Brisbane to Sydney

Update to blog, November 2010. Blackwattle Bay, Port Jackson (Sydney) Australia.

It's been a great start to the Austral summer so far. No expensive boats damaged, by me, one saved from the reef, and nobody hurt beyond reef infections and sunburn.

Yes long distance cruising in sailboats is all about going to exotic places, like Scarborough Australia and working on your sailboat. Have you ever seen such a great alignment on the prop shaft as this one in Scarborough?

So I spent the time and money to paint the bottom, zincs, get the running rigging working again, polish the prop, work work work as required. But all in all the 6 months in the hard over the Aussie “winter” was very good on Prism and she was into the water and sailing in pretty good time. And everything seemed to work well.

It was off to Mooloolaba after that, a great spot to sail the Tasman, and I saw humpback whales there, too fleetingly to get the photos though, so you just get my word for it, as well as Shane Holmes, a helicopter pilot from Mooloolaba. After sailing he and his lovely Brenda took me out for drinks and dinner at the Surf Club.

Then it was off sailing, I managed to 'pick up' a young guy from Brisbane as crew, with his help I planned to take Prism outside Moreton Island on course Southport. The last evening in Mooloolaba, I shared some wine with the elder sailor, Alan, and he was going to Southport but by the inside, anchoring at St Helena Island. He marked some good anchorages on my cruising guide.

An early departure and we stopped at Flinders Reef en route for some great snorkeling in warm waters with lots of fish and turtles. Young Matt of Brisbane wouldn't swim there, however. The Aussie Marine Rescue group of volunteers likes to keep track of us amateurs by sail plan and I heard Alan call in a few hours behind us, he was also coming the outside route, the long way with no anchorages and he was single handing, and he is even more mature than I. At least I had young Matt who was over his seasickness and was now turning into a good helmsman. The wind was warm and gentle and we sailed close to her. Darkness fell soon after Pt Lookout and the unlit nasty looking Flat Rocks. Jagged high rocks are bad enough to see, but Flat Rocks barely stick out of the ocean and with no light on them, and with them in the way, and far off Pt Lookout, I was happy to get past in the last daylight and on my way for Southport, about 5 hours south. But a couple of hours into dark, and the Marine Rescue group is calling Alan on his yacht and he is in trouble. Couldn't hear Alan's side of the radio but we turned around and headed north and sure enough he had run her up on Alt Rocks. The wind and tide pushed him in there and she was on pretty high and dry. His speed and the flatness of the rocks, he was well up there as the morning light showed.

He had got rescued by the helicopter, it landed on the rocks and after a night hove to, me and Matt hoped to be of some help in the rescue, maybe even save her ourselves, earn cash rewards and fame and tons of Brisbane Babes. Matt being from Brisbane and all. She wasn't steel, but fibreglass and she might have been holed already, too hard to see, but the waves were coming in pretty furious for a calm sea and the afternoon tide was the best time to get her off. The commercial salvage guys came and we put the long line to her and each wave lifted the bilge and pulled her towards the big 'Suki engine, if she wasn't holed by the grounding, she was now.

The salvors threw me and Matt onto her as she came under tow, with a 10 HP gas pump, she was taking on water, so me and Matt got that pump and hoses put together and the pump making noise and we started sucking water out of the bilge. I got no photos of that part, we were too busy sucking water.

But that was the end of it for us, they transferred us back to Prism at anchor at the Flat Rocks and Matt and I continued onto the bar at Southport. Thank goodness it was an easy crossing, I came to realize that easy crossing of bars on this coast are kind of rare. We motored down to the heart of Southport town and tied up to a bar and drank some beer and stayed tied up to the bar all night. Alan later called to thank me for my help and to enquire about my reef wounds, every time you get smacked onto a South Pacific reef, you get septic wounds for a week or two. Thanks Alan, I am healed now.

Young Matt was pretty good help and he might get a job with the salvors, they always look for young strong guys from Brisbane. But he wouldn't swim in the Aussie waters, too afraid of sharks. He left me on the Flat Rocks and went back to anchored Prism and he couldn't tie up the zodiac. It got free and drifted away. I shouted at him from the Flat Rocks, Swim, you Aussie pussy, swim. But no, he wouldn't, so I swam to anchored Prism shouting all the way, you Aussie Pussy, don't make me swim all the way out there to rescue that Zodiac that you couldn't tye up, you Aussie Pussy and me an old friggin' Canadian and all, you young Aussie Pussy, etc etc etc, you probably get the idea. Ya just gotta get over that fear of Sharks, Matt. It's like fear of flying in helicopters, get over it.

Matt left me in Southport and I got new crew, but she had to go to Brisbane for a couple of days, which suited me since I wanted to go to Tripplers Pass and anchor where you could walk across South Stradbroke Island and go surfing on the outside. Perfect, a snug anchorage and surfing a short walk away. I got there late in the afternoon and went ashore at dark. They had a big galla galla doo at some bar and I melded in and got two free beers. Then I went for a walk to the surf beach, in the pitch dark and scare the poop outa me, a kangaroo comes bounding across my path. My first sighting of a wild kangaroo in Australia. Neat-o. The surf beach was pretty neat in the dark and I walked back to Prism. I should mention here that Queensland, a state of Australia, like Saskatchewan, does not believe in daylight savings time, so darkness falls at 1800 and dawn comes at 0400. Apparently in both places the cows are adversely affected by DST.

Next day I started my daytime explorations at the place where I got the free beer the night before, as you would, and there was the “wild kangaroos” that I saw the night before. They were tame wallabies, a kangaroo relative, but kept by the bar for Chinese and Japanese tourists to feed. Well, I still hope to see a wild kangaroo someday.

There was no surfing, I couldn't find a board and the surf had no break and I was pretty tired from saving Alan's boat, so I spent my time laying in the shade and listening to the surf. I also got free drinks from a houseboat on holiday, just had to regale them with crossing the Pacific stories.

Then Karina from Darwin came back from Brisbane and we made plans to leave the next morning early for passage to Port Stephens. Her friends were there and she was going to get back onto their boat. We didn't get away as early as I wanted, we ended up hitting the Southport Bar after slack and with the ebb. Well doesn't that Tasman Swell build up nice and swell on the contrary ebb tide? We took two nasty waves green over the bow before we ducked quick past the south breakwater into the normal swells in the 6 meter deep water, scary but nothing like the breakers in the bar. Likewise, I got no photos of that adventure, I was too busy navigating green breakers.

If you want to learn how to sail, the Tasman is great for that. One minute the wind is hard on the nose, next she is off the beam, then behind, then in front. Up the full main, now reef, now another reef, put the genny on a pole, now gybe the genny and the pole, gybe the main, put them all away and start the engine. Etc etc etc. It was a lot of work and before Port Stephens we put into the Clarence River Bar, on the flood tide I can well assure you. We put in on account of a forecast southerly. But it never came and so the next day, on the early AM flood, I wanted to leave, thinking that the southerly had come and gone and was a non event. We came out the flood tide fine, and then the weather hit hard from the south and the tide turned to ebb, so the bar was closed, so there was nothing to do but ride the weather out for, well, 22 hours.

