Reflections on the Last Ocean.

Dramatic story name but in all reality it will be our last ocean crossing for a few years if at the end of this year I go back to work for a little while to refill the kitty.

The Pacific Ocean has not been kind nor generous to us this year. Major breakdowns aboard with rudder failures, depth sounders going up in smoke when you need them, rough conditions over 50% of the time at sea, spilts in the water tank and bugger all fish for the pan and /or freezer. Sounds terrible but I guess in reality you will invariably suffer these deprivations at some stage while at sea. This crew have all learned to cope remarkably well without certain luxuries with chocolate seeming to be the sole exception.

It has been an early welcome home to the rich and diversified culture enjoyed by the Australian Bureaucratic Wildlife with having to organise Tizer's incarceration in Eastern Creek, Sydney Quarantine Station for a month as well as pre-fill in the ships and crews arrival paperwork. After all people that travel on yachts are a major source of international trouble for the Australians so we really do need to make it hard for them to arrive, stay and enjoy. Remarkably most report of their total enjoyment of Australia with the exception of the onerous rules and regulations employed against them by zealous Australian Governments.

Our last crossing began at Lautoka, on Viti Levu in the Fiji Nation of Islands where we checked out one morning at 0800 directly into a 25K headwind as we sailed out through the lagoon towards Mololo Pass and back into the South Pacific Ocean. The wind beat at us for the first 28 hours at 30 to 35 knots from the southeast while we travelled at 10 to 12K fully reefed towards the southern end of New Caledonia. As is always the case it then became perfect sailing conditions for a motor launch and the wind began to die until by day 4 we passed the bottom end of New Caledonia under motor and mainsail with a whopping 5 knot eastnortheasterly breeze.

Two days later and about 500nm left to run to Brisbane and the wind was still under 5 Knots but a frontal change is approaching so we may be able to get some more miles behind us in the next 48 hours. Bureau of Meteorology is aiming for 30 knots so this normally means we will get 40 to 45 and no joke. I have gone through the logs and most weather organisations (including the yanks) seem to underestimate actual wind strength at sea by as much as 40%. This corresponds to their disclaimers so I give them credit. If they say 30 knots, look at 40 to 45. The converse is true for anything under 12K. That is, take off 40%. On the fifth day of October we hit the change and got 25 to 30 K with gusts to 40 on the nose so a big bravo zulu to the BoM.

Two further days and we did get 40-45 knots from the SSW so it was a lumpy rough few days with more forecast now for our entry to Moreton Bay. Seas up to 5m at times and a howler of a wind with lots of water on deck from the short period but steep seas. On the evening of the 5th October we are still 250nm from the entrance to Moreton Bay with strong winds, leaky hatches, wet mattresses and with no hope of a direct departure there so heading WNW on a tight beat to make good Fraser Island and hoping the current will assist us south to Moreton Island when the time comes.

We are probably going to enter Moreton Bay on a Sunday or a Public Holiday and as our incoming authorities are basically user pays (unless you arrive by anything else than yacht) it will mean hefty charges once again. I hope they do not recall I never paid the last ones! It is strange to sail without �"Tizer the HoP�" who has been such a large part of our lives for the last few years. He is being incarcerated in Sydney after a flight from Fiji and at the rate the quarantine people charge we expect him to not want to leave the luxurious life he must be living. We all miss his crazy antics on the boat. His fishing on the nets for Flying Fish and his crazed night watch attacks on the poor person who happens to take his fancy by launching out of a hammock and being partially scalped. We should arrive back in Australia within the week and then hire a car to go get the generally porky little furball. We should have called him PIG.

So what were our Highlights : (This will be updated)

· In Asia we began to meet others who were seriously sailing and found we were all like minded about most things. · The people and cultures we met and experienced along the way · The lifestyles we saw and the different foods we enjoyed · The fabulous friendships we established · The different nationalities of all our sailing mates · The impromptu beach parties · Keely inviting the fleet to �"Mum's Birthday�" · Watching the kids grow into young adults. · Seeing Gill become a young man · Gill becoming the Ships Diver · Becoming quite a close knit family · A month at Cocos Keeling Islands · Elephants and game parks in the Republic of South Africa · The dangers and the beauty of the Republic of South Africa · A 10 day visit to St Helena Island, the site of Napolean's incarceration · Getting trapped in the doldrums for a weekin the Atlantic Ocean · Watching a Soyuz Rocket launch at Kouru in French Guiana at 0230 one morning · Listening to a Soyuz Rocket launch at Kouru in French Guiana at 0232 one morning · Visitng Devils Island · Seeing how the Americans and Canadians cruise in the Caribbean. It is a different life from mine is all I will say. · The dutch and the dutch towns and architecture at the ABC Islands. · The Columbian experience of rich and very poor and grenades in the market place · The San Blas Islands and the Kuna people. · Transiting the Panama Canal and the �"Land Down Under�" song · Losing our steering 2400nm from help and getting to our destination · The friendlyness of the Polynesians and French in French Polynesia. · Getting trapped in an elevator with Gill and some bad gas for an hour in Papeete · Visiting the Suwarrow Island atoll in the Cook Islands. · The memories of it all, from bad weather crossings to motorsailing. We experienced it all.