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.

18th June 2025 - Final Days in New Cal

 

The weather for the past couple of weeks has been up and down.  We got back from the trip to the Isle of Pines and went to anchor and hunkered down in Noumea harbour on Wednesday June 4^th as there were some strong westerlies with rain forecast for two or three days.  We could have found a remote anchorage somewhere to ride out the weather but being in the harbour would allow us to restock with some perishable items for the final week.  When the weather turns it’s a bit depressing being on the boat but we make the best of it and try and get some jobs done.

I removed the autopilot and stripped it down to try and see if I could ascertain the problem.  I got as far as the clutch before a lack of tooling stopped me removing any other parts.  Whilst I could not locate the issue I now am confident it is in the clutch.  Have been chasing a completely new autopilot but was told that is 8 to 12 weeks away!  Am sending this unit back to Australia with Nik to be looked at by the specialists at South Fremantle Marine Services.

We got into Noumea town on a couple of occasions and restocked with food and drink.  Its always great being on the French islands as they have all the food stuffs you can find in mainland France – the cheeses, meats, bread, wine etc.  I feel that over the last month I have put taken on a fair bit of extra ballast.

Nik’s return to Australia was booked for 17^th June and I was planning on leaving New Caledonia shortly thereafter and heading to Vanuatu.  For the last week we decided to visit three or four of the islands near Noumea.  The weather was very calm and overcast most of the time which allowed us free reign of the island anchorages.  We visited Laregnere, Signal, Maitre islands and also Dunbea pass on the outer reef and spent some memorable days and nights enjoying the solitude for the most part and the scenery.  All the locations proved to be really worthwhile.  The islands are all wildlife sanctuary’s and have set moorings for use of visiting Yachts.  There are no facilities on the islands but you can go ashore and have a wander around.  

Ilot Laregnere

Sea Krait

The real attraction is the snorkelling which was fantastic – beautiful extensive coral gardens and all manner of sea life - fish everywhere, sharks, rays, sea snakes, lots of turtles etc.  The most disconcerting were the white tip reef sharks which freaked Nik out until she realized they were not really out for a bite.  The Dunbea pass site was the most amazing as it was on the protected side of the outer reef.  The water was crystal clear and a beautiful turquoise. We dropped the anchor in about 8m of water and could see it clear as day from deck.  Dunbea Pass is a popular surf spot and we could see surfers riding curling waves at the pass while we sat motionless on the inside of the reef.  The reef is extensive and once anchored we took the tender to view the coral formations.  Certainly this is one of the highlights of the trip.

Sea Otter off Ilot Signal

Nik on Ilot Signal Beach

We completed the islands tour on Friday 13^th and motored into our berth in the Port Moselle Marina for the last time and carried out the preparations for Nik leaving and the boat departure.  We managed to get out to a lovely restaurant called Marmite Et Tire Bouchon (pot and the corkscrew) on the eve of Nik leaving for a splendid meal.  Then the next day (17^th June) Nik was gone and I was back to just myself on the boat – but not for long.

I am planning on departing New Caledonia on Saturday for Vanuatu.  It’s a sail of approx. 200NM so should take only 1.5 days.  I have managed to attract another crew member to help me with the sail both across to Vanuatu and further on to Darwin.  His name is Peter, he is from Bulgaria and he joins me on 18^th June.

So that’s it for New Caledonia.  It has been a great experience.  Given the natural beauty of the island its surprising that there are not more tourists around but the tourist infrastructure seems to be lacking possibly something to do with the political situation regarding the independence push.  Most of the visitors we met were either French or Australian and given how close Noumea is to the East Coast if Australia am surprised there are not more Australian visitors.  It is a bit pricey compared to Asian destinations but the scenery both above and below the water really is stunning and certainly worth a visit.  We enjoyed our time here and really appreciated the friendliness of the people and the whole French vibe.

Sunset over Ilot Signal

3rd June 2025 - Too many islands - so little time

We made it to Ile des Pins on the sixth day after leaving Noumea.  We spent the first five days hoping from anchorage to anchorage working our way down the south west coastline before completing the 40NM crossing to Ile De Pins.