Poor Karina got pretty seasick, me and Prism did nothing in southerly mileage and at 0200 we were back abeam Clarence River Bar. At dawn, Karina got up and said are we at Coffs Harbour? No, we are back were we started 22 hours ago. I took us to the marina and actually paid for moorage, expecting her to quit the boat and nasty blog me for taking her out into stupid conditions, but she wandered the town and had a lunch and some more food, and some more, and she was actually ready to go the next day. So another dawn departure on the flood tide, and a great following sea and wind almost all the way to Port Stephens. We saw more whales at Seal Rocks but they couldn't be caught for all our sailing after them. Lots of dolphins. So we got to Port Stephens just after dark and lined up on the sector light, in the red sector so I was just explaining to Karina how to steer in on the sector light, and I looked up and it had disappeared. Odd, all the other village lights and a red light are there. Called up Marine Rescue, and the batteries are too expensive to replace so the light only works in daylight hours. Well, into the harbour on radar and GPS, no problem and sure enough in the morning, there was the sector light burning bright.

So we left Port Stephens, Karina decided to make the journey to Sydney, and the wind blew pretty good and we came to the entrance to Port Jackson at dawn. Well, what an exciting arrival. Sydney has a great harbour with Port Jackson, big wide entrance ringed in cliffs, lots of ferries zooming all over the place and other boats too numerous to mention. Then you come around the corner with the National Harbour Park on one shore and the Opera House, downtown and the Harbour Bridge before you on t'other shore. We sailed by the Opera House, and I felt another moment of 'I Have Crossed the Pacific'. I had a moment or two of that in Brisbane. I don't know if I am cheating by having too many major milestone achievement moments for the same ocean, but I am taking them as given.

So I called my mom, and I took the photo's, Karina took a lot of photos, her being from this down under and all. She was pretty excited about the Harbour Bridge but to tell the truth, it looks big and chunky to me compared to the Golden Gate. I can't imagine I shall ever see a bridge as lovely at the Golden Gate, it being on t'other side of the Pacific, which I have crossed (excuse me whilst I have that moment once again).

But the Opera House, it is really spectacular to look at and later this week I have every intention of going there and riding my bike all around. The cove just beside is completely ringed by the Royal Botanical Gardens. I have every intention of taking my Zodiac ashore at the Opera House, with pedal bike and exploring the downtown of Sydney. I might even splurge and buy a ticket to walk across the bridge.

Right now I am anchored in Clontarf, a northern suburb in the Middle Harbour. Not a bad anchorage, lots of people passing to and fro on the Middle Harbour. Lots of swimming going on, I will be having a swim myself after breakfast. Then I shall take the zodiac up the middle harbour to investigate two possible mooring buoys for Prism. I am leaning towards Cronulla a village down south on Port Hacking. The southern suburbs of Sydney reach there, as does the rapid transit train, and it is close to Camden where I will be working sometime after Nov 20. The price is more reasonable and it is available, unlike a lot of mooring buoys in Sydney. The Sydney harbour is much better taken as a cruising grounds and anchorage rather than a mooring place. Great anchorages and tons to explore and you can anchor right beside the iconic Opera House and Royal Botanical Gardens, so why pay extra for storage when you can cruise such wonders for free? I am storing Prism on the mooring, since the job entails travel to various helicopter fire fighting locations and they pay expenses and such. I get time off and that's when I want to cruise Sydney. But even Port Hacking should be good cruising, the southern shores are the Royal National Park, the second national park in the history of the universe, the first in Australia. It has lots of interesting stuff to see and will be about a long zodiac ride from moored Prism. Or I can patiently work the tides and take Prism up the Hacking River deep into the Royal National Park.

Right now, the wind is gentle and cool, the water is clear, warm and inviting, the zodiac is all kitted out for exploration and I have to get away from this computer. I now have 'net access from Prism, I bought a nice USB prepaid and so I will be downloading lots of cruising information and photos since it came with 2 Gig of 30 day expiry data. After that it's just a simple email system. So now I have to be careful that I don't spend 2 or 3 hours a day in paradise on the 'net. So you got the latest in news and pretty soon I will report from Cronulla (rhymes with granola).

Back to Australia

I have just updated my emergency contacts info for my emergency locator beacon on Island Prism and you are all listed as my emergency contacts.

That means that if my beacon goes off then they will call you right away to tell you that my beacon is going off. Then they will ask if me and my boat and my beacon are in the general area of where the beacon has gone off. So if I am sailing to Sydney, say, two weeks from now and the beacon goes off they will ask if I was sailing around Sydney. When you confirm that I was sailing around Sydney then they will believe this is not a false alarm and they will come looking for me.

My beacon has a built in GPS and it will transmit its exact location so my rescue should be swift and easy, as long as I am still close to the beacon and have not been eaten by sharks or abducted by aliens.

I will send emails to you guys when I leave port and set out on a sailing adventure. As it stands right now, I hope to be finished the work on Prism before Oct 24th and put her into the water then and start adventuring down the Australian coast towards Sydney. Most likely my greatest problem will be all those freighters, there seem to be an awful lot on that coast.

Ok guys, thanks for letting me use your phone numbers on the contact lists, hopefully they will never call you.

North Island of New Zealand Circumnavigation

The year 2009 was pretty busy for me, perhaps like all the other non-lottery winners out there. I worked in Afghanistan and Canada and got enough money to pay past cruising debts, present boat repairs and future cruising adventures. Such as sailing around the North Island of New Zealand with Andrea England, lovely and eager to learn Andrea, my grade 5 English teacher.

I had enough to keep me busy when I arrived in Auckland on November 15th, I had to fix this and that, paint here and there, Prism went up on the hard for a week of bottom repairs. There were shakedown sails, and we managed a Rum Race on a Friday. Our position was that we did finish, and the handicap that we got put us generously only 5 minutes in last. In actual time we were at least one hour behind the second to last, but what a great time we had, and then we got lots of Mount Gay Rum drinks for only 5 New Zealand bucks each. A great time was had!

So that left Andrea and I by ourselves with Prism ready to sail and what a great wind out of the SW we had to blow us north from Auckland. First night was Kawau Island and next morning we explored the Governor's Mansion. He was so proud of the various plants and animals he imported to New Zealand, now the poor Island nation is overrun with various imported pests and weeds. Then we left Kawau behind in another great day of SW wind, but not before Andrea spotted feeding seabirds and she guided me to a nice Kingfish. A type of tuna, very white delicious fish. And we saw a Minke whale off Bream Head and then just at dark we sailed into Tutukaka, my favorite port on the North East of New Zealand.

We were in Tut's for 3 or 4 days, and almost every day we sailed out to Poor Knights Island to snorkel with the bazillion fish in the Marine Reserve. A year ago I asked my brother for a new snorkelling Pentax for Christmas and he petitioned the siblings and they pooled and got me one. Finally I am able to send photos taken of the bazillion fish. Lots of people pay lots of money to dive the Poor Knights, but we snorkelled for free and we saw a bazillion fish. Snorkelling the Poor Knights is one of the big time adventures of New Zealand. Captain Cook named the Poor Knights after an english dessert that was green and red, at Christmas time the Pohutukawa Tree that covers the islands is in full bloom with its generous red flower.

Christmas day found us at Cape Brett, also named by Cap'n Cook after Admiral Piercy Brett. The island off laying Cape Brett is Piercy Island, it has the world famous in New Zealand Hole-In-The-Rock, and many tourist speedboats come out and zoom through it. Andrea found more feeding seabirds and she caught two more Kingfish, alas below the legal limit, so catch and release.

For Christmas presents Andrea bought me a dive excursion on the Rainbow Warrior and likewise bought her the same. So we got up early and were driven up the coast a bit and we had a great dive. The Rainbow Warrior was sunk by the French in Auckland for protesting the French nuclear tests in the South Pacific and then was refloated and sunk as a dive reef near the Cavalli Islands. What a great dive, we had two separate "penetrations" and explored all inside the wreck. I stuck my head in the blast hole that sunk her, they blew her hull in the same spot for the second sinking. Andrea got all the pictures of the bazillion fish that lived inside the hull nowadays. That was a great dive.

