Farewell, Whitsundays

After an amazing three weeks of sailing & discovering the Whitsunday Islands, it was now time to head south toward Brisbane and out of the cyclone belt of Eastern Australia. The distance to travel is +525 NM, depending on winds and Sea Child's ability or inability to point to course. The first jaunt, from Whitsunday Island to Lindeman Island was beautiful, with a short stop at Hamilton Island to buy two more bags of ice (yes, for the new freezer which is taking too long to make ice itself) and some last minute provisions, had us sailing for about 5 hours or so, on a nice northerly with winds +15 knots. We had read about Lindeman Island, with its "family friendly" version of Club Med, and we looked forward to hiking the trails that were conveniently mapped out in the guide books. Once we arrived at Lindeman, we did notice a rather empty looking resort, with ropes closing off the balcony stairs to the beach and the kayak racks standing empty on the pretty pink sand. The only sign of civilization at this resort was a proudly waving Australian flag, high up its pole. Otherwise, no signs of life at all could be seen through the binoculars. We figured out that this resort was the "Club Med for families", closed since January 2012 and currently owned by a Chinese investor. The island seemed rather quiet, the only sounds heard were of the unique voices of the birds, some singing, some whistling, some honking their strange tunes across our anchorage, which would be returned by others across the bay. We spent all of 15 hours at Lindeman, and after an early breakfast, decided to take advantage of a stronger northerly to continue our sail south.

From Lindeman Island, we headed to Keswick Island, about +30 NM south. We set the spinnaker for a beautiful sail, winds to 20 knots apparent, downwind, sunshine and clear skies. As we neared Keswick, itself another casualty of the GFC (Aussie speak for Global Financial Crisis), the winds accelerated and Sea Child saw speeds in excess of 15 knots. Upon arrival, the takedown was orchestrated in such a way that both of us were on the trampolines, grabbing, pulling, securing the giant sail and stuffing it into the sail locker before the gusty winds could take hold of it. We dropped the main, and in the gusty northerlies, secured our anchorage just offshore this private island. Keswick has a unique airport, where we were able to take a quick walk after two days of sailing, with its runways paralleling the waters edge. A rather short, but clean, asphalt runway had one small Cherokee 140 with covers. A nice plane, and the only evidence of people that we had seen. The airport itself is fringed with job trailers, like those seen on construction sites. The guides had mentioned a jetty for boats on the airport side of Keswick. There were no signs of such a jetty, but the for sale sign was prominently displayed on the southern end of the runway. The winds howled all night long, and early the next morning we bid farewell to Keswick, and headed for Middle Percy, +60 NM to the south.

Again, we had another fabulous day of sailing, the winds going very light as we neared Middle Percy and the A-frame building at West Bay. We had heard about the famous A-frame, and all the boat names that were cleverly displayed around the simple structure. As we wandered around the long, white sand beach leading up to the A-frame, we couldn't help but smile at the two pointers who were playing in the surf nearby. What a dogs paradise, we thought, as the two would chase each other into the water and wrestle in the shallows. Their friendly nature, as we were soon to learn, was gleaned from their relationship as mother & son, dogs born on Percy Island and familiar with the visiting yachties who leave their own marks on the A-frame. Sea Child left a plank as well, with our boat name, hailing port, and date of visit. The kaleidoscope of yachtie memorabilia is truly a sight to behold. Hours can be spent at the A-frame gazing upon dates and names and we were amazed at the creativity of the plaques and surfboards and buoys that each yachtie wrote their own names upon.

We bid farewell to Middle Percy and the friends that we had met along the way. We set sail for Pearl Bay, +50 NM to our SE. The weather forecast showed winds continuing ESE to 25 with showers likely. As we sailed away, we were happy to see that the winds were easterly enough to allow us to point to course, 140 degrees, with winds +18 apparent ESE, seas slight to 1 meter. As we cleared the Percy Islands, however, the winds became strong SE, and our course became 130, maybe, with seas now a very uncomfortable +8'. Steep and close together, one wave after another crashed into the bottom of Sea Child, and the rains came down in earnest. We looked at each other, deciding that this is not the sailing experience we wanted on this day, barely making +4 knots toward a shore north of where we wanted to go. We turned back to Middle Percy, to West Bay, to shelter and safety and a good nights sleep. The sail back took us barely 2 hours, downwind, smooth, main only at +12 knots. And when we turned the corner around the point edging West Bay, we noticed a beautiful ketch with its torn mainsail, and realized that we were in fact the lucky ones. We set our anchor and gave thanks at our good fortune, to be here with about a dozen other boats and listen to the winds howl in the distance.

