Christmas

Christmas started with mulled wine and mince pies hosted by Matilda in the V&A Marina on Christmas Eve. This was followed by dinner with the crews from Zoe (George & Lynda) and Dreamcatcher (Charles & Marie)at the Hillebrand Ristorante. The rest of the crews had tapas upstairs so we joined them afterwards for coffee. Christmas Day we joined George & Lynda on Zoe (at the Royal Cape YC) for a brunch with bucks fizz and eggs & bacon etc. Marie from Dreamcatcher joined us for an hour on her way to the beach where several crews were meeting for lunch. Dinner that night was a pot luck supper on the dock but actually ended up on Anastasia which is a spacious catamaran and perfect for a party! I had cooked a 3 bird roast and sausages and there were even roast potatoes and brussel sprouts and of course christmas crackers! Boxing Day Peter serviced the main engine then we took a taxi to the shopping mall to stock up on fresh fruit. Back on board we met up with a local boat owner who has told Peter he is interested in buying our Windpilot which we had advertised for sale on the Yacht Club notice board. We have not used the Windpilot since we started and only carried it as it was an insurance requirement for double handed crews. Luckily the insurers have now agreed that as we have done over 12,000 miles double handed they will lift the requirement from our policy. Peter is delighted as we will have space to use the dinghy davits again! Anyway we have now agreed a sale of the Windpilot. So...yesterday Peter started removing the Windpilot as we have now been paid in cash for it. Not as much as we paid for it of course but at least it is something. Once off it became obvious that it needed lubricating as it had not been used for so long and that took quite a bit of time and effort using hot water and WD40! Anyway it is now off and we just have four holes in the back of the boat to get filled in again. We were able to remove the wheel drum also which was good as often ropes would get caught on the wing nuts. Remaining jobs are being ticked off now as the Generator was serviced by Peter yesterday morning and today we hope the water maker will be returned. Unfortunately the repair done in Mauritius did not hold and we have now paid for new tubes so no more leaks..we hope! Another job to be completed is the new piping and new solenoid and sensor for the gas which has had an intermittant fault for ages. We just await the Electrician to install the solenoid. Today is a bit of retail therapy with Lynda whilst Peter deals with the workers on the boat!!

Exploring South Africa

We have now been up to the top of Table Mountain and yesterday we went on a wine tour which also included visits to the Cheetah Outreach project and the Big Cat Park. Our driver picked us up at 8.30am from our Apartment (which is very good) and then headed to the Yacht Club to pick up George & Lynda who were doing the trip with us. On the way to the first stop we passed a strawberry farm with lots of brightly coloured scarecrows in the field and so we had to stop to take pictures and buy strawberries of course. The first stop was at the Cheetah Outreach where both George and Lynda paid extra to have a personal encounter with an adult Cheetah. This entailed the handler holding the Cheetah whilst they could kneel down and stroke the animal along his back and have their pictures taken. Lynda was thrilled as she had wanted to get up close to the Cheetahs and had not seen any on the safari we did at Richards Bay. Peter and I were happy to watch from the wire fence. At the centre they also fund and co-ordinate a South African Cheetah Anatolian Shepherd Guard dog project purchasing or breeding , placing and providing veterinary support, husbandry and monitoring for working dogs which promotes non-lethal predator control. Basically the dogs are bred to give to local farmers who in the past were shooting the cheetahs to control them as they attacked their livestock. The cheetah is actually an endangered species as numbers have dropped dramatically over the last 100 years down to some 850 in South Africa. After the Cheetah experience we went to Stellenbosh for the first wine visit to the best wine producer called Spier where we had a wine tasting followed by lunch in Moyo which is an authentic African experience! The wine tasting was very organised and we had six wines to try including some sparkling wine made by the Cap Classique method which is like champagne. We bought some bubbly and wines to take back to the boat. The lunch was an all you could eat buffet which was very well done. During lunch we were serenaded by local singers and one of the waiters came to paint your face if you wanted some spots! After lunch we had a short drive to the next wine producer Vredenheim where there was also a Big Cat park so first we had to look around the park at the Lions and Tigers there. Next up was gthe wine tasting which was 5 different wines. Again we had to buy some more wine of course! On the way home our driver stopped at a large liquor store where the men were able to buy cases of beer as the local supermarkets do not sell beer just wines. So the taxi was loaded up again and we eventually got back to the Apartment at around 6.30pm. A long tiring day but extremely enjoyable. Trompeta is now back in the water again having been antifouled and buffed and polished on the topsides. We put the genoa back on as Peter had also had a new furler intslled as the old one was starting to wear and he did not want to risk anything happening half way across the Atlantic! Sunday we will put the main sail back on as the wind will be blowing in the right direction by then. At the moment it is a NW wind and coming behind the boat but to put sails up you have to be facing into the wind. Saturday we intend to go to the cinema as the new James Bond movie is showing and it is ages since Peter has seen a good film.

Table Mountain

Today we went up to Table Mountain in a cable car and walked along the flat top to enjoy some spectacular views of the surrounding countryside. Table Mountain is made of orange sandstone as it was formed under the sea about 600 million years ago.The most common animal up on the mountain is the dassie or Rock Hyrax who like to sun themselves on the warm rocks. They look like fat brown rabbits minus the floppy ears! We were lucky enough to see one before he crept under the rocks to hide. There are lots of different species of plants up on the mountain including the King Protea South Africa's national flower. The Cape's original Khoi San inhabitants named the mountain 'Hoerikwaggo' meaning 'Mountain of the Sea'. The first European to climb table Mountain Antonio de Saldanha called it 'Taboa de Caba' or 'Table of the Cape'. This is the oldest mountain in the world being at least 6 times older than the Himalayas. This week we are planning a lot more trips as we spend time in our Apartment whilst the boat is out of the water. Peter is looking forward to a proper bed for a few nights!!

Cape Town

Have arrived safely in Cape Town. Now tied up at the Royal Cape Yacht Club which is a big Marina and club. We were greeted by Marcus the General Manager on arrival yesterday afternoon and he invited us to a Reception they were having that evening for new members. We were introduced to the club members and a photographer wanted to take a photograph of us with the crew from JSea who also arrived yesterday morning. So famous at last!! The reception was good with complimentary food and drinks so no need for dinner just an early night to catch up on sleep. This morning we have already had a rig check done and our list of jobs is progressing. We managed to have time for a good breakfast at the Yacht Club - full English for under £5!! Everywhere prices seems so cheap compared to England. Our drinks last night were free but even if you had to pay it is around £1 for a glass of wine!! We parted company with Zoe yesterday as she headed into Hout Bay where they had made a reservation to stay. It was great fun sailing down the coast in company with Zoe as we always had someone to chat to on the vhf radio. It is reassuring to know you are not alone! We both canniot believe we are finally here in cape Town for Christmas as it seemed such a long way away and now it is upon us already. Trompeta is booked in for hauling out of the water on 18th to have her bottom painted with anti foul so whilst she is out of the water we have booked into a 5 star luxury apartment on the V&A Waterfront just close to the other marina where our friends on Anastasia are based. We have the apartment from 17 to 22 December.

Sailing the wild coast

We finally left Richards Bay in the wee small hours of Monday 26 November in the company of Zoe who was to be our sailing companion for this trip. The locals call the East Coast of South Africa the wild coast because of the big seas and strong winds and often tricky sailing conditions. It is important to leave when the weather is right to avoid SW winds which kick up the sea againts the fast flowing Agulhus current. Since we had a short window the plan was to sail down the coast to Durban and then on again when conditions allowed. After an uneventful passage we made it safely into Durban harbour just before the sun went down. In the event we only had to stay one night but checking in and clearing out took ages so it was after 2pm before we finally lifted the anchor and got underway again. The passage down to Port Elizabeth was expected to take us 3 days but we actually went a lot faster than expecetd due to positive current of 3 to 5 knots which doubled our boat speed for a good day and a half. We were making such good progress we decided to press on to Mossel Bay another 175 miles further down the coastline. Arrived in a very swelly Mossel Bay after sunset so it was quite difficult to anchor in a dark rolling sea! Fortunately we only needed to stay the one night as the weather looked as if it would allow us to continue on around Cape Agulhus in favourable conditions. It was an easy sail or rather motor sail around Cape Agulhus with very little wind and calm seas. However we paid the price as once around the corner the wind shifted into the NW so we then had a very difficult time beating to windward in strong winds up to 35 knots with big seas on the nose. Every time the boat built up some speed it would be stalled by a huge wave. We took a lot of water over the bow and the forepeak was leaking water through the dorade so wet beds - again! We also managed to lose our port navigation light which was pushed off the bow by the waves crashing up. The passage up to False Bay was much harder than expected and we took much longer to reach Simons Town. Initially we had calculated that we would arrive sometime during the day on Sunday but it was shortly after midnight before we eventually arrived in the Marina. Zoe followed us in and we went to find our berths which we had been allocated. There was a boat in our berth so we just parked behind it as there was space (just!). Zoe had a clear berth so we both got tied up as quickly as we could then onto the dock for a celebratory bottle of bubbly! After such a trip there was a lot of discussion before we finally said goodnight and headed off to bed around 1.30pm. Simon's Town is home to the South African Navy so it has a huge Naval base and this dominates the town. There are lots of attractive shops and restaurants here and the whole place has a good feel. False Bay YC is delightful as it is home to many small sail boats and fishing boats. It has friendly staff and a really cosy family feel. The showers are among the cleanest and tidiest we have come across. The yacht club has free WiFi so e mailing is easy and quick. Peter is arranging for lots of small jobs to be done on the boat whilst we are in Cape Town including the major task of getting antfouled again. Yesterday we had a visit from Warren the Rigger who is doing a rig check for us courtesy of Admiral Insurance. The Riggers were supposed to come this morning but they have an emergency job so we will get the rig check done when we move to Cape Town. We also had a visit from David of Action Yachting who is arranging jobs on the boat and Peter went through his 'to do' list. Now we have managed to secure a berth at the Royal Cape YC early we will leave False Bay YC tomorrow in company with Zoe again very early to move around to Cape Town arriving before sunset. The weather looks good for us to leave so fingers crossed it is easier to get out of the bay than it was to get in! Whilst we are here we want to see what we can and walked down to Boulders beach yesterday with Zoe's crew to visit the endangered African Penguins who were quite adorable! There are several museums here so today we plan to visit the Simons Town Museum and the Naval Museum before collecting the laundry. Everything seems cheap here as the first load (9Kg) was only £6 for a full service laundry so am taking advantage and have a second load in today. It will be a shame to leave Simon's Town but we have to take advantage of good weather when we can to move the boat. The winds are not too strong tomorrow so it should be an easy sail - we hope!!