During our lunch break we swam with bottlenose dolphins and that was great too. I felt that I was calling them with my underwater singing, and they did come around to see me, but Andrea thinks they were just looking at the underwater sasquatch. I thought that dolphins were more serious underwater, but they spent a lot of time kissing and playing and chasing fish that it didn't seem they wanted to catch. And watching Andrea and I swimming with and after them.

Then it was time to get some miles done and so we set off into the wind and tacked tacked tacked up the east coast of the North Island. Late the last night of 2009, we anchored off a beach a few miles south of North Cape. Next day was a great sail in sunshine and easy winds as we rounded North Cape and then Cape Reinga. Island Prism left her native Pacific Ocean and sailed into the Tasman Sea. I was immediately impressed with the Tasman Sea swells and after dark they became pretty offensive in size and frequency. Andrea was concerned with the increased seas and winds and so I elected to turn and run back for shelter behind Cape Reinga. Discretion is the better part of valour etc etc. Just before we got back to Spirit Bay it was midnight Dec 31 2009 and from the most northern tiny cove in New Zealand, a shore party let off fireworks. An hour later we anchored in Spirit Bay and opened the bubbly. Spirit Bay is where the Maori said that the dead left New Zealand for the hereafter. I thought I heard voices twice that night.

Next morning, another great morning of sun and wind, we left and headed south on the West Coast of New Zealand. For the next 3 days and nights we sailed with windvane, or autopilot, or sunny afternoons with Andrea at the helm and made good mileage towards Nelson. One calm and quiet morning as I slept after a night of watch, Andrea had the dolphins come to play and she got some great photos of her, Prism and the dolphins in deep blue water.

When we got to Cape Egmont we were 65 miles offshore and a front hit. I didn't feel like losing those miles so we jogged onwards at 3 or 4 knots with the storm trysail on the boom and a reefed staysail. Prism likes those sails when it gets nasty out. The wind vane did a fine job and we sailed towards Nelson at reduced speed. Andrea was not too excited with the rough going and the occasional solid wallop of wave, but she soldiered on and we came to Nelson late at night and had a very happy satisfied sleep.

From Nelson we signed on Andrea's friend Jill and her friend James and we sailed across Tasman Bay to Abel Tasman National Park where we had a great time exploring by zodiac, swimming with seals, catching barracuda (and letting them go), and sailing with dolphins again.

Since Jill and James have left, Andrea and I have had a great sail to Current Basin and then a long motor against the current in French Pass. Andrea was pretty busy steering Prism in the whirlpools. Then we motored to the entrance of Queen Charlotte Sound and here we have been exploring in the footsteps, or sailpaths of Captain James Cook. He loved this sound and we have been to his monument, his cairn and his anchorages. Today we had a rambunctious sail into Picton, the winds were gusting 40 and Andrea had the rails under many times with a double reefed main and a staysail. I was pretty busy handling sails as the wind came from all quadrants and often all quadrants at the same time. We had one crash gybe turn into a tack just before the main crashed. And here we are at this nice marina one bay before Picton, snug as the winds blow very strong out there, enjoying 2 dollar showers that last over 15 minutes. Tomorrow is wine tasting tour, we rent bycycles and tour the wineries of the Marlbourgh Sounds. I am looking forward to getting pretty sloshed on the best Sauvignon Blanc in the world and pedalling my rented byke all over the vineyards.

The Tim and Jim Adventure (continued)

Tim and I went fishing today, caught two nice sized tunas, and that was just in a couple of hours. It was a late start this morning since the mosquitoes kept Tim awake all night and so he slept in late and I had to stay in bed as well, I didn't want to disturb him. Now I know how to catch tuna

Last night we bar-be-qued one of the tuna, and have a half a tuna left over for sandwiches today, and now it's up reasonably early to get some fishing done, some mussels collected, some hiking in the forest above smokehouse Bay.

Well we did that great hike in the woods, a very ambitious hike and it felt hard whilst doing it, but today, a day later and I feel great. I was whipped after the hike, but I had a long swim to the beach and woke up after a cold shower and I felt great. We caught 4 snappers in the mussel farm, Tim caught them in about 15 minutes.

Of course the age old question came up, who was the greatest fisherman in the zodiac, the one who caught the fish or the one who guided the catcher to the fish? Of course, it was the guide, moi, and so I claim the title as Greatest Fishing Guide in the Southern Hemisphere. So we quickly got to Port Fitzroy in the nick of time to get more ice and beer and then off to Smokehouse Bay to bar-be-que the snapper and the mussels we had collected from the bottom of the floats in the mussel farm.

Whangaparapara promises to be more fun, with Richard and Mary.

Jimsh

Update from NZ

Have you been asking yourself lately, whatever the hell is Jim Shortreed up to? Maybe not, have you been asking yourself lately, whatever the hell happened to whats'is-name? Well a lot has happened and a lot is happening and so I have taken the liberty of sending you all this message. Remember the wise procedure of my valued friend, Dan Lemire, who prints these letters of mine at work and reads them in the bathroom, on company time, at his leisure.

I have been sailing in New Zealand waters with, lately, a young girl from France as crew. Fanny (although that is a slang term for the female private parts in New Zealand so in New Zealand she insists on the name Fay) was a great crew, very capable with lots of good ideas. In addition she is only 18 so she has a very immature outlook on life, quite the match to mine, but as a young woman from France she has a certain, I don't know, shall we say a bit of je ne sais quoi?

She and I formed quite the pair, drinking Canadian Club Christmas Day at Smokehouse Bay on Great Barrier Island and running into Kiwi yachts with the zodiac, waking the gentle Kiwi's. We had great sails in the strong winds, Prism healed over to the rail, waves smashing, t-shirts wet, drinking red wine (a great daytime tradition of the French from France) and eating huge chocolate bars whilst hove-to in near gales of warm wind in bright sun.

We partay-ed in Tutukaka for New Years Eve, until the late hours and then we partay-ed with my Kiwi friend Sammy who I met sailing in Fiji at Leigh Harbour. We had potluck and some strange kind of Kiwi tobacco with Gaspar in a very lovely cove north of Tutukaka. I had sailed beside Gaspar in Tahiti and we laughed as he recounted the tale of Jim surfing the coral of Tahiti, standing on the coral, blood leaking from below each ankle, holding a pink boogie board in his grandpa underpants after the wave had stripped his cool green shorts away. Then we laughed as I recounted Gaspar's near arrest by the Surete as he motored right beside me past the airport, I saved his stoned ass by pleading with the Gendarmerie, in my broken Quebecois, that his radio was indeed broken and I had told him to follow me closely, so please Monsieur Gendarmerie, let us go with a stern parlez en francais. It's kind of neat to get involved in all these remote adventures and then, by chance, meet up again and laugh again.

Gaspar, Fanny and I spent a couple of hours entering into a strange tryst. Gaspar spent 3 months one winter and 3 months one summer at Easter Island (Rapa Nui) and he had some phenomenal photos of Rapa Nui. There is a tiny harbour, just big enough for two sailboats and the local fishboats. His photos of the huge carved heads of world famous report were spectacular as were his photos of his sailboat in the harbour in a huge winter storm. By the end of his slideshow, Fanny and I were convinced to leave for Rapa Nui. It would be a great sailing trip. Leave New Zealand in late November, the beginning of the Austral summer, sail down to 50 degrees south to catch the westerlies all the way to Rapa Nui. Spend a couple of months in Rapa Nui and then sail NW with the trades behind to Gambier and then up the Tuamotos to Tahiti and then downwind to Fiji. A great circle of the South Pacific with winds statistically behind me. Fanny is planning to work hard for two years in case I am ready to go on that adventure in Nov 2010. As she taught me, sait on jamais ou les vents nous mene, and as I added, mais tu sais et je sais les vents nous mene.

who knows where the wind will blow us

but you know and I know the wind will blow us.

