4) 26th April 2011 PNG.

Crossing the Equator.

 

We left Palau on the 20th April 2011 and as we neared the Equator the winds were decreasing fast. We were not totally becalmed but we had to motor sail or it would take forever to get to PNG. We finally crossed the Equator and were in the Southern Hemisphere at 0730 hours on the 25 April, 26 days since leaving Hong Kong.

Manus Island, PNG.

We arrived at Manus Island very late on the 26th April 2011. We only stopped here to refuel and reprovision the fresh fruit and vegetables stores. Our insurance company prohibited our boat entering any PNG mainland towns but did allow the islands - Manus and New Britain. These were considered 'safe' from the insurance company's point of view. Getting into the lagoon at midnight proved rather difficult and nerve racking. It was very windy and raining heavily, further decreasing our visibility to almost nil. To make matters worse there was only a few beacons marking the channel, with only one working properly. It was all hands on deck as we picked our way through slowly and very carefully.








The Manus Island lagoon where we anchored was quite shallow with reefs all over the place, and yet there were no tourist operations there. After calling Immigration/Customs on the radio and getting no reply we went into town to get money at the only ATM. Then we went and brought fuel and were getting prepared to carry it back to the boat, when we were offered a lift from a friendly local. This process was repeated several times until the tank and jerry cans were full.


 






The people were also very friendly and we attracted a lot of attention from the locals, coming from miles around to check us out. They went to great extremes to explain that there no 'rascals' on these islands and hence we were safe. Rascals were defined as tribal highland individuals that were the cause of all the mainland criminal activity.

On the last trip back to the boat the Immigration and Customs officer found us. We were about to leave for Cairns as soon as we got back to the boat but on orders we had to delay our departure to the following morning so he could clear us in and then clear us out.

 

3) 16th April 2011. Palau.

Crossing the South China Sea was very rough because the rollers come in from the deep Pacific Ocean and 'stand up' once they reach the shallow South China Sea. Once we were in the Pacific Ocean proper, thankfully the wave height decreased every day. The first couple of days the wind was blowing 30 to 35 knots, but after the 13th of April the winds decreased by 5 knots each day approximately, until finally reaching Palau we were only getting 7 knots. 

The funny thing is that you can often smell land before you see it. We noticed this when we were getting closer to the Philippines. It was a unique blend of palm oil, car exhaust fumes and burning garbage. However, when we were getting closer to Palau the man made fumes were replaced by the beautiful smell of vegetation. Also up to two days from land we sighted a lot of seabirds flying past the boat and some (obviously exhausted) would even come to rest for up to 12 hours on the swaying spreaders or the solar panels. They would do several circuits of the boat, then several attempts at landing, before finally landing safely.




Land Ho - Palau.

 

We finally sighted land at first light on the 16th April and it looked beautiful. Palau is a collection of forested islands (250) surrounded by reef. Officially part of the western edge of the Caroline Islands, they seem to be stuck out on their own in the western Pacific, numerous nautical miles from anywhere.

Palau is notoriously difficult to navigate, so with the use of our chart plotter we definitely felt the job of navigating through the reef would be easy. Yeh right!!! According to the chart plotter the safe entry point would have had us going up and over the reef, just about where this poor boat was shipwrecked on the reef. Maybe the captain had the same chart plotter?









So what were we going to do? After much deliberation it was decided that the old fashion method would be the best. One of the crew would have to climb up the mast and hang on for grim life. Then find the deep water and navigate us through using hand signals. Lucky it was a clear sunny day and it was nearing 11 am, so there were no long shadows. The short straw went to the youngest and the fittest, Andy.







Finally inside the reef we were safe and sound, even though we were exhausted we were also exhilarated. No more bad weather, no more obstacles (reef) and we would be going ashore - soon!!!! We wasted no time looking around the other islands and made haste to the main island, Koror. Our timing was off yet again and we had arrived on a Sunday. Country entry fees skyrocket for weekends. But it was either pay the Palau officials time and a half or pay the crew an extra day's wages. The officials were cheaper.







The Palau officials were very friendly and efficient. Checking below and doing all the paperwork with the minimum of fuss, and with no bribes too. Concern for them was our food. We had no fresh produce left but the meat in the freezer concerned them. So we agreed to have that quarantined while in Palau - meaning we didn't use it while in Palau. Fine by us - we needed to buy fresh produce from the supermarket anyway before we could make a meal. Plus there were numerous cheap restaurants around (about half the price for the same restaurants in Australia) and who would want to cook in this heat anyway. The officials even gave us a lift to the nearest ATM. Now that is service. They explained that they liked welcoming Australians to the island, as Australia would service their border protection boats for them. Strange, we thought the Americans would do this, as they had "a free association" with the US. This means everything comes from the US (including food), they speak English and they use the US dollar.



We finally anchored in deep water outside the Palau Yacht Club. A good spot - huge industrial fans, good food and friendly staff. The first night Peter and I jumped in the water as soon as we had anchored, while the others went ashore to eat. It was fabulous and so nice to be in the water instead of on it. We stayed in nearly two hours and reluctantly got out, because we too needed to eat. Several days later we were advised that Palau has crocodiles. We couldn't believe our lucky escape and hence never got in the water again unless it was at approved locations.



