Vinaka Vakalevu to Fiji - G'day to Australia!

After our last few weeks cruising and enjoying the western Yasawa and Manamuca island groups, Monday November 8th was the day we had identified as being the best departure date in the upcoming weather predictions.  No big storms, not great winds all the time, but at least nothing rough. At this time of year, after the start of the official cyclone season on November 1st, there is always some risk.  The risk is small right now, but grows towards the end of December when the first tropical storms and potential cyclones start to form. We had spent the last few days in Port Denarau marina taking care of last-minute preparations and making sure we had enough provisions for the trip.  For various reasons, not least of which are the strict biosecurity regulations, we didn’t want to arrive in Australia with any excess food or drink, so we had planned meals almost to the day to ensure we would arrive on a near-empty 'tank'.

One of the boat jobs I wanted to complete was a small stainless steel welding task on the port rear stanchion assembly, where a lifeline loop had corroded through.  I duly removed the stanchion and together with a hinge assembly that needed a repair, headed into Baobab Marine, the major marine engineering and repair facility in the marina. We had met and knew the owner, Chase, and he promised to have the work done in a jiffy.  That was on a Thursday afternoon, and on Friday morning when I went ashore to pick up some artisan sourdough bread we had ordered, I heard the shocking news that a massive fire overnight had destroyed the Baobab warehouse.  The warehouse where just the previous afternoon I had dropped off our parts.  Oh no!…the prospect of having to source or rebuild those parts at short notice was going to be scary.  It took a couple of days before anyone could enter the remains of the warehouse, as the cause of the fire had to be determined, but eventually after a brief search our stainless steel parts were located, apparently none the worse for the experience despite the fire having virtually melted everything else inside. Chase even had the parts repaired as originally requested and polished like new in one of his other workshops. Phew, close call! 

The last tasks to complete before slipping the lines were to fill both diesel tanks and extra diesel jerry cans and the water tanks.  With some calm weather forecast for the journey we wanted to make sure we had enough fuel for potential extended motoring, and with full tanks that would give us a range of at least 1000 nautical miles, plenty for most eventualities, and with full water tanks we could last the entire trip with maybe a water-making session at sea once or twice to top up.

Here are the day to day diary entries from the passage:

Day 0 to Brisbane

Mon Nov 08 2021

Cat india has left the building at 10:30am. Beautiful day with blue skies and great winds for sailing out of Fiji waters. Looks like a calm passage ahead. I’ll report again this time tomorrow.

Day 1 done

Tue Nov 09 2021

Day 1 is behind us and 171 nm completed. It’s always good to have that first 24 hours on a passage done - it takes a while to acclimatise and get into the mental state required for a long voyage. Sea legs, sleep disruption, boredom - it all comes into play. The wind has gradually died as we progressed, and this morning when I came up for my shift, we did a sail change - main and Genoa down, and screecher up. This gives us better progress in lighter winds and has a useful range of wind angles. Couple of light squalls about but generally a lovely day to be out on the ocean.

Day 2 is complete!

Wed Nov 10 2021

Day 2 done and another 170 nautical miles covered. Since this time yesterday we have been flying the screecher in beam winds of between 12 and 17 kts and making steady progress. So far an uneventful passage. On day 1 Dara made a delicious sautéed Mahi dish and last night we had chicken Fajitas. With plenty of time on our hands, we read, play games, doze and look forward to mealtimes which go a little way to breaking up the monotony. No fish caught yet, but we did catch a nice bluefin tuna in the Yasawas before we left, so my fishing itch has been at least a little scratched lately.

Day 3 in the bag

Thu Nov 11 2021

Day 3 saw the winds dropping a little so we made more sedate progress today, just 154 nm. As today continues we expect the winds to drop further to the point we will need to motor for a while. We have 700 litres of fuel on board, so we could motor all the way to Brisbane if we needed to, but what fun would that be?

