Untitled Document
We decided to leave Musket Cove and head to Waya which is part of the Yasawa islands of Fiji. We needed to move on because we wanted to see the Yasawa Islands and because we had already checked out of Fiji and Musket was too popular to hang around for long without getting caught. We hauled anchor and headed West. The most direct course to Waya would take us through some shallow water but according to the charts it looked doable. As we approached the shallow area Naomi went to the bow to look for obstructions. The charts showed one awash rock I needed to avoid so I had our forward seeing sonar sweeping horizontally hoping to spot the rock. I also slowed down to about 3.5 knots and pulled in the jib so we were motoring with the main up. Just as I heard Naomi yell the entire screen on the forward sonar went red. I dropped into full reverse and held my heading as I was afraid if I tried to turn around I would expose the rudder to the up coming coral.
We coasted into the coral field with the engine boiling the water behind us as my hopes of stopping in time were shattered as I felt the boat hit bottom. I knew we were still about two hours from low tide so we needed to get out of the coral field before it got shallower. I could also tell the boat was still floating and not up on anything so our best change of escape was going to be navigating between the coral heads and getting back into deeper water. Naomi ran back to the cockpit and dropped the main sail. She then ran to the bow to see if she could point out a clear path. From the cockpit I could look to either side and out the back and all I saw in all directions was very shallow water and coral heads. Backing out is a near impossibility as the boat wont steer in reverse until it has picked up some speed. This is also very dangerous because we would be leading with the rudder which if it hit a coral head would surly snap off. I nudged the boat into forward and tried to find our way out but after just a few seconds we hit again.
The feeling and sound of the boat bouncing off coral almost made me sick to my stomach. If we couldn't get out soon we would be trapped and eventually the hull would be penetrated and water would start to fill the boat. We could call for help but what could they do? I don't think there is anything anyone could have done to help us. We didn't need to be pulled off a sandbar. We were floating but we were surrounded by coral heads that were only a foot below the water. Also, we had checked out three days ago. I am not sure what the penalty would be for getting caught in the country but I was sure I didn't want to find out.
From the deck of the boat it was impossible to tell what water was deep enough for us to pass and what was not. It all looked way too shallow. Naomi climbed on top of the traveler arch to see if she could get a better view from higher up but it was too early in the day, the sun was not high enough to light the bottom and was reflecting off the surface. Naomi and I had the same idea at the same moment. As I went to grab my mask and snorkel she got behind the wheel. I jumped in and held onto the back of the boat and was looking forward under water. I could easily see all the way to the bow and could also see the maze of coral heads ahead. Just as I got in the keel banged into some coral and the boat spun driving the side of the rudder into another coral head. I told Naomi to put it in drive and turn hard to the right to get around the coral the keel just hit. She kept the boat moving forward at a craw as I looked ahead and yelled directions.
I watched underwater as the keel passed within inches of coral. There was another obstruction dead ahead but I had to wait until the rudder passed the coral to give Naomi the order to turn hard left. This went on for about two minutes until finally the bottom started to drop away and we were once again in deep water. While I was directing us from under the boat I had no idea where we were going. I was just trying to get us out. By the time I climbed back into the boat I noticed we had passed through the shallows and were on course for Waya. We motored away from the shallow water and I went below to make sure the bilge was dry. Thankfully it was. Next I jumped in to inspect the damage.
There was impact damage to the leading edge, both keel wings and to the bottom of the bulb. The keel wing on the starboard side had a golf ball size chunk of lead missing from it and it was bent out of sharp. None of this looked too bad but there was a hairline crack that ran horizontally along the seam where the keel meets the boat. It extended about 1/3 of the way along the keel on both sides. The rudder had impact damage to the starboard side and leading edge. The impact was about 3/4 of the way down and there was a visible crack that was about two inches long. The steering felt normal and there was no play in the rudder post. We sailed to Waya and as the afternoon progressed the winds picked up. We purposely sailed Fearless hard so we could see how things held up. We arrived in Waya, dropped the anchor and I jumped in again to see if there were any changes. Everything looked the same so I marked the crack along the keel so we could track it to be sure it didn't get any worse.
