Our passage from Bali up to Singapore and Malaysia was fraught with engine issues, thunderstorms, and short crew schedules! But we made it...take a look at the highlights!

After 3 weeks of being anchored in Bali and taking-in some of the amazing sights and sounds and smells and tastes, we're ready for some quiet time in the outer islands!

BAHATI left Cairns, Australia inside the Great Barrier Reef on July 22 and arrivd in Bali on Aug 30. En route we stopped at Lizard Island, Cooktown, the Escape River, Thursday Island, and Kupang in West Timor among many other wonderful spots! See a bit of this 2000+ mile stretch in this album!

After more than 6 months, we finally were able to reconnect with our old friends, Eivind and Heidi, aboard the Norwegian s/v EMPIRE! They spent the last year in Oz while we were in NZ...and they were busy launching a new crew member! Young Eirik arrived on March 4 and this week was our first chance to meet him! He's quite a character and already seems well acclimated to life afloat! We look forward to welcoming this stalwart crew when they arrive in Maine ina year or two en route home to Oslo!

It was a rock 'n' roll 12 days from Port Vila to Cairns with winds ranging from 0 to 35 knts...and seas all over the map! We were lucky to have a low that had been forming near Fiji pass astern of us and land on NZ but the result was strogn southerlies for us which made for tricky routing round the reefs leading onto the Queensland coast. Thanks to the good guidance of Bob McDavitt (in Auckland) and Josh (standing by in CA!) we were well-versed on the weather systems as they swept us along. We are also grateful to Russell Radio for their good daily HF radio sked which kept our families posted on our lat-long each evening! Finally, thanks to Ben White for being on EPIRB alert as always....and to Cam Grillo for his able watch-keeping on his last passage with us! Cam is headed back to Maine to enjoy the rest of the summer. He joined us in Auckland and April and has done yeoman's service in the rig, at the helm, and under the hull as we found our way to New Caledonia and Vanuatu and now Oz! Thanks Cameron! This passage across the Coral Sea seems to have been mostly about birds! We had a number of them join us as hitchhikers over the 12 days...most came at dusk and stayed until dawn....snoozing and pooping! They made for good if somewhat messy company! Several of them ran into our Rutland wind gen and got knocked about...one landing on deck with a thud and seemed stunned nestling up to the deck box without moving all night and then struggling to rail and finally finding the strength and presence to fly again at dawn on Betsy's watch. Quite a sight! We have never had this quantity of visitation...the last two sailed right thru the Barrier Reef and almost into Cairns with us....amazing!

On June 28, after installing the new oil pressure sender and getting it up and running, the wind turned north, making it hard to sail toward Pentacoste, and with only one day left this year to witness the remarkable land-diving ritual, Capt B decided to take the Air Van flight 45' north from Efate to catch the infamous event which happens only in April, May and June when the vines are flexible enough and the yams are busy growing! This bizarre and thrilling ritual is supposed to help the yams grow better! Who knows?? It sure must help the young men of this community stay fit and "pumped"! Take a look at some of these photos to get a sense of how awesome this experience can be! The entire village participates in one way or another...preparing the vines and the tower....dancing and singing to cheer the "jumpers" on....simply witnessing, as I did, with pride and amazement...digging the earth beneath the tower to help pad the landing....cheering from the sidelines....it's all just incredible! I understand, tho have not seen, that there is a U-Tube video of this event which may get you even more upfront and personal...check it out!! And enjoy some of our photos as a taste treat!! WoW!!

On Captain Biscuits 59th birthday, BAHATI finally set sail from Opua and headed north toward Vanuatu. After 6 days at sea and some fast sailing we made the decision to divert to Noumea, New Caledonia as we faced a fuel tank issue and some on-going problems with the mainsail. We arrived in Noumea safely after a good passage tho fraught with squalls and confused seas. BAHATI and crew took it all in stride! And we managed to catch a lovely albacaore tuna, a nice face mahi-mahi, and a baracuda (who got away!) Many thanks to Russell Radio for their regular evening skeds and for alerting our relatives as to our whereabouts daily while en route.

BAHATI and crew spent 2 weeks in Port Resolution... check-out these photos documenting our wonderful time there!

A Final Visit to the South Island: Queenstown, Routeburn Track, Milford Sound....March 09

Thanksgiving New Zealand Style, Saga Rose, Auckland Harbor Swim, "On the Hard" in West Park, Sailing to Waiheke, and Hiking in Taupo!

In November, 2007 Bahati made the passage from Tonga to New Zealand. We hit some big weather. This gallery shows photos from the passage and from our time in the amazing islands of New Zealand.

Bahati's first passages from Maine to the Caribbean