A taxi ride into Koror town only cost $4 to $5. You could easily walk the distance in about 30 mins but with being 32 degrees and 80 -90% humidity, it was suicide. The Palau people, (population 21,000 or so) were all very friendly and everything moved at a leisurely pace. Once Peter and I went into town for a meal at the local Indian Restaurant, and we got chatting with the owner and stayed longer than we originally planned. While waiting outside the restaurant for a taxi to go by, a man pulled up in a car and offered us a lift, to wherever we wanted to go. Being from Australia where this is considered potentially dangerous, we politely declined. He then explained that no taxi's operate after 9pm unless previously arranged. He also explained that he was the local Police chief and that we were safe. On the way home - he answered our many questions about Palau. There was no crime - yep never a murder, rape, bank robbery etc.... He told us he did have a busy night the previous week when he had to take a drunk, who had passed out on the toilet floor of a local watering hole, home. I was then asking if we could emigrate. If we were American - no problem.

Palau's scenery was beautiful but numerous divers reported that it is even more impressive underwater. People from all over the world come here to dive. The tourist industry is the only real industry Palau has, and diving/snorkelling is at the top of most tourists' wish list. The crystal clear water and the stunning life on the reefs being the reward. You can also go on a day excursion by boat to another island where you can swim with stingless jellyfish. A real highlight.







Finally the day had arrived when we had to go. All repairs and provisioning had been done so we really couldn't stretch it out any longer. We didn't really want to go but it was too expensive to stay, with crew wages needing to be paid everyday. So we pulled up the anchor and motored 10 mins to the front door of the Yacht club, to refuel. Then Reverie motored out of the harbour and finally safe outside the reef, headed south east to Manus Island, Papua New Guinea.

 

 

 

2) 5th April 2011. Philippines.

After years of planning our retirement and the dream of sailing around the world (since 2006), it was finally coming to fruition. We were in Hong Kong and ready to make the second most important purchase of our lives, after buying our house. We arrived here on the 15th March and the first 10 days or so involved some very painful events - a myriad of paperwork and parting with a lot of money. But hey - we have a boat!!! It is an 18m (60ft) steel sloop which will be our home for the next 10 years or so.



"Ming" at anchor in Thailand circa 2003. Photo by previous owner.

An added advantage - the Chinese officials finally recognise us as the owners and will allow us to leave here at the end of the month, all going well with the weather of course. We are hopeful to leave here on the 31 March to go to the Philippines, then Palau, Manus Island (PNG) and onto Cairns. This should take us 5 to 6 weeks, all going well. The crew will leave us in Cairns and then Peter and I will sail the boat to Sydney.

The last week has been cold and we have only brought with us a small amount of cold weather gear. This is because we are heading for the tropics and we also needed to bring all the gear - clothes, personal items, sailing gear and yes, a bread maker (there are no shops out there and we would not have been able to fit all of it in the freezer). Why not bake it I hear you say - no way that would have used a lot of gas and we need that for cooking. With only two pieces of luggage allowed per person this was a tight squeeze. It's amazing what you can fit inside a bread maker. We have also spent a lot of time obtaining provisions for the boat and lugging them back on public transport, and then a long walk back to the boat. At least that warmed us up and our fitness has improved.






The crew arrived on the 28th March - sails were raised, all lines checked, and one super shopping expedition was undertaken to do the last of the provisioning. At last they were able to do some sightseeing. Finally a trip to the Customs and Immigration office in Hong Kong city and we were officially ready to leave.


 

Well it was the 31st March and the only good day for leaving for the last two weeks. This is the day we predicted we should leave by - amazing, now if only I could pick the Lotto numbers as well as this. With bad weather forecast for HK in the next week, we had to leave today. So we were all up early to get everything organised. Then we cast off from the marina at Sai Kung, fuelled up at the fuel dock and we were on our way.

 



So it was the start of our delivery cruise from Hong Kong all the way home to Sydney. Everybody was excited. But there was also a feeling of apprehension, of what awaited us "out there" for Peter and myself, as we had never done an open ocean crossing before.

By the 1st of April, three out of the five of us were seasick. Peter was vomiting at regular intervals while I was confined to a bunk feeling green and wishing I could just vomit or die. Unbelievably, Peter kept doing his shift, pulling in sails and lines, in between this ordeal. Luckily the paid crew kept us going slowly across the South China Sea bound for the Philippines. The boat was at a constant 30 degree heel to starboard whilst it went up and over each and every 4m wave. Then at the crest of the wave you could feel that you were hanging in mid air for a split second before gravity finally took over. Then the boat dropped like a cement block into the trough of the wave below. This sort of made the boat shudder each time and I often thought that the steel rivets would pop out, eventually taking us to a watery grave. After 3 days, 24/7 doing this I resigned myself to the fact that this wasn't going to happen. The boat was going to make it - but was I going to???? It was impossible to walk down below and crawling was for me the safest option. Going forward further than the saloon was very difficult, as non-secured 'softer' items were flying around - so we just closed the door and forgot about that. Getting a drink of water took two people, and cooking was almost impossible. As one hand was always hanging on, it was impossible to perform any task that required two free hands. If you let go you ended up falling onto the starboard side - now part of the floor.



By the 3rd of April we were approached by what we hoped were only fishermen. This was a tense time as we were all a little apprehensive as the unknown vessel approached our boat. Luckily they were only fishermen - at first wanting to sell us some fish (we had plenty), then asking for alcohol (we had none), cigarettes (no), finally we all agreed that some really cold filtered water would be acceptable and they were on their way. They were two days sail off the Philippine coast and the four of them slept and fished on this tiny boat.




At sunrise on the 5th of April we first sighted the Philippines. We knew we were close last night according to the chart plotter but it was nice to finally see land. By 0800 hours we had got a berth at the Subic Bay Marina and took our first wobbly steps on land. Yep, we had survived our first blue water crossing.