selling a few essentials.  Once ashore I located the customs office and was horrified to hear that the customs officer required to sign off on departures was in Lugganville.  I thought this was going to lead to a long delay but turns out they could send the departure forms to Lugganville and he would sign off and email back.  After a couple of hours I was authorized to depart and we left late that afternoon heading for Lata, the first Port of Entry for the Solomon Islands on the island of Ndendo about 230NM to the north.

The Solomons is not a popular cruising destination at this point in time although it would appear to be gaining more attention.  Most of the best cruising and hence the best tourist infrastructure is in the Western Provinces.  Due to us coming from Vanuatu we had to first transit through the eastern islands and districts.

The sail over the following two days was rolly and punctuated by frequent showers especially at night but apart from that largely uneventful.  I will be glad to start sailing west once we leave Lata as that will be more with the weather which should reduce the roll we experience significantly.  On the morning of the second day Ndendo was in sight.  There is a narrow reef lined passage on the western side into the large bay where Lata is located.  Looked a lot tighter than it was but constant vigilance is required.  The jetty which the cruising guide suggested we should tie up to was a mess of twisted concrete – clearly our guide was a bit out of date.  Around the jetty anchoring was problematic as the seabed went from very deep to coral reef in a few metres and we had an onshore breeze.  Eventually we set the anchor in about 15m of water with our stern about 20m from the reef.  Not a particularly desirable location but adequate for the limited time we intended to spend here.

Again I went ashore and sought out the entry officials.  Lata is a small town and the infrastructure is pretty poor.  It would appear that this is a step down in terms of poverty from Vanuatu.  One of the first things you noticed was the trash lying around.  There were a lot of people milling around the jetty area mainly associated with the “banana boats” ferrying people and supplies around and a few small market type stalls selling the usual ground provisions and coconuts.  Everybody was very friendly and in no time the boat was surrounded by a group of noisy kids who had swam out from shore all wanting to say hello to the strangers.  One of the first things you notice is that lots of people are chewing betelnut and the ground is frequently marked by the red juice spat out.

I asked directions to customs and immigration and was kindly given a lift up the hill to the customs house.  This was essentially a single storey maybe four room building with very little in the way of furniture apart from a couple of desks and chairs with a single lap top and some other papers lying about.  I filled in a few forms, answered a few questions and then was handed my cruising permit valid for 30 days.  I wandered back to the jetty hoping to find a bank or a forex dude but no such luck.

Vessel Track from Vanuatu to Solomons

Back onboard I decided to push on as the present anchorage was not really tenable.  In the early afternoon we retraced our path through the western pass and set a course west to San Cristobal Island another 220NM plus away aiming for a place called Kirakira.  Another showery passage ensued but this time we were running with the weather and so our roll was reduced considerably.  Two days later we reached Kirakira.  There was no real reason for stopping here apart from to get some local money and to procure some fresh produce. 

All these places are built around the coastline of a bay with the town/village stretching someway inland depending upon how quickly the land rises behind the coast.  Kirakira was no exception.  Ashore there was a reasonable market in operation just behind the beach area where all the “banana boats” were congregated.  Again the town is quite small and run down.  There are a few shops, a school a large overgrown playing field and, of course, a church.  There is a river which runs down one side and empties into the bay – it could be really pretty but again there was a lot of trash lying around.  I located the bank pretty quickly but was told that I could not use a credit card to get funds and they would not be able to exchange foreign currency.  So strike two – still no local money and no fresh food.  There was nothing for it but to push onto Honiara the capital and the gateway to the Western Provinces.

Honiara sits on the island of Guadalcanal a name resplendent with images of the Pacific campaigns of World War Two.  In fact the Solomon Islands were right in forefront of the war with the Japanese. 

Honiara was a good 20hr sail away.  Given the constant sailing for the past six days I decided to stay the night at anchor in Kirakira to get some rest.  At noon the next day we departed amidst frequent heavy rain showers and plotted a course more North than West.  Due to the wind direction I had to head north till the early hours of the morning at which time I gybed round onto the heading for Honiara.  Apart from the rain it was a really enjoyable sail and the morning found us sailing up Iron Bottom Sound slowly approaching Honiara.