Waiting for the weather!

So we are still here in Richards Bay waiting for a long enough weather window to sail down the coast to east london as we do not really want to stop in Durban which is very crowded at present. Monday was looking good to leave but now we see some SW winds on Tuesday?! Peter is getting very frustrated as he wants to go but we have to leave at the right time if we do not want to put ourselves in a difficult situation. The advice is to leave at the tail end of a low pressure system passing through to maximise the time available before the weather changes again. Low pressure systems come through every 3 to 5 days so you do not have much time to make progress before the next sytem is on top of you! At the moment Monday is OK but Tuesday has light winds from SW (not a good direction) but only for 24 hours then back to E and NE (good direction) until Thursday morning! In the meantime we are enjoying our stay here. Tonight we have been invited on board Zoe for an American Thanksgiving feast. Zoe has 4 crew - Ed and his wife Zoe plus Zoe's brother George and girlfriend Lynda. We plan to sail in company with Zoe down to cape Town. They are on a tighter timescale than we are as ed & Zoe fly home to California on 9 December. We have arranged a berth in the Royal Cape yacht Club from 11 December as we get hauled out there on 18 December so it gives Peter time to do other work on the boat. We also get another rig check done in Cape town. The Zululand YC where we are berthed is a small friendly club and the wildlife is interesting. Each morning around 5 to 6 am there are small monkeys playing around the boats. we have not had any monkeys on board Trompeta but Zoe have had monkeys in the boat eating their bananas and cookies!!

On Safari!

Yesterday we took a bus to the oldest game park in South Africa the Hluhluwe Imfolozi national park - established in 1895. It was an early 7am start as the park is 2 hours drive from Richards Bay. When we arrived at the park small groups of us transferred to safari jeeps. The jeep took us along some tarmac roads then off road to spot the wild game. We saw Elephants, Giraffes, Zebra, Antelope, Impala, Crocodile, Blue Wildebeest, Rhinoceros, Buffalo and Warthog. In addition the birds we saw were brightly coloured like butterflies. We saw a dung beetle rolling a large ball of dung along the road as we drove past! The sound in the park was often one of crickets making a loud buzzing noise. Much louder than the cicadas we often hear in the Caribbean. At mid day the jeep stoped at the Hilltop Restaurant where we enjoyed a very cheap lunch of fish and chips. Since we arrived we have been amazed at how cheap it is to eat out. Our bill for fish and chips twice plus cheesecake for Peter and 2 beers plus water was 183 Rand which is about £13. The first night we arrived we ate fish and chips at the yacht club for £3 each!! It was a long day with the bus taking us back to the Marina around 4pm. Just in time to get a hot shower (it was quite cool in the morning as the clouds hung over the mountains and the jeep was open sided!) and relax before dinner with Phil & Andrea in the Yacht Club - again good cheap food - Steak and chicken plus several drinks came to 160 Rand (about £11.50). South Africa is a very interesting place with whites and blacks living in separate places. On the drive to the game park we past many shanty houses built of concrete or brick with corrugated iron roofs where the black people live. The marina staff are mainly black doing all the manual jobs with the staff in the yacht club office all white. Everyone is very friendly though and there is no sense of any hostile atmosphere. In the shopping mall we encountered one black man begging for bread but that was all we have seen in the way of poverty but there obviously are pockets of poverty. Today we are getting some boat jobs done and will probably go back to the shopping mall for me to get some retail therapy!! It is fun buying Christmas stuff too.

South Africa at last!

Today marks the end of our epic voyage across the Indian Ocean which has been one of the most diverse and difficult Oceans to sail. Each day seems to present different sailing conditions and there are lots of currents in different directions and swell from what seems like everywhere at times! This last passage started with a very rough and bouncy sea as we left Port Louis Mauritius the boats were all bucking and rolling in the big sea swells. Fortunately this sea only lasted 24 hours and by the following day the sea had calmed a little and we had good trade winds to sail along comfortably for much of the journey. There were some days with particularly strong winds into the low 30's and with a sideways swell this made for a bumpy and rolly ride. As a contrast we flew our Parasailor (big downwind sail for use in light winds) for a whole day on Sunday. Peter has declared the Indian Ocean the worst ocean to date with difficult unpredictable seas. The good news is that by timing our arrival here in Richards Bay to avoid the low pressure systems we actually had a very calm night and arrived here around 5am local time. The low pressure systems bring SW winds which kick up againts the Aghulus current which is a strong fast flowing current running along the coast line in a SW direction and the end result is huge waves which can overpower a yacht and are extremely dangerous. Even big ships have been known to suffer damage as these freak waves unleash their fury. It is really important to watch the weather and always leave port during a good weather window to avoid any turbulent seas and dangerous conditions. We plan to sail in company as we cruise down the coast to Cape Town with Zoe who is another rally boat who also plans to be in Cape Town around 9/10 December like us. Anyway on a brighter note here we are in Africa! Even the air smells different. The Zululand Yacht Club marina is where we have berthed Trompeta and we look forward to a few days relaxing and catching up on boat repairs (nothing major) and other little jobs you never seem to have time to do on passage.When we arrived we were given a bottle os sparkling wine from the Yacht Club so we had a lovely btreakfast of smoked salmon and eggs and sparkling wine!! We are going on a World ARC tour to a game park on Thursday so maybe we will see the BIG 5 animals! Watch out for our next blog!

Reunion

Arrived here Saturday around 11am and spent the day sorting the boat before the reception in the evening organised by the Tourist Board and World ARC as it was the official prize giving event. Sunday was a rest day after the passage which was the worst so far of the trip. The seas were not good with swell coming from two different directions and the boat rolling from side to side. Cooking was difficult so we just ate quiche I had prepared on Friday morning. Today we went on the World ARC tour organised through the tourist board to the now extinct volcano. The last time the volcano erupted was 2007 so it is still active. The trip ended with lunch at a local restaurant Ti Rose which was very good with plenty of food and wine and music and dancing! Whilst we were away from the boat today our stack pack (sail cover ) was repaired by the local sail maker. Tomorrow I am shopping whilst Peter fixes things on the boat. We leave here Saturday morning 11am local time (4hours ahead of UTC).

Exploring Mauritius

Monday we went on the World ARC tour of Mauritius where a bus took us to some visitor attractions in the North of the island. We visited an old colonial house Chateau Labourdonnais and admired the largely Dutch syle house. Also visited L'Aventure de Sucre which was a former sugar mill which has been turned into a museuem. There was the opportunity to taste different sugars and rum drinks. Lunch was provided and this was an Indian curry and rice followed by a strange dessert which although tasty had a weird composition like globules of gelatine! After lunch we visited the Botanical gardens and saw many different tree species and varieties of palm tree. The tour was interesting as we drove through many different parts of Mauritius and saw basic shanty huts made of breeze blocks and corrugated iron up to luxurious mansions!! Last night we had the rally prizegiving event with local dancers entertaining us in their colourful skirts made up in colours of the Mauritius flag i.e. red,blue,yellow and green. Peter has worked his way through the jobs to do list and Trompeta is now ready to leave tomorrow at 12 noon. Today I am trying to book some accomodation in Cape Town South Africa so when the boat is out of the water we can stay in a luxury waterfront apartment. Bliss!!

Mauritius

We finally arrived here in Port Louis to a spectactular welcome from fellow World ARC crews who were waiting for us on the dock despite the late hour of our arrival just after Midnight on 17 October. It was a lovely reception after a gruelling two weeks at sea when we had numerous household problems and issues to deal with en route. The sailing was good and reasonably fast as we averaged 7 knots boat speed for most of the passage as we had good swells to send us on our way. The sea was big but the boat rode the waves beautifully and was just lifted up by the swell and carried forward at anything from 10 to 15 knots. There were lots of big waves hitting the side of the boat which sounded a lot worst that they actually were. There was one night when I was on watch and Peter was sleeping when a huge wave came into the cockpit with such force it completely drenched me. Luckily I was wearing my lifejacket and was clipped on so I did not go anywhere. However Peter had left his lifejacket on the cockpit chart table and it actually activated with the force of the water so blew up! An added excitement on the trip was the development of Tropical Cyclone Anais which was some 350 miles north of us. We tried to sail as fast as we could to get out of the way but so chose to press on wheras 3 boats actually chose to stip in Rodgrigues Island some 400 miles short of Mauritius. Our gamble paid off and we never saw or experienced any side effects from the storm which was weakening and ended up as a depression. So fortunately no squalls or gale force winds - the most wind we saw was some 35 knots. Cyclone season is usually Nov/Dec so it is very early for a cyclone this year. The facilities appear to be good here in Mauritius and already we have a Yacht Management company dealing with the list of repairs - the most important being a leak in the main water tank which had to come out yesterday to be welded. This was a major task as it meant taking the interior seating and floors out so the tank could be lifted out from under the settee. Today we have an engineer on board to deal with the leak on the water maker. Other issues include a fault with the gas pressure which meant I could not use the oven for the last week of our passage but fortunately the stove top rings still light. Another thing is an intermittant fault with the Generator which does not always start first time. Peter suspects there is air in the sytem because the boat has been heeling over quite severely during the passage. Anyway I took time out yesterday whilst the boat was in bits to visit the hairdresser so we went out with crews from Brizo and Dreamcatcher last night and enjoyed a fantastic steak dinner. There is not a lot of room here in the marina so boats are rafted up in twos around the outside wall. We are rafted to Dreamcatcher which is another Hallberg Rassy but bigger (48ft) and newer. Marie and Charles are the crew and they are good friends so we are happy to be next to them until 26 October when we leave for Reunion. Another bonus is that there are no dockage fees to pay as the Marina owners are giving us free berthing. Watch out for a further blog after we have seen some of the island!

