May 2002 - Sailing back to Cairns and eventually heading north

We left the quiet of Panasia Island and found the confused sea bouncing off the island a very lousy way to start a long trip. Still, it finds out what's loose down below early in the peace.  We headed for the Jomard passage, a narrow passage 15 miles away.  After a few hours we started to settle to a more comfortable but still bouncy sea. Once into the passage the hope was for a smoother run.

But what about the damn current!  We were fighting three knots and slowly it eased over the next 12 hours.  Combine this with 15 knots of SSE wind, and the current making steep waves, comfort levels were low.  The next day we continued on with stronger winds pushing 20 knots and the boat getting along well.


The rest of the passage went well with the wind easing and turning more from the east making life more comfortable.  The only eventful thing was a reefing line jammed as it was rotted were it turned out of the boom.  An hour or so had that fixed. As we neared the Australian coast we were buzzed by a Coastwatch plane, which is always exciting when you haven't seen anyone or thing for days.  We motored for about 12 hours on the last full day and then sailed the last night. We came in through Grafton Passage just south of Cairns and arrived at the leads of the channel exactly 4 days since leaving Panasia.

We made our way into Trinity Inlet, and came into the Marlin  marina.  We called the port authority, as requested, for instructions on where to berth to clear Customs.  Half way through the conversation they stopped answering.  Then, after repeated calls with no answer, we flagged down a passing Customs boat and they didn't know where we should go!  Finally, a local sung out and pointed out where to berth.

That was the only hiccup as Customs and Immigration were very good and let us keep things we assumed we would be taken.  We managed to get a berth in the Marlin marina, and went for a long hot enjoyable shower.  Tiredness was starting to swamp Liz and I but we managed a walk into town, dinner at Macca's and an ice cream before wandering back to crash for a lovely nights sleep.  No anchor to worry about for the first time in nine months!

We spent the next two weeks enjoying life in the big city of Cairns.  A highlight for the girls was finding a girl living on a boat a few berths up who was a Harry Potter fan and picking up a copy of the Harry Potter video.  We soon found out that the whole world was now Harry Potter mad.   We also got to catch up with Joman, Jenna & Jo, who we met on Saltaire in the Louisiades.

For Col the time was spent shopping around for parts and chasing up slipping arrangements.  The purchase of a new autopilot had him running cables and making mounts for a few days.  We went up on the slip and, as usual things cost more, took longer and but the boat looked very pretty going back into the water after two weeks.  Life in a boat yard is horrible, the morning alarm clocks are angle grinders starting and the dust and dirt goes everywhere. Still life went on.  Elizabeth found a catering supply warehouse called Garibaldi's  and steadily built up a shopping list for the 'big shop'.





So finally the day came we watched the boat go back in with the following major tasks done:

• a new prop shaft support to (hopefully) stop the ongoing problem shaft vibration. 
• an earth plate, auto-tuner and a modem for the HF radio to enable email. 
• a new auto pilot 
• a new electric  toilet 
• cracks in the timber rubbing stripped filled and repainted. 

We went for a short run and after a bit of mucking around got the shaft seal to seat right and not sink the boat. Next the toilet seemed to work fine. Next the radio - no go. No reception.  After a few hours of frustration a local radio guy was called in and a short in the new antenna cable was found.  A call was made and reply heard but not good signal, but the batteries needed a good charge so more testing was too be done when we were clear of the marina and the batteries charged up.

We then made our way up to Yorkey's Knob, 10 miles north of Cairns, where there is a good large marina.  From here we would do our provisioning and set off north.  Going up we found the prop shaft very smooth and quiet in a rolly sea so that was good news.  The autopilot appeared to work OK, although it wandered it's course a lot.  The radio was definitely not up to scratch.

We came into Yorkey's Knob and encountered a dredge in the channel.  Turning wide to make a u-turn and call them, we came to stop on a 'hill' of dredged up bottom.  Luckily we rolled off it OK, but it was a bit rough on the new antifouling.  Once berthed we quickly met up with several other boats that were all heading north. It felt good to meet up with boats heading the same way.  The saga of the radio continued with the outcome being a module being fitted to reduce noise.  We got a mechanic to check out the motor and the heat exchanger end-caps needed replacing.  This, and the radio saga put us a week behind schedule. It was very frustrating watching the other boats leave but we were confident we'd catch up with them.

As a break we went up to Kuranda and Barron Falls for the day. A really nice day off.



After a big day in the local Coles Supermarket and the catering warehouse we were stocked up with food and ready to go.  We left Yorkey's Knob feeling pretty good.  Three hours later the autopilot failed.  Feeling very deflated we headed into Port Douglas.

And we had thought we were finally on our way.....


