Category: 2016 – Guatemala to Panama to Australia Voyage – Positions

13 December 2016 (+11 UTC)
CONGRATS to Nikki on completing her circumnavigation!

COMMENT: Beach House – Moored  – Newcastle, Australia
More later, quite a rough last 30 hours!

Safe arrival. We\’re at the Quarantine Buoy awaiting check in first thing tomorrow (Wednesday morning

TIME: 2016/12/13 01:31
LATITUDE: 32-56.34S
LONGITUDE: 152-30.64E
COURSE: 267T
SPEED: 7.7
MARINE: YES
WIND_SPEED: 23
WIND_DIR: NNE
WAVE_HT: 0.5M
SWELL_DIR: NNE
SWELL_HT: 2.2M
SWELL_PER: 6
CLOUDS: 20%
VISIBILITY: 35
BARO: 1014.4
TREND: -1
AIR_TEMP: 24.4C

Dear Friends & Family,
We\’re about 1/2 way to the East Australian Coast and are still motoring in now calm seas and very light winds.
This will all change by this afternoon!

A strong northerly flow will begin around dark tonight and continue for the next 48 hours and strengthen.
This is likely due to the next south westerly coming north from the Bass Strait between Tasmania and mainland Australia.
This phenomenon is what the racers often experience in the Sydney to Horbart Yacht Race that will begin the day after Christmas and it can be a real fright.s

As such, the winds in front of \”the front\”, will begin to build and predictions are for northerly gusts to 35 knots between Newcastle and Sydney.
We\’ll make the final call late today, but currently are hedging our bets by heading toward Newcastle (65 miles north of Sydney Harbour). This will save about 10 hours of exposure to most severe winds.

We expect winds to 25 knots this evening and if we head to Newcastle to check in (alternate) we\’ll miss the 35 knot winds further south toward Sydney.
This may require us to sit in Newcastle for several days waiting the oncoming south westerly front which would be right on our nose!

Last night the seas calmed considerably and the predominant southerly swell is down to 2 meters. Yesterday, we actually saw a few isolated 4 meter (15 foot swells). Without wind of course, it\’s just the big \”up and down\”.

COMMENT: Beach House – En Route – Lord Howe Island – East Coast Australia – possibly divert to Newcastle – decision later today.
TIME: 2016/12/11 19:39
LATITUDE: 32-21.78S
LONGITUDE: 156-17.48E
COURSE: 262T
SPEED: 6.6
MARINE: YES
WIND_SPEED: 4
WIND_DIR: SE
SWELL_DIR: S
SWELL_HT: 2.0M
SWELL_PER: 9
CLOUDS: 35%
VISIBILITY: 30
BARO: 1023.1
AIR_TEMP: 22.2C

11 December 2016 (+11 UTC) Eastern Hemisphere

Dear Friends and Family,
After waiting 24 hours for a very strong SW system to pass Lord Howe, we were stuck behind the reef and didn\’t feel safe to exit the Lagoon at Lord Howe.
Conditions calmed over night and we\’re now en route to the Great Southern Land!
We\’ve about 375 miles to go and hope to be in late Tuesday p.m.
The weather will be a bit tricky on this trip.
We\’re now in no wind with a very large southerly swell left over from the system that has just passed.
Heading a bit south of rhumb line to try and get out of an adverse current and into a positive one. From there, we may head west in anticipation of
big northerly winds which will start building tomorrow (our Monday night) and into Tuesday.
This will be a real sleigh ride if we can get in front of it.
KIT,
Scott and Nikki

COMMENT: Beach House – En Route – Lord Howe Island – Sydney, Australia
TIME: 2016/12/11 03:55
LATITUDE: 31-58.60S
LONGITUDE: 158-12.82E
COURSE: 245T
SPEED: 5.4
MARINE: YES
WIND_SPEED: 3
WIND_DIR: ESE
SWELL_DIR: S
SWELL_HT: 3.0M
SWELL_PER: 9
CLOUDS: 80%
VISIBILITY: 30
BARO: 1022.7
AIR_TEMP: 26.1C

02 December 2016 (+11 UTC – Eastern Hemisphere)
Dear Friends and Family,
We have have arrived after an almost exactly 4 day trip.
Yesterday and last evening, the seas were calm with a 2.5 meter (8 foot) and 1.5 meter (5 foot) swell from two different directions, but flat seas.
We motored the last 28 hours as we\’ve had very little wind.

The island is picture postcard stunning. Google Lord Howe Island for some nice aerial views.
The inner lagoon here is very shallow and we were led in by the local Harbour Police boat which was very nice.
We delayed sending this update to see what would transpire with the local Border Patrol and Customs folks. They told us by email that essentially, we wouldn\’t be allowed to do much….Shhh!! Good news…they said \”have a nice time\” and we had a lovely day ashore.