Honiara is the capital of the Solomon Islands and is quite a major town for the region.  It spreads out along the coast quite extensively and whilst there is a harbour it is really just a stretch of the coast.  There is no protected bay or cove.  Near the centre of town there is a small indent formed by Point Cruz called Mbokona Bay which houses a couple of small commercial jetties for the Solomons coastal patrol boat and ferries and a beach where the trading banana boats pull up.  Allegedly there was space to anchor within.  We came into Mbokona Bay while there was a swell running which did nothing to add to the appeal of the anchorage.  The bay is lined by reef so manoeuvring was very tight.  There was a mooring right in the middle of the bay which made finding space very difficult.  I had a couple of goes at anchoring but was not satisfied and so kept motoring around. 

Mbokono Bay

After a while as I was setting up for my third attempt I got a VHF call telling me to just go ahead and pick up the mooring which I duly did.  There is a building on the shore called the Point Cruz Yacht Club.  Interesting as there were no yachts around apart from another cruiser.  I think it may be more in the spirit of yachting that in the actual activity.  When I visited later it turned out to be essentially a bar on the shore but it does have a membership requirement.

Anyway one of the blokes there obviously was watching me mess about and decided to come to my aid.  Am thankful that he did.  Tried to find him the next day at the club but never managed to.

As we were coming into Honiara the one thing that you really notice is the amount of trash in the water.  I guess it was a falling tide but its really quite disappointing.  Onshore the city itself was not a whole lot better.  As with many of towns here it consists of a main street parallel with the coast and full of shops and businesses.  Honiara would be the busiest town i have been in since Auckland.  Its very noisy, dusty, run down and chaotic to an outsider.  It is very busy but also has a certain energy about it.  For all its detractions I felt it would be a pretty interesting place to explore at another time.  The central market is huge with lots on interesting fruit, veg and fish for sale.  Very importantly for me there was a bank from which I managed to get some local currency. 

Sunset from Point Cruz

Honiara was always just about getting some money and fresh food.  Once that was complete the next morning we departed for the Florida Islands about 30NM across the sound.  The plan was to relax and enjoy a bit of seclusion for a couple of days before continuing the ever westward journey.

There was one other reason for visiting Honiara and that was to sort out freight for the autopilot unit which was ready for dispatch from Perth.  Have organised for it to be delivered to a place called Gizo which is our exit port from the Solomons.

16 July 2025: Awesome Adventures in Vanuatu

You would think that I would have all the time in the world to write a couple of pages for the blog each week but somehow time gets away from me.  It seems there is always something to do either on the boat or in the places we stop at and while I am sailing it has not been conducive to writing.  There is also the schedule imperative (i.e. Darwin by mid August) which drives me to continually move on to the next place.  Probably wasting good sightseeing opportunities but this is the route I have chosen for the time being.

So in the last blog post I had just arrived in Port Villa. I ended up staying about three days and spent them having a brief look around the town and getting the usual chores out of the way i.e. laundry, re stocking with fresh food and other requirements, filling up with gas, chasing down elusive parts and consumables and catching up with boat admin.  Also have been manually filling up with water when we can.  I have a watermaker onboard but I mothballed it in NZ and so far have not seen the necessity of re commissioning the unit.  The issue is that once running I need to run the unit every two or three days to keep the membrane in good health but the system uses quite a bit of power so its easier just now to leave it mothballed.  So far we have been able to access water as and when required and just use 20litre jerry cans to fill up the boats tanks. There's a bit of labour involved but that’s just good exercise for me.

Port Villa is an interesting place but nothing particularly outstanding about it apart from the setting around the bay which forms a natural harbour.  I guess most tourists fly into Port Villa and then are transported to resorts around the island.  I did not see too much apart from the centre which consists of a main thoroughfare lined with shops and businesses.  There was a really bad earthquake here in Dec 2024 which caused a lot of damage and this followed earlier cyclones and earthquakes which had hit in the last 20 plus years and so there is a lot of reconstruction work going on.  I did make a couple of trips further afield chasing parts and utilized the local minibuses.  Once you know the systems its great – you can get anywhere for 150Vatu ($1.50) and the locals are really friendly and like to chat.

Port Villa main food market

The last night in Port Villa I had a beer and dinner with Peter my Bulgarian crew in the yacht club right on the edge of the harbour.  We left Port Villa around midday on the 28^th June after taking on some fuel as am unsure where the next opportunity to do this will be.  .The next main destination was a place called Lugganville on the island of Espritu Santo the biggest in the Vanuatu archipelago about 160NM to the north.  We first headed to the north of Efate Island and overnighted in a nice protected bay called Port Havannah.  Then the next day pushed on to the north of the next island called Epi.  We anchored in Lamen Bay.  i had chosen this place as there were reputedly some dugong here.  Spent the night here and the next day dugong spotting but only managed to see a massive tail as one dived.  That evening we commenced the final leg of the passage to Lugganville which was 100NM.  It took slightly longer than anticipated due to the weather but by 4;30pm on the 1^st of July we were secure on a mooring on the opposite side of the channel from Lugganville. 