Fanny and I sailed to Auckland from Leigh Harbour on a day of stiff SE breeze and hot sunshine. Prism went to weather so well, the small genoa and full main had the rail in the water most the day and we tacked around headlands and behind islands. At dusk Auckland city skyline came in view, and we had a glorious long tack to the harbour lights, right along the same route the America's Cup races had taken. We tied up to Westhaven Marina at 0100, the largest marina in the Southern Hemisphere. Fanny left the next morning for the South Island and a job on a farm.

Later that morning Andrea came and took me on a tour of her adopted city, what a great city. Very much like Victoria, but with constant winds. The harbour is great for sailing, the Sky Tower is great for lunch, walking in volcano parks, the museum with South Pacific treasures, this is a great city. Next day we went for a longer drive to the West Coast and I dipped my toes into the Tasman Sea. We tried to body surf but the undertow was very strong and the lifeguards ordered everyone out of the water. Andrea and I were drifting down the beach quite fast, but Andrea was put on a lifeguards surfboard and caught a wave into the shore. I swam in with some of the others who weren't really strong swimmers, we all made it safe. After that adventure we had to walk across the hot black sand, and me without my flipflops, I got the soles of my feet really burned. Almost as painful as frostbite.

Andrea might have a solution to my storing Prism whilst going to work plan. She wants to move out of her present apartment and save a lot of money so that she can afford to take a couple of years off and go sailing. I want to have Prism looked after whilst I'm away. Surprising but true, it's cheaper to store Prism as a live-aboard in Auckland than on dry land in Whangarei. So quite possibly Andrea will be living on Prism in Auckland whilst I work.

Work has to be done, I got no money left and so I gotta go to work for a time. My company, Canadian Helicopters Ltd, has won a contract in Afghanistan to supply the American Army with 3 helicopters. I applied for it and got it, not too sure if the term would be that "I won the position" or not. The pay is pretty good, and it is a 28 day on 28 day off contract. The company pays the airfare back and forth to Canada, or equivalent, so I think that I will come to New Zealand for my time off and maybe back to Canada for some time off as well. The contract is supposed to last one year at least, but if it lasts a couple of years, then perhaps I will be a lot of money ahead.

I will get some really good anchors and chains for Prism, and a new genakker and other boat bling blings and have a big cruising kitty. Maybe Andrea and Fanny will be ready to go sailing and so I'll have good crew on board to complete my cruising adventure.

Tim Davidson, my brother-in-law got here a couple of days ago, he and I are going fishing and sailing at Great Barrier Island, leaving tomorrow. Another 10 days of sailing around this Harukai Gulf, trying for big tuna in the Pacific, tramping GBI, Smokehouse Bay for more port and hottubs. Tim and I should be back in Auckland around Jan 23 to get Prism ready for long term live-aboard in Auckland. He leaves Jan 24th for Vancouver, I leave Jan 28th for Vancouver.

Jim Shortreed.

The Tim and Jim Adventure begins

Tim Davidson, Jim's brother-in-law, boarded a plane in Victoria today, destination New Zealand. The Tim and Jim Adventure will begin in earnest on January 9th. Tim is taking a bunch of goodies for Jim, including fishing rods, a new underwater camera complete with floating strap, and a couple of CDs with very nice classical music (Chopin & Mozart) that Jim can play instead of Celine Dion.

Dispatch from Kiwi

What a great country for sailing. The winds blow here. The eastern coast of New Zealand is just like the Gulf Islands if they had the Pacific Ocean shores instead of being sheltered by Vancouver Island. Except that it's 10 degrees warmer, the water is warm enough to swim in, there are fish to catch, and the wind blows all the time. Up and down the eastern coast, quite often right off the coast, and hard sometimes.

Right now I'm in Tryphena Harbour on Great Barrier Island, and you would swear to goodness gracious I was anchored in Ganges Harbour. Maybe the town is a bit less, just a store and a couple of bars, three if you count the picnic tables, at the store doors. You can drink storebought coldies minimum of 12 feet away from the door. Many do, on the many picnic tables. Easiest way to meet a natural Kiwi, say hello to him/her over a storebought, they are really friendly.

I picked up the crew in Tutukaka, the harbour for the Poor Knights Islands. Fay, francaise, had an ad on the Whangarei Yacht Club and she showed up after emails, with her friend and a young girl. Simon, British had been having a beer or two with me last night and I offered to take him sailing with the girls. We all met at 9 AM and were away by 10. Fay took the first turn at the wheel and from the first turn to get on course, she handled the wheel pretty good. At the Poor Knights, we saw those schools of trevally on the surface again, so we dove with them and amazing being on the very wall of fish, packed like bricks, swimming like one. Alas I have no photo, I have not been able to procure an underwater camera.

We had a great broad reach back to Tutukaka, and Fay signed on as crew and stayed aboard. Simon was let go onshore, and after the night of consultation, the next morning we met at 0900 to sign Simon onto the crew. We set sail for the Poor Knights, but the wind was right on the nose, so turn south on a broad reach for Great Barrier Island. That was an exciting sail, lots of wind and everyone took turns steering. Simon was relaxing on the lower side when a wave smacked him proper and he jumped up exclaiming, "Jes*s!", that became his nickname. We anchored at Nagel Cove that night. Next morning into Port FitzRoy, a nice port with a store and some of the many great walks, up to waterfalls, through the forest, to the hotsprings.

Smokehouse Bay is one of the many fingers of Port FitzRoy, very well protected, secure anchorage on Great Barrier Island. So ashore with the crew and we found two tubs and a hot water boiler. Lots of wood, and apparently unlimited quantities of clean fresh gravity feed water. A bar-be-que pit, of course, and a big smoker for smoking the big fish. So we set up at the Smokehouse Bay and drank some port as the hot tubs filled. Then it was a long soak to get rid of the last 3 or 4 days of snorkelling. Drinking port, in the hot tub, whilst the kids (as I began to call them) made supper and went fishing. Simon was amazed to catch fish on the tiny little flies jigged up and down, but he did catch 4. Not legal, released live. Supper was superb, Simon elected the chef. Fay enjoyed her bath, the inside private tub. She pronounced such is what a princess deserves, and her nickname became princess.

Fay continued to hog the wheel, but she was actually a natural french sailor lady with a little bit of, I don't know, un petit peu de je ne sais quoi. Some of the best sailors in the world are French. We got the good fishing advice from the ice and tackle vendor and so we went to a nearby mussel farm. Some of the rows of floats are high, those mussels are harvested, some are low, those are full of mussels and the snapper come to eat there. we drifted down the rows in the zodiac, princess rowing, me and Simon fishing. I got 5 hits on the bait, missed them all, Simon got one and he landed a legal snapper. As well, the mussels on the bottom of the floats are left to die as the floats come up when the longlines are harvested, so we gathered a bunch. Another good night at Smokehouse Bay, we had hot tubs, we had bar-be-qued snapper and mussels, we had midnight swims in the bio-luminescence. We had some rum, we were up for many hours carrying on, finally I got the crew under control and back to the boat safe and sound apres 0300.

