Category: 2011 New Zealand – Fiji – Vanuatu – New Caledonia to Australia Voyage

November – 2011 Brisbane, Australia

Dear F&F,

\”Beach House\” has finally \”Jumped the Puddle\”….We\’ve completed our crossing of the worlds largest ocean which started 4 years ago. The \”Puddle Jump\” is the euphemism that many US West Coast sailors in particular call the Pacific Crossing. It\’s a but cutesy, but you get the point. There are actually websites devoted to nothing else other than giving sailors information on people, places and logistics to aid them in this journey.

When we arrived, we opened that bottle of wine from friends Jerome and Nathalie and had a toast of the crossing completed and especially to Cindy who is here in spirit and always will be.

I may eventually head further West, there are still two big Oceans out there on the horizon, but I\’m not yet sure what my plans will reveal.

\”Beach House\” will be soon be stored in the local boat yard for the Austral Cyclone Season.

Hurricanes (Cyclones \”down under\”) can be fairly intense in this part of the world and Brisbane is just South of the Cyclone belt which is why I chose to leave the boat here. We\’ll be in the yard for about 3-5 months depending on when I return to \”OZ\”.

I\’ve many questions to ponder and I will be doing this in earnest while back in the USA. I may never find the answers, but I will give it my best. I should be back in Southern California around Thanksgiving which I hope to spend with Skye and Sean in Los Angeles. I will have lots to deal with, it will likely be a more difficult time \”at home\” than out here. It\’s been a tough emotional year, healing is progressing, but I\’ve got some distance to travel yet. When I\’m in the Los Angeles area, I hope to do some catching up on the original website; bringing it to date. I hope this will help many of you as well as myself understand what Cindy was going through, we might even begin to have some understanding as to why.

Thanks to Kate Richardson, Sandrine Duren, Anja Ciercieski and Kay McNamara for helping me sail s/v \”Beach House\” from Auckland, New Zealand to Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Brisbane, Australia this season. You were all great. I wish you all the best in your continued voyages and life\’s endeavors.

Also thanks to all my fellow sailors, Ham Radio operators and friends who were there for me yet again this season. I\’d especially like to thank the Pacific Seafarer\’s Net, Bruce Balan and Alene Rice of s/v \”Migration\”, Peter Bruckman and Diana Young of s/v \”Quickstar\”, Jerome & Nathalie Fittouse of s/v \”Na Maka\”, Jim and Pat Whiting and friends aboard s/v \”Wetnose\” and lastly David and Mary Wilson of s/v \”Giselle\” for their kindness and continued friendship throughout the year.

I don\’t want to forget Paul McFadden, Gram Schwiekert, Chris and Sandra Biggs in New Zealand for all their help in getting \”Beach House\” back on the road and of course, Mike Lonnes, the best boat guy in the world for all his continued assistance.

Last and anything but least, my almost daily email companions who\’ve helped me more than they could ever know getting me through this difficult time. Angela, Alexandra, Gayle, Nikki and oh so very much Laurie without whom I have no idea where I\’d be. Hugs for Karen, Ella and Alberta too. A big kiss for Skye, and thanks Sean for taking good care of her.

I\’m working now on the photographs from the last month and getting ready to de-commision the boat while she\’s in the yard. Photo Galleries to be posted soon. Lots of work ahead over the coming weeks and it\’s more difficult doing it alone than I have in years past without Cindy. I\’m sure this needs no explanation.

Thank you all for the wonderful emails I received. Please keep writing.

Hugs to you all!

Scott Stolnitz – s/v \”Beach House\” – Brisbane, Australia

October 22nd – October 26th, 2011 (Eastern Hemisphere)

Dear F&F,

As predicted by our weather software and watching the \”BOM\” (Bureau of Meteorology) website in \”OZ\”, it was time to go. The winds were backing from South to East and the seas were coming down rapidly in size. We expected the trip to take five plus days.

We were also not truly alone. Unusually, a group of five boats would all be leaving New Caledonia at the same time. The unusual part is that all five of us were catamarans! Cats are becoming more and more popular for long distance cruising at the years go by. Safe, fast and roomy. Also we don\’t \”heel\” (lean over) like a monohull and that alone is far more comfortable.