First day out we stopped at Ilot Bailly – a small island only approx. 20NM from Noumea.  From there we carried on South and stopped at Bay Ire in the north of Ile Ouen to ride out a squally period then on through the Woodin Canal (where I got a quick lesson on tidal streams) to the Baie Du Prony and Ile Casey.  At Ile Casey we spent a couple of days and then headed for the Ile De Pins.

Ilot Baily

The scenery is just spectacular.  The sea is various shades of blue / green and tourquoise depending on the depth and the presence of reefs and generally it is very clear.  The backdrop of the land is equally impressive – from the hilly coastline to the magnificent ridge lines of high mountains behind them which always have a kind of haze about them which adds to the allure.   The entire land mass is green with lush vegetation.  In the south there are red scars through the hillsides from both man made and natural causes.  The earth is the same colour as in the Pilbara (NW Australia) – a very red dirt and also similarly there is extensive mining activity here.

The Pilbara'esque terrain of Ilot Casey

The anchorages are for the most part deserted and typically we were alone or had only one other boat nearby.  Around Noumea there are a lot of local boats getting out at the weekends but further afield there are very few boats and the few we did come across were Australian.  Its very surprising given the cruising grounds although its not a cheap place onshore.  There were riots here not that long ago which made headlines and it could be that the tourism side has not recovered.

All our anchorages were very remote with no services onshore at all.  It was very relaxing.  Typically we spend our time in transit, exploring onshore, snorkelling around reefs or just relaxing on deck.  It is very easy to just tune out and watch what is going on around the anchorage – its kind of like people watching but there are no people.  Then of course there are the chores which have to be done which to be honest are pretty light – the main one being cooking.  The evenings are just magical when we sit and watch the sunset until it becomes dark.

Ilot Casey

We waited for a northerly wind which came on Wednesday 28^th May and then sailed downwind to Kuto Bay on the Ile Des Pins in very light conditions.  It’s a 40Nm crossing and we took most of the day to complete it picking up a mooring around 15:30.  When we arrived the bay was deserted.  Given what we had heard about how popular the Ile De Pins was and the 20 plus mooring field we had expected to see a few yachts but there were none.  We thought that maybe there was some reason that we were not aware of but turns out its just quiet.  Four other boats arrived over the next few days.

Kuto Bay

The Ile des Pins is beautiful.  The island is about 40KM long and 20km wide and has some height to it around the south with Pic N’ga at 280m being the highest point. The island is surrounded by reefs and shallow lagoons of azure water. As the name suggests there are stands of pine trees everywhere some becoming forests.  Kuto Bay is a wide open bay with a long sandy beach fringed with palm trees and pine trees running around it.  The entrance to the bay has protective reefs both north and south with some impressive surf rolling in when conditions are right.  Across a narrow ithmus is another bay called Kanumera which is just stunning – see photo below.

Kanumera Bay - Ile Des Pins

The island is very un-developed and has a kind of Rotto vibe but much more remote.  There are a couple of hotels and resorts and some Gites and places to camp and a few shops selling just the bare necessities (plus baguettes of course).  We thought we would  be able to stock up here on fresh produce but no such luck.  And there very few people about and even fewer tourists.

Piscine Natural

Initially the plan had been to sail around the island and visit the three or four spectacular anchorages but unbeknown to us anchoring in these areas is now forbidden so instead we hired a car and had a look around the island.  The scenery is stunning but there is not too much else to see.  We watched some traditional piroques sailing in one of the lagoons and then visited a place called the Piscine Natural which if you have minimal French you will understand is a natural swimming pool.  This is a pine fringed lagoon protected from the surrounding sea with water as clear as glass and coral beds. 

Piroques sailing on Baie d'Oupi

We spent five days on the island, met some other cruisers and generally took it easy.  The weather finally looked right to return north and we headed out on Monday 2^nd stopping overnight at an isolated reef called Ilot Mato, welcomed by a small pod of dolphins, before sailing on to pick up a mooring off Noumea at the Ilot Maitre.  It’s a glorious calm evening here and we are planning next week’s schedule which will involve visiting the islands to the north of Noumea.