Their concern is that someone trying to enter the country illegally could come on a boat and then just catch the daily flight back to the mainland and not have gone through immigration (who are not here). As such, they looked at my passport, (they know I have a visa) and Nikki has an Aussie passport, so all is well.
Glad that worked out okay! More on this later when we\’re on the mainland.

For now, all is well and we had a lovely dinner ashore and got a little wifi to boot! They have NO mobile phones on this island and it is a bit strange to see people using a phone booth! (kiosk).

We\’re watching with Bob McDavit for the next weather window which may be mid week? The trip is 425 miles and should take about 2 1/2 days to Sydney!

Tomorrow, we\’ll do some touring and we\’ve rented some bikes. We might even do some of the big hikes. Think climbing the mountain at Bora Bora! Yikes!
KIT,
Scott and Nikki

COMMENT: Beach House – MOORED – Lord Howe Island, Australia
TIME: 2016/12/02 00:36
LATITUDE: 31-31.42S
LONGITUDE: 159-03.05E
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 10
WIND_DIR: NW
CLOUDS: 15%
VISIBILITY: 40
BARO: 1015
AIR_TEMP: 26.7C

01 December 2016 (+11 UTC)
Dear Friends and Family,
The last 24 hours was a turning point as the winds finally began to lighten and the seas calmed down. We are now in very light air and motor sailing directly to Lord Howe which is 185 miles to our SSW. We expect to arrive there tomorrow before noon.

In August of this year, we applied for a permit to visit Lord Howe Island en route from New Caledonia to Sydney, Australia. It is a natural stop as the island is nearly on the direct course and it\’s supposed to be a gorgeous and interesting place. We sent the request and were immediately told to fill out the forms and then issued a permit by the Lord Howe Island Council. They even gave us a mooring assignment 4 months in advance! We were thrilled and thought all was well….not so much…

We were told to send them an update as to our exact arrival at least 96 hours in advance which we did. There were some canned statements in the three people\’s email that confirmed our arrival about that we couldn\’t be checked in at Lord Howe and would have to \”check in\” when we arrived at a port of entry which of course, Sydney is. No problem with us! Yesterday, I get an email from the Customs and Border Protection at Lord Howe telling us that our stop is to be a \”technical stop\”.
This means, food, fuel, water, necessities, weather window and off you go! I wrote back that we were given a permit 4 months ago to make this a tourist visit.
There must be some misunderstanding? I received an email back telling me that the local council goofed. They were supposed to tell me we were to check into Sydney FIRST, then come back! Well, this is a small boat in the middle of the ocean and backtracking 500 miles is like asking someone to drive 2000 miles round trip. Not too mention the weather down under around the North Tasman Sea can be WILD to say the least.
In other words, that wasn\’t going to happen.

So, we\’ve been told that we will be allowed ashore, but we can\’t essentially be tourists. I also find this rather odd since most boats that would visit here would come from the East (as we have) and therefore are essentially excluded from this unique stop. As the Islands economy is entirely tourist generated, this makes even less sense. We don\’t get to make the rules, so we\’ll be there in about 24 hours and find out what restrictions we\’ll have on our \”technical stop\” as our permit is essentially invalid. This is a classic bit of bureaucracy where the \”left hand doesn\’t\’ know what the right hand is doing\”. Sound familiar?…:-)
It reminds me of our experience with US Customs in St. John in the American Virgin Islands. As a reminder, we were told Nikki couldn\’t enter the USA on a \”non commercial carrier\” in the Visa waiver program. Ah bureaucrats…got a love em\’… That story can be searched back in the Ship\’s Blog archives and is why we got Nikki a US Visa!

In any event it will all work out and we\’ll take the next \”weather window\” the last 450 miles of our journey into Port Jackson/Sydney Harbour. We should be there before the middle of the month.
Just yet, another \”sea story\”…:-)
KIT,
Scott and Nikki

COMMENT: Beach House – EN ROUTE – Isle Amedee – New Caledonia – Lord Howe Island, Australia – Day 3 – 160 nm
TIME: 2016/11/30 21:51
LATITUDE: 28-41.74S
LONGITUDE: 160-33.22E
COURSE: 206T
SPEED: 7.8
MARINE: YES
WIND_SPEED: 8
WIND_DIR: ESE
SWELL_DIR: SSE
SWELL_HT: 2.5M
SWELL_PER: 9
CLOUDS: 35%
VISIBILITY: 15
BARO: 1012.6
TREND: 1
AIR_TEMP: 25.0C

30 November 2016 (+11 UTC)

Dear Friends and Family,
Just as we were preparing this report, we\’ve \”seen\” what we believe is a cargo vessel on our AIS system. He\’s going 20 knots and the opposite direction about 15 miles to our left. This is the only vessel we\’ve seen on the trip and I\’m actually a bit surprised to see even one!