As the South Pacific Cyclone season was about to officially get underway on November 1st AND we are again in a declared \”La Nina\” year, I thought it prudent to not try and hang around to see if we could find a big whirly storm now (or ever for that matter).

We waved good bye to Jerome, Nathalie and family who had come over and given us a lovely bottle of wine to celebrate our crossing the Pacific upon our arrival in Brisbane. We hoisted the main sail with one reef to test the winds that might be stronger a bit offshore. We would be headed just south of due west. Once we cleared the bay, we realized that the far western reefs of New Caledonia still had to be either left to starboard (our right) or we would have to negotiate our way through them. As they did not appear to have obvious passages, discretion was the better part of valor and we headed initially more south to avoid the reefs altogether. This further validated our decision to wait a day as otherwise it would have been pretty bumpy trying to go closer to the wind and have the seas more toward our bow.

Day One – We covered 170 miles and Kay seemed to do just fine. This would be her second ocean passage and she began to find her sea legs. With our reefed main and either the genoa or the staysail, we had a nice first day at sea. We would do our standard \”four hours on – four hours off\” watch system. Kay took the mid night to 4 a.m. watch and I took the two other \”dark watches\” on either side of hers. We were in morning and afternoon communication with s/v Dream Caper, s/v Tyee and s/v Gabian. Gabian was the race horse in our group doing 200 mile days right off the bat. With Kay\’s tummy and less experience in mind, I wasn\’t about to go into boat racer mode and keep up with them. S/v \”Dream Caper\” with Steve and Portia aboard were out of San Rafael, California. S/v \”Tyee\” with John, Lucy and two sons aboard were out of British Columbia. S/v \”Gabian\” from France. Our last big cat, s/v \”LuCat\” was headed toward Bundeberg, 100+ miles north of the other four of us. We four all headed to Brisbane.

Day Two – Again we covered 170 miles and the winds were going even further aft as expected with the passing high pressure system to our south. Kay and I put up the spinnaker pole and used either the genoa or the staysail on it to keep our \”VMG\” (velocity made good) as high as possible. It also makes \”Miss Piggy\” real comfortable being that far off the wind. With the wind still in the low 20 knot range, we were flying along just great. We kept not only a twice daily radio schedule with the other Cats but also checked in with the Pacific Seafarer\’s Net to log our daily position reports. It\’s a big Pacific wide \”safety net\” for cruising vessels with \”Ham Radio\” operators participating from all over the USA, New Zealand and Australia. It\’s a comfort to get to know these great volunteers. Many have become good friends over the last several years. It always takes till the second day to get into the rhythm of a passage and this one was no exception; everything going along smoothly.

Day Three – The winds began to lighten (as expected) and we hoisted the spinnaker to maximize our sail area with a full main sail. This was the first time I\’d actually put the upwind end of the spinnaker to weather on the pole. It worked perfectly and we kept this going all afternoon, through the night and actually watched our day\’s run decrease in the lightening winds down to 160 miles. The boat however was very easy to handle and very comfortable. This was a major improvement over our Galapagos to Marquesas passage where Mike, Cindy and I had to always keep a close eye on the autopilot with the spinnaker up.

Day Four – When we finally dropped the spinnaker, the winds were really getting light and we were now in a race to get into Brisbane ahead of the coming low pressure system. It wasn\’t predicted to be that strong, but hey why take a chance! We fired up both the \”iron genoas\” (engines) and with plenty of fuel floored it headed right toward Brisbane. The current is generally north to south along the east coast of \”OZ\”, but we found it erratic. Sometimes we\’d be going 9 knots and sometimes 5.5 knots depending on the vagaries of the gyre.

Day Five – Still motoring, expecting the frontal passage tonight with ETA around 8 a.m. at the Outer Moreton Bay Buoy. Last night on Kay\’s watch, she got whacked by 30 knots out of the south with the frontal passage. The wind shifted from the northeast to the south in an hour. Kay got to watch a lightning show, get bounced around and pretty wet too! Her first lightening at sea story. No biggie. The ocean got lumpy and we\’d be happy to be in protected water within 10 hours.