I climbed back aboard and Naomi and I decided we needed a few drinks. We sat for a while and discussed what had happened. What we did wrong and what we did right. The whole thing only lasted about five minutes but I assure you they were the longest five of my life. We decided the damage was not bad enough to keep us from making our passage to New Caledonia and that we would check it again there and decide then if it could wait until Australia to get fixed. The charts in Fiji are terrible but this accident could have been avoided by selecting a more conservative route. I am the Captain, I had the helm and I picked the route so there is only one person responsible. Naomi acted quickly and didn't panic. We worked as a team and at the end of the day getting in the water was the only way we were ever going to get out of there. We were lucky to get away with only minor damage.
Our friend Jay on 'Theopolis' pulled in. We still don't have a dinghy so we caught a ride with him to shore to give savusavu to the chief. This is a Fijian tradition where visitors give the chief of a village Kava. Once this is done you are welcome in the village and are in the care of the village until you leave. As soon as we hit the shore a little boy was quick to guide us to his uncles house who he said was the chief.
His uncle confessed that there was no chief in this village but that he was in line to become the chief soon. This is an unusual situation in Fiji so we presented the Kava, he said a little prayer and we were free to roam. The village was one of four on the island. It housed the school which boarded all school age children. We walked around enjoying the quit setting. We stopped to talk to a few of the locals who were making floral leis for the cruise ship which had just arrived. Even here on this remote island a cruise ship came once a week and dropped off a heard of tourists for a few hours during which time the island is transformed from a village into a money making machine. The problem with cruise ships is you haven't a prayer in hell of seeing anything remotely authentic. Several thousand people inundate a place for a few short hours during which time the locals sole goal is to separate them from their money.
I understand why people like them. They are relatively inexpensive, very safe and everything is taken care of for you. They are good at giving people the illusion of having visited a place. Naomi and I did a cruise for our Honeymoon. We had the same impression then as we do now. I do not include any of the places we went to in the list of countries I have visited. Don't get me wrong, it was great. The ships are amazing and they do a fantastic job of feeding you. The problem is there are so many of them that they are starting to go to placed they used to pass by. With each new destination there is a village ruined and a population that looks upon tourists as a paycheck. I am not sure why they need to go to more remote places. The passenger on a whole are not really that interested in visiting a foreign land and getting to know it and its people. They want to be whisked off to some activity or to visit the local tourist bars and buy some souvenirs on their way back to the boat. They are only in a place for a few hours so with this in mind what is the point of stopping at a remote island in fiji?
The next day we pulled anchor and headed North to Vaga Bay on Naviti to meet up with Mark from 'Myah' and get Fearless ready for the passage to New Caledonia. The anchorage was nice with a reef around it and well protected from the wind. There was a small resort on shore but we didn't get a chance to visit as we were busy with pre-trip preparations. The following day we waited until the sun was high to leave. We had to pass through some very poorly charted reefs to get out of the island chain and into deep water. With Naomi on the bow we made our way slowly through the reefs and were soon on our way. Mark was also going to New Caledonia and left about five hours after us. He is in a Nordhavan 55 power boat so we expected him to pass us some time during the passage.
The winds were a perfect 15 knots on the beam. The seas were a bit confused but didn't do much to hinder our speed. It was not the most comfortable passage we have ever had but it was the fastest. We covered the 650 miles in four days which is an average of over 7 knots. When we arrived and got inside the coral reef which surrounds New Cal we were caught in a current that had us going 10 knots with only 12 knots of wind on our beam. This lasted for several hours and is the fastest we have ever gone in Fearless. During the four day passage 'Myah' had managed to pass us and arrived only one hour before us.
We arrived in Port Moselle which boarders the capital city of Noumea. We anchored outside the marina and knew we were a little too late to check in.The very first thing to do was jump and and have a look at the keel and rudder. The fact that they were damaged never really left my mind during the passage. Both looked exactly the same. The crack had not gotten any longer or bigger. I decided the repairs could wait until Australia.
The next day Mark decided to move 'Myah' to the marina so we climbed on board to give him a hand with docking. After that was done Naomi returned to Fearless to await the Quarantine people who were in the anchorage checking in boats. We had been warned that they were very strick so had time to hide a lot of our food before they arrived. Despite this they took all our eggs, onions and microwave popcorn. What the hell are they worried about? How is it microwave popcorn can hurt the island? They are very proud that they have the third strikes Quarantine procedures in the world. I am not so sure why they are so proud of this but they are French, what can you do?
Naomi gave the Quarantine lady a ride in to 'Myah' to check him in. We wanted to get it over with as soon as possible as Mark had meat hidden in his sock draw which was thawing. Despite the advanced notice and the hiding of a ton of food she managed to remove several frozen chicken breasts which Mark still had from the states.