We\’ve just hit the half way point and conditions are finally settling down a bit. The first day was really a bit rough and yesterday started to calm.
The big low to our north has moved east and we\’re in generally pleasant high pressure conditions with scattered fair weather cumulus clouds now.
We\’ve also \”headed up\” about 10 degrees, but still a bit shy of our direct course due to lumpy seas.

We suspect the winds will remain as they are for the next 24 hours and then likely quit! (or get very light). The next \”system\” will then be off to our west and give us building northerly\’s as we get to Lord Howe – we hope by just after noon on Friday.

The islanders we understand are Seventh Day Adventists and will essentially be closed on Saturday. We\’d like to get checked in before then.
Still a bit boistrous, but condtions improving.
I saw another very quick, \”Amadon Light\” (morning green flash) today. The horizon was crystal clear.
KIT,
Scott and Nikki

COMMENT: Beach House – EN ROUTE – Isle Amedee – New Caledonia – Lord Howe Island, Australia

TIME: 2016/11/29 21:55
LATITUDE: 26-29.47S
LONGITUDE: 162-10.25E
COURSE: 222T
SPEED: 6.9
MARINE: YES
WIND_SPEED: 18
WIND_DIR: SE
WAVE_HT: 0.3M
WAVE_PER: 7
SWELL_DIR: S
SWELL_HT: 2.9M
SWELL_PER: 9
CLOUDS: 65%
VISIBILITY: 15
BARO: 1011.1
AIR_TEMP: 25.0C

27 November 2016 (+11 UTC)
Dear Friends and Family,
We\’ve moved another 17 miles further south than yesterday and are ready to go tomorrow morning for our journey to Lord Howe Island.
Conditions will be a bit blustery the first 24-36 hours and then should steadily decrease with winds expected from the East.
As we\’re starting to depart the tropics, the weather systems will be more about High\’s and Low\’s as they are in the mid latitudes of the USA and Europe – the southern latitudes of Australia and New Zealand. As such, a bit more challenging weather wise.
We\’re taking along Kiwi \”Weather Guru Extrodinaire\”, Bob McDavit (no pressure Bob!) on this voyage and we\’ll be getting daily updates.
Bob assisted me in 2011 when I departed Auckland, NZ for Tonga. He got it right then and it looks good now…:-)

The trip should take approximately 5 days and 4 nights to cover the roughly 700 nautical miles. This will be our second longest voyage of the season.

We hear that the scenery of Lord Howe Island is spectacular, a bit like the Bora Bora of the Western Pacific. AND…It\’s Australia Mate!
We\’ll keep you all posted with our daily updates which will be in the \”arvo\” for our Aussie and Kiwi friends and before most of you get out of bed in the USA. Mid afternoon tea for our friends in the UK and Europe…:-)

We had a nice day trip here and climbed the 170 foot Amedee Light House, commissioned by Napolean III and opened in 1862.

Next update from \”en route\”..
Cheers and KIT!
Scott and Nikki

COMMENT: Beach House – MOORED – Isle Amedee – New Caledonia
IDENT: N6ABC
TIME: 2016/11/27 03:28
LATITUDE: 22-28.54S
LONGITUDE: 166-27.90E
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 22
WIND_DIR: ESE
CLOUDS: 100%
VISIBILITY: 4
BARO: 1010.5
TREND: -1
AIR_TEMP: 26.7C

26 November 2016 (-11 UTC)
Dear Friends and Family,
We had a very nice 10 days or so in New Caledonia with highlights of driving up to the north and taking a one hour ride in a small plane to see the \”Heart of Voh\”.
Google this for an interesting aerial view of a mangrove shaped like a huge heart. Tres Romantique!
We also toured the Tjibaou Museum and did a small day tour around Noumea City.
We\’ll write it all up in the main ship\’s blog with photos. We\’re almost to Australia, only another 1100 miles to go! Then real internet and photo blogs galore.

We\’ve done our shopping and boat prep, checked out with the authorities and confirmed our Yacht Arrival report with Australia (they require at least 96 hours notice) and confirmed my long stay visa. We\’re now at the small Eco Island of Signal about 10 miles west of Noumea on a mooring and watching the weather for a likely Monday (Sunday Western Hemisphere) departure. The next leg is about 700 miles – 5 days or so and that will bring us to within 400 miles of Sydney.
Lord Howe Island is apparently spectacular and looks a bit like the Bora Bora of the Eastern Pacific.