Day Six – Officially began at 8:30 a.m. just as we arrived at the Moreton Bay Buoy. Moreton Bay is huge. Think San Francisco Bay size, maybe a bit bigger. Also, it\’s completely shoaled up everywhere; a giant sand bar. Good thing we got that chart chip! Actually, there is a deep water channel dredged to 15 meters (48 feet) from one end to the other for the commercial traffic. It is also very well marked and controlled by \”Vessel Traffic Controllers\” which we were in communication with the entire trip within the bay. We had to stay off to one side to allow the big ships to go by and we\’re able to take a few short cuts as we only draw 4 feet (1.5 meters).

We had southeast winds at 20 knots, but fortunately had Moreton Island to knock down the ocean waves. The shoaling however made the chop, short, steep and lumpy. We also lost the incoming tide half way up the bay and were slowed down to 4.5 knots against a 3 knot outflow. At first, we were going 8.5 knots WITH the current. As they say \”down under\”, \”No worries mate, she\’ll be right\”….and it was. S/v \”Tyee\” was having some engine issues and they were slowed to 3 knots. No fun!

Finally, we made the Brisbane River\’s outer entrance for the last 6 miles before we would be \”on land\”.

The trip up the river was uneventful, but we had to move out of the way of a couple of large commercial ships and stay in contact with Brisbane Port Control; the local \”VTS\” system. Finally we arrived at Rivergate Marina where Australian Customs keeps a permanent dock for small craft check in\’s. Here, we met Officer\’s Tracey and Ryan who were delightful and checked us not only into the Customs part our entry, but were also able to act in the stead of Immigration services. One last hoop was clearing Quarantine. Here, our fresh foods would be removed and the boat checked for things like pests. All was good, we \”Jumped the Puddle\”…… at last……

See the Brisbane Photo Gallery for our arrival photos and trip up Moreton Bay. Stay tuned,

Scott with Kay…now home in OZ

October 19th – 22nd, 2011 (Eastern Hemisphere)

Dear F&F,

Well, after a good nights rest, we were still so tired from the previous days trip, we just chilled out for the day, cleaned up, did the laundry and boat chores to recover from the previous days passage. Jerome and Nathalie came by and gave us the lay of the land as well as inviting us for puu puu\’s (appetizers) and drinks that evening.

Jerome\’s Mom was aboard and it was lovely to meet her that night. We had a good time and Jerome designed our touring agenda for the next day\’s car rental \”self tour\” around the island.

The Isle of Pines is very beautiful. Just like it\’s name, there are pine trees, but everywhere with a tropical background. Much of the Southern part of the main island of New Caledonia is similar. Driving here was on the \”right\” side of the road, so I drove as Kay is used to the \”left\” side of the road. We drove first to the North side of the island and took in the scenery. (See New Caledonia Photo Gallery). Then to the East side of the island and the Hotel Meridian. A strictly 5 star event. We walked to the Piscine Natural (Natural Swimming Pool) and stopped at two different restaurants along the way. Kay was disappointed that reservations were required. She loves to experience local cuisine. We got a feel for it all in any event and she enjoyed a swim at the Natural Pools…

We also went to another 5 star hotel and visited the large Catholic Church. It all reminded me of some Hollywood movie from the 1950\’s. A step back in time. The varieties of Pines were interesting to see and the weather accordingly is cooler here than most Pacific Islands. After a quick trip to the market, we prepared to watch the weather and get ready for the 5 day sail to Brisbane; home for Kay. The \”Window\” was about to arrive.

The next day we were prepared to go, but it was still really rough outside. The prediction was to drop off over night and we decided to wait one more day. I didn\’t think Kay needed another \”Birthday Bash\” to start our voyage. The risk was that we would hit the expected low pressure system coming off the Eastern coast of \”OZ\” (Australia) as we would arrive in Brisbane. I decided to make sure of a first easy day\’s passage (given the last one!) and that\’s why we decided to wait. AND, in five days the weather predictions would most likely change; the low could be weaker or even gone.

Next…..our sail to the magical land of Australia. There of course, we might even meet \”The Wonderful Wizard of OZ\”?….. Stay tuned, almost there…..

Scott with Kay, getting ready to go!

