Cruising the Coral Sea

Vanuatu to Ile Huon Reef (282nm)  – we woke up early on the 20^th (Wednesday) and due to the fact we had gotten everything ship shape and stowed the night before we were able to set sail straight away.  On our way out of Vanuatu we saw a magnificent rainbow in the direction we were heading which we took as a favorable omen

Within two hours of leaving Craig had a huge mahimahi grab a hold of his line, unfortunately though it managed to free itself.  An hour after that there was another bite, this time a 1.3m wahoo which Craig succeeded in landing, filleting and frying parts of straight away.  As we still don’t have a fridge we have limited time to eat the fish before it gets a bit funky so we knew there was going to be a lot of fish meals in our near future.

By 2pm we were really getting tossed around by the wind and the waves.  It was becoming really difficult to move safely around the boat so we stopped moving.  With the autopilot doing its thing Craig napped for the remainder of the day while I read (thanks to the last sea sick patch).

Thursday was pretty steady, around lunchtime the swell and wind had calmed down somewhat which is what we were expecting so we were both happy with that.  We had another good sail through Thursday night and early Friday morning we entered the Ile Huon Reef around 4.30am.  I had done a bit of research so we were very confident on where the pass was, how wide it was and the fact there would be no coral heads in our way.  As we sailed towards the tiny sandy atoll it started getting brighter so we were able to see the bottom when we dropped anchor in 7metres of water.  There was one other boat there called Roxie who we had met back in Luganville and Andrew the captain was the guy who had told us about both Ratua and these reefs.

Soon after dropping anchor we jumped in the dinghy and headed ashore which was absolutely amazing.  Think thousands of birds flying around and turtles either mating in the water or slowly shuffling up the beach to lay their eggs.   Another cool thing we saw (among the many cool things) was a lineup of tiny crabs.  A few months back we had watched a David Attenborough documentary which showed crabs lining up from biggest to smallest.  The one at the front will shuck his shell and quickly scoot into an empty bigger shell then all the crabs behind him one by one shuck theirs and climb into the shell just discarded by the crab in front, it was amazing to actually see this happen. That evening the crew from Roxie came over and we chatted and ate some of their fish they had caught earlier that day (ours was all gone).

Day 4 – after a fabulous nights sleep we set about doing some chores on the boat, We had planned to set of on the next leg however the generator that keeps the autopilot running at night had been playing up since we left Vanuatu so Craig started working on it trying to get it running right again.  While he worked on that I mucked around the boat trying to make myself useful. Despite working on it all day (and I mean all day) it still wasn’t working quite right though we still made the decision to leave at first light.

Ile Huon to Chesterfield Reef (272nm) – we set sail just before 6am and had a good side wind which is when we tend to go fast (for us), we sailed along at an average speed of 6.5 knots. I did very little during the day, reading and doing puzzles while Craig did some Macguyering around the boat and also had another go at fixing the generator.  He had a little bit more luck and was able to rewire it so instead of pushing out 220v it was giving us 12v (the hope being that if we ran the generator through the night that this is enough power to keep the autopilot running, fingers crossed).

Day 6 – well that was a long night.  The good news is that the generator did work, it put out just enough power to keep the autopilot on and no more – phew.  Craig had to refuel it twice in the night.  We both didn’t have very good night sleeps however as we were both unsure whether it would work and our concern was the auto would turn off without us realising and the boat would turn around and head back the other way (trust me this has happened to us before – oops).  We did manage to kip few a few hours on and off which is at least something.

Mid morning Craig had a brainwave about the generator and the fact that all the problems could be to do with the exhaust so once again he attacked it and sure enough it was gunked up and the next hour or so was spent cleaning that up.  He finally got the generator up and going again and it was sounding better than when we had first purchased it, result!  It was just about then that we noticed the boat had slowed right down, we looked up at the sails to realise that the main had collapsed down.  Looking at it closely the rope that we use to pull the main sail up had snapped (of course it did).  Craig being amazing in situations like this took a moment to assess everything and was then able to reinforce the vang (which holds the weight of the boom when the sail is down) and commandeered a rope that normally runs to the back of the boom and takes the weight of the vang and tied that on to the top of the sail.  We were then able to use that new rope to pull the sail up, back into position.  There is more work to be done to get the broken rope (which has fallen down the inside of the mast) however that is a job for when we are at anchor not out in the rolling sea. 

It is something we have quickly learned when living on a boat, everything is moving – all the time which means things wear out.  We took on a pre loved boat and there was only so much we could do in French Polynesia.  As we have been sailing we have been compiling a list (that grows bigger every day) of things we need to buy/repair when we get to Aussie.