I then headed out into the city to try to find customs and immigration. I left forgetting I was back in a French territory and paid for it when I had to pass up several taxis for one who spoke English. Normally this would not be a problem but Noumea seems to have a serious lack of Taxis and it was getting close to closing time. I managed to arrive just in time and fortunately the check in procedures were organized and thankfully free. This is the only country we have been to so far that was totally free off charges from customs, immigration, port authority and quarantine.
That evening we had Mark over for dinner and ate some of the meat we had hidden from quarantine that had thawed. We spent several days checking out the city which was the biggest we had seen since Mexico. On Friday night we went out to see how the nightlife was. We ended up in a bar with a live band and had a few drinks while we checked out the seen. Ready for something different we left and as we were leaving ran into some locals who were going to another place on the other side of town. They offered us a ride which we gladly excepted. They were mid 20's and lived in town. Their English was decent and when we arrived at the next club we hung out with them and took turns buying rounds. A few hours of this and we were well drunk and decided to move the party to a hotel room of an English guy we had met at the bar.
As we arrived at the hotel with the English guy we found several of the party goers had beat us there and had already gotten in a fight with the doorman. Having already checked out of the country I decided it best to avoid any confrontation with the authorities. One of the French guys offered us a ride back to the marina which was again very nice of him. Mark who had decided to leave when we went to the hotel was unable to get a cab back. We spotting him walking along the road and picked him up. The marina was still about five miles away.
The next day we didn't do anything.
We had checked out of the country on Friday thinking we would leave on Tuesday. This was the only way to do it as Monday and Tuesday were holidays. With a few days to blow we decided to visit one of the small islands about 6 miles out of town. We invited mark who packed a bag and we towed his dinghy out to the island. It was a reserve so we took a free mooring and spent the afternoon snorkeling and checking out the topless beach goers. We spent the night and headed back to Noumea to drop off Mark and get Fearless ready for her last big passage of 2008.
The whole time we were in Noumea we borrowed Marks dinghy. His dinghy is more like a small boat and has a 40hp engine and a console with a steering wheel. It was very cool of him to let us use it but I am sick of being responsible for other peoples dinghies. I am also tired of constantly trying to figure out what to do about not having one. I am very much looking forward to getting a new one shortly after our arrival in Australia. With the boat ready we headed out first thing in the morning.
The weather which looked like it was going to be great had changed to very light. Having checked out and being ready to go we left anyway. The first day was decent and we put about 120 miles behind us. The next day was as promised and we bounced along at about 3 knots all day. Light wind can be harder on a boat then heavy wind. When the wind is light and there is swell the main sail flogs. As the boat rocks side to side the sail becomes slack and then slams as it fills again. Not only is this hard to listen to all day it is also hard on the sail, rig and lines. After two days of this the main halyard chafed through and the sail came down. We noticed the change of the motion right away.
I would have to go up the mast and feed another line down. This can be difficult when the boat is in the marina and down right dangerous when it is at sea. We fired up the engine and found the best direction and speed to keep the boat as stable as possible. Then Naomi hoisted me up the mast. I had to go all the way to the top to try to feed the line. As I looked out and saw nothing but water and then looked down. To fall out here would be devastating, so far from help. At the top the mast was rocking like mad. I needed both my hands just to hang on leaving none for the job. I had to wait until the boat stopped moving and then work as fast as I could to try to feed the line and then hold on again as a wave came.
I was not able to get the line down and came back down the mast. We tried again later and was able to feed the line and we were back in business. With the winds still light we changed the sail position once in a while to keep the new line from chafing through. The new line was much cheaper then the original and would break faster. We were now three days away and starting to think about timing our arrival. We had to maintain a certain speed so we would arrive on Tuesday during business hours so we would not be charged overtime by customs and immigration. A few times when the winds died we would motor to stay on schedule.
Now it looked like the weather ahead was going to be rough. There was a low pushing up the coast of Australia and we were going to have to go right through it. The forecast was for winds in the mid 30's. About 6 hours earlier then predicted the winds started to build. We triple reefed the main and put the storm board on to prepare. We only had another 24 hours and we would be arriving. By nightfall the winds were in the mid 40s and the swell was steep due to an opposing current.