Cocos Keeling

We arrived here in Cocos keeling last Monday night on a lovely clear moonlit night which made it a lot easier for anchoring off Direction Island which is where the boat is now. Direction Island is uninhabited so no modern world facilities like internet. We have come across to West Island on the ferry today for a World ARC tour so now we have an hour on the internet! The anchorage is absolutely idyllic and we wake up to surf on the beach and waving coconut palms. Beautiful! We leave on Monday for a sail to Mauritus which should take just under 3 weeks.

Bali island tour

Yesterday we took a bus tour around the island stopping at various places en route. Bali is 120 kilometres long by around 40 kilometres wide so not very big! Our day started at 8.30am and we were picked up by a coach which fortunately had good AC as it is very hot and humid here with daytime temperatures reaching 32 degrees C. We had to negotiate the rush hour traffic to get out of Denpaser the capital of Bali which is very busy with a lot of scooters and also cars. Bali has a population of c4 million people with most living in the city. They drive on the left hand side of the road but there seems to be no rules as in two lane highways cars and scooters pass either side and seem to drive in 3 lanes most of the time! The Police were out in force trying to keep the traffic moving. Our first stop was at a silversmiths in Celuk where we saw a man pumping the gas by foot to melt the silver. There was a big shop and we were invited to look around. Some people bought jewellery but not us. Next was a woodcarving place in Mas where they spent hours hand crafting pieces of wood into very elaborate shapes to make beautiful ornaments and other more practical items. The next stop was a temple known as the Elephant temple. Most of the people here are Hindu but there are also Muslims and Christians but our guide explained they all get along. All down the streets you see little shrines like boxes with trays of flowers and other things which are offerings to their Gods. Sometimes there is a piece of cloth draped around which is checked black and White or yellow with White. Each colour has a significant meaning which I have forgotten already but something like White is peace. We then went onto a plantation where coffee is grown. The most famous Bali coffee is made from the droppings of a cat like creature called a Luwar they breed and feed on coffee beans which then get ingested and pass out the other end. The end result is then washed and dried and ground and is known as Luwar coffee. Very expensive apparently but supposed to be the top coffee here! Our lunch stop was at a good restaurant overlooking Mount Batur which is an extinct volcano that last erupted in 1933. Lunch was an excellent Indonesian buffet. After lunch we had another temple to visit the Holy Spring temple where they had healing waters. Finally we visited the monkeys inside a rainforest where several small grey cute monkeys played around and took food from some hands in the form of sweetcorn on the cob or sweet potatoes or bananas. Managed to get lots of pictures for the record. The Marina here is quite small but the staff are extremely obliging. I went shopping today at Carrefour and returned in a taxi with several heavy bags which were taken to the boat by the smiling staff who seemed eager to assist. Peter had stayed on the boat to try and fix a small problem with our battery charger not working. However by the time I returned after lunch he had fixed the problem and now all is well again. We are now nearly ready to go on Monday. Customs clearances are actually being done on Sunday for us. So then we leave on Monday!! Tonight is the prize giving event.

Bali Arrival

Arrived Bali very early this morning after a very slow passage. The winds were very light and it was a struggle to sail even the Parasailor for much of the time so hence we had to motor for about 440 miles of the 950 miles. The last 24 hours were particularly difficult as strong currents pushing us back meant we had to turn the engine on about 35 miles off Bali Marina and we had a really slow ride. Anyway we are here now and after a couple of hours snooze have been beavering away getting jobs like laundry and customs and other mechanical stuff done.

Tomorrow we have a day trip around Bali so hope to see lots of interesting things like temples and markets and the extinct volcano!

Time is short here as we are leaving on Monday to sail to Christmas Island (a new destination in the itinerary) for a 48 hour stop then onto Cocos Keeling. Both of these places are Australian dependencies so good job we saved some Aussie dollars!

Ayers Rock

Just arrived back after our trip to Ayers Rock. We flew to Alice Springs then took a day tour to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park which is where the famous Ayers Rock is. The tour company picked us up from our hotel just after 6am and dropped us off again at 11.30pm that night! The trip was really well organised and we got to see the 36 domes of Olgas as well as Ayers Rock and the day ended with a champagne BBQ dinner watching the sun go down in sight of Ayers Rock. We went with Marie & Charles (Dreamcatcher) and also met up with the crew from Wind Dancer whilst at the Rock! Both Charles and Peter climbed all the way up Ayers Rock whilst Marie and I stayed at the base and did a guided walk around the rock. One lasting momento of the day was the red desert sand which got everywhere! Only just finished cleaning our trainers which are now white again!! The whole landscape in the Northern Territory is wild and barren with lots of scrubby grass and bushes over the red sand. Real cowboy country. It is hot during the day (25 degrees) but COLD at night (3 degrees). Darwin is really hot by comparison at 32 degrees(day) dropping to 20 degrees by night. Back on the boat now and doing my shopping list as we need to fill the freezer again for our next trip. We had to eat up all meat and fruit and vegetables and dairy products before entering Darwin so the cupboards need re stocking!

Darwin

Arrived in Darwin very early Wednesday morning around 4am! Had a couple of hours sleep before the fisheries boat came around to treat all the World ARC boats at anchor in Fannie Bay. The Government are trying to keep the water free of marine pests so they spray all sea water inlets under the boat with some chemical to kill off any mussels that may be present. A diver went underneath Trompeta and checked the hull for growth and declared us clean and good to enter the Marina. There are big tides here up to 7 metres so there is a lock to pass through before entering Tipperary Waters Marina. The lock is not very wide and only big enough for one boat at a time so we had to wait our turn to enter the lock. Once through the Marina is lovely - quite small and a real family atmosphere. Unfortunately our friends on Anastasia cannot be here as no Catamarans are allowed in because they are too wide to fit into the lock. Anyway we got chance to see them last night at the World Arc prizegiving. Incredibly we got 3rd place in our class despite coming in last! We did try and sail as much as we could on the passage and played around with our new Parasailor so that took time and made us slower. Today we fly to Alice Springs to do a one day tour to Ayers Rock tomorrow. Our friends Charles and Marie (Dreamcatcher) are coming with us so it should be a fun weekend. we are staying two nights in the Alice Springs Airport Hotel as the tour company pick up and drop off at your hotel. Looking forward to seeing one of the great wonders of the world!! Thursday Island was the start of this last passage and we just anchored off Horn Island for one night before setting sail for the trip to Darwin. Torres Strait is remowned for strong winds but the weather was kind to us so we did not see more than 28 knots of wind the whole passage. There were strong tides approaching Thursday Island. Our previous anchorage was off Mount Adolphus Island and we had to battle against the tide to enter the bay but once inside it was lovely. You do need to get your timing right as it is uncomfy going against the tide. Much better to wait for the right tide as we did going through Dundas Strait. If anyone looked at the World ARC fleet viewer you would see us sailing north for a couple of hours then back south so we arrived at Cape Don exactly 4 hours before high water which is the right time to get current with you all the way through to Darwin. Have spent the last day doing laundry and Peter took the stack pack (sail bag) off to get the zip stitched up again. We also needed to get some stitching done on the bimini and dinghy cover. The sail maker took these away yesterday so we should get them back Monday all being well. We leave for Bali on Wednesday.

Kuranda Rainforest

Yesterday we took a trip to the rainforest with Phil & Andrea (Anastasia) and went up on the Skyrail and back on the old Kuranda scenic Railway. Skyrail was a ride up the mountain in a gondalier with a stop half way at Red Peak which is the highest point then at BArron Falls which is a rather spectactular waterfall where a Hydro Power station has been supplies electricity to the national grid. Kuranda is a very touristy place with lots of shops selling souvenirs and several cafes and restaurants. We stopped for lunch in a restaurant which overlooked the water which was fun. After our visit to Kuranda we made our way to the Railway station to catch the train. It used to be powered by steam up until 1964 but is now run by a diesel engine.It went very slowly through the rainforest with commentary along the way describing how it all used to be when they built the railway in 1891. Back to Cairns and Peter and Phil wanted to visit Bunnings which is a very large hardware store a bit like B&Q. Peter bought a new cordless drill with two battery packs which he was delighted with as his old drill had been broken for a while.Phil also made some purchases and by the time we got back to the marina it was dark. we all had a light dinner on Trompeta before having a reasonably early night (10pm). It made up for the previous night which was Caroline's birthday dinner when we did not get to bed until midnight!! Unheard of for us! Peter had to visit a dentist this morning as he had broken a tooth and the jagged edges were starting to cause him discomfort. So....for a grand total of A$460 (about £320) he had his tooth extracted! Anyway all is well again now and we are getting the boat prepared ready to leave first thing in the morning to head up to Thursday Island. We shall stop overnight half way and arrive in TI on 21 August for the rendezvous on 22 before we set off again for Darwin on 23 August. There is unlikely to be internet on TI so next blog from Darwin. Should reach darwin by around 28th August.

Cairns

After a pleasant sail to Magnetic Island we anchored overnight in Horseshoe Bay for a decent nights sleep before our next sail up to Cairns which was another overnight one. The winds were a lot stronger for this sail and as I came up on deck at 11pm to relieve Peter he was struggling to control the boat as we had too much sail up for the wind which was gusting up to 34 knots. I was able to take the helm while he dropped the main sail and we just sailed on the genoa which was a lot better although the boat does roll more when you have no main sail up. We were still doing decent speeds of up to 7 knots without the engine. The highlight of our trip was seeing humpback whales as we are in the middle of their breeding season which is May to September. I actually heard the whales inside the boat and it sounded really eerie like a child moaning. We had planned to anchor just before Cairns in either Turtle Bay or Mission Bay but both were not attractive due to the strong winds. We did go into Mission Bay and I got the anchor off the bow ready to drop but Peter decided he did not want to stay there overnight so anchor went back in it's holder and we called up the Marina to ask if we could go in a day early. Our reservation was for 3 nights from Sunday 12th August. Anyway no problem and we are now secured in our berth in Marlin Marina which is adjacent to the lively city of Cairns. There are a lot of World ARC boats here as it is the last place to provision before Thursday Island which is our next rendezvous on 22 August. When we arrived here yesterday morning we met up with Marie (Dreamcatcher) and she asked us to go for dinner with them to a Brazillian carvery meal which was an 'all you can eat' for a fixed price dinner. It was excellent. The waitress brought some sweet potato chips and salads and vegetables then waiters kept appearing with long skewers of meat which they carved at the table and you simply took hold of the meat slices with a pair of tongs. There was scrummy beef, pork, lamb, chicken, chorizo sausages and seafood. The food was not cheap as the bill for two of us with a bottle of wind was A$140 (£100) but comparable to a good English restaurant. Caroline (Peat Smoke) has her 53rd birthday on Tuesday so no doubt we will have a night celebrating with her and her family who are all on board now. Two daughters and a son from Scotland who are not sailors!! So now we are in a Marina again so Peter is tackling a few jobs like servicing the engine and resealing the front hatch which has started to leak - again! I have done more laundry and cleaned the oven top. Tomorrow I will do the oven and fridge. Peter is going to visit the chandleries as there is a big store called Whitworths here which is Australia's largest on line chandlery and can source just about anything.