We sailed to Whangaparapara. The Kiwis pronounce the 'Wh...' as an 'F'. So that place is called Fangaparapara. It has a wharf, or farf in Kiwi. The walking on the Great Barrier is great, long trails through the Kiwi forest, a dip in the hot creek pools in the rain forest, and then another great forest trail home to the Whangaparapara estuary and anchorage. Next morning, the crew was got up at dawn since the wind was blowing into the bay and it was getting rough. We tacked out, and the crew was once again tested with tough winds, they did well. The winds fizzled on the way to the port of Tryphena. I was flying that old genaker, that had been repaired twice already, and a gust came up and blew it apart. So I get a new, tougher genakker for my christmas present. It was a great sail and I'll miss it. Fay was asked to give Simon the wheel for a while, who did a fine job, and Fay tried the sails. Once she was told she was neither weak nor sick, just a princess, she knuckled down and did fine, quickly learning how to winch, brake, and knot.

From Great Barrier Island, down the coast to the SE is Whitianga, (pronounced Fittyanga) a great marina exactly downtown with easy shopping, internet and a haulout as well. I made the kids do the sailing, I tried to write and clean the boat. But the wind let us down, first time that has happened to me in New Zealand. So we motored and did some fishing along the way. Rien du tout.

We left Whitianga for Great Barrier Island, but the wind and tides were against us and we turned south to anchor in Boat Harbour. This is a very forgotten bay, no roads no wharfs (farfs in New Zealand). There are lots of bird nests and chicks running around, the parents are pretty angry at us walking on the beach. Kiwis live here so there are lots of notices about all the poison spread around to keep the vermin and the dogs dead. Dogs have killed hundreds of kiwis in a few nights near Waitangi. So dogs have to be on the leash. The small river has the most nesting birds. The rocks are covered with a million little rock oysters, but no mussels to be found.

Next day we got into Tryphena and have been sailing every day since to some great spots all around the Great Barrier Island and the wind has been great. Last night the wind was too great and it further misbehaved by switching sides. I found myself dragging anchor and I dragged into the moored sailboats and shallow water at the head of the bay. Of course it was midnight, very black, windy and raining hard. Fay steered a fine course out into the dark, and I pulled that anchor up pretty damn fast. So tonight it's Smokehouse Bay again, a fine SW wind is keeping us off the beach and it feels pretty good, Christmas Eve Day, hot showers on the beach, and a fine anchorage in the sunshine.

Christmas greetings from Smokehouse Bay, Great Barrier Island, Pacific Ocean.

At this time of year, it's so natural to think of friends and family, if they are nice and close and warm inside sheltered from the Canadian winter. This year, I find myself outside that traditional Canadian Christmas. I'm here in the sunshine and the warm waters, I'm eating well and my crew, Fay la Francaise, is cooking a lovely stuffed pumpkin in the oven. Later today we will go to another boat for Christmas lunch and after that ashore for a bit of hiking, swimming and hot tubbing. This is a great Christmas for me, I've often dreamed of a simple Christmas in the sunshine and here I have it.

Fay has been great crew, she can really sail well, it must be a natural thing. She handles the boat very well and just the other night was well tested when she had to steer us up the dragging anchor line, as the wind and wind squalls blew us into the moored boats nearby, as the rain pelted down, in the pitch dark. I was pretty glad that she did a fine job and that she knew how fast to drive Prism, because the anchor rope I got in Fiji is pretty much junk, it twists and kinks all the time and jams the power gypsy. So to preclude the lengthy delays that jamming the gypsy gives, I was using adrenaline to hand bomb the chain and anchor aboard. Lucky me, Fay matched the speed and course of my hand bombing almost perfectly.

We had a great sail out from Tryphena the other day, she was sailing into 20 knots of wind with a reefed main and a small genoa. 'What if somebody went overboard', she asked. That is very valid question, because if she went over I am supposed to be able to get her, but if I went over, she had to be trained. So I threw the man overboard pole overboard. 'Heave-to!' and she did. 'Gybe!' 'Throw out the Rescue Collar!'. In very short order she had the boat gybed around the pole three times and the rescue collar even touched the pole. 'Swim, Simon, grab that pole and save yourself!'. On the fourth pass Fay sailed a fast close reach and I victoriously snatched that pole.

We had another sail out of Tryphena, this time the wind was a bit more, maybe up to 30. We had two reefs in the main and a reef in the small genoa. Once again, I couldn't get the helm from Fay, and she got soaked for her troubles, waves coming over the bow very regular. But it's like 25 degrees in the sun, and the wind is warm and even the waves are warm, so it's all good, or as the Kiwis say 'Sweet As'. When she finally got cold we hove-to and enjoyed the sun, wind and waves, as well as some fine Australian red and Cadbury chocolate. I felt decadent. Fay was soaked wet, very excited and didn't seem to realize the wet t-shirt effect.

When we sailed from Port Charles to Whangaparapara a few days back, I saw a big whale. You could tell it was big by the size of the blow, but it didn't show much so I have surmised that it was a fin whale. In addition I have surmised that it was the second largest whale I have seen, after the Blue Whale seen from the helicopter over the Cumberland Sound, Baffin Island, Arctic Ocean. Both whales were a little boring though, one seen from high, fleetingly, the other seen from above, fleetingly.

Today, Christmas Day in New Zealand, I am well found. Prism is gently at anchor in the beautiful Smokehouse Bay, the sun is shining, Santa Claus is visiting all the many yachts at anchor here. He brought Fay a chocolate bar and received some of the Canadian Club being served today. Fay has a stuffed pumpkin in the oven, it smells great and we are off to a pot luck Christmas lunch at the yacht from Wellington, just to the windward of Prism.

Departing Fiji at last

Island Prism is heading south from Fiji for New Zealand as of Oct 23 or 24. Jim will head towards the Minerva Reefs where he may have to wait for a weather window.

Traditional versus GPS navigation

Jim,
Please explain the following paragraph from the July 22, 2008 entry:

"There are lots of safe and deep passages through all the little islands, navigation is simple pilotage from good charts. Be careful of your electronic charts though, the charts were printed from surveys done in 1898 so the GPS and electronic charts do not line up exactly with the hard."

Some of us were confused by this paragraph. In the first sentence you refer to "good charts", but in the second sentence you say that the charts were printed from surveys done in 1898. Does "the charts were printed from surveys done in 1898" really mean "the electronic charts were derived from surveys done in 1898"?

Bill



Bill,
Clarification is due. The good charts are the paper charts based on surveys done in 1898. The headlands, heights of land, reefs, passes are all based on what those surveyors could determine, and they used primarily good visual references, e.g. mountain tops, headlands etc. You can very easily navigate through the Islands using compasses, and other visual clues, e.g. transits.

Todays charts are electronic and are based on Lat and Long as given by the GPS. In first world countries where so much commercial shipping uses autopilots, computers and GPS, the charts have been corrected to GPS Lat and Long.

In 1898 the chart surveyors used a sextant for lat and long and generally the lat is pretty accurate, it being derived simply from the sun every day at meridian passage (that is high noon). Longitude of course is less accurate in the sextant, it being heavily dependent on time, and time in 1898 being a bit more inaccurate than today. So the less commercially traveled areas of the third world have no reason to upgrade the charts to GPS Lat and Long standards, hence the 1898 survey is very accurate if used with traditional navigational tools and methods, but not corrected to todays GPS lat and long accuracy.

Here in Fiji, the Nadi Waters, or the part of the inland sea from the ocean passage to the port of Lautoka has been upgraded to GPS accuracy due to commercial shipping, but the waters past Lautoka are usually .3 NMile of longitude out of true.

