-----Original Message-----

Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2005 1:01 PM

Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- October 12, 2005 (Day 1 of passage from Fiji to New Caledonia)

 

2300 local time (1100 GMT) Wednesday, October 12, 2005; Lat/Lon: 18 deg 16' S, 176 deg 32' E; Location: approximately 70 miles from Lautoka, Fiji and 600 miles from Noumea, New Caledonia; Course/speed:  242 deg True at 6 kts; Wind: SSE 16-19 kts; Sky: about 1/3 cloud cover (fluffy cumulus) with great visibility and a brilliant 1/2 moon; Air temp: 85 deg; Water temp: 78 deg; Sail tack and combination: beam reach on port tack with single-reefed main, staysail, and 1/4 of genoa (roller furler).

 

Estrela is on the move again after a little over three months cruising in Fiji.  We're en route to New Caledonia.  As is typical at the beginning of an ocean passage, the crew have queazy tummies and we all feel very tired . . . and it's only our first night!  The push to complete a myriad of preparations before going offshore always induces anxiety.  This was probably our smoothest and most efficient (and enjoyable) passage preparation ever . . . and we still feel whupped.  Our first big challenge underway has been a misbehaving self-steering windvane, forcing Kyle and me to do a lot of hand-steering or hand-correcting of the windvane.  Hand-steering gets exhausting quickly for a two-handed boat like ours.  Fortunately, just in the last hour or so I have managed to bring Estrela into better balance by tinkering with sail trim and adjusting the windvane controls.  Her track under windvane alone is wobbly but is averaging within 10 degrees either side of our intended rhumb line course for New Caledonia.  I have to tug on the tiller to put her back on course about every ten or fifteen minutes now -- a big improvement.  I think the Aries's problem is too much friction, probably occurring in many places rather than in one key place.  It's just time for another servicing, or at least for replacing some of the most critical nylon bushings.  As Tony Holt, Kyle's dad, can attest, however, taking the Aries windvane apart to replace these nylon parts is a real bear.  He and I spent many days doing a complete servicing and rebuild in the Holt's Connecticut barn two years ago.  I think Tony had to call in a favor from every machine shop in Eastern Connecticut to enable us to dismantle the twenty-five year cast aluminum and stainless steel contraption.  I hope we can nurse the vane along to Australia where we'll be able to service it again.  In the meantime -- as our Brit/Aussie friends would say -- no whinging by the Estrela watch keepers!

 

-- Doug

 

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2005 11:42 AM

Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- October 13, 2005 (Day 2 of passage from Fiji to New Caledonia)

 

2300 local time (1100 GMT) Thursday, October 13, 2005; Lat/Lon: 19 deg 11' S, 174 deg 31' E; Location: approximately 200 miles from Lautoka, Fiji and 485 miles from Noumea, New Caledonia; Course/speed:  245 deg True at 5.8 kts; Wind: SSE 17-21 kts; Sky: about 3/4 cloud cover (the remains of a weak cold front we are passing through) with fair visibility and a hazy 1/2 moon; Air temp: 83 deg; Water temp: 76.5 deg; Sail tack and combination: beam reach on port tack with double-reefed main and staysail;  Day one 24 hour run ending at 9:00 AM today: 122 nautical miles.

 

Unexpectedly wild day today.  About 2:00 PM we smacked straight into a cold front that I had only vaguely seen in the faxes and "grib files," our main weather information sources, which we receive by SSB radio.  For about six hours or so we had 22 to 27 kts of wind on a screaming beam reach all reefed down, making about 6.5 kts -- fast sailing for Estrela.  The motion was violent, contributing to two minor mishaps, both involving Kyle.  I'm not picking on her; she encouraged me to include these in the web log entry. 

 

First, while at the mast finishing putting in the second reef in the mainsail, Kyle leaned a little to close to a pulley leading the taut mainsheet up the mast and out the boom . . . just as I was trimming in the sheet.  It caught her hair and tore out a nice bundle including a white chunk of scalp -- ouch! -- before I heard her yell and eased the mainsheet. 

 

Then as we were all working in the main cabin about 8:00 PM, readying bunks for Kyle and the girls, the boat lurched. We all went weightless and Kyle grabbed the closest solid object for support -- the dinette table.  Only it wasn't so solid; she ripped the sole leg clean off, collapsing the table top onto Abigail who had just settled into her makeshift sea-berth beneath it.  Aside from an ugly scrape on Kyle's toe, everyone was fine.  Abby is now sound asleep on the cabin floor, Kyle and Eliza in bunks, and we have a fun repair project to work on in daylight tomorrow.