Day 7 – another rough night of being mainly awake.  The reason this time was the wind was being very strange and would change from SE to NE, we would change all the sails and settle down then it would change again.  It was however another glorious cloudless day and we soon sailed through the enormous pass and found a lovely anchor just off the main atoll in the Chesterfield Reef.  For the moment we were the only boat here (Roxie were on their way and would arrive in a few hours).  We dropped the dinghy and since we were alone we went for a walk around the atoll completely sans clothes,  a weird feeling but totally freeing.  Chesterfield is amazing, very much like Ile Huon but much more.  On our way in we had sailed past a mother humpback whale and her calf, they dove and went under the back of the boat – amazing to see.  Thousands of birds, crabs, turtles, huge fish in the reef and to top it off dolphins, a true paradise on earth.  Late in the afternoon Roxie turned up and soon came over with some tuna they had caught on their voyage and a cold bottle of wine.  A fantastic way to end a brilliant day.

Day 8 – after a deep nights sleep we spent the day exploring the atolls (taking bags with us and picking up plastic and other debris that we would come across) snorkelling, reading, cleaning the dinghy and relaxing. 

Chesterfield to MacKay (583nm) – we spent a couple of hours cleaning the boat hull, said our goodbyes to Roxie (who would leave the next day going to Brisbane) and set sail for Aussie (or so we thought).  A few hours later just as we were approaching the passage to leave Chesterfield Reef the mainsail rope broke (yeap again and it was a different rope).  We made the decision to turn around and head back to where we had been and Roxie’s crew would lend us a hand to fix what needed fixed.  We motored back to them and Craig spent some time trying to get the broken rope out from within the mast.  We were then able to winch Fabian up to the top of our mast with the intention of dropping a fishing line down the inside of the mast which we could then tie a rope onto and pull up and through.  Unfortunately due to the ropes that had broken, the ropes we used to winch did not go right to the top and he was left 1.5 metres short.  Andrew and Craig got creative and created a pulley system that Fabian was able to tie near the top of the mast which we could then run a rope through and thereby being able to use the main sail at 85%.  After thanking them profusely we set off once again 8 hours after our first time.

Day 10/11 – we experienced our very first true be-calmed experience.  There was absolutely no wind and the ocean was glassy smooth.  So gorgeous but not good for sailing in and for two days we more or less just bobbed on the water moving forward only slightly due to the current.  Craig had his line out but no nibbles that was until on day 11 a huge sailfish grabbed a hold of it.  It was massive with a long sword nose and everything, way too big for just us, luckily it managed to free itself – phew.

Day 12 – finally the wind picked up as did the swells and we were able to start moving closer to aussie.  I will admit it wasn’t long before I was wishing for the calm seas again, luckily I had some pills and was able to take one promptly.  We were very aware that the section of sea we were sailing in had a passage crossing through it (on navionics) that the big ships follow.  Sure enough it didn’t take long to spot a huge tanker crossing a few nautical miles in front of us.  A little later I looked out the back of the boat and saw another two in the distance, we ensured we kept a close eye out the windows looking for others.

Day 13/14 – slow winds and rolly seas, very little we could do as we couldn’t move much around the boat.

Day 15 – both of us feeling very tired from lack of sleep.  Decision was made mid morning to put the engine on and motorsail for a while.  We were almost at the point where we turned into the hydrographers passage which would take us through the great barrier reef when we were suddenly surrounded by a huge pod of dolphins.  They stayed with us for about 15 minutes just playing around the front and sides of the boat, a very cool sight.  We had planned so when we came through the passage we would be right against the starboard side which would enable to us stay clear of any huge tankers.  We had very favourable winds and currents through parts of the passageway which had us flying along under sail at over 8knots.  Other sections throughout the night we had to put the engine on and motorsail. Through the passage we saw 3 huge tankers come pass us going the other way but luckily enough none came up from behind us.  We finally sailed into MacKay on day 16 at 10am and got directed to a berth at the marina to await customs and quarantine.  At 4pm after a hugely indepth and thorough session with customs we were finally done and officially in Australia and it was an amazing feeling.  We have actually done this, we bought a boat in Tahiti and have sailed it across the pacific in 7 months and over 4100nautical miles, Craig and I just looked at each other in realisation of what we have actually achieved.  We had practically no sailing knowledge when we set out but we asked questions, we learnt on the way and had an absolutely amazing time as we did it.  Now we are here in Aussie and will be looking to stay for around 6 months (or maybe longer) as we do some repairs and buy other stuff for the boat which we have wanted  but were unable to buy in the south pacific either due to not being available to buy or priced insanely high.  While here we will also plan our next stage, where will we go, north, south, east, west, the world is truly ours to explore!

Its Aussie baby

Finally below are some thoughts that we both truly believe in and try to live ourselves.  I realise they may read as a bit cheesy however if they ignite something in you then awesome!!

We are only here once.  Make the most of your time while you are here, don’t let excuses or other people hold you back from doing something you truly want to do, just go for it. 

Your future self will NEVER regret that you went for your dreams.

Do or do not – there is no try.

Things will not make you happy, people and experiences will.

Live your life on your terms, not the life others expect of you.