25th May - Noumea

New Caledonia is spectacular and looks like all the images you see of the South Pacific Islands.  There are beautiful sand beaches with fringing lush vegetation and then huge steep rugged looking hills with sharp ridge lines rising up beyond.  This is all surrounded by blue clear water.  I wake up each day amazed at the scenery.  When I was about 9 or 10 I read a series of books about a couple of brothers who have various exploits in different parts of the world collecting animals.  One of the books "South Seas Adventure" was based in the Pacific Islands and since reading it I have always wanted to visit and have a look around.  It's taken 60 years but finally I have made it.  Not only am I in this amazing place but Nik flew in on Tuesday so we are together again and will spend the next four weeks cruising the islands around New Caledonia.

New Caledonia is a French overseas Territory in the Southwest Pacific.  It was first discovered for Europeans by Captain Cook who named it due to the north coast reminding him of Scotland.  New Caledonia consists of the very large central island of Grande Terre, the smaller groups of the Loyalty Islands off the east coast, the Chesterfield islands to the west, the Isle of Pines at the south and the Belep Islands in the north.  Grande Terre is 400km long and has a central range of mountains rising to 1600m in the north.  There is a barrier reef ringing the main island which contains various lagoons and many smaller islands.  Much of the marine environment is a UNESCO World Heritage site.  The interior is rugged hills rising to as much as 1600m.

Dramatic Hills of New Caledonia

After arriving I dingyed ashore and visited Port Moselle Marina to enquire about the check in procedures.  The lovely ladies in the marina office could not have been more helpful and pointed me in the right direction for immigration while taking care of the customs for me.  It’s a bit surreal stepping ashore  and hearing gentle music wafted across quayside café after being knocked about on the boat for seven days.

The check in procedure was relatively straightforward and involved a trip to immigration to get our passports stamped and then I had to bring the boat into a wharf to have a visit from Jeremy the biosecurity officer who took away some of our remaining fresh food.  Once all that was complete we went back to anchor  which is a short dingy ride from the marina and we were free to come and go as we pleased.

Noumea and the Marina

Noumea is an interesting place.  It’s the only major centre on the island although there are  some other towns.  Its situated on a large peninsular with two significant bays as the harbours and tourist beaches along the southern headlands.  There are three marinas, a ferry/cruise terminal and a naval base in the southern harbour and a commercial wharf in the northern harbour.  The town is centered around the harbour and stretches into and up the hillsides surrounding the town. 

It was great to get ashore and amongst the French shops and businesses.  There is a fish market on the wharf and a fresh food market alongside.  In addition, there are boulangeries and supermarkets like Auchan and Carrefour so we can buy anything we need.  Food is not particularly cheap though.

The fresh Food Market

We spent three days at anchor making trips to town and the marina as required to stock up on food, take showers and generally just to wander around.  The anchorage is very interesting with quite a few vessels being very much the worse for wear and used essentially for cheap accommodation.  On Sunday we brought the boat into the marina and the following day I said goodbye to my crewman Owen, who left and moved to digs onshore hoping to get a look around some of the island.

Our Neighbour at Anchor

The next day I got the boat all clean and hired a car to drive to the airport which is about 40Kms away to pick up Nik.  It was so good to see her again.  We both miss each other a lot when we are not together.  Then we spent the next couple of days looking around Noumea, shopping and sightseeing. 

Noumea is a really convenient place to stop – the marina is very friendly and you can source just about anything you need nearby – but the real draw is the islands scattered within the lagoon and outlying island.  We left the marina on Friday 23^rd with a planned destination of the Isle of Pines about 70NM south.  We will just do short hops over the next four of five days anchoring out at islands and secluded bays as we go.

Am looking at returning to Australia via Vanuatu, the Solomons and PNG.  This route does not have any major crossings i.e. max approx. 3 to 4 days and with the prevailing weather so much more comfortable.  Trip duration would be about 6 weeks in total.  Ideally I would like to take crew so if anyone reading this is looking for a break and a bit of adventure let me know.

17th May 2025 - Opua to Noumea Passage

 

So this post is way overdue and as a result will probably be a bit of a tedious read.