Lugganville is the main town on the island of Espiritu Santo which is the biggest of the Vanuatu islands.  It is on the south side of the island and somewhat protected by a couple of offlying islands to its south which form a wide sound.  The problem is that when the weather gets up the fetch across the sound between Lugganville and the islands is long enough to make anchoring on the Lugganville side uncomfortable.  Therefore I opted to take a mooring off one of the islands, Aore, across from Lugganville to provide a calmer anchorage.  The moorings were just off a place called the Aore Adventure Sports and Lodge a small dive operation run by an Australian couple.  I also wanted to do a couple of dives so this was perfect.  Just next door to the dive place was another resort with accommodation.

Aore Moorings

The first day after arriving I went ashore and spoke with Paul White who runs the dive operation and made plans to dive the following day.  Then it was off into town for a look around.  The distance to town was too long for the Wee Otter so we used a local “banana boat to ferry us over.  These boats are essentially open 20ft fiberglass vessels with an outboard and are everywhere and used like taxi’s all over Vanuatu carrying out local trips and longer inter island passages. 

Lugganville town was pretty busy but comprises one main road running along the coast lined with shops and businesses.  Down one end is a big market selling fresh vegetables and fruit. On the outskirts there are a couple of resorts/hotels catering to tourists – a lot of whom come from the Eastern states of Australia. There are ATM’s and a couple of internet cafes and then lots of shops selling bits and pieces of everything mostly run by the Chinese.  There was one “western “ supermarket but you could find most of what you needed in the other shops and the market.  The town looks run down with not much investment going on.  Its very dusty and when it rains there is mud everywhere.  A steady stream of traffic trundles down the main street all day.  I had a look around , bought some provisions and then headed back to the boat.

Lugganville Main Street

Julianno - our banana boat driver

Next day was a 7;00am start.  I joined Paul, a couple of his divemasters and five other divers onboard the dive boat.  We headed out across the sound to a wreck called the President Coolidge.  The President Coolidge was a 650ft cruise liner being used as a troop transport ship during the second world war.  It was coming in to Lugganville when it struck a mine.  The captain rammed the vessel into shore which allowed all 5,000 plus personnel to abandon the ship safely.  However the seabed topography was such that it the vessel eventually slid backwards down a steep slope and came to rest in 30m to 70m of water lying on her port side.  The dive site is pretty famous.  

We moored over the bow of the vessel and descended onto the vessel side.  The vis was tremendous and you could clearly make out the sunken vessel.  Due to the size of the wreck we only really looked around the bow area.  The dive was spectacular – the whole wreck is covered in coulorful coral with sea life all around you.  You can see the remnants of army vehicles which were being carried in the vessel holds, ordinance from small arms to gun emplacements on deck and different rooms on the vessel.  

We ended up doing two dives on the wreck – both absolutely stunning.  I had not dived for many years.  I kind of lost the enthusiasm for it a while ago but when opportunities like this are presented it is really worthwhile.

The next day, Friday, I had booked to visit the Millennium Cave.  This was a bit of a adventure hike.  As it turned out it got delayed due to island admin issues but luckily on the following day I was picked up by the trek organisers and along with eight others transported about 45kms into the interior.  I had read about this trip so kind of knew what was coming but even so it was a bit of an ordeal.  The first leg involved a ride up to the trailhead.  This was in a twin cab ute – so OK for the four in the cab but the rest had to stick it out on boards laid across the tray and open to the weather.  Luckily I was in the cab.  It was about a 75min drive to to the trailhead.  The distance is not that far but out of Lugganville the roads were atrocious and the last 10Km was just a muddy rutted track.  Upon reaching the end of the road we disembarked and then walked to the village of Vunaspef.  The villagers here are the traditional owners of the Millennium cave.  We were kitted out with buoyancy vests and then the real trek started.  

