Hi from Skipper Steve
We have just three days to go and we should be in Oz. We are making for a town called Mackay about 300 miles south of Cairns where we can complete all the entry formalities and then head off north up the great Barrier Reef to arrive in Cairns on the 27th/28th in order to catch my flight on the 29th to Sydney, to meet up with Anne and Jenny. This passage so far is going really well, it was a bit blowy to start with but has now settled down and after 24 hrs of blissful sailing the winds have dropped further and we are now easing along under the sweet hum of the in line six. So far my engine repairs are holding out. We are keeping a very close eye on them with frequent checks but hopefully all will be ok. Robert & Dawn are happy and enjoying the ride. It is quite a full on experience for them going straight into ocean sailing but they are brilliant company and happy to be on the yacht. My old mate Northy is as ever stoic, again enjoying the ride and the rest from the continual land based partying and relatively hard work aboard his normal yacht Cleone.
On our present progress it looks as if we should make landfall Mackay on Mon/Tues.
As for me I'm fine, apart from a little indigestion, and in good form, and now really looking forward to Sydney meeting up with Anne and Jenny and a bit of hotel luxury!!!
Our boat problems are all but sorted . We are having some new parts for the water maker being fitted under warrantee in Cairns and a new engine freshwater hose should be awaiting us when we arrive in Mackay. The iridium phone handset has developed an intermittent fault and at odd times cuts out so hopefully Anne will be bringing out a new one.
My sailing reputation amongst the fleet has gone up a notch or two, as again some how we managed to win the last leg (that's even with Mike throwing up all the way) I made him go up to receive the prize, which got a loud roar!!! Also because of our engine troubles I did not want to start the engine unless in an absolute emergency, so we had to sail up to our anchorage at night, sail off it in the morning and sail all the way through the anchored yachts, the following evening, up to our mooring in Port Vila . This was with most of the fleet watching and taking score!!! Luckily I did not hit anyone and all were most impressed, with a lot of back slapping and well dones. Made me feel like a real sailor!!
Our previous logs did not really do justice to the beauty of the the sites and sounds of the Vanuatu islands. So as I have nothing else to do today I thought that you might like a more detailed description of our experiences.