Part 1 – The Preparations

We last left off in the marina in Opua and I had a scheduled departure for Saturday 10^th May.  I had to get some re-work done on the new hatches as there were a couple of leaks and this was to be done on the Thursday or Friday prior.  At the last minute Mahmood – the hatch guy – called to say he had to delay until Tuesday the following week.  There was not much I could do about it and so I delayed my departure again until Wednesday the 14^th May. 

I spent the time waiting for departure day making final preparations for the passage to New Caledonia.  Checking gear, making last minute adjustments, cooking and freezing food and checking all the comms equipment because once we were out of sight of land our traditional comms were useless and I needed to be able to download weather data daily and have an emergency voice/text system operating.  I had two primary communication systems onboard – the satcom system which is an Iridium GO and a Garmin InReach mini tracker.  I had the Iridium GO unit which came when the boat was purchased and had got an external antenna for the unit installed in Auckland so that I did not need to take the unit on deck to get a satellite signal when at sea.  (The crew from the Dulcinea Atlantic passage would appreciate that).  This would have been the only comms device I needed until someone told me that the GPS tracker for the GO unit did not work well in aluminum or steel boats.  So I then had to purchase a Garmin Mini InReach tracker which would be permanently located under the spray dodger.  To cut a long story short I had one unit (the GO) for voice/data/text and the other (the Garmin) to track my position on an hourly basis. 

A lot of my time in Opua was spent pouring over the Predict Wind weather charts and weather routing plans and agonizing over the departure date.  Each morning I would wake up and once the forecast had been refreshed I tried to convince myself that the planned departure date and proposed route was realistic.  Basically it remained the same and was based around fresh conditions for a day, a day of variables and then three days of rough weather (4.5m waves and gusting 36knts) followed by settling conditions for the last couple of days.  The bad weather was all from the south which was good and made it doable.  The forecast predicted a very uncomfortable ride for 80% to 90% of the journey.  I figured that I had to make a move as there was no better departure window in the foreseeable future.  In addition while it may be uncomfortable it would be a good test for both boat and skipper.  Each day I would srutinse the forecast to hopefully see milder conditions but it just firmed up around the initial predictions but at least it did not get worse.

While I had the additional time in Opua I also put out some feelers for possible crew.  The last resort was always going to be a solo sail but if I could find crew for these passages it would make things much safer, less stressful and more enjoyable.  The initial ads I had posted on a couple of crew sites had not resulted in any meaningful contact but I knew that in Opua there would be people looking to crew as there were many boats planning to depart for the islands over the next few weeks.  It was just a matter of connecting with any interested people.  I had an ask around the marina and the cruising club and came across a couple of notices of possible crew.  Its pretty important to get someone who is boat savy and has some sailing experience.  If you engage with someone who does not have the skills and/or experience you are essentially just taking on more responsibility and making the voyage harder.  I had a number of possibilities but eventually settled on a young Welsh lad called Owen.  Owen was a traveller – easy going guy with a millennial / hippie type vibe - and was working his way through Asia, Australia, New Zealand and places beyond.  He had done some sailing in Thailand and gone to the effort of obtaining certification and racking up some coastal sailing miles.  My only reservation was he did not have any ocean experience but his enthusiasm made up for it.  I outlined the possibility of the less than ideal expected conditions and subsequent high possibility of sea sickness but this failed to deter him any so I signed him on as crew.

Two boats down from Sea Otter in the marina was another Koopmans design.  This was unusual as you typically do not see many of them around especially outside of Europe.  Avalon was a 45ft steel Koopmans (pronounced Kopmans I was told) and was owned by Geert and Judith, a Dutch couple who had sailed her from Portugal over the past three plus years.  I did not realise until Geert knocked on Sea Otters hull one morning and introduced himself.  We hit it off straight away and spent many hours looking at and comparing each others boats.  The designs were almost identical apart from Avalon being a couple of feet longer giving her a bit more internal volume.