The weather generally has been very nice with mostly sun and blue skies. The nighttimes are amazing with the usual cavalcade of southern stars and constellations. On our first night out we had an alert from my SkyGuide app and caught the International Space Station on a fly by in the night sky behind us. Spectacular as ever. Shooting stars are also regularly seen as we while away the night hours sky gazing.

Dinner last night was freshly made linguine with shrimp and home made pesto from beautiful basil we bought in Fiji.

Day 4 and slowing doooooown

Fri Nov 12 2021

Day 3 saw only 143 nautical miles covered, due to the expected but gradually dying winds. At 6am this morning we started an engine to motor sail for probably the next two days. The upside of this lull is that the ocean is flat, and the sky is cloudless, so we can do some housekeeping around the boat quite easily. We are just south of New Caledonia, a South Pacific island nation 700 nm off Australia’s east coast. In normal times a popular cruising ground, we’ll just have to wave as we pass by this time. Damn covid….

Day 5, slooooowing down…

Sat Nov 13 2021

Day 5 produced a miserable 128 nautical miles. Yesterday morning the wind died so we put one engine on and motored for a few hours, then some wind returned, but only 10-12 kts so we sailed, but not at a breakneck speed. This kept up overnight but this morning at 9:30, the wind really died and the engine went on again. It’s a beautiful sunny day with flat seas so we will do some admin and little jobs around the boat. On this passage the starboard engine developed a starter gremlin which meant it took a few tries to start the engine. I am 95% sure of the cause and will fix that today. And then complete some more of the endless forms needed for entry into Australia…

We expect to motor until probably Monday morning, and it looks likely now that we are closer that we will arrive at the clearing marina in Brisbane on Friday morning.

Day 6, glassy ocean

Sun Nov 14 2021

Day 6 is done and delivered 132 nm for the cause. As expected we motor sailed virtually all day and through the night. The ocean, however, was mesmerising in this calm. A glassy surface stretching as far as the eye can see through 360 degrees. As india surged forward through the water it was as if we were skating over ice, smooth and quiet.

It enabled us to do some work around the boat. Many small jobs were done, as on a boat the list is never ending, as one item is ticked off the top, another joins the list at the bottom. Remember I said I was 95% sure I knew the cause of the stb engine starting issue? Well I was 95% wrong, but happily so as the culprit turned out to be a loose connection behind the starter switch, and easily fixed. Over halfway there now, and after a couple more calm days we expect a brisk arrival in Brisbane, probably on Friday, with 20 kt winds.

Day 7 and out of the doldrums

Mon Nov 15 2021

Day 7 was another day in the doldrums, motor sailing at a leisurely pace and covering only 140 nm.

Towards the end of the afternoon the low pressure trough we had been reading about for quite a few days, which by now was a shadow of its former self, passed with barely a whisper. Back to motor sailing again, until early this morning when the wind finally kicked in and we are sailing again!

It looks fairly certain we will arrive in Brisbane on Friday 19th November. An earlier arrival might have been possible but there are some timing nuances with the tides at the marina that we need to watch carefully, so we’ll shoot for the 10:15am high tide.

Day 8 - over and out

Tue Nov 16 2021

Day 8 is now done, with another 150 nautical miles under the belt. After motor sailing (motoring whilst getting some assistance from sails in a light wind) for almost two days, we picked up winds early in the morning and sailed for almost 24 hours, until the winds died - once again. The sea state, because of the mostly light winds, has been quite calm with only some long period big rolling swells to deal with. All together a very pleasant passage so far. We did catch a huge wahoo yesterday as I find it difficult to sail without having a rod or two out trolling a large lure. Since we will be boarded by bio security in just a few days and have to dispose of any meats and dairy left on the boat, it made no sense to kill the fish, so it was catch and release, just for the fun of the fight.