Jimsh

An unfortunate series of events

Bill

I'm still in Fiji, the story follows:::::::::

well let me tell you what happened the other day, Monday morn to be exact. At around 0800 I was entering the channel to Lautoka and as I rounded the corner there was an oil tanker offloading oil at the main dock. It had two long cables out to the mooring bouys and it almost completely blocked the channel, except for a little bit on the edge. I was a bit confused, at first I thought I was on the wrong side of the channel marker and so I altered course a bit. But then I realized that there was room for me to pass, but I was now too far off the channel and the depth alarm went off. A second later, I was hard on the reef.

The tide was falling, so after a few minutes of reverse, then tugging with my 6 HP zodiac, then tugging with a village 40 HP boat, no luck, she was listing to port and the tide was going out. I gave the village guy $20 and got prepared to stay there until the tide re-floated her in the afternoon. Another village guy came out, he saw that I was preparing a cushion for Prism on the reef, when she laid down on her bilge, I didn't want any coral poking holes so I had a small tyre and lots of sinking ropes. He said he had bigger tyres, I asked for 2 and he brought them. I gave him $20 too. Those tyres saved my boat.

The tide went down, the seas were calm and so Prism just gently laid on the tyres. Later on the wind came up with a bit of a chop and so I put the main anchor out into the channel and then tied the spinnaker halyard to it. Then I pulled it in tight and the anchor pulled the mast down. This pulled the hull down onto the tyres even though the waves were lifting the hull up and down. As the hull was lifted up and down the tyres got jiggled a little bit and so by holding the mast over with the anchor, I was able to keep the hull planted on the tyres. Soon the tide was too high and the hull was lifting up and down on the tyres, so I released the anchor from the mast and the hull popped up a few inches and she was floating. I left the anchor rigged to the mast, though, because when it came time to float, if the tide wasn't quite as high as the tide I went on at, then I could lean the mast over on the anchor and reduce the draft of the boat.

Good idea, but bad timing. Shortly after that a ferry departed Lautoka and apparently it couldn't turn into the wind and get out of the harbour, so it dropped its anchor in the channel. Sure enough it drifted back on its anchor and sure enough it got turned around and sure enough it snagged my anchor on the way out. I had to cut the spinnaker halyard, and it screamed away. Then the anchor line came tight and it dragged Prism around on her keel. Then the anchor line started to make some cracking noises from inside Prism where it was attached, and so I cut that line too.

All the ground tackle was lost and it didn't come up onto the ferry. It was pretty straight forward after that, Prism got off on the high tide and I went to the anchorage and anchored in exhaustion. Next morning we dove for the anchor, no luck. Now I'm going to see the master of the ferry and see if he will re-imburse me anything for my lost anchor. Wish me luck.

Certainly no luck there, no sirree. And he didn't know where it dragged to, it never came up with his anchor. No he couldn't help with the cost of the divers. No no, don't know nothing, I pretty well expected that.

So we had another dive this afternoon, no luck, and one last dive is scheduled tomorrow at 8 AM. If nothing happens, well, another lesson learned at the cost of only money, nobody was hurt, nobody was injured. That's not too bad, just one anchor and rode lost in the crossing of the Pacific. I'll go to Australia and find an anchor and chain replacement, even better than the one I lost, and carry on.

This delay and the delay getting an anchor in Australia is going to make me way behind my schedule to get around the top of Australia and into Phuket. I can see myself spending the Austral summer in Australia and New Zealand. Perhaps I'm just tired right now and want to go somewhere I can cruise in comfort, like the Austral summer.



Yesterday first thing, I went to get my divers, but they had dove at night so they didn't want to dive again until 1 PM. So I dragged the pointy thing, or grapple, around searching for my anchor, I must have snagged about 22,000 plastic bags of mud, but no anchor. Then we dove at 1, two divers no luck.

I changed the fee schedule for my divers, now they will get $300 if they find it, but the $50 dives are over. One of my divers had a leaky second reg, he wasn't down very long. The other diver didn't find anything. So tomorrow they are going to dive for free, unless they find something. I might hang around until they give up the diving, dragging my grapple, hoping to catch that anchor.

After the diving, Tom invited me back to his house for Cava. so I accepted and had a great time talking to all the guys, no girls allowed at the cava. Talked to his grandpa, his friends, his brother, all went well. Apparently I am not the first yacht to strand on that reef. That's why I didn't get home till late. Tom's wife, Lucie, made me a very nice fish dinner to go, and I just finished that.

So it has been kind of neat, getting to know the people in the village of Bio, instead of sailing to Australia, as planned this week.

Anyways Bill, more will follow, I don't know when I'll get out of here.

Jim

Editor's note: the incident occurred at the SE corner of Bio Island, approximately 17d 36m 28s S by 177d 26m 08s E , pictured below:

Departing Fiji for Australia (or not)

Bill,

I'm a couple of days behind the departure date, I was stuck on a reef and had to wait for high tide, no damage except on very bottom of keel, and lost one anchor. Very tired today, after lots of work and gave up this afternoon on anchor search, so tomorrow is checkout.

I am leaving Fiji tomorrow, via Navula Pass and setting a course for Australia. I had planned to go to Mackay via Capricorn Channel, but the winds are not favourable for that course. So I probably will go to Cairns, via the north end of New Caledonia. I expect to be 21 days enroute. One soul on board.

Prism is in great shape, 100 gallons of water on board, 110 gallons of diesel, lots of food, two watermakers, EPIRB, flares, liferaft and VHF radio.

I have sent an Advance Notice of Arrival to the Australians and I have a valid Australian visa.

I might still be in New Zealand for Christmas, the delay in Fiji and the possible delay in getting a new anchor in Australia, might make it too late for hurricane season. Well, a damn good shopping at a cheap marine outlet in Australia is in order anyways, and who knows, maybe I'll find crew that wants to speed to Phuket.

Jimsh of Fiji.

More from Fiji

Bill,

I was out sailing around the islands here in Fiji, they are just spectacular. The waters are very treacherous though, the coral comes from way deep, straight up to a couple of feet below the surface. You can't see it when the sun is shining towards you, so you simply can't go towards the sun. The weather has been very mild though, but I could see that sailing around here is a very patient exercise, never leave yourself too far away from the anchorage in the afternoon, night sailing is firmly forbidden.

I had a great time in Musket cove, it's a real nice resort bay with 3 or 4 resorts around it. You can use the pool and get great burgers beside the pool. There is a neat little bar tucked into the palms near the dock, it has about 6 barbeque pits around the outside and free firewood. So everyone brings their own meat and salad, the bar provides dishes and tongs, and you buy the beer from the bar for $4 each. Some of the cheap Aussies bring their own booze in a plastic bag and that's about a cheap a night at the bar as you can get anywhere.

I met a New Zealand girl there, and she signed on as crew for 5 nights. We sailed north from Musket Cove to Wayasewa Island, took three nights up and 2 back. It was a a great adventure and lots of snorkelling, sailing, Kava parties ashore with the natives, and two nights part-taying with other yachties. I put her on the plane to New Zealand this afternoon, now I'm getting caught up on emails, shopping, getting fuel, getting water, getting ready to sign out of Fiji and set sail for MacKay Australia Monday or Tuesday. That should be a 18 day sail, so maybe I'll be there around the first week of Sept.

The winds have been very fickle for the past two days, here's hoping the trades build back in Monday for me. I doubt that I get any crew, nobody wants to go home just yet. However in Australia, there is every indication that I will get crew to help me go up the Great Barrier Reef to Cairns and then across the top to Darwin. I should have no trouble finding crew to get me to Phuket after that, and that should be the last few days of October.