Bye bye Mackay

Our new Parasailor finally arrived yesterday so at last we are getting ready to depart for our cruise up to Thursday Island via Cairns. The delay was caused by us not wanting to pay the tax but in order to speed things up we had to part with A$1,800 which is about 1,300 GBP. Hopefully we can claim most of this back when we leave Darwin under the Australian Tourist Tax Refund Scheme but it is likely we will be short by about A$500. Oh well at least we have the new sail now and can try it out before the next leg! Whilst here in Mackay we thought it would be prudent to get another rig check done and the rigger found a cap shroud which was not safe so that is being replaced today. Good job we got the rig checked here!! Our insurance company will pay for a free rig check when we get to South Africa but that is another few months away and there is some challenging sailing to be done between now and then! Whilst in Mackay we have visited the Canelands Shopping Centre and had enough retail therapy to last another few months. It was a good place to reprovision though as two large supermarkets were well stocked with all the items required. I even managed to find a portable ipod docking station so now we can have music even if the generator is not running. Peter has aquired a bluetooth gps so now he is downloading charts onto my ipad to give us another navigation system apart from seapro on the laptop. Getting used to the cooler weather here which reaches 20 degrees C during the day but is much cooler at night dropping to 12 or 13 degrees C. Looking forward to sailing north again as Cairns is a little warmer at max 23 during the day. We are booked into Marlin Marina in Cairns for 3 nights from 12 August. Expect to leave early tomorrow morning and sail overnight to our first anchorage on Magnetic Island which is some 200 miles so will take us about 30 hours sailing depending on the wind. The plan is to be near Cairns by Saturday so we can go into the Marina Sunday morning. Had a farewell dinner for Dimitry and Natalia last night as they leave the rally here. We have had an invite to Moscow where they live although they also have a place in the country a few hours drive from Moscow. August is the best time to go we are advised and it should be hot at that time of year! So who knows what the options are but we want to finish the rally first before making any firm plans. The rally is getting smaller as another boat has pulled out of the rally here (Eva) as the owner has been diagnosed with lung cancer so his boat is for sale and he has flown back to Germany for treatment. Another boat (Samsara) has structural problems and will not be continuing as there is a lot of work to be done to make her seaworthy again.So with two new boats joining us in Darwin and Bali that makes 20 in total.

Australia - half way now!

Arrived in Mackay in the early hours of Friday morning and had a cold sea fret to greet us. It is so COLD here!! As soon as the sun goes down arpound 6pm the temperature drops sharply and we have been wearing jeans and fleece tops!! The customs and quarantine procedure was pretty straightforward and I just had to hand over some tomatoes that we had left on board and some cooked meat (kept in case we had to have lunch on the quarantine dock). So by 10am we were all checked in and cleared to move to a berth in the Marina which is large and spacious with good facilities.Even found a good hairdresser in the marina complex called Jospehine who was Toni & Guy trained and did a very good job on my shaggy hair as it had not been done since we left Tahiti!! Friday night we were guests of Mackay Yacht Club at a BBQ and got the chance to chat to the many crews we had not spoken to since leaving Vanuatu. The passage across from Vanuatu was not the easiest with a couple of uncomfy days when the boat motion was making both of us a little queasy but neither of us was actually ill. Saturday I went into the main shopping centre with Marie from Dreamcatcher and we browsed around the shops and got some groceries mainly fresh stuff as we had to empty our fridge and freezer of all meat fish eggs and dairy and all fresh fruit and veg to enter Australia so the cupboards were bare! That night we had some bubbly on Dreamcatcher then we all went to dinner at a nice Italian restaurant called Angelos just next to the Marina office. Just as I was leaving the boat to go for drinks on Dreamcatcher I was serenaded by the Russians with a Russian song that the crews of Piligrim and Royal Leopard sang for me whilst Eugene played his guitar. Unfortunately Peter was not on the boat at the time and it all happened to quickly I never got a photo of this! I also received a lovely cook book from Dmitry and Natalia (Piligrim) and a bottle of wine from Mikhail(Royal Leopard). Sunday was the official rally prizegiving and lunchime BBQ hosted by Mackay Tourism at the Clarion Hotel here in the Marina complex. That evening we were invited onto Wind Dancer for drinks then we all went to dinner at a Thai restaurant. Yesterday (Monday) we went on a bus tour of the region and visited Greenmount Homestead which was an old fashioned house from the late 19th century. Then we went onto Eungella national park where there was a fantastic waterfall and we saw Kookaburras in the trees and Platypus and turtles in the water. That evening we had an invite to the VMR Mackays monthly meeting. This is a voluntary search and rescue organisation so we told them a little about us and the rally and left a donation for their funds in return for a Sausage BBQ. So today we finally have a chance to get our breath back since arriving and Peter is sorting out boat spares and we are waiting for our new Parasailor to come up from Sydney where it is waiting to be cleared by customs.We received our spare generator part so Peter fitted that Friday and all is in perfect working order now.

Vanuatu

Arrived this morning in Port Vila on the island of Efate having spent a night in Dillons Bay on Erramango Island after leaving Tanna Port Resolution. This is the first time we have had internet access since leaving Musket Cove Fiji. The sail from Musket Cove to Tanna Vanuatu was fast and furious with big swells of 3m and 20-30 knots of wind we averaged 7 knots for most of the journey only slowing down when we approached the anchorage in Port Resolution as we did not want to arrive in the dark. We arrived at Tanna while it was still dark on Tuesday 10 July around 5am so spent an hour circling around to wait for daybreak at 6am before entering the anchorage as there are reefs to look out for each side and we wanted to see where we were going! Also it is much easier to choose a good anchoring spot when you can see clearly what other boats are around and how near they are. We dropped anchor in the head of the bay where the water was flatter and less rolly. Tanna is very primative with poor local people who really seemed to appreciate our visit. World ARC had arranged for Customs and Immigration officials to visit Port Resolution and all formalities for clearing in were done at the Port Resolution Yacht Club (not as grand as it sounds!!) which was a open sided building made of local trees and leaves. The following day we visited Mount Yasur which is a live active volcano and as we were there at dusk we could see the burning embers being spewed out of the volcano quite clearly. It was an amazing natural experience! Thursday saw us participating in a traditional gift exchange ceremony where all the boats put together any old clothes or houshold items they could spare and these were presented to the villagers in return for baskets of fruit and vegetables after a speech and songs. A very moving experience. We gave clothes,crocs,pens and crayons for the school and toffees for the children. All the boat donations were divided up by the men of the village to distribute amongst the families. In our gift basket we were given christophene, squash, papaya,limes, passion fruit, taro,sweet potatoes and giant green beans. Later that evening we had a Feast which was prepared by the local villagers for everyone to enjoy and included a roast pig, curried chicken and a beef and fish dish along with lots of local vegetables including Taro which is like potato. Friday morning we left Tanna and sailed 50 miles north to the island of Erramango and anchored in Dillons Bay. Once we had dropped the hook we were approached by a local man David who invited us all ashore to visit the village. We now have Bob an extra crew member who was on Serendipity and as they are leaving the rally at Tanna he is just sailing with us to Port Vila where he will catch a flight home to England. The following day Saturday saw a number of boat crews go ashore to do another gift exchange with the villagers there in return for more fruit! We were given Grapefruit, clementines, limes and passion fruit plus some very ripe bananas! We decided to have an early dinner that night and leave before it got dark so at 5.30pm we were lifting the anchor to do an overnight passage to Port Resolution on the island of Efate. It was a very bumpy ride with big seas again and winds to 35 Knots so it was good we had Bob to do a watch which meant Peter and I got to have a real sleep! We arrived here in Port Resolution this morning and were taken to a Mooring Buoy so we were all tied up by 8.30am in time for coffee and bacon butties! Now catching up on chores before the programme starts tomorrow.

Musket Cove

So we arrived here in Musket Cove on the small island of Malolo Lailai in the Mamanuca Group of islands on Wednesday morning and had to pick up a mooring buoy outside the Marina and wait for high tide as there is a sandbar in the entrance which is too shallow for yachts to pass over at low tide. By 3.30pm in the afternoon there was enough water for us to enter the Marina and we dropped our anchor and reversed back onto the dock and tied up with stern lines. There is water and electricity on the dock which means no need to run our generator which saves diesel and it is quiet! The water was much needed to give the boat a good hose down as it was covered in salt from the sailing we had done. Musket Cove is actually a small resort and marina and everything is close at hand. There are even DIY barbeques available on the beach! We were told about the BBQs by Charles and Marie (Dreamcatcher) who came over to introduce themselves to us whilst we waited on the Mooring Buoy. Dreamcatcher is another Hallberg Rassy but 48 feet so bigger than Trompeta and it took part in the last World ARC but had to leave in Fiji as their boat suffered damage in the Tsunami that affected the Galapagos islands. They have spent the last 2 years in New Zealand having work done to the boat and cruising around. So we ordered our BBQ pack from the shop and met up with Charles and Marie at the island bar to do our own BBQ.A very enjoyable night. The following day the majority of World ARC boats arrived and we had the formal rally welcome drinks and a BBQ. It was a good opportunity to catch up with the other boat crews we had not seen for a while. Yesterday (Thursday) there was a Sports afternoon and Trompeta, Piligrim and Royal Leopard joined forces to participate in Volleyball, Tug of War and a water game. Overall we did well winning the Volleyball, Joint 1st place in the Tug of War and 3rd in the water game. The water game was not easy as it involved filling plastic drinking cups with water from a bucket and passing them over your head to the person behind who then took the cup and passed it between him legs to the person behind and so on. The last person in the line emptied the cup into an empty bucket and after a set time the water in the bucket was measured. Anyway it was all a bit of fun. That evening there was a Fijian Feast with a spit roasted pig and local veggies and salad. Peter and I sat with the two Russian boats Piligrim and Royal Leopard and had an entertaining evening. Today we are doing last minute preparations before leaving tomorrow morning for the passage to Vanuatu. Peter has already seen customs and immigration for the clearing out formalities. There is a briefing for the Skippers at 5pm tonight and we will do another DIY BBQ afterwards.