Vunaspef Village

For the next two hours we traversed very slippery muddy tracks through the forests.  Where the terrain got steep rickety wooden ladder type constructions had been laid to help the climbing and descending.  There was no avoiding the mud and it reminded me of the Kokoda track.  After two hrs we stopped for a brief rest where the guides painted our faces with red clay paste to ensure a safe passage through the cave.  Another five minutes took us to the opening of the cave which from a distance is unremarkable but as you get closer it becomes very impressive.  We descended into the darkness and were each provided with torches.  The cave is huge and has a river running through it.  Slowly we left the entrance and proceeded into the darkness wading through the river, clambering over boulders covered in bat shit. 

Safe Passage Guarantee

Cave Entrance

The cave is amazing – its quite narrow but very tall.  There are crazy rock formations soaring up to the roof which occasionally has collapsed allowing a glimpse of light through the screening forest.  Lots of stalactites and stalagmites line the walls.  A large colony of bats and swallows inhabits the cave and these flit about constantly.  The traverse of the cave was quite slow due to the wading and scrambling required and went on for about another hour and was probably about 1km long.  Eventually we came to the end of the cave where the river joined another river flowing through the forest.  At the mouth of the cave the water deepened and we had to wade neck deep through the water.  We emerged from the cave and took a lunch break at the side of the river,

Inside the cave

The Cave Exit

After lunch it was canyoning.  We clambered over boulders and dropped into the river and swam/floated/waded/ clambered downstream through a series of narrow gorges with sheer rock sides covered with jungle.  After about an hour to two hours of this we came out to another muddy slippery track and walked this for about an hour back to the starting point at Vunaspef.  We were give some tea/coffee/fruit in a hut and then walked back to the waiting transport at and driven back into town.  

Awesome day out.

Canyoning

Canyoning

The following day (Sunday 6th July) I left Lugganville and started the passage to Sola on the island of Ndendo where I would check out from Vanuatu and begin the journey to the Solomon Islands.

27th June 2025: Into Vanuatu

 My new crew member Bulgarian Peter had a couple of days to get used to the boat and then we were scheduled to depart.  Its difficult for me getting used to having someone strange on the boat especially after having Nik onboard for the last month where we were pretty much always in sync with what we had to do.  Am aware I am not the most accommodating of travel companions but am trying to make an effort to be a bit more patient.  Peter is a fairly burly, rough around the edges type of chap with a heavy eastern euro accent.  He is older at 70 but seems fairly agile around the boat and affable enough.  One reason I took Peter was that after he gets off Sea Otter in Darwin he is already slated to crew across the Indian Ocean to Cape Town so he is certainly committed.

I spent the day before our departure (Thursday 19^th June) getting ready to leave.  Went to customs and immigration and filed the requisite paperwork to get our departure clearance.  Once filed the vessel has 48hrs to leave New Caledonia.  I reprovisioned with food from the excellent nearby Auchan supermarket. The next morning I went to the marina office to settle up and to say goodbye to the lovely ladies who carried out the admin for the marina office.  I have found everyone at the marina to be super friendly and helpful and it was sad to say goodbye.

We motored out of Noumea and headed south. After a couple of hours the wind came in and we managed to sail most of the way through the Woodin Canal and onto the nights anchorage at a protected calm bay called Port Boise.  Early next morning we took off and were clear of the New Caledonia fringing reef by around 5am heading approx north east.  Our route initially took us to the south of the southerly most Loyalty Island called Mare approximately 80NM away.  We sailed all through the day and rounded Cap Boyer on Mare at around sunset and then turned more northerly to lay a course for the port of Lenakel on Tanna Island in Vanuatu approximately 140NM away.

The track from Noumea to Lenakel to Port Villa

I need to improve my weather forecasting skills.  I am using a app called Predict Wind which provides weather forecasting and also routing information and has proved to be really useful.  However it is one thing to have all the data but another thing to interpret it.  Again I looked at the forecasts and decided that the data looked reasonable enough to make the crossing.  The conditions were still up (up to 3m seas, gusting 30kts and roll of up to 5.5deg forecast) but this was less than we had encountered for the majority of the passage from New Zealand, it was a broad reach and the passage time was only 36hrs – so even if it was a bit uncomfortable my thinking was we just needed to suck it up.