Over the next few days I picked Geerts brain for tips and experiences he had gained sailing Avalon over the past few years which I could use on Sea Otter.  I also reviewed the passage plan with him to get his impression of the weather.  The best he could say was that it looked like a rough crossing which whilst not being a ringing endorsement was still a positive response in my books.  Avalon is heading to Australia in a month or so and hopefully we will catch up again.

Owen moved onboard on Sunday 4^th May and made himself at home in the port side cabin.  This gave him a few days to get used to the boat and more importantly for me to give him an induction into all the vessel operating and safety systems.  After spending time with Owen I was having reservations as his sailing knowledge was quite rudimentary but we were committed now and at the very least he would be able to stand watch and allow me to sleep some.

Mahmood the hatch guy arrived as promised on Tuesday 6^th May and repaired the outstanding leaks.  Him and his guy spent the morning on the boat and were finished by lunch time.  Owen and I made a last outing to pick up fresh provisions and a couple of cushions for the cockpit to provide some modicum of comfort during the sail then it was back to the boat to make her ready for departure in the morning.

Hard to describe the feeling the night before.  Certainly anxious but also confident that we could complete the passage.  The worrying element was how uncomfortable/tolerable it would be, if we could handle the boat in a seamanlike manner and get it sailing efficiently without breaking anything and that the onboard systems worked as anticipated.  The next few days would tell.

Part 2 – The Passage

Needless to say I was up early on the 7^th – departure day.  We had a meeting with NZ Customs and Immigation booked for 0900 and I did not want to be late.  I also downloaded the latest forecasts and scanned them for any possible reprieve in the anticipated weather.  Unfortunately there was none but again it had not increased and the models were converging signalling confidence in the forecast.  To provide some context – the Predict Wind forecasts provide many data points for reference and one of them is the anticipated roll of the vessel due to the seastate.  They suggest that anything more than 4degrees is considered “uncomfortable and makes perfoming tasks around the boat difficult and more hazardous”.  Apart from the first and last day of the passage we had roll of around 6 degrees to 6.5 degrees anticipated.  But I had no reference as to what this meant practically so figured we needed to find out.

At the appointed time Owen and I presented at the Customs office in the Marina and were duly stamped out of NZ by a very efficient customs officer.  I must mention that the NZ Customs service personnel and processes I have dealt with throughout have been extremely efficient and a pleasure to deal with.

With our exit now officially sanctioned we had to leave immediately – do not stop, do not pass go.

We were seen off by Geert on the quayside and were moving out into the Bay of Islands by 10:00am under power.  We rounded Cape Wiwiki marking the northern part of the Bay of Islands at 11:15am and set a north westerly course in a freshening Easterly breeze.  We set the boat up with reefed main and jib to keep the ride as comfortable as possible and were still making circa 6kts.  There was a short chop on a longer swell giving us a short sharp motion and it immediately took its toll on Owen who by the first night was not feeling to good.  I usually would have felt sick too but was only slightly queasy – I had taken a couple of sea sickness tablets but was also wearing the wrist bands which seem to work for me.

Sea Otter ploughed along all night and the next day with the wind slowly settling into a more North Easterly direction.  Owen spent most of his time on deck trying to keep his seaksickness under control.  Even though he was feeling lousy when any sail configuration changes were required he responded immediately.  By midnight on Thursday we had passed the North Cape of New Zealand and were pointing in the direction of Noumea.  The cartoon below by Mike Peyton is very apt.

Using the Iridium Go system I downloaded the weather from Predict Wind every day sometimes twice a day and reran the sail routing prediction using our latest position as the starting point to confirm both current conditions, expected conditions and our general course.  To my great relief the satcom performed flawlessly and allowed us to access up to date weather information on demand.  We also had the Garmin tracker sending off a position report for the vessel every hour.  This allowed Nik and others to keep an eye on our progress.  The positioning information was also being sent to a service called Passage Guardian based in New Zealand.  This company provided a free overwatch service for vessels undertaking these kind of passages particularly for solo and short handed vessels.  They monitored our passage using the tracker positional  information and a daily text report I sent in from the vessel and would in case of any emergency be able to alert any rescue services.