For now, use this email and by all means, KIT! (keep in touch),
Scott and Nikki

COMMENT: Beach House – MOORED – Isle Signal – New Caledonia

IDENT: N6ABC
TIME: 2016/11/26 05:34
LATITUDE: 22-17.62S
LONGITUDE: 166-17.44E
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 12
WIND_DIR: SSE
CLOUDS: 90%
VISIBILITY: 10
BARO: 1010.8
AIR_TEMP: 28.3C

12 November 2016 (+11 UTC) Eastern Hemisphere
Dear Friends and Family,

We had a fabulous time seeing the very active volcano, Mt. Yasur which means mountain of God the local language.
Sulphur, Steam and Ash were billowing constantly in addition to the red hot lava we could see after dark.
We got some really good photos and we\’ll post (hopefully!?) in New Caledonia.

We also went to see the \”Cargo Cult\” of John Phrum (the actual spelling vs. Frum which is usually seen). The entire experience was literally in the dark, but we were enlightened as to what it is all about. There are 14-17 villages on Tanna and the entire island of Aniwa just off Tanna, all believe in the prophesy of John Phrum. What we really learned is that it\’s entirely different that we were led to believe. John Phrum is actually, not a religion. The local religion is called Kastom or Kustom or Custom depending on who you ask.

It is most interesting to see how the US Military has a huge part in this and that the American Flag, the US Navy Flag and the Marine Corps Flag are held in the highest possible esteem. The US Flag has been risen daily in these villages since 1942!

They were most interested to know about the recent US Elections and who the new US President was. They all loved President Obama and wanted to know why he wasn\’t going to be President any longer? I explained to them that US Presidents could only serve for 8 years and then they understood that it was \”the law\”….:-)

John Phrum is said to have come to the islanders in 1938 as a \”spirit\”. He is not, nor ever was \”an American\”. When he appears to the elders in their visions (after a large portion of very strong Kava!), he is said to take the embodiment of looking like a Tanna Islander. He is said to have told the village elders (the current generations Grandfathers) that a great nation, \”America\”, would come to help them. Right at the time of this vision, the Colonial Govt. imprisoned 17 of the Grandfathers for their unwillingness to convert to the Christian Church and cease the practice of \”Kustom\”.

Indeed and quite ironically, WW2 broke out and \”America\” showed up as John Phrum prophesied. When the US Troops arrived and rounded up the last of the Japanese, (something they were also happy about), they also told the locals that practicing \”Kustom\” was perfectly fine and then worked to eventually help get the Grandfathers out of jail! This was done by US service personnel who were of course in uniform. As such, the locals believed in the prophesy of John Phrum and believe that he will return as a man (Messiah?) and the the Americans will one day return and help build their nation. There\’s lots more to it and I\’ll try and do it justice on the main Ship\’s Blog at a later date. Just know that the Stars and Stripes will live forever on the island of Tanna and the entire experience was beyond fascinating.

We were going to head off to New Caledonia today, but the weather was a bit uncooperative. We decided since we were underway, to come to the southern most island, Anatom and anchor for the night. The winds will shift back to the normal trade winds later tonight as a very weak low dissipates and we\’ll be off for the day-night-day sail to Noumea, New Caledonia.
KIT,
Scott and Nikki

COMMENT: Beach House – Anchored – Anelghowhat Bay, Anatom – Vanuatu
AIRMAIL YOTREPS
IDENT: N6ABC
TIME: 2016/11/12 04:37
LATITUDE: 20-14.18S
LONGITUDE: 169-46.67E
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 9
WIND_DIR: W
CLOUDS: 80%
VISIBILITY: 15
BARO: 1010.9
AIR_TEMP: 30.0C

10 November 2016 (+11 on UTC)
Dear Friends and Family,

We arrived off the small bay here at 0630 local time. The first issue was that this area is so remote and apparently, the volcanic ash so prevalent that it changes the bottom here often enough that there are actually no depth indications on the charts! Yikes. We\’d also heard that the bay was very shallow. It is! We\’re anchored in a bay that is 250 yards in diameter and very surprisingly to us – absolutely no infrastructure.

We thought we\’d find a small town or a large village, but really, just a few local cottages and the Port Resolution Yacht Club. We suspect the \”Yacht Club\” may be a backpackers hostile and we\’ll see when we go ashore. There is no dock and we\’re the only boat here. A \”wet landing\” (as we call beach landings), will be the order of the day. A local, Patrick, paddled his canoe up to us and fortunately spoke perfect English. He told us where to go (The Yacht Club) to organize a tour to the volcano – hopefully tonight?!

All is well for now, it\’s very overcast and we can see the volcano smoking pretty heavily from the anchorage. Fortunately, we\’re upwind of it – for now…:-)
KIT,
Scott and Nikki
COMMENT: Beach House – Anchored – Port Resolution, Vanuatu

AIRMAIL YOTREPS
IDENT: N6ABC
TIME: 2016/11/09 19:14
LATITUDE: 19-31.57S
LONGITUDE: 169-29.79E
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 12
WIND_DIR: ESE
CLOUDS: 90%
VISIBILITY: 15
BARO: 1014.2
AIR_TEMP: 25.6C