Cruising Fiji

So we are now expert at reading the reefs and navigating around these islands thanks to a local called Curley who gave us a very informative briefing last week in Savusavu. Several crews went along to Curley's houseboat anchored further down the river from the Copra Shed Marina where we were moored and we received good information about where to go and where to avoid along with some useful charlets and waypoints. We left Savusavu on Monday 25 June and anchored near the Cousteau resort that evening just inside Savusavu Bay ready for an early start on Tuesday. Tuesday we upped anchor at daybreak around 6.30am and along with Piligrim headed off to Viti Levu island following the waypoints given to us by Curley. Two other boats Sophie and Peatsmoke left Savusavu Tuesday morning and were a couple of hours behind us. We reached the first anchorage off Makogai Island around 2pm and dropped anchor with Piligrim. Makogai is an old leper colony and they have giant clams and turtles there. Peat Smoke came into the anchorage around 4pm and dropped their hook alongside.Dmitry on Piligrim had caught two Mahi Mahi fish along the way so we all ate fish cooked on our BBQ by Peter with salads and sides provided by Natalia (Piligrim) and Caroline(Peat Smoke). A very enjoyable night was had by all and we were still in bed by 8pm!! The other boat that left Savusavu with us was Sophie and Harold had decided to go a different route. Harold is German and very independent he did not go to Curley's seminar so David (Peat Smoke) advised him about the waypoints and wished him luck. Harold and Kristel(Sophie) are the oldest rally participants in their mid sixties. The following day Peat Smoke left very early before 7am as they wanted to get to the Marina early as they had a night in a hotel to look forward to so chose to skip a stop and go further in one day. Trompeta and Piligrim left around 10am and headed off motor sailing to the next anchorage off Naigani Island. Again we arrived about 2pm and both boats dropped anchor in the bay. Peter was not feeling too good so we had a light dinner and an early night. The following day we were weaving our way around the reefs on the North East coast of Viti Levu and arrived at our destination a little bay called Nananu-i-cake again about 2pm and dropped anchor alongside Piligrim. Dmitry had caught a Tuna fish this time and invited us aboard Piligrim to share his Tuna on the BBQ. There was one other boat in the anchorage with a single handed New Zealander called Shane onboard and he was also invited to dinner. Another very enjoyable night and Dmitry ferried us to and fro in his dinghy which meant Peter and I did not even have to inflate our dinghy which is all stowed on board now. Friday we upped anchor at 8.30am and motor sailed through the reefs on the North Coats of Viti Levu to Vatia Wharf to a little anchorage just past the wharf. Unfortunately another boat arrived just before sunset and decided to drop their hook so close to us we had to share our space! Anyway we turned the generator on and played loud classical music so I am sure they got the message!! They left at sunrise this morning. Today we have arrived in Saweni Bay just outside Lautoka a town where they still have an active Sugar Cane factory which is puffing a plume of smoke out but luckily the wind is blowing it away from our anchorage. Dmitry and Natalia are having dinner with us on Trompeta and Peter has set the BBQ up to cook some steak for a change from fish!! Tomorrow we are booked into Denarau Marina for two nights so we can wash the boat off and get fuel and provisions before moving along to Musket Cove on 3 July ready for the rally rendezvous.

Fiji

Arrived in Fiji very late Thursday night and the wind was blowing strongly with rain and it was pitch black when we tried to anchor at the mouth of the river where the Copra Shed Marina is based in Suvasuva. All very dramatic with gusts of up to 30 knots but we made it OK and got to bed by midnight. We were following Peat Smoke as they have better electronic charts than we do and we did not wan t to make any mistakes and end up on a reef!! The following day was spent clearing in with Health, Customs, Immigration and Bio security(foods and garbage). After the health officer had given us our Pratique we were moved to a Marina mooring Buoy just outside the Marina Office so very convenient!! Lunch ashore with David and Caroline (Peat Smoke) which was very cheap. We also had dinner ashore later in the evening and that was also cheap - £30 for the two of us to have a two course meal with wine! Suvasuva is lovely, everyone is so friendly and nothing is too much trouble. The population seems to be mainly Indian here (actual statistics are 60% Indian and 40% Fijian). There are a lot of cheap shops in the main town and cheap internet access and services. We have just left our oldest computer with a very helpful Indian called Firoz who is cleaning the PC up and putting Windows 7 onto it all for F$70 or about £24!! Today we are hiring a car for a couple of hours to do some exploring around the island of Vanua Levu which is one of the two main islands in Fiji. Also we have booked to attend a seminar run by a local cruiser here called Curley who has sailed the Fiji waters for years and apparently gives good information about the passes reefs and anchorages, the seminar lasts 2/3 hours so good value we hope at F$10 or around £3.30! We expect to stay in Savusavu for a few days before moving on next week to the main town of Nadi to do some provisioning before heading off to the World ARC rendezvous at Musket Cove Marina (one of the most exclusive yacht clubs in the world!) on 4 July. The rally departs for Vanuatu on 7 July. Weather is pleasantly hot and sunny during the day and cooling down at night so trousers and long sleeves for evenings.

Drama in Tonga

Yesterday a sail boat which had left the anchorage the day before put a May Day distress call out on the radio about 1am and a lot of people were involved in an extensive search and rescue operation including planes from New Zealand. Unfortunately they have not been able to find the two men that were on the yacht just a lot of wreckage from the boat. The life preserving aids were found unused and the dinghy is still missing so the search is continuing today. It was not a World ARC boat.

It makes you painfully aware how vulnerable you are in rough weather and you do need to take sensible precautions like wearing life jackets at all times in bad weather. The yacht involved was a standard charter boat so not built for ocean cruising like Trompeta in which we place our trust.The weather forecast had predicted strong winds for Thursday and Friday so we chose to remain in the anchorage until the system passed over. Our plan is to leave on Monday when the weather will be back to normal trade winds of 15-20 knots which is ideal for sailing Trompeta.

Had a visit to the local market this morning to buy fresh fruits and vegetables for our journey to Fiji. Lots of nice fresh salad as well! Today the weather is changing and we have just had a sharp rain shower.

Yesterday it was Dmitry's birthday so we were invited to his party on Piligrim and Natalia had prepared lots of delicious salads including a Russian speciality called Olivia which is basically a potato salad with added bits and pieces. The evening started with Vodka shots (Peter had one but I declined!) and some marinated cucumber slices which had been steeping in a salt and garlic marinade so no vinegar and the end result was quite mild but apparently the thing to have after a shot of vodka! There were crews from Sapphire and Beatoo and the other Russian boat Royal Leopard too. At the end of the evening one of the Royal Leopard crew Eugene played his guitar and sang soft songs which were lovely.

World ARC event

We had the prize giving dinner last night at the Mango Cafe in Vava'u for the last leg from Bora Bora to Suwarrow and Niue to Tonga. The evening started with a traditional Kava ritual which involved some local children and crews all sitting cross legged around a circle with the King at the end. The Governor was invited but as he had not arrived for the start then Paul from World ARC rally control took his place. The Kava was then mixed by a girl (who has to be a virgin) and then little cups are passed around to drink. It apparently makes your tongue go numb but as we already had drinks in our hands we were not passed the cups to drink! After the Kava reception we then took our places for a traditional buffet of raw fish marinated in coconut milk and cooked chicken and pork with taro and some salad followed by ice cream and cake.

The Governor did arrive later and took his place in time to assist Paul with the prize giving. We had been invited to join the top table so were treated to wine courtesy of the World ARC as well as our buffet dinner. So onto the prize giving and guess what? Trompeta was awarded first place for our group for the last passage!! Peter was so amazed he dropped his spoon back into his ice cream!

Tonight we have a BBQ at the Aquarium Cafe.

We have had some t shirts printed by Tropical Tease and have some cute Trompeta logos now. It was time Peter had some more shirts as his old ones are getting very worn now.

Looking to stay here for a few days before setting off again for Fiji.

Tonga now!

Later than envisaged we are now on a mooring buoy in Tonga in the Vava'u group of islands off the main town of Neiafu where funnily enough there is a Moorings charter base just up the road from our World ARC office!

We left Bora Bora on 16 May for our passage to Tonga via Suwarrow then Niue. The first leg of the passage was around 700 miles to Suwarrow and not much wind so a lot of motoring. When we arrived in Suwarrow the weather advice was that a depression was forming and a weather system delayed our departure by two days. The anchorage is deserted as no one lives on the island and it is a National Park but the wardens do not arrive until 1 June so it was very quiet and unspoilt. The sea was flat calm when we arrived but the anchorage did get really swelly and the boat was like a bucking bronco so much so that we decided to re anchor away from the shore. It was a tricky operation lifting the anchor as it was stuck around several coral heads so took us about an hour to free ourselves!! Just before Peter was threatening to cut the anchor chain with bolt croppers! Anyway after re anchoring in the dark in very deep water we had a bumpy night with not much sleep. The next day we moved and anchored again this time in shallower water so when we came to leave there was not so much chain to get up. Even so we still had a struggle to free the anchor which came up with a lump of coral attached ...ooh not good.

