Towards Terra Australis ...

We thought we left the interesting experience with the Fijian customs behind, but somehow it was evident that the wrath of the customs officer was still with us, as after the uncomfortable and time consuming upwind beat to Lautoka we had to beat again into the wind going back the same way. The head wind finally abated and we motored out of the Fijian reef through the Navula Passage at the southern end of the main island Viti Levu. The next 8 days of sailing to New Caledonia were a mixed bag of conditions ranging from no wind to force 8 with the wind going around the entire compass rose. After a rainy period we noticed a distinct change in the air and the water temperature had suddenly dropped 3 degrees – it was bye bye to the tropics. We were blown off our rhumb line quite a bit and also had a visit from a family of swallows needing a rest. What were these landlubbers doing in the middle of the ocean??

We entered the New Caledonian reef through the Havannah Pass and rounded the southern tip of the island during sunrise, following the shipping channel weaving its way past red rock faces lined with Norfolk Pines. After 720 miles we arrived at Port Moselle in Noumea and there was no doubt that it was Vive la France again. With a [mainly French] population of nearly 100.000, Noumea is considered a metropolis for South Pacific standards and is also the centre of yachting. The marina facilities were a reflection of that – and so was the hike in price level.

After nearly 7 weeks this was the final port for Tilman – who was really looking forward to returning to subzero temperatures in Germany.

The new crew joining PasoDoble for her last leg to Australia were Tao, Don and Maria. Before heading off though, we hired a car and explored part of the east coast of the island. Contrary to the volcanic origin of most of the other Pacific islands, New Caledonia geomorphologically forms parts of the Australian continental shelf, hence is rich in mineral resources. Proof if this are the ravaged mountains in the central highlands with open cut mining being omnipresent there. This is the reason why the French Government, despite fierce battles in the past, has so far resisted giving the indigenous Melanesian ‘Kanaks’ the choice to become independent.

While berthed in Noumea the wind was steadily blowing from the southeast, however when we were ready to leave calm was forecasted for the coming 3-5 days. We decided however we had enough of Noumea and sailed out to Amedee Island, situated right next to the main westerly reef pass. The sandy island is a day tourist destination with a grand historic lighthouse, manufactured in France and then transported to Amedee in 1874. Surrounded by a small reef and corals abundant with sea life it was an easy spot to while away some days.

On the morning of the d-day we motored out of the reef through the Boulari Pass. The water was like a mirror and a spectacular reef break wrapping around the north end of the pass attracted some local surfers. Access to the break however is 1 hr via speedboat.

After about 8 hours of motoring a light breeze started off in the late afternoon. This was the beginning of a first steady and then rather blustery sail towards the Australian eastern seaboard. After downloading the weather gribfile we found out the source for the force 7-8 winds was cyclone Evan, ravaging Fiji and making for an early opening of the cyclone season. I guess we just got out in time. Our designated port of entry was Brisbane and after 797 miles in only 5 days [pushing our best daily average to 194 nm] we sighted Moreton Bay Island in the setting sun and if it weren’t for the pretty rough sea state we would have cracked a bottle of champagne. There was no choice really of slowing the boat down to make landfall by day and that meant rounding the northern tip of Moreton Bay Island around midnight. We negotiated the bar at the Inner Freeman Channel and labored our way against a strong southeasterly combined with an ebbing tide towards Tangalooma, where we literally ‘chucked’ the anchor down and fell asleep.

We lifted anchor again at sunrise while a flooding tide against the southeasterly still blowing 25-30kn created a very choppy sea. Zig-zagging the main shipping channel into Brisbane harbour we bounced across Moreton Bay and made our way up the river past the container terminals and industrial complexes to Rivergate Marina, where the 2 waiting Australian customs officers kindly took our lines - what a service !!!

After an unexpected surprisingly friendly and helpful clearing-in procedure by both customs and quarantine we could step onto Australian soil.

Since our departure from Barcelona on July 6, 2011 we have travelled approximately 16000 nautical miles in 523 days. Very fortunately we have not experienced any major technical problems and without any delays were able to keep to our planned itinerary exactly to the day.

THANK YOU SO MUCH - PASO DOBLE - YOU ARE A WONDEFUL BOAT

PS - this is a report about Cyclone Evan. 

"Everyone was hunkered down, the winds were so strong last night (Monday) you couldn't even open your doors, it was over 200km per hour (125 mph)," said Marc Hinton, a New Zealander visiting Fiji.

Western parts of Viti Levu saw the most destruction, as Evan tore through the area overnight.
The Fiji Times have described the township of Lautoka in Viti Levu as a "war zone".

"The destruction this cyclone has caused is beyond words. Not one house has been spared here," Lautoka resident Melaia Waisele said.

PPS - we found a temporary home for PasoDoble at the Dockside Marine, right in the centre of Brisbane. She looks happy there, enjoying a quiet time ...

Fiji … sun, reefs and more reefs

The port of Savu Savu on the island of Vanua Levu was the starting point of this leg of the journey. After the already in the last post described ‘officialdom’ of clearing in we welcomed our new crew Cathy and Pam on board.

Before setting off on our cruise through the island world of Fiji we decided that Johnny was a worthwhile recipient of some of PasoDoble's ‘5% project’ funds. About 12 years ago Johnny suffered an accident, which left him a quadriplegic. He now receives a disability pension of 65 Fijian dollars per month and needs to support his family with selling necklaces on the street. We hoped our small contribution would bring at least some short-term relief.

