Sailing New Caledonia to Australia
Passage to Australia from New Caledonia Log June 13th 2003
I had a bad feeling about this passage. Usually I sleep well before a crossing – this time I had two sleepless nights.
The weather window we chose was borderline right. The wind had been blowing hard in New Caledonia for a week or more, and we were anxious to get going. We still had many miles to cover to make Darwin in time for the Bali regatta Aug 2.
So we prepared a bunch of passage food and ran weather faxes like crazy. One of the computer models showed a depression forming north of Vanuatu and making its way south west directly for the Australian coast about 9 days from our departure date. Hmmm…I thought….that’s the classical path for the formation and tracking of cyclones! But, after all, cyclone season is supposed to be over by April, right? Sometimes one forms in June but it would be a rare chance indeed….Anyway 9 days is a long way from now, and its tough predicting that far out. So we convinced ourselves it was safe.
There was much discussion at the internet café for those boats getting ready for passages – some to Vanuatu, and a couple to Australia. Harold and Diana aboard Zephyrus were making the trip to Cairns – we compared notes and both boats decided to go….
Day 1 – Mon June 2
First thing in the morning, along with Zephyrus, we went ashore and cleared out. After returning to the boat we scurried around putting the dinghy and motor up and getting the boat seaworthy. Over to the fuel dock for our duty free diesel and by noon, tired already, we set off for the wide blue yonder….
Day 2 – Tues June 3
Today is a nice sail in the lee of New Caledonia – 8-10 miles off the coast, flying wing and wing all three sails all day long. There is not a lot of wind but the seas are nice and flat and the sun is shining. Getting all nice and clean showering in the cockpit, passing the time reading and napping makes it an enjoyable time. Overnight, the wind dies down completely. Unfortunately, the mainsail has to come down while the motor runs on for a couple of hours. A stationary front supposed to be in front of us does not materialize so we don’t get the high winds and rain associated with that. But the wind comes back and the sails go up again and the rolling of the boat stops. So far so good.
Noon – distance run = 140 miles Average speed 5.7 knots Wind ESE 12-15
Day 3 – Wed June 4
Last night was a long night with a lot of sail adjustments. Finally the wind settles into a constant direction and the going gets better. We are both feeling dopey from lack of good sleep but maybe are going to get into the rhythm soon. Have not had to touch the sails for over a day, which is nice. There is a little low pressure system up north of us in the Solomon’s which I am following…There’s also a bit of a Low just north of Vanuatu….I still have a weird feeling of dread and expecting the worst.
Because the Coral Sea is uncharted and full of coral heads we are forced to sail nortwest to stay clear of the danger zone. So NE until we are clear of the coral then east to Australia.
Noon – distance run = 130 miles Average speed 5.5 knots Wind E12-15
Day 4 – Thurs June 5
We are still tracking to our course and following the progress of that “Low” in the Solomon’s – the Aussie voice weather says it is moving WSW and that would put it directly in our path….hopefully it changes direction and does not deepen into a cyclone. It feels now like a game of Chess – we may have to make a move to avoid this system. It is really too late to go back to New Caledonia because it is so much against the wind it would be almost impossible to get there. We are in twice daily contact with Zephyrus by radio and have endless discussions about the possibilities. Running weather faxes like crazy. There is still a “Low” north of Vanuatu but it seems to be drifting around up there and not sure what to do with itself. Ed is starting to push the boat a little harder trying to get some distance. Because we can’t change course because of the Coral Sea we have to sail directly into the storm.
Noon – distance run = 150 miles Average speed 6.4 knots Wind SE 18-20
Day 5 – Fri June 6
Two bad things happen.
The previous night on my watch, I am anxiously listening to the Aussie voice weather. That Low in the Solomon’s has indeed developed into a cyclone named “Epi”. They are not sure but think it is tracking WSW, which puts it in our path. I am scared now. This is pretty bad news. I am listening to hourly updates and not sleeping hardly at all.
The next bad thing is a weather fax I run at 5AM put out by Honolulu. It seems that Low north of Vanuatu has also developed into a cyclone “Gina”. New Zealand denies its existence. Fiji says its northeast of New Caledonia moving SW at 7 knots with winds of 55 knots. And intensifying. Sick with worry now, I become a full-time weather officer, running weather faxes, listening to radio and talking with Des 9 (The Weather Guy in New Zealand) and Zephyrus and all kinds of discussion. Its awful. And its getting rougher, with 7-8 ft seas, we are running with a double reef main and staysail.
Finally after endless discussion and chart work we decide to alter course and head Northeast as fast as we can, out of cyclone Gina’s track, since cyclone Epi in the Solomon’s appears to be weakening. All of our cruiser friends are helping us on the radio. Des at Russell Radio in New Zealand is doing what he can and says we are not in trouble. The more nervous Ed gets the faster he sails.