Friday saw the winds die and slowly move around to the south as forecast.  We motored for a while due to the conditions but also to provide some charge for the batteries.  By evening time following a rather unnerving squall the wind was set into the south and blowing a constant 20kts to 30kts with wave heights building to what would become constant 4m to 5m seas.  These conditions remained with us for the next three days with the peak wind gusting at 38kts.

I had issues getting the wind vane to set properly and so set the autopilot instead which ran great to start with.  On hindsight the reason the wind vane would not set was due to the weather helm being experienced from running under just a double reefed main.  Whilst the autopilot worked in this condition it was under a fair amount of stress and on Sunday morning, four days in and just as we were passing Norfolk Island 50NM to the west, it stopped working.  Well it was working but not as it should be, making a horrible grinding sound and not even close to being able to keep a heading.  There had been a number of “Rudder Limit” alarms going off but I had overridden these during the night.

It had all been going so well.  This was during our peak wave exposure and very soon after the autopilot shut down we took a wave over the starboard side which filled the cockpit.  Luckily only a little water went below.  Next thing though the bilge alarm was going off and then the gas alarm – its always in threes right.

Owen took over the helm and I looked into the other issues.  I thought the gas detector went off because the sensor was wet so was not too worried about that.  I opened up the cabin soles and inspected the bilges and they seemed OK.  Sea Otter is usually a very dry ship.  There was some water in the bilge around the keel hinge but nothing alarming and water in the central bilge but again nothing alarming.  I checked around the hull and all the skin fittings for integrity and could see no leak path.  The bilge water was not too salty so suspected there may have been a leak from somewhere on deck and rainwater was getting in through one of the hatches – Oh I didn’t mention that we had passing rain showers constantly aswell some of them with abrupt wind shifts.

Next item was to get the wind vane working otherwise Owen and I faced a unenviable task of hand steering for the final three days of the passage.  It took us the best part of that day and night to final get a balanced set up and the wind vane functioning.  On the bright side Owen was starting to feel a bit better, we had passed the worst of the weather and the outside temperature was rising. 

On Monday night the conditions started to ease.  By Tuesday we were in very gusty 20kt winds still with a big sea but one where the swell dominated so a bit more comfortable.  By Tuesday we were in the 15Kts to 20kts range and by Wednesday it was a comfortable 10kts to 15kts.  On Wendesday we had the same issue with the wind vane i.e. not being able to get it to hold position and so I made the decision to motor the last 60NM to Noumea.  As luck would have it I gave the autopilot another go and it managed to perform in the lighter conditions – it would periodically raise an alarm when the rudder adjustments required got to onerous but we could just reset it a again.

Slowly on Wednesday the outline of distant hills under long white clouds took shape on the horizon and drew closer as the morning turned into the afternoon.  There is a fringing barrier reef around New Caledonia and we had to navigate through a pass in the reef to the lagoon and then transit another 10NM to 15NM to Noumea the only designated port of entry.  I did not want to enter Noumea and anchor at dark and so getting the timing right was critical.  I had figured if we could enter the lagoon mid afternoon we would be OK. 

The barrier reef around New Cal is extremely impressive.  Lines of breaking surf appear in the distance and draw closer.  Modern navigation aids make the task of locating the passes very easy but care and a vigilant eye is still required.  We were making for the Passe de Boulaire a series of three sperate channels allowing access to the inner lagoon.  We had to battle the current in the pass but once into the lagoon we picked up speed again noted the channel marks and headed for Noumea.  The sun was setting and disappeared over the horizon about an hour from the anchorage.  It was going to be tight.  The anchorages in Noumea lie around a headland if approaching from the South as we were.  Thoughts of a nice quiet entry to Noumea were dispelled when we drew near to the headland and it became clear a fleet of racing yachts were heading for the same point.  To make matters more interesting a couple of rowing boats were also paralleling the coast heading for the inner harbour. 

As we rounded the point the dwindling dusk turned into full on night time.  We were in the midst of the fleet but avoided the boats as best we could and then picked our way slowly to the anchorage area.  The moon was not yet up and so it was difficult to make out the other yachts in the anchorage so we moved as close as we dared and then dropped the anchor to bring an end to the passage.   We hoisted our yellow quarantine flag and set some lights on deck as we were situated a little outside of the main anchorage area and after a quick tidy up hit our bunks.  I wanted to be up early the next day to shift closer to the marina where we had to check in.