The first part of the trip during the day was great - nice sailing although a bit rolly.  Once we turned around Mare and nightfall came though the motion got worse and I was as sick as I have ever been.  The next 18 hrs were pure misery.  Peter was feeling it aswell but was not as bad as me.  I was either down below trying to sleep when off watch or on deck dry retching on and off.  Lenakel could not come quick enough and slowly over the following afternoon it came into view.  We eventually put the anchor down in a rolly harbour around 1800 in the dark.  One of my golden rules is not to enter an unknown anchorage in the dark but I would have to call this exceptional circumstances.  There was another yacht there – an American catamaran called Gratefull and we circled it and then put the anchor down close by.

Had a rolly night and was up early the next morning to see a large inter island landing craft type freighter pass us heading for the wharf.  Sometimes these can be a real hazard as some commercial vessels have an aversion to yachts being near the wharf area and will intentionally pass close or create unnecessary wake.  (kind of similar to the relationship some drivers have for cyclists).  This one was good though and put on a great seamanship show when coming along side the wharf after a tight turn.  There was not much to Lenakel that I could see.  A reef to seaward was keeping most of the swell out and there were patches of reef around the bay.  In the middle was a concrete wharf at which the landing craft had tied up to.  Most of the shore was rocky/reef with small dark sand patches every so often and then lush green vegetation beyond.

Lenakel Harbour with wharf and landing craft (Sea Otter far right)

We had come to Lenakel as it was a dedicated port of entry for Vanuatu.  Failing to raise the customs office on the VHF radio I decided to head in to shore and luckily the skipper of the US cat, a guy called Jamie, had the same idea and he offered me a ride into shore in their tender which was bigger and better suited to the conditions than our tender, Wee Otter (credit to Nik for coming up with the perfect tender name).

Checking in took most of the morning by the time we had walked to the right location, found the customs office, found the customs dude, visited the immigration office, met the biosecurity guy, visited the biosecurity office and paid a visit to the local bank ATM to get some local currency out to pay the entry fees.  By midday we were clear.  The town is quite rural with no large buildings.  It reminded me a bit of rural SE Asia like parts of Indonesia.  Very few modern buildings, a lot of run down structures and roads in poor condition.  However the people are friendly and there was a busy small market down near the wharf. Jamie stocked up on vegetables while I looked around trying to guess what most of them were – all looked very earthy, green  and healthy but not sure what they were or how I might go about cooking with them.  Am sure that will come.

Lenakel Market

Peter went ashore and had a look around but I stayed onboard as was pretty shattered from the passage.  I was eager to press on to get to Port Villa.  This trip is really a round–about transit to Darwin so whilst we will stop and look at a few sights I am not approaching this as a holiday cruise and want to keep pushing on.  So next day around midday we left Lenakel for an overnight sail of 120NM.  This time I was ready for the roll after having taken a couple of tablets.  Weather was still up but we were running with the wind and we had a really great sail during the night.  The next morning saw us rounding Pango Point, turning into Mele Bay on the island of Efate around midday.

Port Villa is the capital of Vanuatu and is located oin Efate Island.  It sits around Port Villa Bay which is off the larger Mele Bay.  Within Port Villa Bay are two protected anchorages called Pontoon Bay and Paray Bay formed by the presence of Iririki Island in the middle of the Port Villa Bay.  Paray Bay to the east and the NE part of Port Villa Bay form the waterfront for the town which rise fairly sharply away from the water.  Port Villa is a working port and so the waterfront is ringed by various commercial enterprises from accommodation, shopping, to wharfs and shipyards further around.  It makes for a really interesting place to sit and watch life go by.

                                                                    Port Villa Bay

Port Villa - Paray Bay (Sea Otter at mooring)

There is no marina in Port Villa but a group called World Yachting provide all the same services but without the mooring pens.  There is a sea wall you can med moor to or a number of moorings in the bay which can be rented.  Ashore there is a bar/restaurant, showers, rubbish disposal and laundry service.  We put Sea Otter on a mooring planning to spend a couple of days looking around before moving on.

My saga with the autopilot is slowly being resolved.  I ordered a brand new unit from Lewmar in the UK but that will take 4 to 6 weeks to be delivered.  Meanwhile Nik carried the defective unit to Perth when she left and my good friend Graeme has pulled it apart and identified the broken component.  Am now trying to source this part so we can rebuild it and have a spare unit onboard.  Meanwhile Graeme will use his inimitable skills to effect a repair to the broken piece in case we cannot source a replacement.  So things are looking up but clearly does not help me in the short term.  Luckily the wind pilot onboard is behaving itself which limits the amount of hand steering we need to do on the passages.

The broken autopilot

Off to explore Port Villa.