Noon – distance run = 160 miles Average speed 6.8 knots Wind SE 25
Day 6 – Sat June 7
Made it through another night. We are sailing wing on wing and rolling along good. I am not as scared because I have been listening to hourly Aussie weather updates and it looks like cyclone “Epi” is dissipating and almost gone. That’s one cyclone taken care of.
Cyclone “Gina” (which New Zealand is still calling a “Low”) with winds of 65 knots is now moving WSW, and speeding up to 11 knots. There is no way to outrun it. We alter course again further north to get out of its path and stay in what they laughingly call the “navigable semicircle” should we get a direct hit.
Zephyrus is still with us, 137 miles behind. It is nice to know there is another boat out here helping run and interpret the faxes, and listen to all the radio transmissions. We are going for bear, sailing over 8 knots now, fast as this bus can go but the seas are now 3 meters under sunny skies. Showering in the cockpit was an acrobatic affair; I almost had to wear my safety harness! I hate sailing.
Noon – distance run = 170 miles Average speed 6.9 knots Wind SE 25-30
Day 7 – Sunday June 8
At last we receive good news – Cyclone Gina appears to definitely moving off to the Southeast towards New Caledonia. Now we can concentrate on what lies ahead instead of fearfully looking over our shoulders. There is an ‘intense High’ coming off the Aussie coast (this means big wind). We are getting 20-30 knots and the seas are getting bigger, with big rollers and confused conditions. The sails are down to little diapers but the double-reefed main is still very powerful, and the wind really takes the boat for a ride. My butt has bruises all over it from bouncing off the furniture and I am all dirty and greasy from not showering. My legs are so hairy I look like a goat and feel like a pig. I hate sailing.
Noon – distance run – 174 miles Average speed 7.3 knots Wind SE 20-30
Day 8 – Monday June 9
What a rough night. The cockpit gets doused a couple of times by big green waves, and it would have been filled except that – believe it or not – we have been sailing all this time with our plastic enclosure down around the cockpit. One wave hits the boat so hard (2AM on my watch) that it looks like a fishbowl out beyond the plastic enclosure. The water boils up halfway up to the bimini and shoots up under both the weather cloths and the plastic enclosure and hits me like a fire hose. Speechless, I can’t even grunt with surprise.
I think this is the same wave that starts a terrible-sounding ‘clunk clunk’ sound every time the boat rolls. In the pitch dark I try to see if the rudder is falling off. Not being able to find the source of the problem I wake the captain and we have a Chinese fire drill trying to find the source of the clunk. Finally I notice the propane tank for the bbq has become loose and is thumping against the coaming – quite a noise for a little tank!
We get a break at sunrise – cyclone “Gina” is tracking down the coast of New Caledonia (if we were still there we would be looking for a cyclone hole!), we are practically ‘becalmed’ at 12 knots of wind and sunny skies. Life is good once again, and I make a big fat pizza to celebrate.
In the evening though, Mother Nature laughs at us again and the wind comes back with a vengeance. The boat is bouncing along at 7.5 knots and the wind is up over 30 knots. It is very rough. The Captain is fed up.
Noon – distance run = 174 Average speed 7.3 knots Wind SE 30-35
Day 9 – Tuesday June 10
It is still plenty windy. We are trying to slow down below 6 knots to arrive in daylight but no way, there is too much wind. So we are not fighting it, just trying to survive and not break anything on the boat and let her have her own way. We have never had to do a night entrance and really don’t want to go through the Great Barrier Reef at night but what the hell. We don’t have a really good paper chart for the entrance either, so it will have to be electronic charts.
It is a very sloppy day – the Aussie weather says the seas are 3 meters on a 2.8 meter swell (15 to 18 feet), and yeah, that sounds about right to me. The tops are blowing off some of them and regularly giving the boat a saltwater bath – even the bimini. Some of the waves blow right over the boat and knock us way over. We are both tired of living in a washing machine and it has become sheer endurance to finish this passage.
But, we get to the pass through the Reef by 5PM and were able to verify the accuracy of the electronic charts by the presence of a big lighthouse at the entrance. Navigation for the next 34 miles to Cairns is totally in the dark and totally by GPS and electronic charting – and is it ever accurate! Of course we have lots of rainy squalls and no visibility – Mother Nature getting a last laugh at us.
Cairns is up a mud river with a dredged channel. We finally get in touch with Customs on the VHF and they tell us to simply drop the hook across from the marina for the night and call in to the dock in the morning. Yes! We were not looking forward to docking in the dark and the rain while we were so tired.
We thankfully drop the hook any old place, have a drink and fall dead into our bunk. Our last 24 hours of sailing was our record for a day, 199 miles 
Total trip 1319 miles and took 8 ½ days. Fear is a powerful motivator!! As soon as the anchor went down Ed cracked a bottle of red wine. He still had his safety tether on!