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Photo taken by Graham Gosling on Pamina's arrival at NYC during Laser 4.7 European Championships
We
arrived in Dun Laoghaire, Conor's home port,
and were welcomed by family with champagne and a gun salute.
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We arrived in Flores after a 20-day passage from the Caribbean, our first European
landfall in over three years. We spent one
week in Flores, then sailed to Faial and
spend two weeks in Horta, a gathering point for sailors from all
over the world. We visited Pico by ferry and climbed the islands 2400m
peak. It is a tradition amongst sailors that each boat paints a
picturce on Horta's harbour wall to ensure a safe onward passage.
Having done our own picture, we set off on our final trip with a good
weather forecast and mixed feelings.
After our long passage from South Africa we were looking forward to
some
pleasant day-sailing, lots of swimming and plenty of shore-based
activity. This is just what we got in the Caribbean. We
were welcomed by friends living in Grenada
and
spent a few
days in the Tobago Cays, made our way up to
Bequia and then Guadeloupe. We were joined by Henrietta's sister
and her husband who spent two weeks with us. Most recently we've been
exploring Antigua and racing on a friend's boat.
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We
arrived in Prickly Bay, Grenada on Sunday 1 April
after a 30 day passage from St Helena to the Caribbean.
Our arrival in Grenada marks the completion of our circumnavigation.
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We stayed a week in St. Helena, climbed the 700 steps of Jacobs ladder,
saw the Napoleonic sites and did several walks in the hills and
forests. Important in its day as a staging
post for provisions in days of sailing ships, then
coal for
steam ships, and later as a base for transatlantic
phone
cables, the island now has little of its strategic importance but is
still unique for it's beauty, history and the wonderful welcome that is
extended to the few that visit.
We arrived in Richard's Bay, South Africa, in early November.
We
spent most of
December/January waiting for favourable weather in order to sail around
the coast from Durban to Cape Town. We took advantage of
this to explore the country by land, incl. a hiking trip to
the
Drakensberg Mountains, a safari in the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve
and a short road trip along the Cape Peninsula. Although we were struck
by the
beauty of South Africa and by the
great variety in landscape, culture and ethnicity between various
regions and greatly
enjoyed our time here we are now excited about our next long voyage
from SA to the Caribbean via St Helena.
The islands off Madagascar's North-West coast proved to be
our favourite destination of this season. In particular the
area
around Nosy Be is a
sailor's dream: a cruising ground with reliable winds, short passages
between the many beautiful islands, some spectacular anchorages,
fantastic food and colourful markets. Here we caught up with
our
friends Eaglewing & Petrel and spent a few happy weeks cruising
in
company with their
gang.
Chagos is an island group that marked the middle of our Indian Ocean
passage. It has the reputation of an island paradise, as it is
remote and uninhabited. Amongst sailors, Chagos is famous for being
home to an almost permanent community of cruisers with some yachts
staying more than a year. We were very taken by the beauty of the
islands, the clarity of the water and the abundance of marine life.
Although we couldn't see ourselves staying here for months -
let
alone years - we greatly enjoyed our two weeks of days filled with
fishing, snorkeling, swimming and the almost nightly bbqs ashore with
friends.
Cocos Keeling is a typical atoll with a ring of small islands formed
of coral beaches and palms that surround a lagoon. At the
entrance to the lagoon the depth changes from ocean depths to tens of
meters very quickly, with dramatic changes in the water colour. A
highlight of our stay was swimming across The Rip, a pass were currents
driven by the trade winds push into the lagoon, and onto the shallow
reef that provided the best snorkeling we have ever experienced with
an abundance of reef fish and some very colourful coral.
Most accounts of Christmas Island mention the Phosphate works
which dominate the anchorage, but fail to mention the fantastic scenery
and wildlife on the island and the very welcoming island populations
which consists of Chinese, Malay and Australians. We rented a car and
took in some of the sites (the island is less than 9 miles square).
