Yacht Delivery Blog

We're keeping a close eye on the weather forecast and preparing for a bit of a blow. The GRIBs all suggest that the wind will be southeasterly, which should make for a fast ride over the final 1000 nautical miles and perhaps we can smash the 200nm a day record. We're still on track to turn west by tonight and catch the wind starting to blow first thing tomorrow and bring it over the port quarter. The weather at the moment is fantastic, with clear skies, a few fluffy clouds, and 10-14 knots of breeze. There's no sign of what's coming around the corner. We're motor sailing to make as many miles as possible, which goes against my sailor instincts, but we're gaining around 30 nautical miles a day with the engine running. Yesterday evening, I found myself being hoisted up the mast again, an activity that's never pleasant, even in the safety of a marina. But at sea, with a partially raised mainsail swaying above me, the task becomes even more daunting. The upcomin...

Yesterday my request for the wind to ease off wasn't specific enough. It died down pretty much immediately and it was supposed to be after midday, which was disappointing. As a result, our 24-hour run was only 186 nautical miles, which is still impressive but not quite the 200 nautical miles I was dreaming of. We ended up motoring for the night with less than 10 knots of breeze, except for a brief burst of excitement this morning when the wind picked up to over 30 knots for a while. It's back to less than 10 knots now. We'll need to put the clocks back another hour as the sun didn't rise this morning until 7 AM. The day is pretty dreary so far, with a gray sky and drizzle. Hopefully, it will clear up soon. I'm also hoping the sea state will allow me to take the lid off the water barrels and pump fuel into the tanks this morning without spilling any. We also had a very exciting encounter yesterday: we spotted a ship, not with our eyes but on the AIS! It's the fir...

We are beginning to encounter Asian fishing boats as we approach Indonesia. These boats are usually small, wooden, and poorly lit, making them hard to spot on the radar or even with the naked eye. They often fish at night, using bright lights to attract their catch, but sometimes they don't turn them on until they are very close to us. This can be quite nerve-wracking, especially when we are sailing in almost completely flat calm conditions, like we are right now. Another thing that I find exciting about this delivery is the opportunity to see some gas platforms that are marked on the chart. These are huge structures that extract natural gas from the seabed, and they look like mini-cities floating on the water. They have lights, cranes, and helipads. I am looking forward to passing by some of these gas platforms soon, as they are located in the Timor Sea, between Australia and Indonesia.  The wind has been very light for the past day, barely reaching half a knot at times. This mea...

We have been sailing for 5 - or 6? - days now from Port Vila to Port Moresby, and today was the most challenging one so far. The wind has been blowing at 30 knots all day, creating a couple of huge waves. Around noon, a massive wave picked up the boat and spun it around like a toy. Everything flew across the cabin, and all the alarms went off for bilge pumps, off course alarm and auto pilot off course. Luckily, nothing was broken, and no one was hurt. It's hard to believe that a mere 30 knots could create such mayhem. The wind and waves have eased off now, and we are back on track. Our daily run was 164 nautical miles, which is great considering the conditions. We are making good progress and hope to reach Port Moresby in a few more days.  We even saw about a hundred birds circling around which is reassuring as presumably they were hunting fish. Though I am going to guess the fish are not in commercial quantities which is why we don't see fishing boats.