Dear F&F, October 17th – 18th, 2011 (Eastern Hemisphere)

One of the problems that slipped my mind a few weeks back was that I didn\’t realize to check to see if I had the current chart cartography (chart chip) for the East Coast of Australia for \”Beach House\’s\” navigation system. When I started to do my planning, I realized that I didn\’t! So, I emailed Mike Lonnes, my \”go to\” guy in Redondo Beach, California and he purchased and had his lovely wife Beth send me the flash card with all the charts. This was sent to Kay\’s \”Mum\’s\” house in the Gold Coast, an hour south of Brisbane. The problem of course became one of getting it to Kay before she left to come join me in Vanuatu. And of course, it didn\’t happen. Kay\’s Mum then mailed the envelope to Port Moselle Marina. Despite the fact that there are daily flights from Brisbane to Noumea in New Caledonia, it took 9 days!

Kay and I went to the Marina office the day we were sure it would arrive. The office told us they don\’t go to the post office on Monday\’s as the Saturday mail sorting doesn\’t finish till late Monday as the post office doesn\’t sort on the weekends. Welcome to the Pacific!

We went to the post office in hopes that we could get the package. The guy at the window told me, \”Yes, we have your package\”. I asked him for it with passport in hand, knowing it was addressed to me personally. He said that since the Marina\’s office was the address of record, they would have to pick it up. Welcome to the Pacific (and a bit of French bureaucracy on the side!) He told me I could go to the P.O. Box window and ask. Within one minute I got the package after standing in line at the front for a half an hour. Welcome to the Pacific.

So, with our \”charts\” in hand, we then did a bit of last minute shopping, made the two hours of rounds to Customs, Immigration and the Port Captain\’s office and headed back to \”Beach House\”. It was after lunch by this time and we knew we would have to break the trip up to the Isle of Pines in too at least two days.

Technically, once we\’d checked out of Noumea, we were supposed to leave the country within 24 hours. I knew however that a \”weather window\” was shaping up, but it was just too soon to leave and we wanted to see the famous Isle of Pines. The trip was 65 miles and I didn\’t want to have to go, come back and then check out as we would then miss the coming weather window. We would leave directly from The Isle of Pines. Jerome of s/v \”Na Maka\” told me this was done all the time and it would be no worry. Fortunately, he was right.

So we upped anchor from \”Baie L\’Orlephains\” and motored in no wind to \”Baie Pronie\” 25 miles to the south. We\’d been told it was a lovely pine tree\’d area with moorings for visiting yachts and in view of the Wind Farm (wind powered generators) and one of the major Nickel mines in the south.

The trip was uneventful and Kay got a kick out of watching a French Naval vessel doing helicopter take off and landing exercises in the tropical background setting. We went back through the Canal Woodin and arrived thankfully just before dark. The moorings were all taken, so we anchored for the night.

At around 2 a.m. (Why is it always at 2 a.m.?), the expected front came through and the wind and rain really started to blow. We were snug and as always, I close up the hatches at night in case of rain, no worries. The next day, the wind was from right where we wanted to go blowing 15-20 knots. Now normally, I would not have budged. But, the weather window was coming and if we wanted to see the Isle of Pines, we\’d have to go on the 40 mile trip today, as tomorrow, it would be blowing much stronger.

We left in only 15 knots of wind to \”test the waters\”. The first third of the trip wasn\’t too bad, but then it just got worse and worse. By the time we were half way, Kay was back in \”mal-de-mar\” mode and we were motoring into 3 meter (10 foot) seas with 30 knots of wind in our face. Boat speed was down to 3.5 to 5.7 knots from the early morning\’s 7+ knots. This of course just delayed the agony of the passage. I would say it was the third worst day trip I\’d taken in 4 years. Only the Hiva – Oa to Fatu Hiva trip and crossing of the Southern Sea of Cortez were worse.

We passed along the way, m/v \”Oso Blanco\” with Eric and family aboard. They were going \”the right way\” on their lovely Nordhaven 64; we weren\’t!

When we finally arrived, we anchored amongst the 15 other boats in the lovely bay having averaged about 4.7 knots for the day. Kay began to recover and we called it an early night; anchoring right next to s/v \”Na Maka\” and in view of m/v \”Mystery Ship\”.

So for the want of not having a chart chip, we were delayed and had to go through a nasty day. Did I forget to mention it was Kay\’s birthday? Happy Birthday Kay! It\’s one she\’ll never forget…..

More tomorrow…..whew!

Scott with resting Kay!