Another urge we needed to satisfy was a dive with the Jean-Michel Cousteau resort to the renown Namena Marine Park dive site. A few different factors need to coincide, but we were lucky. The weather gods provided a flat sea for the 20miles or 35 minutes trip in a 500hp speedboat and the luxurious resort came up with the 3 more divers to bring it up to the necessary number 5 to make to trip possible. It was worthwhile as the dive was magnificent. Large coral heads at their best architecture and condition, at a depths of 25 to 35 meters and at the edge of the reef a steep drop to about 600m. Perhaps the word awesome describes it best. Unfortunately we have no underwater pictures of the dive …

… but were sufficiently motivated wanting to return to the marine park the following day with Paso Doble. This time under sail, the slow motion trip with a fresh breeze took about 4 hours. Entering the reef via the North Safe-a-Tack Pass, we tied up to a mooring buoy just before dark at Namena Island. The next day we snorkeled the reefs surrounding the boat and although lacking the excitement of depths found it almost as satisfying as the dive. The corals and fauna were simply wonderful.

We had plans for an overnight sail straight to the Yasawa Islands in the west of Fiji and left the Namena reef via the South Safe-a-Tack Pass - facing a wall of black sky; no mention of that in the weather forecast. About a mile outside the reef the skies opened and the wind started to blow with 30 knots from the west, exactly where we were headed for. About 2 hours later we were still a mile from the reef pass and gave up, changed tack and started to head south. With the wind abeam now we sailed briskly down towards the main island of Viti Levu, hoping that the wind would turn by the time we reached the next reef channel. By 1700h the wind was still westerly and we made for an anchorage in the lee of Makogai Island, hoping for a change of wind overnight.

We woke up to good news the next morning – the boat was facing south. We weighed anchor and continued with our plan of the overnight sail, only this time the wind came from aft quarter and we ‘broad reached’ up through the Vati-i-Ra channel towards the Yasawas. The timing was for a dawn arrival at the Qio Pass leading into the Tivolei reef. We got there at 0700h and managed to sail trough the narrow passage without changing sail – perfect. At 0900h we slipped through the Tamasua Pass and put down our anchor in the lee of Sawa-i-Lau Island, right outside the steps to the limestone caves.

Soon after the beach in front of the caves came alive with Fijian vendors setting up their stalls getting ready for the daily water taxis loaded with resort tourists from the surrounding islands. After all the activities were over, vendors gone and peace returned we checked out the cave. The angle of the afternoon sun was perfect for the rays to shine through the skyward opening and set the cave alight.  The corals in front of the caves were also very pretty and it was easy to while away a few hours with snorkeling.

The following day we left the bay and motored down the lee side of Nacula Island to the most famous of all Yasawa spots – the Blue Lagoon. The midday sun helped navigating through the reefs protecting the lagoon and we put down the hook right where Brooke Shields might have swum all these years ago. That night we went to the adjoining Coral View resort for a traditional ‘Lomo’ earth-oven cooked meal, however the ‘fire dance’ performed by the staff made up for the very average meal.

We organized a last South Pacific dive at the same resort, but the Namena dive was a hard act to follow. It also pointed out that after the very professional Cousteau dive outfit one should be choosy with whom to go diving … although we were lucky and got away with a minor inconvenience, the combination of a few smaller issues could have resulted in a major problem.

We left the Blue Lagoon and headed out the channel to the west. We decided to take advantage of a fresh breeze for a brisk sail down the outside of the islands rather than weaving our way through the seemingly endless reefs within the group. Our next stop was off the beach next to the village of Yamata on the island of Wayalailai. No sooner did we drop the anchor we got a visit from Ili in his tin canoe, who sold us 5 plate size reef fish – dinner was organized.

In the late afternoon another canoe stopped by. Steven was on the way to his ‘night shift’ of lobster hunting and promised us some for the next morning. Well, he turned up at 0730h with his catch ... and dinner was organized again. He stayed for a chat and some morning tea. Following an invitation to his village we later on met some of his extended family clan and acquired some locally made souvenirs.

Then we left the Yasawas and headed off to Monuriki Island in the northern Mamanuca group. This island is nicknamed Tom Hank’s island in most guidebooks, after the movie Cast away. One thing is sure with these places made famous by Hollywood movies – they pick spectacular locations.

The next few windy days were lazily spent beach combing and snorkeling around the sand spit before the inevitable last port for this leg called – Musket Cove Marina on Malololailai island. Heading into a southeasterly wind we sailed [motor assisted] through the southern Mamanunca islands and entered the protecting reefs of  the Malolo group. Originally sold for one musket, Dick Smith had a vision for this cove and in the 1960’s acquired it for a quite a few more muskets, turning it into a resort and marina. We tied up stern-to, connected to the civilized world of running water and power and gave PasoDoble the fortnightly scrub-down.

We aptly finished off this leisurely holiday leg with a Fijian dinner and traditional song night at the resort – at sunset … life’s tough

Officialdom had to be dealt with again to be able to leave the country. Lautoka is the clearance port for this area of Fiji, some 60 km away from Musket Cove on the main land of Viti Levu. We got there by ferry and bus and were quite put off by custom's refusal to clear us out; further more demanding that we actually present the boat at the port of Lautoka for inspection. This was completely contrary to what we were told by the customs officer in Savu Savu. Trying a number of more or less diplomatic approaches from ‘sweet talk’ to ‘please-please-please’ to ‘I will have to lodge an official complaint’ got us no results … it meant going upwind for a whole day and through a stretch of water littered with reefs – thank you very much, Mr Custom's Officer.