After Suwarrow we sailed or rather motor sailed to Niue. Niue is lovely and rugged it is a independent New Zealand territory. The island is small enough to tour around in one day. We hired a car with Dmitry and Natalia from Piligrim the Russian boat and spent. Good day visiting all the limestone caves and chasms. The Niue yacht club advertises itself as the smallest yacht club in the world. The Commodore Keith is chatty and friendly. The only drawback visiting Niue is the rolly anchorage and the electric dinghy hoist! So we just stayed two nights in Niue and left for Tonga on Sunday lunchtime. A fantastic good sail to Tonga which is around 240 miles and we managed to sail all the way with no motor.

So now we are in Tonga for a period of free cruising until we meet up with the rally in Fiji on 3 July.

We did lose a day sailing to Tonga as we crossed the date line. Tonga is 13 hours ahead of UTC. So now we have the Skippers briefing at 5pm tonight for Fiji. Tomorrow is the Prizegiving for the last leg and group rendezvous.

Anyway off to the ATM to get sone Tongan dollars so we can go shopping!!

Bora Bora

It is departure day from Bora Bora. We set off on the next leg to Tonga via Suwarrow and Niue and expect to arrive in Tonga the end of May. Bora Bora is lovely and it would be so good to spend more time here but the trip goes on! We did get to see the island by doing a tour around the coast road on bicycles on Monday morning which was great fun and only one steep hill when everyone got off to push their bike up to the top before freewheeling down the other side.

Monday afternoon saw the dinghy race where there are no rules so there are all sorts of silliness and people swimming in the water hanging onto dinghies to hold them back and missiles and water pistols being fired! Pictures are on the World Cruising website.

Yesterday we had the Skippers briefing for the passage and this was quite detailed and included information about the stop overs at Suwarrow and Niue.

So final trip to the supermarket to get stocked up on baguettes this morning then make the dinghy secure by deflating and rolling away on deck then we are ready to leave.

There is only one way into Bora Bora through a pass in the coral so all boats enter and leave using the same channel. Just hope it is not too busy with boats coming into the lagoon when the time comes for us all to leave at 12 noon local time (10pm UTC).

Bora Bora

We are now at anchor in the lagoon of Bora Bora ( or Pora Pora as it is known locally as there is no B in the Polynesian language). Bora Bora is the 'jewel of the Pacific' as it so pretty! We are surrounded by a high mountain and lush green vegetation. The World ARC fleet are guests of the Bora Bora Yacht Club at the Mai Kai Marina. Marina is rather a posh word for the facilities which are several mooring buoys and a small dock big enough for only 3 boats! There is a bar ( essential) and a restaurant plus showers and garbage disposal.

The sail from Raiatea was fast and smooth with strong winds gusting 30 knots so we had a fully reefed main and jib. We actually lifted anchor at around 6.30am after a very windy night with Peter up and down all night to check our bearings and make sure we were not dragging as the boat was sitting in 33 metres of water with 96 metres of chain out( you would normally have 4/5 times the depth out in anchor chain) but as we only have 100 metres of chain it would have meant fastening some warp onto the end of the chain. We took the view as we were only staying 1 night we would risk it and we were indeed OK unlike the catamaran in front of us which dragged anchor and slid past us!!

Raiatea was pretty and a welcome sight after our passage from Tahiti which was very uncomfortable with rolling seas from all directions. Peter's words were ' it was a bit boisterous'!

So now we are in Bora Bora and we waved the first group of boats off at 12 noon local time to start the leg to Tonga via Suwarrow and Nuie. Our group leaves on Wednesday so we have some time to enjoy the island before we have to leave. Last night we had a nice dinner at St James restaurant with Jonathan and Heather( Matilda) David and Caroline ( Peat Smoke) and Phil and Andrea ( Anastasia) and some of us were suffering a bit this morning after a bit too much vino!! Anastasia and Matilda left today with group 1 and we waved them off and took pictures of the Parasailors flying brightly. We cannot wait to get our new Parasailor in Australia!

Tomorrow we are hiring bicycles to tour around the island which is not very big and should take around 3 hours to circumnavigate. It is mostly flat with just one hill so should not be too strenuous for us!

Moorea

Last Saturday we took the ferry across to Moorea a sister island to Tahiti and had a pleasant day with David & Caroline in their hire car. We drove around the islnad which is very lush and green and less developed than Tahiti. There was a lovely Pearl Lodge Resort where we stopped for lunch which was excellent.After lunch we found a beach and had a swim in crystal clear water.

We took the last ferry back at 4.45pm so were back in the hotel for 6pm.

Tahiti

So we left Marina Taina on Peter's birthday 2 May to motor to the boat yard where we were due to be hauled out of the water at 10.30am. The lift out was good no hitches at all. We had both gone with Peat Smoke to assist David & Caroline when their boat was lifted on Monday so we knew what to expect!

The skeg was examined and the old firbre glass ground off to look underneath at the rudder - all appeared to be in order so that was a relief. The skeg was reglassed over and painted. Whilst we were in the yard Peter arranged to have the prop anode and the fridge anode replaced as they were both looking worn.

Whilst in the boat yard we stayed at the Hotel Tahiti Nui which was lovely in a junior suite so we had a kitchen and lounge area to relax in. The only meal we ate in the Hotel restaurant was dinner on 2 May for Peter's birthday and we were joined by David & Caroline who were also staying in the hotel and the crew from Brizo Lew & Corinne and their two girls Kathryn & Audrey. Caroline had bought flashing garlands and helium balloons for the table which the girls thoroughly enjoyed.

Anyway as we were due to be dropped back in the water Monday at 7am we decided to check out of the hotel on Sunday and spend the last night on the boat in the yard. David & Caroline also made this decision as Peat Smoke was to be dropped in straight after Trompeta. So we had a very enjoyable BBQ on board Trompeta with food courtesy of Caroline and a very enjoyable time was had by all.

Monday morning and it transpired that the boat yard had not yet sourced a anode for the prop!! Still one did evebtuaklly turn up about 9.30am so we were actually back in the water by 10am. We motored back to Marina Taina so we could fill up with fuel first then docked so we could clean the boat and provision. My fridge and freezer are both back on so last night had a run to Carrefour to get frozen and dairy and we will go back again today to get the fruit and veg and other things we forgot! It is a public holiday today here in Tahiti so the supermarket closes at 12.30pm.

All being well we will leave the Marina Wednesday and head over to Raiatea on our way to Bora Bora for the start of the next leg to Suwarrow then Nuie then Tonga. The fleet is divided into two groups and we are in the second group so will leave Bora Bora on 16 May.

Rain rain and more rain!!

It started raining the day of the Papeete rendezvous on Wednesday when the boat crews gathered at the main town quay in Papeete for a demonstration of a traditional sailing canoe. This was followed by a briefing for the skippers advising the best places to sail around the Society islands. Such a shame we will not be able to do much cruising as we are getting the boat hauled out next week we will probably have to sail straight to Bora Bora for the next rendezvous on 10 May. We have booked a few nights in a hotel whilst the boat is on the hard as there will be no fridge or freezer or showers available on the boat! So this means for Peter's birthday we will be staying in Hotel Tahiti Nui in Papeete which is only a short walk from the boatyard.

After the day time activities on Wednesday we gathered in the Town Hall for drinks and canapes and the usual prizegiving for leg 3 from Galapagos to Marquesas (the longest passage of the rally). Trompeta was winner of class B cruising division for having the shortest corrected time (there is a penalty for motoring).

Thursday was the day of the island tour and when the bus arrived at the Marina to collect us sure enough it was raining - again!! It was disappointing not to see the view of Moorea the sister island of Tahiti due to poor visability. The one good thing about the day was the excellent lunch laid on by the Gaugin Restaurant which was plentiful and hot which we all needed! It is surprising but the rain does cool everything down and it felt cold and damp just like an English summer?!? We did stop at a lovely botanical garden and were shown the white flower of Tahiti which is not to be confused with the plentiful white frangipane flowers. There are 9 different varieties of ginger flowers one of which reminded us of foxgloves.

After the island tour we were exhausted so an early night was the order of the day. Last night we had a very entertaining time with the Scottish couple David & Caroline (Peat Smoke) who came over for dinner. This morning was my visit to the hairdresser so I am now respectable again!! It was raining when we woke up today but it has sinced dried out but there are still lots of rain clouds hovering.

Just the two of us

Alison and David packed their bags and left the boat yesterday after four months on board.We are both quietly relieved to have our home back at last. A boat is a small space and there has been tension over the past few weeks especially.Now we just have the aftermath to deal with.

Peter is now tackling his long list of jobs and managed to give the main engine a good service yesterday and today. He has almost fixed the small water leak on the generator. Some of the generator parts sent by Fischer Panda in the UK were wrong so we have ordered again.

The boat is getting a good thorough spring clean as we have time to do it now we are on dock with water on tap. Expect Peter will pickle the watermaker as we will not be using it for a while.

Planning to go into Papeete by bus on Monday so Peter can visit all the various ship suppliers and chandleries for his parts and spares.

The spinnaker has gone off to the sailmaker for repair and should be back sometime next week. We have decided not to repair the blister as it is old and we are not sure how much longer the material will last anyway. Intend to order a new Parasailer next week as an additional downwind sail.

Tahiti is very beautiful and HOT!!

Marina Taina

Have now arrived at Marina Taina just outside the main town of Papeete in Tahiti. We got to the Marina late morning and had to drop anchor outside the main dock wall and reverse onto the dock so tied up with stern and lazy lines. Our Passerelle is now in action and using the dinghy davits we can raise it above the dock when we are not on board which is good and stops unwanted guests!

One of the best things about being here is that there is a HUGE Carrefour supermarket about 5 minutes walk away with well stocked shelves and a good range of products. Just like being in a TESCO at home!! Only difference being everything is expensive. There are some subsidised products which the French government provide financial assistance which are cheaper ( 50 tea bags £2.50). Peter came with me to see what was on offer and we were both amazed at what we can buy so provisioning to Australia will be great here (if expensive!!).

The yacht agent World ARC are using is based here in Marina Taina and he has been very helpful with information and advice. He has given Peter a list of shops and suppliers that will give us discount. He also collected our parcel from Fischer Panda for the generator so Peter can replace the parts.

We are booked into this Marina until 24 April but may stay longer as Peter wants to get the boat hauled out of the water again to check a crack in the skeg whcih supports the rudder so is fairly crucial to our safety!