At about 100 miles out we were hailed by the Australian Coast Guard by name. We didn't see or hear them but they spotted us by airplane and were able to see the name on the side of the boat. They obviously have some decent equipment. They asked us about ourselves and about where we were going and then told us a few of the rules about entering Australia.
Naomi and I were in the cockpit having dinner when we saw a huge wave coming at us. We knew it was going to get us but there was nothing we could do but hold on and hope for the best. As the boat started up the wave I was hoping it would hold just long enough for us to get over it but as we approached the top we could see light blue water through the wave and knew it was going to break. It got us on the stern quarter and slammed into the cockpit enclosure. Somehow the enclosure didn't break but it also didn't stop about 100 gallons of water from coming in and soaking us. It also soaked Naomi's dinner. I had finished mine, being a fast eater has its advantages. The boat righted and turned back on course. I had just started my watch and spent the next three hours standing at the wheel hoping that wouldn't happen again. We have been in higher winds and bigger seas but these sea were steeper then I had seen and I have to say I didn't like it.
When my watch was over I took a quick shower and fell into bed. By the time I came back on watch three hours later the worse was behind us. We arrived on time and entered the North Channel and motor sailed in choppy seas to Manly which is were we were told customs was. I hailed them to find they had changed the check in location to River Gate which is 10 miles up the Brisbane river which we passed a few hours earlier. The weather was terrible and the visibility down to about three miles. We were exhausted and ready to put the passage behind us. Navigation up the narrow river with tankers coming and going was not what I wanted to be doing. We finally arrived at the marina and tied the boat to the slip. The passage took 7 days and was one of my least favorite of the trip.
We cleaned the boat up and prepared to meet customs, immigration and quarantine. Customs and Immigration arrived first and were happy to see I had downloaded most of the paperwork online and had it ready to go. They were nice and were only on the boat for about a half hour. Next to arrive was quarantine. We know we were going to be losing most of our food. He took everything in the fridge and freezer. He also took all of our beans which I was amazed to find was quite a stash. Nothing was overlooked and we even had to give up some dried flowers which were arranged in a fake plant we have. He left about an hour later with a trash bag that weighed about 40 pounds. Imagine someone coming into your house and throwing away all your food. It is frustrating but there really isn't much you can do about it.
With officialdom completed we had a quick dinner and watched a little television before settling into a glorious nights sleep. Its fantastic not having to get up every three hours to do a watch. Having the boat sitting level and still and knowing you have a whole new country to explore in the morning.
We spent a week at the marina relaxing and taking care of some projects. We purchased a new dinghy and outboard, which we got at a very good price thanks to a generous exchange rate and the fact that we don't have to pay taxes on items for the boat. We also scheduled a haul out and a surveyor to fix the damaged keel and rudder at another marina. Every night for the entire week it rained. There were impressive lightning storms and we even got pelted by hail one night. The hail came right through our dodger top window which was on the list of things to fix anyway. Well rested we moved the boat to Scarborough Marina about 20 miles away. We went right into project mode. Our list of things to do was over two pages long and the hope is to have it all done by Christmas.
At Scarborough marina w e spent a week in a slip getting to know our neighbors who we invited over for a pot lock dinner. Then we pulled the boat and had the surveyor take a look. We sonically tested the keel bolts, drilled drain holes in the rudder which had become completely water logged and ground out the keel to haul crack. We decided to get bottom paint while we were out as the keel and rudder were going to need to be painted anyway. We have been on the hard for about a week now. The keel and rudder are repaired and they are just about to start bottom paint. Naomi and I have been busy every day with projects.
We took one day off and went by train to Brisbane with Mark from 'Myah'. Its a much cooler city then I expected. We walked through the Botanic gardens, the art museum and the river promenade. We visited one of the local pubs and had a nice meal at good Italian restaurant. The dollar is strong here which makes most things just a bit cheaper then it is back home. The Australians are nice and quick to ask if we are here on holiday when they hear our accents. They also like our boat much more then Americans. Hunters reputation here in Australia is much better then back home. People will often stop by and comment on our boat which never happens back in California where Hunters are a dime a dozen. We were also contacted by a guy in Brisbane who just purchased a Hunter 450 and wants to cruise. He said the Hunter dealer in Sydney directed him to our web site and we have made plans to get together for lunch next week. I am not sure how the Sydney dealer got our site address.
The projects are going well and it looks like we will be back in the water in a few days. Living on the hard is never fun and we are very much looking forward to moving on. The plan is to move the boat to Manly where we will continue to bang away on projects.