We expect the weather to turn more favorable in the next few days and we hope to sail to Rosslyn Bay, +200 miles SE.

CURRENT LOCATION:

21 DEGREES 39.946 SOUTH
150 DEGREES 14.434 EAST

Voting Abroad

We had planned to vote in the upcoming election on November 6. However, our absentee ballots had not arrived by the time we headed down under to sail Sea Child toward Australia & the Great Barrier Reef. So we had our ballots mailed to us at Mackay Marina, our entry port, and they had arrived after about a 5 day transit via FedEx. We had expected to sail to Mackay, where we have found the best provisioning options in all of Queensland, but our freezer problem kept us north in the Whitsundays for longer than we expected. With time running out, we decided that it would be best if we rented a car at Airlie Beach, and drove the +150KM south to Mackay. With road construction and two lane highways, the drive took us over 2 hours. Add in the massive rain squalls that peppered the drive and the right hand drive/left side road, and we definitely had an interesting experience while performing our patriotic duty.

The lands between Airlie Beach and Mackay are massive and impressive and quite different than anything we have seen on this Sea Child journey. The prairie-like landscape of Queensland, Australia, featured beautiful farms with cattle grazing in fields of green, nursing their young as they gazed upon the passing cars. Another incredible ranch had a herd of horses galloping along with their white long legs and mains blowing in the wind, impressive and beautiful all at the same time. As we ventured further south toward the mountain region of north Mackay, the ranching turned to sugarcane farming, with field after field after field all laid out along beautiful rolling green hills. The cane fields were more like rows of grapes and reminded us of vineyards rather than cane farms. Every so often, a cane house would frame an edge of a large field, quite reminiscent of the plantation homes that dot the Upcountry, Maui region. As we drove along and the sunset came upon us, we finally reached the Clarion Hotel at Mackay Marina, tand retrieved our absentee ballots.

After a wonderful dinner at the Clarion, we began our drive back to Airlie Beach, and once outside the city limits of Mackay, the rains came down in earnest. This slowed our progress back north, and with the road construction along the way, we pushed onward. The fields were now black under the rains and clouds, the full moon invisible. The Bruce Highway connecting the Whitsunday Region and Mackay is populated by large double trailer trucks who barrel toward an unknown destination. Their distant taillights guided us back to Airlie Beach, where the delightful Whitsunday Sailing Club served us cold beers as the mission to vote was almost complete. We made our votes the next day and went to the Australian Post Office to send fastest delivery to Maui. We decided to pay the extra money to mail these ballots back and we realized that we must be crazy Americans, determined to cast our votes from faraway shores. After all the effort to rent a car, drive the distance, and pay the postage, we found ourselves out +$200 AUS. We really must be crazy Americans. And we insured that we can remain active participants in any dialog regarding American affairs. Well, thats what we tell ourselves, anyway, to justify the effort!!


CURRENT POSITON:
20 DEGREES 14.536 MINUTES SOUTH
148 DEGREES, 50.178 MINUTES EAST

More stories and Google earth position at:

www.sailblogs.com/member/seachild

Aloha, Australia! Aloha, Whitsunday Islands

We arrived in Mackay, Australia after rounding Swain Reef and beating our way up Capricorn Channel. The industrial port of Hay Point, with all the bulk carrier ships offshore at anchor, kept us busy at 3am as wind gust were approaching +25 knots SW. At 4:30am, Friday October 12, 2012, we finally entered the channel of Mackay, Australia, and with the help of the Mackay Harbor Master, we found the Q-dock and tied up for a few hours of much needed rest. After clearing into Australia with super friendly bio-security & border customs agents, we had finally arrived in Mackay, Australia. 1100 miles after departing Dumbea Pass, New Caledonia, and 5 1/2 days later, we entered our next foreign country. Australia, with all her vastness, awaited our discovery of islands and coastlines that Sea Child has yet to explore.

We victualed at the Coles Market in Mackay Town, across the Pioneer River from the Marina at Mackay. The Pioneer River is interesting in that it totally dries at low tide, and as we rode in the taxi toward the market, we noticed the vessels scattered here and there, high and dry. We found the market at Coles to be quite complete, with everything from fresh organic fruits and vegetables to a complete selection of tofu & vegetarian items to choose from. We stocked up on everything, as all fresh items on Sea Child were confiscated by the bio-security agent. We bought fresh red, yellow & green peppers, fresh eggplant, fresh apples, oranges & bananas, tofu, chili peppers and soy cream, along with a myriad of items. After about 2 hours of shopping, and $400 later (a weeks provisions for 4 passengers), we returned to Sea Child at Mackay Marina, and again, as we crossed the Pioneer River, took notice that those high and dry vessels were now floating. It was very apparent why Mackay built the outer marina, as the tides may have been drastic, but the marina never went dry.

