Yacht Delivery Blog

Yesterday definitely was a bit of a shocker! I don't know what was worse – the 30+ knot winds, pouring rain, the endless stream of fishing boats, the contrary current, long lines, or the headwinds that seemed determined to push us back to where we started. It was a challenging combination, to say the least. The current was particularly tricky. Depending on our tack, it would either shave off a couple of knots from our speed or push us significantly off course, sometimes by as much as 30 degrees. With the low visibility, it was difficult to determine if all the fishing boats were equipped with AIS as we couldn't see them, but the long lines and buoys certainly weren't, making for a few tense encounters as they materialized out of the rain and from behind waves. Our best tack saw us heading north until we were close to the coast, where we tacked in just 10 meters of water. After tacking, it was a case of seeing which way the current was going to let us head, which ended up b...

The GRIB files have been spot on since we left, and we're currently in a large area of blue on the weather map, indicating almost no wind. It seems like the breeze won't return until tomorrow as we approach Vanuatu. We've had a quiet 24 hours, without even a chance to trick Rhona and getting her to stand under the boom. The only excitement has come from dodging fishing boats. Last night, we encountered a 25 nautical mile stretch of sea so crowded with fishing vessels that we had to navigate around it; I'm not sure we could have squeezed through between them. I hope this isn't a sign that there are no fish left in Asia so they are over here taking the South Pacific fish. I am sure Fiji , Vanuatu and the rest of the Pacific islands don't have the resources to monitor their waters, and even if they do then actually getting out to sea is a different story. The Fijian 'navy' recently put their latest high tech patrol boat through initial sea trails which unf...

We are sailing towards Lombok , the next stop on our yacht delivery adventure. We have been on the water for a few days now and we have encountered a sea full of fishing boats. It was like a floating city, with what looked like hundreds of vessels of all shapes and sizes and of course it was nighttime. I'm not sure what the collective noun for fishing boats is, but I suspect I can't write it here without offending someone. Let's just say it was a very crowded scene. The funny thing is, you only see fishing boats at nighttime with all their lights on fishing. You never see them in the daytime or driving to or from the fishing ground. It's like birds - you only ever see fully grown ones, you never see young birds. Maybe they have some secret hiding place. Another thing that caught our attention was the huge FADs that dotted the sea. FADs are man-made structures that attract fish, but they can also be a nautical nightmare. They don't show up on radar until you are abou...

The wind has decreased in the past 24 hours, so we are using one engine to maintain our speed. Our 24hr run was 173nm yesterday which is not too shabby. We have approximately 200 nautical miles remaining, and we expect to arrive in Port Moresby on Thursday morning.  We have encountered the first long lines and fishing boats in this region, and we have to exercise caution to avoid them. We have to keep a vigilant watch at all times, especially at night. Fortunately, it is almost full moon, which will facilitate our navigation through Torres Strait. We are pleased that our visas for Papua New Guinea were issued today, after completing a lot of documentation and communication with the authorities. The Royal Papua Yacht Club in Port Moresby have been very helpful in organizing everything for us. They have assured us that we will be cleared in immediately by the health department upon our arrival, and that we can then proceed to our berth in the yacht club. This would have been next to ...