Day 9 - we are getting close

Wed Nov 17 2021

Day 9 and another 150 nm. We had a chance to speed up, hoping for some spicier weather, in order to make the mouth of Moreton Bay in time to catch the low tide at the marina on Thursday. My calculations said we could do it if we put on the racing stripes, full sails and both engines. But, what fun would that be? We’re not in a hurry to go into quarantine and there’s no urgency so let’s just enjoy the last two days of our passage at a relaxed pace without pushing ourselves or the boat. We’ll sail to the wind that is available, enjoy the beautiful weather and the open ocean and revel in the privilege of being able to live this lifestyle.

Day 10 our last day at sea

Thu Nov 18 2021

After a relatively placid passage so far, day 10 saw the winds finally kick in. Before morning was over we had 20kts from the SE, as predicted, but the sea state was horrible - huge 3m swells from the SW tossing us around like the toy we are on this huge ocean. Gusts up to 28kts meant that we were flying along at speeds up to 10kts or more. Having taken the decision to slow a little for a Friday arrival at the marina, this was paradoxically bad news. Under normal circumstances we would have enjoyed the speed and sensation of being alive, but somehow we had to slow this thing down. Did I tell you there are no brakes on a sailboat?

Coupled with this, during the night, about 50 nm offshore, we were about to cross the major north- south shipping lane of the east coast. Quick sail changes and direction changes as Dara skilfully dodged eight huge cargo vessels playing real life Frogger, as I slept below. AIS and radar are invaluable in these situations as you line yourself up for a collision-free lane crossing. This morning finds us with a handkerchief of a Genoa and no main as we let the following seas push us towards the coast at only 4 kts - the speed we need to maintain to arrive at the Moreton bay channel at the right moment for the last 40nm stretch through the bay and river to the marina for high tide tomorrow.

And so we arrived at the mouth of the channel at Moreton bay around midnight and spent the next 45 miles and ten hours carefully navigating the busy shipping lanes in and out of Brisbane.  We passed and dodged numerous cargo ships, one of which was a Panamax monster more than 1000 feet long, and several more not much smaller together with dredgers, tugs and all manner of vessels.  As the sleepy sun peeked up just after 4am, we were at last treated to a close up view of Australia as we glided towards the mouth of the Brisbane river.  In constant contact by radio with the Vessel Traffic services, we had to hold position just before the mouth of the river as the busy early morning movements of commercial traffic caused a log jam in the relatively narrow river entrance.  After we were allowed to proceed it was another six miles down the broad river to the Rivergate Marina.  We had timed our arrival for exactly high tide, as we had previous reports that at any time other than slack high or low tide, the current flowing in the river made for some exciting docking, which is something we didn’t need after a 10 day passage.  As we approached the Marina, the tide still appeared to be flowing in a little, but we went ahead and Dara manoeuvred India safely into our berth without drama.

In these crazy Covid times, the protocol for arrival by boat is this - greeted by the Australian Border Force and Biosecurity for checking of documents and approvals, shut the boat down, and jump in a taxi to our quarantine hotel escorted by the police, all within an hour.  Of course we anticipated this, and had our bags packed in readiness and the boat had been 90% prepared for her two week unattended marina vacation, so we complied without delay.  Our taxi driver was an Indian immigrant, and as we had done many times in Fiji, we had pleasure in explaining to him our love of India (the country) and the naming of India (our boat).  He was fascinated and we exchanged a few words of Hindi we had picked up in India.  After a short ride downtown, we arrived at our prison for the next 14 days, the Rydges Fortitude Valley hotel, to discover we had arrived just after a bus load of incoming tourists, or returning Queenslanders - I’m not sure which.  In either case, our police escort were on the ball and negotiated for us to jump in line ahead of the many people disembarking the bus.  It was also in their interests as they had to stay with us right up to the moment we closed our hotel room door and I’m sure they had more exciting things to do.  

Next blog - what we got up to in Quarantine!!

Prep for departure means checking the mast

And the roof....

As we say goodbye to Fiji, our final look back..

We love sunsets in the middle of the ocean

Wing on wing - wind directly behind us and flying two foresails together

Another stunning sunset

First sight of another ship, the busy east coast shipping lanes.