Townsville, Australia
31 January 2008

We stepped back on to the land of Oz on Friday 25 January at 12.30am in Cairns. Linda was the last passenger to leave the terminal due to being held up in Customs. Many of the presents bought in Papua New Guinea were either confiscated or taken to be fumigated. The beads contained prohibited seeds and the buka woven baskets had insects in them. The carving had a borer......The customs people were very nice and apologetic taking some time to rethread the remaining beads. The basketry and carving will be posted to us in Brisbane after fumigation at the mere cost of $30. Bill had picked up the hire car and by 2am we were on our way. Macdonalds was open so we drove through for coffee. On the highway to Townsville it was of course dark but also raining and many trucks were coming towards us. We were extremely tired so we pulled off the side of the road in Cardwell at 4am and slept for 2 hours. Waking up in the the smallest hire car available felt odd (no different to being in a plane!). The view of Hinchinbrook island was nice being one of our favourite holiday destinations over the years.

We arrived in Townsville around 8am and were greeted by a very excited granddaughter and daughter (Caylan and Vashti). Mother and daughter shed a couple of tears especially when viewing 6 week old Joe asleep. We've had a lovely time being grandparents going at the baby and playing with Caylan. On Australia Day we bought a blow up wading pool and the 3 of us sat in it!

We look forward to catching up with the rest of the family and friends in Brisbane and the Sunshine coast.

It seems strange to be back here without Valiam. I guess it's been an achievement to already have sailed (and motored) 3000 nautical miles in the last couple of months. Upon reflection we are very happy doing this trip and look forward to getting going again when we get back to Palau. It is a big project and involves lots of calculations, research and public relations! We received an email from our French friends on Peerliane who have reached the Philippines. They said it was relatively easy clearing into Tacloban. We are not sure whether we will check in there or Cebu. (after entering through Suriago straits)

Many people we meet ask many questions mainly to do with disasters! We haven't been cruising that long but so far this is how we feel and have tackled or intend to tackle the following:
STORMS : The strongest winds we've experienced were just before Townsville at almost 40 knots. (prelude to cyclone Guba). Valiam handled it fine. It's important to have a crew that isn't tired and that minimal sail is up. The captain always has his harness on when outside. We discovered that with a large following sea it's best to have the washboards in place. (refer wave in cabin incident) We encountered quite a few tropical storms/rain squalls throughout Papua New Guinea and on the way to Palau. These were shortlived and we did not experience gusts more than 25-30 knots. The captain was happy during these times as most of the time there was no wind or very light. Linda was nervous to start with especially seeing lightening in the distance at night in several directions. With each experience Valiam and her crew were fine. It was somewhat annoying to experience one of these rain squalls when we were just about to enter Palau after nearly 10 days at sea. Heading back out to sea was disheartening when were almost there!
OBSTACLES: The huge log we hit 300 nm from Palau was a bit disconcerting but then again Valiam proved herself to be strong and seaworthy. (must be the strength of the plywood hull)
Reefs are something watch for whenever we know they are around. We never trust the charts completely and always watch the depth sounder and look with our own eyes wearing Polaroid sunglasses. Both PNG and Palau had areas of poorly chartered waters. The other rule is to avoid areas with reefs at night.
Ships: When on watch we look outside 360 degrees around the boat every 20 minutes. This is awful at night and quite torturous! We have crossed several shipping lanes and so far it has been difficult to tell which direction they are going. Their lights are not always clear to us. (red/green etc.) Every cruising boat and crew have different ways of doing things. One family of cruisers we met who have been cruising for 12 years believe it is important to get enough sleep and only look every hour or so. Another cruiser was actually hit by another yacht miles from any where in the Pacific but sustained minimal damage. That would have been extremely bad luck. We are prepared for lots of fishing boats etc without lights throughout SE Asia and don't plan to travel at night in busy places.
SEASICKNESS: Linda takes travacalm most of the time and phenergen at night. This works quite well especially being the chief chef and communications officer needing to have ones head down. At anchor no medication is needed . Crackers, ginger nut biscuits and cups of tea are helpful. The occasional beer is a relaxant also. (wine is too acidic)
PIRATES/THIEVES: We haven't met any yet and plan avoid them. There is quite a lot of information about areas to avoid. There are also emergency radio/phone numbers in some areas of the navy etc who are there to assist. Mayday and Panpan will alert any ships in the area when giving position. From the cruisers logs we have read most get followed or intercepted by dilapidated fishing boats with poor people wanting water, fuel etc. The rule of thumb is generally not to stop and change direction. Parachute flares are also a deterrent. The most likely event is that a thief could board the boat at night or when we aren't there. We have a portable sensor alarm which sends out an ear piercing siren if anyone comes near it. This is usually enough deterrent and will at least wake us up. Pepper spray has been recommended by other cruisers. A foghorn in the loo or main cabin may be useful also. Bill also has his speargun by the bed!!! We don't have a gun as we don't believe in having one on board. There are many places at home that are robbed so the risk is always around wherever you are.

The desire to travel, meet people and experience different cultures requires an open mind. Everyone we have met so far has been friendly and welcoming. A smile, sense of humour and respectful attitude goes a long way even when one's patience is at it's limit. We are visitors and don't expect things to be the same as home. Each place we visit and each ocean crossing has its challenges as well as rewards. So far the people we meet are very pleased that we have come to their country in our sailing boat all the way from Australia