The World ARC have a rendezvous in Papeete at the main town quay but we have been told by another skipper that it is noisy and unattractive so as this is on 25/26 April we may just get a bus/taxi to Papeete from the Marina here rather than move the boat.

Busy day yesterday with me doing two big laundry loads and shopping. Good job Peter took us out for dinner last night at the Marina restaurant which was very good and not too expensive (bottle Pinot Grigio £24 steak £18).

Today is a big jobs on the boat day!!

Tahiti

Arrived at Tahiti yesterday afternoon we motor sailed in company with Sophie who suggested anchoring off Venus Point at the Northern end of Tahiti. However when we approached the anchorage Harold from Sophie radioed up to say no boats were using the anchorage which he thought suspicious and wanted to move along to the next bay so we agreed to follow. We duly arrived in a sheltered lagoon outsie Tahiti Yacht Club and a very king man from the Yacht Club advised we could anchor and showed us where would be suitable. The anchorage was deep around 19 metres so we had to lay around 80 metres of chain (good job we have 100 metres of chain!)! Harold radioed again to say Cristel his wife was not happy to stay as they only have 60 metres of chain so they were not staying and going to move to the next bay. We wished them luck and agreed to meet up in Taina Marina which is where we have a berth reserved from today. Sophie is in the same Marina from Saturday.

So having a lazy start this morning and will head off to the Marina around 9am to be in by lunchtime.

We caught two large Wahoo fish during the sail from Rangiroa so had one half last night which was delicious. Earlier that day we had caught two Tuna one being quite small we radioed Harold on Sophie to see if they would like it for dinner. So a few minutes later had the two boats sailing precariously close together while Dave tossed the tuna inside a plastic bag onto Sophie for Cristel to retrieve. Later we had an email from them to say how much they enjoyed the tuna and it was a first for them!! We assume they have never caught and eaten fresh fish on board.

So we well Peter really has a long list of jobs to do on the boat from engine servicing to fixing broken pumps including our shower drain which is most important!, at the moment I have to sponge out the shower tray manually each night. There are good chandleries here so Peter will be able to stock up on spares again. We also have the parcel sent from England by Fischer Panda for our generator so that is also a major job. Whilst all this boat maintenance stuff is going on I will be able to get loads of laundry done including all sheets and towels which are awkward to do on board. In addition Trompeta needs a good clean as after 4 months at sea things are getting grubby!!

I am getting excited about going to the big Fench Careefour supermake to stock up on produce and dried goods. Tahiti is expensive and I know everything will be at least 2 to 4 times the price in England but it will be good to have a choice of supplies again. The intention is to stock up enough so we can last until Australia where we make landfall end July 2012.

Tahiti is very green so I guess it rains a lot as we had several showers overnight so had to keep getting up to close hatches and put the fan on. No AC on board - maybe I should add tha to Peter's already long 'to do' list!!

Tuamotu Archipelago

Have spent 3 days in Nuka Hiva the largest of the Marquesas Islands where Peter took the opportunity to get some more diesel for the empty jerry cans. Discovered another Pearl Lodge Hotel there just like the one in Hiva Oa but with a smaller swimming pool. Had dinner at the Hotel on 2 of the nights we were there and tried another local restuarant called Moana Nui which was good value for money with the Harold and Kristel the German couple from Sophie (another HR). Whilst here we discovered our yellowbrick had stopped working so we have to manually email our daily position.There has been a problem with some trackers and yellowtrick are replacing all the trackers in Tahiti.

Left Nuka Hiva on Wednesday and arrived this morning at Rangiroa which is the largest of the Tuamotus being 40 miles long and 17 miles wide and the second largest coral atoll in the world. We had a tedious motoring journey with very little sailing and it was so HOT!! When the engine runs day and night it really makes the boat very warm especially in the aft cabin where we sleep. The entrance to Rangiroa is not straightforward as you have to line up the leading lights and come through a pass which has rips and tides. You are supposed to wait for slack water but we entered on the tide so had to motor hard to push though and avoid the reefs either side! When we leave tomorrow we plan to leave at slack water to make it easier!!

The anchorage here is very still flat calm water and HOT HOT HOT!! The decks are so hot you have to wear flip flops otherwise the soles of your feet get scorched. It must be well into the 30 degrees C. In this lagoon Black Pearl farming is a major operation and you have to take care avoid underwater lines when anchoring.

So we leave at 10.30am in the morning and will head straight for Taina Marina in Tahiti where Peter intends to do lots of work on the boat and I want to do a load of washing and get all the cushion covers cleaned again. I need to clean out the fridge and defrost the freezer which has not been done since leaving the BVI last December. There is a good big French supermarket near the Marina so I hope to be able to do some proper good provisioning for our next legs to Australia.

Tahiti is 200 miles away so we expect to be in the Marina on Thursday mid day. The time difference now is 10 hours behind UTC.

Hive Oa

Arrived here in Hiva Oa on Saturday and were just in time for the welcome party complete with local dancers all dressed in traditional grass skirts and brightly coloured clothing. Everyone was presented with a garland of flowers placed around your neck like a necklace. These flowers were scented and the smell has lasted right up until today when there is just a faint aroma.

We have only just got a decent Internet connection arranged so only now can we e mail and update this blog!!

Have had a good chance to explore the small town of Atuona which is about a 30 minute walk from the anchorage or a much shorter 5 minute taxi ride! Met up with Phil and Andrea from Anastasia on Saturday night and they cooked us dinner which was great as we were both tired from the long passage. David & Alison spent the night ashore with several other crews at a nearby restaurant.

Sunday afternoon saw most of the crews at a nearby bar and restaurant run by Alex and an interesting dinner was served which consisted of many small plates of local fruits and other sweet dishes with some bread and one really good fish dish with not much fish!

Monday afternoon we went up to Hanakee Pearl Lodge Hotel with Phil and Andrea for a swim in the pool and dinner. Dinner was gorgeous and although expensive the men had great steaks and the girls had fish dishes with a very nice French wine. This is French Polynesia and the language is French and the shops sell baguettes by the armful. Nota lot of vegetables to be found here but the local fruit is good. Huge Pamplemousses which are a sweet grapefruit pale green in colour. The locals are all very friendly and say bonjour to you. My rusty French is improving daily!!

There is still one boat out there Peat Smoke who are expected to arrive Friday so we have decided to wait for them to come in before we depart as they have had a long tedious passage with numerous problems and breakdowns.

The plan is to sail to Nuka Hiva which is the largest of the Marquesas islands at the weekend.

Prizegiving Ceremony for Leg 2

The World ARC organisers hosted a prizegiving ceremony last night for leg 2 of the rally from Las Perlas to Galapagos which was around 850 miles with very little wind!

Trompeta was awarded first prize for our class of boats for coming in ahead of several others who had to motor a lot of the way wheras although we went a long way south we kept wind up until the last couple of days so our motoring penalty was not as great as some other boats who crossed the finish line ahead of us. There were 22 boats out of 30 who motored more than half the leg!! Trompeta was going for the green prize so we tried to sail as much as we could. We narrowly pipped Glamouras Galah (an ex Moorings charter boat from the BVI) to the post. See the website gallery for photos from last night!

After the awards ceremony we headed off to a lovel restaurant called Isla Grill where we have eaten many times since we arrived so did not get back to the boat until pretty late. It was an early start this morning to the Saturday Farmers Market which was fantastic with lots of good fresh produce for sale. The water taxi picked us up at 6am to go to the market and we were back on the boat by 7.15am all provisioned up now. Just need to get some last minute stuff today as I want to do at least 2 meals before we leave.

Peter checks out with immigration tomorrow morning at 8am then we are ready to leave at 12 noon along with the rest of the fleet. The trip to French Polynesia will take around 3 weeks so no internet for a while now.

Final preparations before leaving Galapagos

Crew dinner last night with 70 crew members from the various World ARC boats here in Santa Cruz. Take a look at the World ARC website for some photos! A very enjoyable dinner was had by all. Now getting ready for departure to Marquesas on Sunday. This morning we did some provisioning for the trip so as not to leave it all to the last day. We intend to visit the farmers Market on Saturday EARLY leaving at 6am as the farmers start the Market early.

This morning saw Jane in the Hairdressers getting a colour and cut from a very cheerful local girl who spoke no English at all!! Anyway managed to get a good result for a reasonable USD 75 plus tip. Just enjoying lunch with another couple Janet & Mark from At Last at Isla Grill where the WiFi actually works!!

So we have the Skippers briefing and prize giving for the last passage at a local hotel tomorrow evening followed by drinks and canapés. Saturday is our early start to the Market and other last minute shopping before leaving at 12 noon on Sunday. We have already refuelled the boat as a local tender came to the boat with several large jerry cans of fuel on Tuesday.

The next leg to Hiva Oa will take us around 3 weeks depending on the wind speed. Have charged the yellow brick tracker up so you can follow our progress on the website.

Santa Cruz Galapagos

Yesterday we left Isabella for a motor sail to Santa Cruz which is the most developed of the Galapagos Islands. Isabella although the largest island is still being built! Lots of half finished buildings and when it rains the streets flood but fortunately not the raised pavements. They still need to sort their sewage and drainage systems out as everywhere was a bit wiffy!! Anyway they did have lots of sea lions iguanas and tortoises as well as some cute baby black penguins one of which came swimming by the boat on two occasions! It is surprising to have rain again but at least the decks are now clean!! We will not be in a proper Marina again until we reach Australia so not easy to do things like wash the boat off using dock water. We took a taxi tour in Isabella to see the flamingos and giant tortoise breeding centre and iguana nesting ground plus the famous wall of tears which was built just after WW2 by prisoners of a penal colony and is huge and built of lava pieces.

So now Puerto Ayora in Santa Cruz which is so... Civilised compared to Isabella!! Tourists are very important to the island and lots of souvenir shops and tour operators are based here. We had a lovely dinner last night at Il Giardino restaurant which was first class and could have been served in Harrogate!! The only thing was dinner was USD 60 including tax and service whereas in Harrogate the cost would have been over £100 compared to £40 equivalent here. Not bad eh? Anyway today is Sunday so just having lunch in Isla Grill another delightful restaurant as most shops close on Sundays ( just like it used to be in England)!