Great idea to check out Rob and Carol's property up country, I would like to get there some day myself. When you are there, ask Carol to email me, I lost her address again, and that address at the college doesn't work.

No other news to report, Prism is doing well after the four days on the hard at Vuda Point Marina, cost a few bucks but she looks good underneath. Actually Prism is doing very well, she hasn't caused any real problems lately from anything. I'm looking forward to a great sail to Australia, I got all the paper charts all the way. I traded a cheap bottle of rum to an Aussie, and got three nice paper charts in return.

OK, send me some news of Mom, I don't get any news of Mom from anyone, not one of my siblings sends me a single sentence saying how our Mom is, do none of you care about dear old Mom, do none of you have a single scrap of information? Did you go to her birthday?

Your brother, jim

Fiji

Still working hard on Prism whilst it's out of the water on the hard, the bottom is almost finished, the prop shaft is back in, lots of good work got done, but long hard days of work,,,,and I'm not as accustomed to that as I used to be.

Tonga to Fiji

Just a short note to say that I have arrived safe and sound in Fiji and am expecting to be on my own computer on the internet later today so I'll send you what I have written on the voyage.

Another easy voyage, a large storm hit New Zealand and just gave me a day of headwinds, no real problem. thank goodness it stayed south and didn't come up north. the boat performed very well as did Marty my crew, now he has departed and I'm alone again.

I'm headed south to Vuda Point Marina, should get there after lunch and hope to get the boat hauled out of the water very soon thereafter.

Jimsh

Vava'u, Kingdom of Tonga

The Port of Refuge is the name of the harbour on the Island of Vava'u in the Kingdom of Tonga. On this very secure harbour is the town of Neiafu. This is the centre of the northern most islands of the Kingdom. This is where most of the yachts travelling across the south Pacific visit. At 18 degrees south latitude it is perfectly on the "coconut run" from the Panama Canal to Australia or New Zealand. The Moorings charter company has a large fleet of bareboats, mono and catamaran.

It's easy to see why the yachts congregate here. The many islands surrounding Vava'u are as lovely as the Gulf Islands, except covered in coconut trees. There are many beaches, anchorages, and coves like the Gulf Islands, as well as coral gardens, good fishing, humpback whales, and small villages scattered throughout. The Pacific swell generated by the Southeast Trades are spent on the outer reef so the cruising is done in millpond conditions. The sailing is excellent, the Southeast Trades blow across the archipelago, about 10 to 25 knots most days of the Austral Winter. The temperature is excellent; although the Tongans might call it cold, Canadians call it perfect. There are lots of safe and deep passages through all the little islands, navigation is simple pilotage from good charts. Be careful of your electronic charts though, the charts were printed from surveys done in 1898 so the GPS and electronic charts do not line up exactly with the hard.

Neiafu is a bustling little town, catering to the tourists here for the diving, whale watching, fishing, snorkelling and sailing. The Port of Refuge is deep with many mooring balls for rent at about $9 (US) a night. The Port of Refuge has great sailing within, the water is deep, there are no reefs or rocks to worry about, and the southeast trades blow over the low Island of Vava'u for perfect sailing conditions. You can sail away from your mooring buoy, close reach into the southern reaches of the Port of Refuge, tack, broad reach back to the centre of town, all within 20 minutes. Some days the wind requires a reef in the main and the small genoa, other days it's a full press of sail, rail in the water and a spinnaker downwind to impress the waterfront bars.

Every Friday afternoon the Vava'u Yacht Club, a clever invention of the owner of the Mermaid Bar, sponsors a friendly yacht race. Volunteer crews, skippers and their dedicated crew come down to the waterfront bar around 4 PM. Skippers are encouraged to "pick up" the volunteer crew, usually newbies who have never been on a sailboat before. The start line goes from the end of the dingy dock for the Mermaid Bar across the Port of Refuge. There are about 5 or 6 other waterfront bars clustered around the Mermaid Bar, so anyone who wants a tropical drink and fresh seafood while watching an exciting yacht race start is well served. The start is always exciting, as many as eight yachts from 17 feet to 55 feet all aiming for that one spot close to the windward end of the start line, and they all want to be in that one spot at the last second before the starting gun goes off. Let the race begin, some boats with crew well seasoned, yelling "Rail, Rail!! Starboard Tack, Starboard Tack!! Harden the sheets, Hard Hard!!!" and others crewed with excited tourists laughing "Is this boat gonna roll over???" "Watch out, yer gonna hit that other boat!!! Watch out, that boats gonna hit us!!!!". Round the mark down at the south of the bay and then the beam reach back to the waterfront bars for the second turn, which is the innermost moored yacht, the one closest to the waterfront bar waterfront tables. It's a brave skipper that moors his boat there on a Friday afternoon, as all the fleet races down onto the whites of the bar patrons eyes and the whites of the moored skippers eyes, gybes around his boat and off across the Port of Refuge. After another mark the race finishes with an upwind leg back to the finish, once again between the innermost moored yacht and the waterfront tables. The upwind leg is where the race is finished and often decided, the larger more modern yachts walking away from any traditional yachts, smaller yachts or yachts with older sails.

After the race all gather back at the Mermaid Bar to re-live the glory and excitement. The race committee has collected prizes from the local businesses. The biggest and newest yachts always come first across the line, but there is good competition in the 30 to 40 foot class. The race committee, being the owner of the Mermaid Bar, awards the best prizes to the skipper who has drawn the best customers. That is why it always pays to be nice and "pick up" the newbie tourists who will come back to the bar after the race, excited, showing off their pictures, demonstrating how far they had to lean, buying exotic tropical drinks and excellent Tongan seafood and the T-shirts, for themselves and their skipper and then staying to dance and sing into the wee Saturday morning hours. That's how I won the two tank dive from Dolphin Diving, the all-you-can-eat barbeque, and the 12 free beer from three Friday afternoon races.

One of the most secure anchorages in the Vava'u Group is Vakaeitu. I went down there one sunny afternoon, a 3 hour sail in great tradewinds all the way. You anchor in the bay formed by 3 islands, in 35 feet of clear water, in coral sand. Excellent holding. The anchorage has interesting hikes on the surrounding islands to beautiful sandy beaches, an abandoned resort, great snorkelling at a coral garden (so named because of the bonsai tree like coral) and a small village on the Island of Lape. I had tried fishing, without much luck, and so at the village I asked if there was anyone who would come on my boat and go fishing with me. A man named Alpha said he would come fishing with me.

Next week, with a full load of ice and bait, we left early in the morning. The fishing started great, we caught two small tuna. After the tuna we saw three humpback whales. Alpha was driving my boat by then so he steered over to the whales and we watched the 3 males breaching and playing on the surface. I had thought that I might swim with the whales, but watching the three guys roughhousing, I thought no. Alpha obviously had not read the whale watching guidelines and he got quite close to the whales. They left and we continued fishing. We were no longer in the Island group, but due south in a region full of reefs. There were no islands close by so eyeball navigation was impossible for me. The GPS was of some use but not really accurate. I set the depth sounder alarm at 100 feet and when it went off I said to Alpha, you are too close to some reef and so don't get so close that the alarm goes off again. OK he said, and thereafter, he steered around the reefs that I couldn't see.