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May 2002 Solomon Islands to PNG to Cairns

The trip back across to the Arnavon Islands was a very relaxed venture.  It's interesting that tension in sailing is so much higher when in unknown waters.  Backtracking allows for a more enjoyable trip when the weather is good, and this day was lovely .  We left Tegan and made our way back down through the Kologilo Passage and had a few knots with us and then a comfortable sail across and easily in through the lagoon entrance.

We had a night there and went ashore so Courtney could interview Arthur for her school work.  The rest of the crew on the island had gone away so Arthur was pleased for the company and seemed very disappointed that we would only stay one night.  No talk of park fees.

We left late in the afternoon for the overnight trip.  In a very relaxed mood we intended to sail the whole way and take as long as it takes.  Well, after a night of sitting still in the middle of the sea, then creeping along most of the next day, the motor finally came on and we got in late the next afternoon.  Bobbing around going nowhere gets frustrating even when you're not in a hurry.

Back at Vanga again we found that the new Teachers College was to open in a few days time and there would be a celebration.  The new principal of the college, John was in a flap over the preparations and seemed very happy to have us around.  Another newcomer to Vanga was Andrea, a volunteer from Australia, who was great company and showed herself as a great teacher and motivator to the Rural Training Centre. She took the girls snorkelling and made sure we were well stocked with vegetables. We shared many meals with her and generally enjoyed her company.

One day the girls noticed a mast going past.  A call on the radio raised Toeti, a steel sloop being delivered from Micronesia to initially Australia and then to NZ. They were bound for Gizo but decided to stop for the night and visit us. They had no fridge and we had no beer, so we pooled our resources and had a good chat over a few cold beers.

The day of the Teachers College opening was a great day out.  It started with the official guests being welcomed.  This reminded me of a welcome in a NZ Maori Village, except it seemed more comical with the guys dressed in traditional outfits and spears but very animated and funny in there movements and challenges.





They followed the crowd as we made our way up to the college and had the girls in stiches as they darted back and forward challenging people, then running away as if they were scared.  We assembled at the college and listened to the speeches of how the European Union had been forthcoming in funding to provide a college to train teachers.  These teacher then will go out to the rural training centres that teach basic village life-improvement skills.

After the speeches we had a feast in the same fashion as the ones we'd had at Rendova Harbour.  The grounds were then cleared for the entertainment.  Over a dozen different groups did dances and songs to display aspects of their culture from all over the Solomon Islands.  A very enjoyable day.



From Vanga we made our final run to Gizo.  Surprises were still in order as not only was Toeti anchored but another boat,   Goldenrod, with Robert and Annabelle from the USA aboard.  We basically had two things to do in Gizo, go for a dive and check out with Immigration.  We did the dive and went to Grand Central Station which was a good wall dive but disappointing as far as the seeing lots of fish.  The timing of the tide was wrong and a bit of a stuff up really.  The next dive was on the Toa Maru, the large Japanese freighter scuttled during WWII.  This was great and really interesting seeing a huge ship underwater.

On one of last days in Gizo we visited with Robert & Annabelle from Goldenrod.  We found that they had being going around New Georgia for two months at the same time as us but in the opposite direction.  All the time they had been there they had not seen another boat.  A sad note was that their new 15hp outboard was pinched in Gizo.  Months later it was recovered.

We checked out and waved them goodbye.  It was a three day run across the Solomon Sea to the Louisiades.  The first day gave us very light winds but consistent and we glided along at five knots.  The next day was a mix of everything with the most memorable thing being a line of squalls that stretched across the horizon andsteadily advanced on us, blowing quite hard when it hit.  We reefed down and then laid hove-to for a while it rained so hard we couldn't hear each other talk.  The final day saw the wind slowly come around til it was right on the nose and we ended up motoring up to the passage into the main lagoon and on to Pana Numara.


A few miles out from anchoring we put the lure out to catch a fish and almost straight away had Spanish Mackerel on board - too easy.  Nine months earlier we first landed in PNG at this island and it was nice to return.  We met up with a few of the locals and settled in for a rest of a few days.  Dennis & Barbara came in from another island and we had a little reunion.  After a few days we pushed a little west to Panasia Island.  This is a must see island in this area and we missed it the first time around.  The high bluff cliffs and lovely beaches make this uninhabited island picture postcard stuff.


We had a lovely time here for a few days.  Only had local visitors one day and we made them very happy by giving them most of our trading bag away.  A mixture of goodies that we had left over after nine months of trading with locals.  A beach BBQ one evening with Dennis & Barbara and a day out on the beach on the other side of the island capped off a truly memorable stay with lots of reflection on how the cruise of PNG and the Solomons had gone.

Raising the anchor for the last time in PNG it got stuck!  First time ever!  After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, it wouldn't budge.  So in 11 metres of water the mask and flippers were donned and, with a lot of luck, I was able to dive down and free the chain from a low coral head.

So we sailed out of Panasia and headed for Cairns, Australia - 500 miles away.