We are here in Santa Cruz until we leave for the Marquesas on 4 March. I have even managed to find a professional hair salon before we leave as my hair is in need of attention! The next passage is 3 weeks so must stock up as best we can here so we have enough food to last!!

Everything on the boat OK apart from a red warning light indicating voltage problems on the Generator which concerns Peter but hopefully it is not too serious as we can still charge the batteries OK. Just hope it lasts until we get to Tahiti as this is the next place where boat spares are available. We should be in Tahiti towards end April.

Galapagos

We cannot really believe we are actually here in the lovely Galapagos Islands where there is so much wildlife to see!!

The sail down from Contadura in Las Perlas was slow but by following a more Southerly course Trompeta managed to keep wind until the last day. We crossed the finish line here in San Cristobal at 9.15am local time (6 hours behind UTC) yesterday so today is the first day to explore this island. In the anchorage when we arrived we saw many sea lions sunbathing on little man made platforms and even saw some slither up onto the back of the catamaran Anastasia!! Boats with low sugar scoops at the back are especially vulnerable. Trompeta has a high back end so it is difficult for the sea lions to come onboard!! When we arrived we had to wait until after 3pm to be cleared in by customs and immigration before we were allowed to leave the boat. A total of 9 officials came on board to complete formalities including 2 Police a Port Captain and several others who did not seem to do anything! Everyone here seems to be extremely friendly and welcoming. Galapagos is part of Ecuador and they are devoting a lot of time and money to keeping the islands as natural as possible. There is no litter anywhere and as there are no international flights to the islands there are a limited number of visitors. Tomorrow we have an excursion to Kicker Rock to snorkel and swim ( with sharks!) not sure about this but will see how we get on!!

Just to let you all know before we left Las Perlas we had the prize giving dinner fir leg 1 from St Lucia and Trompeta took 2nd place in her class. Not bad for an old lady! The prize giving for leg 2 will be when we get to Santa Cruz and is on 1 March. We depart for the Marquesas in French Polynesia on 4 March.

Panama Canal

Well what an experience!!

We actually left Shelter Bay Marina a day early so arrived here in La Playita on the Pacific side of Panama yesterday and anchored outside the Marina which was full.

The transit started with us leaving the Marina just before 4pm and motoring out to an anchorage called the Flats which is just across the bay from Shelter Bay. We had to wait here until our Adviser for the canal transit boarded at around 5.30pm. We had a guy called Moses who was really good and helpful. Peter then motored towards Gatun Locks which is the start of the canal. This took around 30 minutes so just enough tim for me to cook some spaghetti to feed Moses to go with the mince I had already cooked. Apparently you always have to provide a hot meal and drinks for the Adviser!! Anyway he loved the spaghetti bolognaise and even Peter who is not a big pasta fan said it was good!

The boat arrived just outside Gatun Locks around 7ish and this is where we had to raft up alongside another yacht called Sapphire a larger monohull 67 feet in length who was the centre boat. Trompeta was on the port side and another HR 42 called Matilda was on the starboard side. The centre boat had a Pilot on board as they were over 65 feet in length. It appeared that the Advisers on the two outside boats were giving advice to the pilot on the centre boat as to how lines should be tied. When we entered the first lock chamber a line was thrown from the wall to our stern and bow, you have to watch out as there is a monkey fist on the end of each line!! Dave then attached our bow line ( an extra long one lent to us ) to the line thrown by the line handler and the line handler then pulled his throwing line back to fasten our line to a large concrete bollard at th top of the wall. The stern line was actually given to Sapphire as they were a longer and heavier boat they controlled the stern lines on both sides of the chamber. Both side boats had big tyres attached to the side with ropes tied to the stanchions in case of any impact but we did not come anywhere near the wall at any time. We were probably fortunate that the Skipper on Sapphire was a professional who used to work on a 100 feet yacht so was very competent, a New Zealander called Scott. So Sapphire motored
through to the lock chamber pulling both side boats through using his engine. We had to keep
running our engines as when Sapphire was far enough into the chamber both side boats had to engage reverse to help stop the nest! So then we sat and waited for the two rafts(nests) to
form behind us so we ended up with three rafts inside th lock. The gates closed and we were
then lifted upwards as the chamber filled with water, and the line handlers on the boats
adjusted our lines as needed taking up th slack. Once the lock was full of water the gates
opened again and we proceeded to the next lock chamber and the lines were released back to the
line handlers on the walls to throw to us again once inside the next lock. The whole process
was repeated again for the next lock. There are three locks in total so it was quite late by
the time we got through to Gatun lake on the other side. We then had to anchor the boat here
overnight and our Adviser was picked up by th launch boat at 10 pm.

So day 2 a new Adviser called Oscar joined us just after 7am for the second part of the
Transit. Peter then motored for 28 miles along the lake to the next set of locks. Along the
way there was a lot of dredging taking place so the water was a rather muddy colour instead of being clear/greeny as it was fresh water. The final set of locks are Pedro Miguel with one chamber and Miraflores with two chambers. This was going down so water was drained from the
lock chambers whilst we were inside but the process was the same as for going up Gatun Locks. There was only a mile between these two locks so Scott motored the nest forward to Miraflores
with us still attached. At Miraflores there is a web cam and everyone on the yachts waved at
the cameras just in case anyone back at home was watching!! There were hundreds of spectators
watching us go through standing in the control tower.

After Miraflores second lock (which is a mixture of sea water from the Pacific and fresh
water from the lake) we then entered into the Pacific Ocean!!

So.....we are now on the Pacific side of Panama. Unfortunately the La Playita Marina is full
so we are anchored outside which is OK except when big boats or large tenders drive fast past
us and we get lots of wash and a very rolly boat!!

So whilst here we have a trip to the Ember Indian village and a tour of Panama City. should be able to update you again before we leave to be in Las Perlas islands by 6th Feb.

Panama

Have now arrived in Shelter Bay Marina ready for the next part of the journey through the Panama Canal on Sunday.

Have had a lovely time in the San Blas islands which are quite unique in that they are occupied by the Kuna Indians who refer to the San Blas Islands and the associated mainland territory as Kuna Yala. The land is unspoilt and not developed at all with no fences so tribe members can pass through. The rendezvous lunch we had in Chichime was a chance for the crews to get together after the first leg from St Lucia and we were guests of the Humberto family. It was a pot luck lunch so each boat contributed food. When you anchor in these Islands the local women row out in their Ulu which is a dug out canoe to sell you Molas and beaded jewellery. The Kuna people are all small as they are not allowed to marry foreigners so are all interbred! They wear colourful clothing and women rule the roost here!! The mainstay of the Kuna economy is coconuts which grow in abundance and until a few years ago were the official means of exchange.

The Molas are Panamas most famous handicraft and are beautiful appliqué squares of cloth intricately made by sewing and cutting different layers of colourful cloth. Each Mola is unique and usually show abstracted forms of birds, animals or marine life. I have bought one as a souvenir of Panama.

Whilst in San Blas we met up with Pat & Mary on Go Free and had an entertaining evening with them before they left to head back up to the BVIs again.

First trip to Colon this morning to check out the REY supermarket for provisioning. We all went and the supermarket sent a bus to collect us and our shopping and we were taken back to the Marina free of charge. This is only the drinks run!! We have all the groceries to get still so back on the Marina bus tomorrow again a free service which takes about 30 minutes.

The Marina has a very small chandlery so Peter will have to try and get his spares from the other end of the canal in Panama City. We may not be on the dock at the other end as this Marina has limited space so expect to anchor outside.

We do not find out the results of the first leg until we reach Las Perlas but I expect you have all been watching us on the fleet viewer so can probably tell us how we did?!! Not last we think probably somewhere in the middle of the fleet so quite respectable for an old boat.

World ARC Start Day!!!!

Well it has finally arrived and today is the start of our world trip. The start time is mid day local time which is 4pm UK time. All the boats congregate in the bay outside the Marina and pass through an officially designated start point. Our Yellow Brick tracker device is now fitted and working so you will be able to see exactly where we are at any time by going to the World Cruising website and clicking on World Arc 2012-13 then look at the fleet viewer.

Everyone went to a farewell reception last night hosted by the St Lucia Tourist Board and free drinks and canapes were provided to all the boat crews. A very enjoyable night was had by all.

So.......we are off today and next stop is the San Blas Islands where we check into Panama. The distance is 1100 miles and we have estimated it will take us 7 days (I think this is optimistic but we will see!!). We need to average a boat speed of 6.5 knots to achieve the ETA. Hmmm? Our previous trips have us averaging 5 to 6 knots max. Oh well perhaps there will be lots of wind - the forecast is 20-28 knots which is quite brisk!

Anyway next blog is likely to be before we go through the Panama Canal from Shelter Bay Marina as there is no WiFi in remote San Blas Islands. Our transit date through the canal is 29 Jan and we have to be in Shelter Bay Marina Panama by 28 Jan.

Happy New Year!!

We returned back from Martinique having explored the shops and found decent French wine plus other items for the ships stores. New Years Eve was spent at anchor off Pigeon Island outside Rodney Bay Marina and we saw in the New Year at 8pm local time midnight UK time!! There was a very good display of fireworks on the beach at midnight and the bangs woke me up so it was easy to watch what was happening through my window.

There was quite a bit of rain the following night and the bad news is that the foreward hatch still leaks so the next day it was back into the Marina for Dave to have another go at sealing it again. The bank holiday lasts until 4 Jan so only the supermarkets are open which means the chandlery is not open until tomorrow.

When Dave and Alison were swimming around the boat cleaning off the barnacles after Christmas they noticed the antifoul paint was coming off so we have an appointment to get lifted out of the water at 7.30am tomorrow and will spend 2 days on the hard getting the boat painted again. Dave & Alison are booking into a hotel for 2 nights but Peter and I will stay onboard for security reasons. The boat yard does have good security but we have a lot of valuable gear on board so feel it is best if we are around. We intend to do the painting ourselves to save money.

Tonight is the first official World ARC event which is drinks and nibbles at the Marina Bar. We have already had our safety inspection and everything was OK except Peter could not find the spare VHF aerial so I guess he will buy another tomorrow!

Further briefings take place on Thursday and Saturday then we depart at 12 noon on Sunday 8 January!