September 9, 2024
We watched the stick in the shore to find high tide (along with help from the tide charts) and just before 8am started our slow march out of Oyster Bay. While not overly concerned there was still some anxiety crossing the pass. Thankfully our route was good and we saw a low of 0.7 meters beneath the keel. Turning north,…
September 6, 2024
A couple of low keys days due to weather, the biggest excitement was our move up to Oyster Bay, leaving the soon to be crowded Palikulo bay (14 boats ended up waiting out the wind there). It was just a nine mile hop but it did have one tricky entrance over the reef where we saw only 1.1 meters below…
August 31, 2024
Lots of discussions on plans the last couple days, with an eye on what the weather would let us explore. After downloading the files it was clear that going to Rano, where SV Nimrod had an incredible traditional dance presented by the Smol Nabas in 2016, was not in the cards. A huge bummer as it was the highlight of…
August 28, 2024
With plans to snorkel a reef that had excellent reviews we made an early move eleven-ish miles north. As soon as we were comfortable with the anchor we paddled into shore. It took a bit of searching but we found a very direct route with a steep up and a steep down into the village in the next bay. A…
August 26, 2024
The start to the passage would be exposed to the tradewinds and seas. In an attempt to be as comfortable as possible we got underway just after 5am, which was before before sunrise. It worked as planned and it was a comfortable start with the full main and jib coming out after sunrise and off when the engine. While the…
August 23, 2024
For some reason the morning hours seemed to slip away and just before eight o’clock Carl was ready to lift the anchor. Heck, I had not even had breakfast yet! SV Seeka had anchored close to our anchor and we found out just how close as we raised it up, coming within 5 meters of them and needing to motor…
August 19, 2024
With a sixty plus mile day ahead of us the plan was to have the anchor up at 5am. All was going smoothly, everyone was ready, in position, and the chain was nicely falling into the locker. With about 20 meters to go there was a clunk, clunk, and the chain stopped. We were snagged on something. I should mention…
August 16, 2024
Time to move further north, we released the mooring lines and motored our way out of the bay. We needed water, so the start of the passage continued under motor and a few hours later off when the motors and we began to enjoy a pleasant sail. The wind angle wasn’t ideal but we kept from gybing and once around…
August 10, 2024
The plan was to move up to Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu, today because there was a blow coming that we wanted to stay ahead of. I had a work meeting at 10:00am, so once that was done we got moving. Some coffee, some breakfast, and a dinghy ride to explore the shoreline was in order. Carl and I…
August 8, 2024
After settling a bit around 1:15am the seas kicked up and made for a rough few hours. Coming on watch at 5am Roxy filled me in on the lower winds but ongoing wave action. A low-key morning all around with acceptance that we truly would be arriving much sooner than we expected. Always good news, well it would be if…
August 7, 2024
Waking up for my watch, Roxy pointed out that SV Beluga (a boat we met just before checking out and also headed for Port Resolution, Vanautu) was down to 15nm miles in front of us. Exciting to see them on AIS, even if not visually yet. The wind speed was variable from highs in the twenties down to fifteen+ knots.…
August 6, 2024
It has been a bash to start the passage. Lots of loud, violent bangs as waves slap into the bridgedeck underneath my bunk. The vibration wakes me from sleep and the ongoing noise lengthens the time it takes to get back to sleep. On my watches in the saloon there is less movement (it is in the middle of the…