We caught a nice mahi mahi on my rod, it was a lot of fun to bring in. What a spectacular fish, great colours. By then we had reached the southern fishing grounds and Alpha got to bottom fishing. He set down two hooks baited with small reef fish, and when that bait was gone, one of the small tuna was cut up. The bottom fish loved that tuna and he caught alot of fish. I was kept very busy cleaning and filleting. My icebox was small and I didn't want the room taken up with whole fish. I was also busy keeping Alpha in coffee with sweetened condensed milk, he liked that a lot. And fresh fried rockfish and tuna. Finally, around 10 PM, quite a few hours after dark, I said, Alpha the icebox is full, it won't take another fish. He caught one more, I'm pretty sure he was expecting me to clean it and squeeze it in, but I didn't, it had to sit outside and so he got the hint.

We lay ahull at 19 degrees south latitude on the GPS, with an east wind and a west setting current. We weren't alone out there, two other village boats were there as well. A village boat is not very big, just a 18 foot wooden boat with a bit of a cabin and a 25 horse outboard. On board are 2 men in the cockpit and a boy on the bow. Alpha drove my boat over to each village boat to talk with the guys aboard, I don't speak Tongan, but I heard Alpha bragging. I'm not sure if Alpha has ever seen a bar of soap, certainly during the day he was cutting bait, catching fish, rolling cigarettes, all without seeing soap. But at bedtime, he carefully washed the cockpit with seawater, and himself as well and prepared to turn in. I had a bed down below for him, but he took a small fender for a pillow and went to sleep in the cockpit. Every hour I got up to check the GPS, we stayed on 19 degrees south and drifted west just a little. Sometime in the night Alpha moved inside and was asleep on the galley floor by morning.

Around 5 AM, with it just getting light, I made sail and set off on a fine beam reach to the north. Alpha woke up and took over the helm. He actually could sail this boat, I was surprised. Not everyone can sail, and I'm not sure where he would have learned it, but he did a good job. He really like the fact that we were moving without spending a cent on gas, I didn't have the heart to tell him about the cost of sails, ropes, maintenance etc etc and etc. When we got back to his village, I kept my mahi mahi and Alpha gave me a nice big snapper for the boat. Alpha took a huge load of fish up to the village, I also gave him all my cans of corned beef and $40.00. He seemed happy and so was I. The next week he was in town for some reason and I took him to the tackle shop to buy hooks and swivels lost during the fishing and a fresh pouch of tobacco.

There is a local distillery in Neiafu. "Pirates Rum", "Pirates Whisky", "Pirates Navy Rum" start at $10.20 US if you bring you own 1 litre bottle, or $13.20 if you need a bottle, or $15.60 if you need a bottle with a "Pirates" label on it. Canadians being Canadians, myself and a couple from Whitehorse had to try it out and so we invested in three bottles complete with labels, ice and mix. The tasting began and the taste was quite acceptable. We did vision tests throughout the tasting to check for impending blindness, and the Whitehorse lady was even able to make hors-d'oeuvres. Then, in an instant, the full moon popped out from behind the trees and with the warm strong breeze, caused the mooring line to slip. Soon enough Island Prism was under full sail, in the full moon, starboard rail under, Whitehorsies howling at the moon and the Nanoosie singing MacLean and MacLean songs full volume. Island Prism wove her way through alot of expensive boats to blow her horn at the waterfront bars and find her mooring ball once again. It was quite clear in the morning that the greatest hazards to a successful circumnavigation might not be wind waves or reefs, but cheap booze in moonlit tropical bays.

A must visit on the tourist trail in Tonga is Mariners Cave. It is named after William Mariner, a young Englishman who was taken alive by Tongans who overran his ship in 1806. He was kept alive by royal prerogative and became friend to the King. He kept an account of his time amongst the Tongans, much like John Jewitt did when captive of Chief Macquinna. It's a fascinating read, full of war, cannibalism, palace intrigue and swift royal justice.

Mariners Cave is on the steep rocky shores of the Island of Nuapapu. The entrance to the cave is 3 feet below the surface of the sea at low tide. You snorkel down to the cave entrance, through the cave for 15 feet or so, and then pop up into the cavern. There are some rock ledges and the sunlight filters in through the blue water in the entrance, filling the cave with an electric blue light. The Pacific swell comes into the cave and pressurizes the air inside, this causes an eerie blue fog every 10 seconds or so. There is no anchorage nearby, you enter the water from your yacht and leave a pilot onboard awaiting your return. The guidebook says that if you can swim under your yacht, side to side, you will make through Mariners Cave.

As reported by William Mariner many years ago, it has a very romantic legend. The King of Vava'u was a tyrant and one of his chiefs thought of treason, but the chief was betrayed and sentenced to death by drowning at sea. The tyrant also sentenced the chief's family to the same fate. The chief's daughter was especially lovely and she had been reserved for marriage to a certain high ranking chief. On the night just before the sentence was to be executed, a lesser chief's son, who had loved her from childhood even though she was never going to be his, crept to her house under cover of darkness. He asked her to trust him to save her and she agreed. The lesser chief's son had just discovered this cave and that's where he took the princess and hid her away from her families fate. He brought her food and mats to sleep on and she hid there for many weeks. During those weeks he told her about his love for her and the princess returned his love on account of his brave and generous exertions, at the risk of his own life. During those weeks he gathered his servants up to secretly provision and crew a large canoe bound for Fiji. "Won't you need a Tongan wife for your visit to Fiji" to which he replied "I will pick one up on the way". Indeed, he ordered the canoe to stop at the cave entrance, still known to only him and his princess. He dove off the far side of the canoe and swam into the cave to bring his princess to his canoe. His servants thought he had brought a Goddess to the canoe, such was her beauty and the magic of her appearance, then they recognized her as the princess drowned at sea with her family, and they thought their chief was a God bringing back the dead from the sea. Finally the story was told and they set out for Fiji. After two years the tyrant died so the young chief returned with his loving wife and they lived long in peace and happiness.

The Pacific Crossing Guide Book insists that cruisers attend the Polynesian Churches for the experience. I first attended the church in Atuona, Marquises, French Polynesia. It was recommended after all, and I had just spent 25 days at sea alone. Lord, your sea is so large, and I am so small.

The singing was phenomenal. That's what the recommendation was for and it was phenomenal. The entire Catholic service was sung by the congregation, save the short sermon and short reading. The singing was in Polynesian and the sermon in French so I really couldn't take issue with the Catholics that day. It was like going to church and being in the middle of the great choir, the singing was loud and clear and excellent.

Since then, almost every church along the way has been the same, with wonderful singing almost continuous through the service. Here in Tonga, I've been going to the Catholic Church again, kneeling, sitting, standing with all the congregation as they sing the service. The men sing, the women sing, they sing together, the children sing as well, everyone sings, except me and the other foreigners, and the Church is filled with Polynesian song. Here the readings and sermon are in Polynesian, so once again, I can't really take issue with the Catholics.

Of course, many foreign cruisers say why must the Church be so rich in a land so poor? Personally I don't think the Catholic Church is so rich, it seems modest enough. What will the Church do to stop the Tongan alcohol abuse, the coming of MTV to the children? Large questions indeed. But at least for an hour on Sunday, everyone is well dressed, well behaved, (myself as well) singing their faith to God and Jesus, and the singing is phenomenal.

But a sailor sails and this boat has been sailing downwind towards Fiji since the waning moon rose at 3 AM Friday morning in the Port of Refuge. The routine of sailing downwind in the Trades comes easy as this boat sails herself on windvane and a full press of sail. There is a nasty low pressure storm south of here, but the weatherfax charts show the high pressure up here in the tropical latitudes. Sure enough the conditions are warm, sunny, 10 to 15 knots of wind from the SE, backing to the NNW as the sun sets on my second day at sea. In a couple of more days of sailing, I'll be in Fiji, the next tropical paradise on the "coconut run".

Check out the pictures from the Kingdom of Tonga