SERENITY NOW

We’re off to Hexham Island. The passage was good: 6 hours, all under sail averaging 6+ knots. Like storms passing, so do my moods, by the time we drop anchor we’re both significantly cheerier than I’d reported in the last entry. The new anchorage is another picturesque beauty. A small sloping sandy beach nestled between rocky outcrops topped with evergreens. The roll situation is - at time of writing - really pretty good: yay! Only one minor downer: Chez lost a hat to a vicious gust of wind just after we’d dropped anchor. Considering that’s the first one she’s sent to Davey Jone’s locker during 6 years at sea, that’s really not bad going. Woke the next day having slept soundly - what a treat! Gorgeous Huevos Rancheros for breakfast then dropped the tender and made ready to explore (and hopefully climb high enough to get a little bit of 3or4G on the phones to be able to check the weather and the socials). There’s two words that are rattling around in my head this morning as I prep the t...

The buoy we took on North Keppel island, provided us with a particularly rolly night - a reoccurring nocturnal feature at the moment. This has us both quite happy to drop the mooring lines first thing and head round the corner for a (hopefully) calmer and flatter anchoring spot. We make our way round to a gap in the reef off the beach at Pumpkin Island. Initial thoughts after dropping and setting the anchor are good. I spent the afternoon exploring the local beach and rocks, finding a scale of turtle shell, some sand dollars and lots of bleached reef in the shallows. Sadly the initial impression of the anchorage did not equate to a flat calm night - more howling and rolling kept the ongoing overtired and aching vibe on the boat going for another day. Upped anchor again the next morning (Good Friday I think), to once again search for the elusive perfect anchoring spot to get some decent rest. This time, off North Keppel Island, a picturesque spot, but yet another place where the constan...

A mere 10 hours after leaving Bundaberg, we arrive into the turquoise waters of the anchorage at Lady Musgrave Island. It’s all but empty - just us and one other monohull. We take a mooring buoy at the first attempt, a cause for celebration - well, a good excuse for me to have one of those Wayfarer tropical pale ales I’ve previously mentioned. The wind is sufficiently strong to keep the tripper boat away from the island. This gives us the place to ourselves for for our first explore. Very reminiscent of the Tuomotos. Lots of birds - and an underlying whiff of guano hangs around the interior. We wander through the undergrowth to the beach on the other side where a large group of black tipped reef sharks are gliding around in the shallows - a great sight… at least from the beach it is! Spent another day there, joined by the tripper boats. We ventured ashore again after they left mid afternoon and walked around the whole island - seeing lots of turtles sculling along the shoreline. The wi...

Having revitalised ourselves on land for a few months over Xmas and the majority of the cyclone season, we’re off again. It’s been wonderful to spend time in Sydney and reconnect with Charlie, the three of us enjoying time together as a family. Caught up with Monty and Al and their rapidly growing offspring. We went to Bangkok and Chang Mai for a months holiday from our holiday life! Back in Sydney home once again I dived into some well needed jobs around the house and garden (fixed the roof, made some garden stairs and drained the swamp (previously a swimming pool!) ..and spent some time sorting out the admin side of our lives; taxman, bank and various utilities - a close to impossible task while sailing. Caught up with the Salty Ginger’s (always a delight), and had a mini break in Brissy (a surprisingly lovely little town), then back to the boat. …and after some TLC, a new solar arch and a few licks of antifoul paint back in the yard at Bundaberg, yesterday saw us setting off once ag...

Day 1. 10 Oct '23 Like two excited children on Christmas Day morning, we jumped from our bed as the sun came up. There’s an unfamiliar tingle fluttering in my stomach.. an air of anticipation.. What’s the reason for all this excitement? Has Santa been? Did it snow? No… Better than that: We’re going to Australia! We’d prepped the boat yesterday, checked out and provisioned. All that was needed to do this morning was slip the dock lines and glide out of the marina. This was a task made significantly easier as a couple of days ago Capt. Chez had decided to turn the boat around to be facing bow out. We’re away from the marina before 6am and on our way to Bundaberg. Within the first ten minutes, we had a visit from two dolphins - surely a good omen for our last passage (… again I must stress: I’m not one for omens and portents… I do however seem to keep mentioning them. Funny that). The dolphins sedately circled the boat then headed on their merry way. We made our way through the pass ...

  Having spent an interesting week on the water getting here, we were very glad to grab a mooring buoy next to a small island resort (Ilot Maître) and flop on our flat calm bed for a good 12 hours of solid sleep. Having recovered somewhat, the next morning we raised the yellow flag and headed across to the marina at Noumea. The usual frantic marina entry ensued: confusing radio comms, angst over getting into the berth, rising wind, tight turns.. it’s still not my preferred method to stay somewhere: far too many hard surfaces - I’d much rather drop the anchor. That said, there’s a lot to like about plugging in to ‘free’ electricity, water and wifi. Immigration was a short walk away, a couple of forms and stamp stamp we’re in. Next up, the biosecurity team visit the boat. Two young guys, who inspect our food stores, and take away various bits: corn kernels, and egg shells out of the bin amongst other things. The local supermarket (Johnstons) had us gawking like slack jawed yokels at ...

  I’m writing this with a belly full of excellent Mexican food. After checking out of Fiji at Denarau, we splashed out on a chilli infused goodbye feast at a nice dockside restaurant. Now back on the boat with lips still burning, we’re saying a very fond farewell to somewhere we’ve been repeatedly delighted by over the last few weeks. I feel like I’ve been saying ‘The people here are lovely’ at every stop along the way since we left the Caribbean - the Fijians however trump all previously mentioned lovely people! Never before have I met such honestly friendly and welcoming souls: a truly happy smile and a ‘Bula’ from everyone you meet. Be that from rough looking randoms at a rundown bus station, to… well.. to literally everyone here! Anyone Fijian reading this (unlikely I know) you are a credit to the island paradise you are lucky enough to call home. Day 1. Weds 27 Sept 2023 We left there this morning, upping anchor as soon as we were both awake. Our destination; Noumea in New Cal...