Bound for Australia
| Vessel Name: | Sirius |
30 November 2013
The Last Leg to Bundabah
Anchored off our land in Bundabah November 21 - to be concluded
30 November 2013 | Coffs Harbour
Arrived Australia Sunday 10th November 2013
It's good to be home at last
30 November 2013 | On route New Cal to Oz
The Last Passage
With winds coming from the south southeast it made heading south quite difficult and not particularly pleasant but we continued staying as close to our desired course as possible. Once again it took a couple of days for most of us to find our sea legs, though Andrew never seems to loose his. Having Scott [...]
30 November 2013 | Noumea
New Caledonia
After spending the Friday night at anchor in the main Noumea bay we were lucky enough to secure a pontoon in the marina and were nicely tied up just in time for Scott, Mark and Jayden's arrival. Scott is my brother, Jayden is his son and Mark is my sister Patricia's youngest son. They joined us to do [...]
23 November 2013
On the way to New Caledonia
On to New Caledonia – the last stop before Australian waters: We waited about 5 days for a weather opportunity to move on to New Caledonia, along with a dozen or so boats heading South, almost all to New Zealand, but a few going our way. By late November, the Summer cyclone/typhoon season comes to the tropics including Vanuatu and New Caledonia, so by late October, all the cruising boats get ready to move on, most South to New Zealand, or some Australia, but a few also head North back across the Equator to Indonesia or the Philippines. We left on Tuesday 22nd October, which would get us into Noumea, Capital of New Caledonia, and the only port of entry by Friday with any luck, in time to meet 3 more family guests there on Saturday 26th. We had been more or less heading West since Panama with the prevailing winds, but now had to make 340 miles to the South West. For a while it looked like we would not be able to sail this way at all, and would have to make the long journey around the top of New Caledonia adding 200 miles to the trip and lots of motoring, but finally the wind had just enough East in it to let us sail to Noumea direct, although this was our first passage sailing into the wind since Belize back in March. We made good enough time to come through the outer islands of New Caledonia on Friday morning and get into Noumea Harbour by sunset. The Harbour was to our surprise packed with hundreds of sailing boats, most at anchor as the two small marinas were overflowing. Who they all were and where they were all going we never really found out. We worried that arriving after hours on a Friday would cause all the usual problems with officials, but not here – this is part of France and the EU, so everything is helpful, easy going and free. The photo is our Halloween party onboard - explanation in the next blog from Noumea.
19 November 2013 | Vanuatu
Port Vila
Just 20 minutes out of Port Vila we had drawn a complete blank on the fishing. This was a big disappointment to Margaret, who was very keen to catch just something ahead of brother Mark and uncle Scott coming onboard in Noumea. Then fish on and the reel buzzed. Margaret hauled it in, Warren gaffed [...]
Cruising the Caribbean
Overnight journey to Dominica where we stayed in Portsmouth harbour. Really enjoyed Dominicia it was a much less visited island. Went to regular Sunday night Beach BBQ arranged by the locals to rise money for harbour security, here we met a lot of other yachties. We did a day trip to the north of the island where we saw some stunning scenery and learnt that a banana tree will only produce once, after that the branch should be cut down and the new shoots can either grow in its place or be transplanted. (i write this tip in case we want to grow banana's in Bundabah). we walked/climbed down a very steep and slippery track flip flops were not the right choice of shoes so sophia and i went bare footed and had mud squigging between our toes. The waterfall at the bottom made all the effort worthwhile, Andrew was brave enough to jump off the cliff into the water but the kids and i took the gentler entry. stopped at the bobbling sulphur springs where the water comes out cool rather then hot which is more normal, apparently many experts have visited the site to try to establish way. Also stopped off at red rock a group of rocks along the coast that are a red colour. We did the trip with new friends from Moonshine an American couple with their 19 year old son. Next evening did a river cruise where we saw the jungle close up, parts of the Pirates of the Caribbean were filmed there.
Sailed onto Antigua, where we stayed in Falmouth Harbour marina along with lots of super yachts, once again Sirius looked small. Enjoyed a couple of days there had a good look around the neighbouring English Harbour where Nelson's fleet was once based. Had a short sail to Five islands where we had a beach BBQ and met Kerry and Becky from you Neva Know and then Moonshine arrived a little later. Had drinks on our boat Kerry made crepe suzette delicious. The water in Antigua was a brilliant turquoise. A quick trip into Jolly Harbour to clear out of immigration, here it looked like a villa holiday resort town, lots of villas had there own jetty and many people drove around on golf buggies.
Overnight sail to Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands, first night in Leverick Bay then on a mooring ball at the Bitter End Yacht Club. Then around to Spanish Harbour we visited the Baths and Devils Rocks. It was quite an adventure following the trail through the water pools and caves before coming out on a lovely beach. The water around BVI'S was very clear with lots of different fish and some corals, best snorkelling so far. Two nights in Nanny Cay Marina in Tortola, the kids had a great time in the pool and meeting other children whilst doing dingy sailing. We have been amused by the dive bombing brown pelicans, they are quite accurate often come up with fish.