After 26 days at sea, we enjoyed all the island had to
offer: well
stocked supermarkets, laundrettes, free hot showers, an open air
cinema, and several ethnic restaurants.
We spent two days in the capital of Vanuatu, Port Vila after an
overnight sail from Tanna. It's an interesting, bustling place with a
very sheltered anchorage right off the town. From Port Vila
we
left on what turned out to be our longest passage so far: 3882 miles in
just over 26 days. We
considered stopping at several places along the way (Port Moresby,
Thursday Island, Darwin, Ashmore Reef) but in the end to keep
going as
conditions were good. We have included photos from the passage
here.
8 days from Opua, we arrived in the beautiful island of Tanna, in
southern Vanuatu. We spent a very enjoyable few days here, met lots of
the local people, saw the volcano and were invited to a circumcision
ceremony. After Tanna, we went north to Port Vila from where we will
head for the Torres Strait.
Henrietta's sister Erika and her boyfriend Markus flew out to NZ in
February for a three week visit. Together we traveled some 3000km by
car.
After a few days in Auckland, we first headed north taking in
Northland and the Bay of Islands, before driving south to explore the
central North Island.
After an enjoyable nine day passage from Neiafu, Vava'u, we
arrived in NZ just after midnight on 26th October. Our goal for the
season achieved! The plan had been to get to NZ before the nominal
start of the southern hemisphere hurricane season in
November.
One the way into Tonga we caught one of our biggest fish, a 20kg
dorado.
The day after
arriving we entered an informal harbour race, and came third - winning
a introductory scuba dive. We spent about two and a half weeks in Tonga
and really enjoyed it, but left earlier than intended to catch a
favourable weather
window for the often tricky trip to NZ. We hope to return to
Tonga some day, as it is one of the most beautiful
places we've been. They may have been called "the Friendly Islands" due
to misunderstanding by Capt. Cook, be we also found them to be just
that.
Known as 'the rock', Nuie is one of the
largest coral islands in the
world. It is also the smallest nation state, with a population of
about 2000 citizens. When we got arrived, Nuie was still recovering
from the
effects of a large cyclone which had hit earlier that year. (images now
archived)
This island was our only stop in the Cooks and is a large atoll with a
population of about 50 people. Very beautiful and isolated, it was one
of the highlights of our Pacific trip. The islanders are incredibly
hospitable and amazing
fishermen who enjoy hosting visitors, allowing them to share their ways
of life. On our last night
there we were woken by a group of whales 'blowing' as they swam through
the anchorage.
The most cosmopolitan part of French Polynesia, this is a group of
about six or so principal islands, including the famous islands of Bora
Bora and Tahiti. The
town of Papeete is the biggest town for about 4000miles and we enjoyed
it's bustle, a real
contrast to the ruggedness of the Marquesas and the
remoteness of
the
Tuamotus.
An extensive group of coral atolls, the Tuamotus are part of French
Polynesia
and lie between the Marquesas and the Societies. The atolls are
sparsely inhabited, remote and very beautiful. We visited three
atolls - Ahe, Apataki and Toau.
These islands are high, volcanic, fertile and dramatically beautiful.
Our landfall in French Polynesia was the eastmost of the islands - Fatu
Hiva. We arrived in 'the bay of virgins', which is the the most
stunning anchorage we've been in.
3 weeks in the Galapagos - and we could have spent months there. The
famous wildlife is all
around. Sea lions, penguins, pelicans, iguana, turtles, sharks and
rays - and that is just in the anchorages. Ashore, we also saw the
giant tortoises, albatross, blue-footed boobies and much more.
Neither the bureaucracy nor the transit of the canal are as painful as
the rumours we had heard suggested. It takes about a week to organise
as the
system is really set up for ships rather than yachts, but it is not
difficult. It is a great day out - with some
anxious moments - as you
first rise into the Gatun Lake via 3 locks, travel for about 25 miles
through a flooded jungle, and then descend into the Pacific.
(images now archived)
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