So that was it – the maiden voyage for me in Sea Otter.  Approximately 1000NM in 7.5 days.  I was generally happy with the way it had gone and had learned a lot about the boat and my sailing skills which I would work on going forward.  I think Owen was as relieved as I to be on the anchor and finally able to get a solid nights sleep..

Opua to Noumea Passage

1st May - First solo passage

I arrived back in Auckland on Easter Sunday.  Nik has stayed in Perth as was not keen to do the passage to Noumea.  The boat was a mess when I arrived as there had been some further works being carried out while I had been away and these were continuing.  I had decided to depart Auckland on the 24^th April and so the final couple of days became a frenzy of activity to get everything finished.  As it was the boat was good to go by mid afternoon on the 23^rd which gave me time to shop for fresh food before departing.

In order to depart New Zealand I had to have a decent forecast and also to check out of a designated port of entry which for me was going to be Whangerei or Opua.  Only at these ports could I complete the necessary customs and immigration formalities.  Looking at the weather there was no real chance of departing for at least a week however there were small windows which would allow me to relocate to Whangerei or Opua.  Then I could wait for the weather window and be ready to check out when the time came.

Next day at 0600 I slipped the lines from the Westhaven berth and headed into Auckland harbour in a grey morning.  The forecast was not great but good enough to get me north.  This was my first solo sail and the rough plan was to head north to Whangerei where I would stop and wait for a suitable weather window which looked like it could be in around a weeks time.  

Once I cleared the main harbour I set sail, turned off the engine and headed north.  The wind was on the starboard beam and blowing around 20kts so it made for fairly brisk sailing.  Once the sails were set and we were settled and on course there was not a lot for me to do apart from keep a watch around the boat and on the navigation screens however there was very little traffic around given the ordinary weather conditions.  I spent the time equally on deck and below trying to get used to the motion. 

Around midday I started to consider my arrival time in Whangerei.  It was going to be around nightfall which meant anchoring in the dark which is not a good idea especially if it is an unknown anchorage.  I made the decision to push on another 60Nm or so to reach the Bay of Islands.  It meant an overnight sail but  would put me further north and in familiar territory. 

Nightfall came just after the entrance to Whangerei as we cleared Bream Head.  The darkness was absolute – there was no moon and the stars were completely obscured by the low cloud.  The boat just kept ploughing on.  I tried to get some rest during the night as we had about 10 hrs still to run.  One of my major concerns regarding solo sailing was how to get rest.  I know the theoretical duration is 15mins of sleep at a time but I tried that at first but it did not feel right.  In the end I managed about 2hrs in 30min segments coming up on deck in between to check for any vessels. 

The rest of the sail was rather boisterous but uneventful.  We passed Cape Brett at around 03:00am and turned westward into the Bay of Islands heading for a sheltered but wide anchorage I had been to before.  It was another 2hrs before I arrived at Robertson Island and got the anchor down by which time I was shattered and gladly collapsed into my bunk.

The Route from Auckland to Bay of Isalnds

I awoke about 5hrs later.  We were safe and secure at anchor.  I had sailed 130NM at an average speed of around 6kts and at some point we hit 8kts.  Generally the sail had been pretty good although I still needed to resolve the sleep issue for any longer passages.  I had also been disorientated which upon further consideration was due to the sea sickness patches called Scopolamine that I was using.  Reading up on the side effects I recognized the confusion, disorientation, hallucinations and other symptoms which I had experienced through the night.  As a result I will not be using them again. 

I sat at anchor from Friday until Wednesday.  The weather was terrible - severe rain and very windy.  Its was a pretty miserable few days and you start to question what the hell you are doing.  On the Wednesday I left and headed into the marina as I had to go in to check out anyway and there was some further work on two of the deck hatches to be carried out as they were still leaking. 

So am now sitting in the marina.  I have booked my clearance Wednesday the 7^th May.  This may or may not move depending on how the forecast firms up.

Current forecast for planned departure date