After one night in the marina, we bid farewell to Mackay and headed NW, toward the islands & bays of the Whitsunday Islands. We sailed along for 6 hours or so yesterday, to our first anchorage at Thomas Island. Of course celebration beers were in order, and after a grilled eggplant sandwich lunch, we headed ashore to Naked Lady Beach on Thomas Island. A rugged island of scrub and eucalyptus trees, we followed the dry riverbed along a trail toward the SE side of the little island. There, we found a beautiful vista of the surrounding islands, and nosed around the driftwood and rock-strewn beach. The islands of the Whitsundays remind us so far of a cross between the Bay of Islands in New Zealand, and the San Juan Islands of the Pacific Northwest. Beautiful seascapes surround us now, as we continue to sail NW to Whitsunday Island, where Buddy & Nancy will inquire about their return flight options to Sydney. Its wonderful for us to have such great guests come and join a discovery leg on Sea Child. Their company has been a gift to us, and we expect to miss them greatly once they take their leave back to the USA.

In the next few days, Sea Child will locate some spectacular dive sites on Hook Island, just NE of Whitsunday Island. A day trip out to Great Barrier Reef, from Hook Island, is in the plans for next week.


Current location:

20 DEGREES, 31.813 SOUTH
149 DEGREES, 02.238 EAST


Please see this link for google earth position of Sea Child:

www.sailblogs.com/member/seachild

Australia on our port side

Sea Child is nearing Mackay, Australia, our arrival port of entry after the Coral Sea Crossing (eta 0400 Friday October 12, 2012). Please see this link to read more and also view our google earth position:

www.sailblogs.com/member/seachild


21 degrees 50.164 minutes SOUTH
150 degrees 57.420 minutes EAST

Au Revoir New Caledonia

Sea Child has departed New Caledonia and is now sailing to Great Barrier Reef, Australia. For more information and Google Earth position, please see this link:

www.sailblogs.com/member/seachild

23 degrees 10 minutes SOUTH
163 degrees, 40 minutes EAST

Noumea to Isle of Pines, New Caledonia

After spending several months and many miles crossing the Pacific Ocean, we really had not read much regarding New Caledonia. We had heard about the country mostly in New Zealand, where many yachties were either planning their journey back to the NE countries of Fiji & Tonga, Niue or back to French Polynesia. Other yachties would mention New Caledonia as a "beat upwind" but worth the visit. When we bought Sea Child back in Trinidad, the previous owner had told us that he wished to sail her into New Caledonia, across the Pacific. And so New Caledonia remained on our list of countries to visit, though maybe not for very long. Here we are now, however, with fresh eyes and a change in seasons. New Caledonia is at our fingertips to be discovered, welcoming and comfortable and unique.

We had hired Noumea Yacht Services to keep a keen eye on Sea Child while we were away in the USA. Their bi-monthly emails informed us as to her condition and location, since they had to move her twice. When we returned to Noumea in late September, we found Sea Child clean and well cared for. Her decks were white and polished, her interior without a trace of mold or smell. A welcome back, or home as we like to think, Sea Child tended to by the watchful eyes of Chloe, our NYS rep who hails from Vanuatu but now resides in Noumea. Given our constant communication with Chloe, and ease of entry on a one way ticket, we highly recommend NYS to any yachtie headed to New Caledonia. If you need to leave your yacht here, our advice is to use Noumea Yacht Services. You will be glad you did.

After a few days provisioning and adjusting to the time change, we bid a fond farewell to Port du Sud Marina in Noumea. We found that Noumea, on a holiday weekend such as the one we landed in (New Caledonia day), is quite desolate and closed up. The main downtown near Port Moselle was like a ghost town; no shops open, not a soul around. Thankfully the fresh market near the marina was open on Sunday until noon, as we continued our reprovisioning quest. However,when we needed to skype the USA we found that the internet cafes that we knew about were all closed. We ended up driving into the tourist area of Baie de Citron, where a string of restaurants lined the main beach drive. Any one of them offered free internet with purchase of drinks, so as we enjoyed our lunch and cold drinks, we placed that much needed call back to Maui, all the while thankful for our IPhone with Skype. What did we ever do without technology??

Today we are sailing toward the Isle of Pines, the most SE islands of New Caledonia. We heard the diving there is spectacular, and the biking around the island a highlight. After a brief visit to Ouen Island, where the holding ground is fabulous, as is the morning SUP sessions, we were underway to the Isle of Pines. Waters are flat, winds light & variable, 4 knots boatspeed. And lots of sunshine on a perfect day, temp around 80 degrees.

