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| Daily Log Page 14 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 Nov 2005 Arrived Australia!!! Entered Bundaberg Port at 6:30 this morning local time to find 7 other boats waiting for check in. There are about 5 other boats behind us coming in this morning so Customs, Immigration and Quarantine will be busy today. Some of our old buddies on "Adios" heard us on the radio checking in so they gave us a call. Haven't seen them for a couple years since New Zealand. So looks like catch up time and take care of business. Haven't seen any kangaroos yet! Aloha R&K | |||||||||||||||||
| 31 Oct 2005 Only 114 miles to go to Bundaberg as of 12:00 noon (Oz time)! Had a raging current against us last night after we passed Bird Islet with 8-9 knots of boat speed through the water, and only 5 knots over land (GPS). Kind of a rolly night as well, but today is "sweet as" (kiwi term). We're beam reaching in 10-11 knots of breeze and making well over 7 knots over a slight sea. Looks like we'll be one of the first boats to check in tomorrow morning if we maintain this course and speed. Had a fishing vessel come close last night, but we raised him on VHF and he turned to pass behind us. It was a tense episode, as there was another freighter on radar and visible with running lights that showed up much better on radar than the closer fishing boat. The Aussie fisherman assured us that he saw us and would pass behind~not a problem mate! R&K | |||||||||||||||||
| 30 Oct 2005 Nice sailing conditions with beam winds and moderate seas. 248 miles to go as of 2:30 pm (Queensland time) Position 21 deg 57 min S, 155 deg 47 min E. Making 6 knots and looking towards an early morning arrival for check in at Bundaberg on 1st Nov. We've been having boat to boat quizzes on the radio every day after lunch to keep the old brains ticking. Some really fun folks these Aussies. Sure would love to get emails from all our readers that are lurking out there! NH7PV@winlink.org (text only) Caw! R&K | |||||||||||||||||
| 26 Oct 2005 Ahhh! Chesterfield. After a long rolly night of downwind sailing, we arrived at our waypoint in squally conditions around 7:30 am local time. After turning left, we followed our points into the protection of a long reef, with a string of small islands and anchored in the lee. There are thousands of birds everywhere, and when you have that many birds easting a fish diet for thousands of years and living on these islands, anchoring down wind can become an aromatic experience! Any way we found a nice spot with excellent holding in sand, about 18 feet deep. Time for much needed rest, as other boats start arriving for a few days of exploration and fun. Then its on to Bundy. R&K | |||||||||||||||||
| 25 Oct 2005 Position at 11:30 am local (Vanuatu) time 18 deg 52 min S, 160 deg 13 min E. Wind started strengthening yesterday evening, so put a double reef in the main and at sunset rolled up the jib and unfurled the staysail instead to try to slow down. Trying to time our arrival at Chesterfield Reef for a couple hours after dawn so we'll have the sun at our back and be able to see the reef well. We've got a brand new WGS 84 chart for the area and together with electronic chart and waypoints given us by friends who went in there last year should be straightforward. We've also got another reef that we and the other boats nearby are calling "Mystery Reef" because it appears only on some charts and not at all on others. Its position is doubtful but we're giving it a wide berth just in case it does exist, and will try to spot it as we sail by in about 3 hrs. All for now....Caw! | |||||||||||||||||
| 24 Oct 2005 Movin' right along with 12+ knots on the beam and making 6.7 knots. Position at 4pm local time 18 deg 01 min S, 162 deg 16 min E. Flew the Spinnaker for a few hours mid day when the winds backed and faded, but back to full main and jib now. Should arrive at Chesterfield Reef right on time early morning in 2 days. Two other boats, "Gypsy Lee" and "Rascal II" are visible and also stopping at Chesterfield. Kelly made some awesome pea soup! Caw! | |||||||||||||||||
| 23 Oct 2005 Finally got some wind this AM after motor-sailing all night. The seas are very slight and the conditions are superb. There are about 5 boats all within 15 miles or so and we've been messing around on VHF radio. 388 miles to Chesterfield reef as of 1:45 PM local time. Position 16deg 57 min S, 164deg 32 min E | |||||||||||||||||
| 22 Oct 2005 Farewell to Vanuatu! What a great group of islands to cruise. Probably one of our top favorites so far. We could have done another month or so here easily. We departed Espiritu Santo Island this morning at 7AM local time for Chesterfield Reef, which is about 550 miles away. Did 3 awesome scuba dives on the SS President Coolidge troop carrying ship converted from a luxury liner. It sunk in 1942 after it hit a friendly mine by mistake and makes it the worlds largest most accessible wreck dive. We plan on stopping at Chesterfield for a couple of days along with some of the other boats on the Port2Port Rally. Its turtle breeding time and Chesterfield also has dry land and lots of birds. Had a briefing last night with the 13 boats leaving from Santo, and there are 9 leaving from Port Vila and 2 from New Cal. Its not a race, and you can leave whenever you want to arrive in Bundaberg, Australia on Nov. 1st or 2nd. They're gonna have a week of festivities and activities | |||||||||||||||||
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