For google maps position, please see:
www.sailblogs.com/member/seachild

22 degrees, 29.735 minutes SOUTH
155 degrees, 50.918 minutes EAST

Sailing to new territory

For details on Mt. Yasur Volcano on Tanna Island, Vanuatu and our crossing to Lifou, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia, please see this link:

www.sailblogs.com/member/seachild

Marina De We, Lifou, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia
Wednesday, June 6, 2012

20 DEGREES 55.061 SOUTH
167 DEGREES 16.701 EAST


----
This e-mail was delivered via satellite phone using GMN's XGate software.
Please be kind and keep your replies short.

Vanuatu Land Jumping

For details and google maps tracking of Sea Child's visit to Pentecost Island and the incredible sailing across to Santo, Vanuatu, please see this site:

www.sailblogs.com/member/seachild

Luganville, Santo Island, Vanuatu

Fiji to Vanuatu

For details and google maps tracking of Sea Child's crossing to Vanuatu, please see this site:

www.sailblogs.com/member/seachild

Port Vila, Vanuatu

Fiji after the Flood

We returned to Fiji 3 days late. The flood waters around Nadi had receded and the airport finally re-opened for inbound flights on Tuesday. Fiji was hit by a tremendous low pressure system that for several days had brought heavy rainfall and almost decimated Nadi town. The two rivers that frame this busy western district hub had merged from the immense amount of rain that fell during a 48 hour period. Today was the first real sunshine Nadi had seen since the great flood. As we drove around Nadi to provision Sea Child, we witnessed first hand the height of the flood waters and the extent of the damage everywhere. Homes had beds, couches, clothes and anything else they could manage to hoist up on their rooftops drying out. We saw trees in front of lawns that obviously came from upriver. We saw flood lines on plate glass windows, 4' above ground level. We saw mud, so much mud, covering front yards where groomed lawns once prospered. All along the chain link fences we witnessed the enormous amount of debris that clung to the fences in the raging flood waters.

Seeing these images, the mud caked streets of downtown Nadi, the pump trucks parked randomly sucking river water to be used later to hose down the mud-caked landscape elsewhere, was overwhelming. Large trucks parked along the river, sucking out water to hose their giant tires of mud. The group of men gathered around a large yard of heavy equipment, bull dozers and scrapers and backhoes, all idle as they, too, were caught in the flood.

Ali, our wonderful driver with a working air conditioner, told tales as he drove us around Nadi. He told us how the local people had a week of announcements warning of the rains that were coming to the western division of Fiji. And the locals did respond to the warning, to a point. The worst flooding hit on Sunday, April 1, causing a few deaths in the division. The local people just did not know how much rain would actually fall, catching some people by suprise.

The most amazing part of our drive around Nadi was the upbeat spirit of the local people. All along the route, we heard several "bula bula" coming from the local people on the street corners. The smiles on the faces of the men who lined the streets, waiting their turn at the ANZ Bank ATM machines. The wonderful spirit of the Fijians working together to restore their world, greeting each other as they crowd into an open market, surely sharing stories with each other about the flood damage. The smiles, the good nature of these people, who experience such devastation and yet remember that things can be replaced or fixed. Their fellow neighbors, however, are more precious than anything.

As we returned to Sea Child after collecting provisions around Nadi, I could almost see her smile along her waterlines. Sea Child was coming back to life and gearing up for the Easter weekend at Musket Cove. Given that so much rain had fallen just a few days ago, and that January had a similar system go through the area, Sea Child looks fantastic. We had hired a local couple to keep the mold away and wash all gear and canvas covers. They did a fantastic job, and Sea Child has never been so clean. This was money well spent, to have a caretaker keep out the mildew and check all systems while we were away.

The sun shines again today, Good Friday. And it really is a good Friday to be in Fiji. We feel truly blessed.

Waiting out Fiji weather

Rain, wind, flooding. Fiji has been inundated with bad weather that has contributed to broken water mains, limited power, and cancelled flights. We have been scheduled to return to our adventure on Sea Child, with our continued adventures across the South Pacific to include Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Australia. However, the weather in Fiji is delaying this next leg so we are holed up in Maui.

Fiji has been a delightful cruising world, with incredible diving and sailing and anchorages both popular and secluded. Once we are able to sail away, hopefully in the next few weeks, we will miss Fijian hospitality and all of the friends we have made there.

So while we wait in Maui, our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Fiji. We hope to arrive later there later this week.

Kula, Maui, Hawaii

Where is Sea Child?

www.sailblogs.com/member/seachild/?show=map