 

Oh, remember my whining yesterday about the erratic Aries windvane?  Well a consequence of today's strong wind is that the vane has performed very well most of the day; higher wind neutralized the friction problem.  Unfortunately, though, the vane's control lines have started chafing, a problem we had coming up from New Zealand and thought we'd licked.  Kyle and I'll keep a close watch on this.  Replacing a control line at sea would be tricky, requiring hanging out over the stern and dangling from the boomkin to reach the attachment point on the top of the servo rudder, just above the water. 

 

-- Doug

 

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Friday, October 14, 2005 11:24 AM

Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- October 14, 2005 (Day 3 of passage from Fiji to New Caledonia)

 

2230 local time (1030 GMT) Friday, October 14, 2005; Lat/Lon: 20 deg 00' S, 172 deg 18' E; Location: approximately 340 miles from Lautoka, Fiji and 345 miles from Noumea, New Caledonia -- almost half-way; Course/speed:  246 deg True at 6 kts; Wind: SSE 19-24 kts; Sky: about 1/4 cloud cover (just fluffy tradewinds cumulus) with great visibility and a brilliant waxing moon; Air temp: 80 deg; Water temp: 77 deg; Sail tack and combination: unchanged from last night -- beam reach on port tack with double-reefed main and staysail; Day two 24 hour run ending at 9:00 AM today: 135 nautical miles -- Estrela's cookin'.

 

In case any of you are wondering whether Kyle has found an outlet for her creative fires and talent, I thought I'd fill you in on her current gig.  She runs an SSB radio morning show now -- every day at 2100 GMT (0900 local time) on 8173 khz, running three to five minutes.  As outlets go, this one's all right.  Since Kyle writes her script before every show (with plenty of help from Abigail and Eliza) I can type it up for you to read.  You won't hear Kyle's amazing range of voices but you'll get the idea. 

 

By way of background, Graigh (pronounced "grey") Cat is Abigail's small stuffed animal -- cat, specifically.  Graigh Cat was married a few months ago in an elaborate ceremony with many guests to a small stuffed monkey named Mischief.  The mischievous plush primate is owned by Abby's dear buddy Bess on Lilly Bolero, a boat and family (the Lyons) with three girls with whom we spent lots of time in New Zealand and cruised together in Fiji for the last month.  Lilly too is headed to New Caledonia, we learned via another cruiser's sailmail message this afternoon. Though Lilly left Fiji only today she'll make up much of our 250 mile head start since she's a fast, and very lovely, 50' traditional schooner -- like a mini-tall ship.  Well Graigh Cat and Mischief said tearful goodbyes in Fiji's Yasawa Islands 11 days ago, expecting to be separated for quite a while; at that time Lilly was planning to sail back to New Zealand directly from Fiji.  A cruiser's life can be marked by unexpected twists and turns, however.  So when Graigh Cat became unexpectedly ill en route back to Lautoka where Estrela was to reprovision, the unfazed feline took in stride the possibility she might be . . . expecting.  Fortunately, Graigh Cat was able to alert Mischief of her suspicions via VHF radio before getting out of range.  This began a cascade of rethinking aboard Lilly Bolero, the upshot being that the Lyons decided to return to New Zealand via New Caledonia!  Graigh Cat also gave birth -- to tiny fraternal twin stuffed bears -- in Lautoka, just before Estrela departed Fiji.  Well this short synopsis should bring you up to date in the continuing radio theatre saga of "Graigh Cat's Big Adventure."  The humans aboard Lilly Bolero tune in each morning to listen but they can only receive, since they don't have an SSB transmitter.

 

Here is Kyle's script of the last two episodes of GCBA:

 

10/13/05

 

[First give Estrela's lat/lon position and wind, sea condition and distance from Lautoka]

 

"In yesterday's episode Graigh Cat's twins were born.  And now for the next episode in the continuing saga of [play GCBA Tiki-man theme music] Grrraigh Cat's Biiig AdVENture . . .

 

"There was silence in the air in the midwife's office.  The only thing that could be heard was the sound of two twins suckling.  Graigh Cat was in heaven.  Not only did she have two of the cutest babies, who somehow resembled bears, but her beloved husband, Mischief, was at her side.  Mischief may have wanderlust, but when you need him, he's always right there.  The happy couple showed Cuddles [Graigh Cat and Mischief's first child, a small stuffed dog] his twin sisters, named Cindy and Linda.  All was well . . . except . . . [hum a dark, scary riff]. Tune in tomorrow for the next episode of (play GCBA Tiki-man theme) Grrrraigh Cat's Biiig AdVENture."

 

 

10/14/05

 

[First give Estrela's lat/lon position and wind, sea condition and distances from Lautoka and Noumea]

 

"In yesterday's episode all was well with the happy family . . . except . . . [hum the dark, scary riff]

 

"And now the drama continues in (play GCBA Tiki-man theme) Grrrraigh Cat's Biiig AdVENture . . . The voices of Graigh Cat and Mischief will be played by Kyle.

 

G-C: Mischief, what's wrong?

M:   Graigh Cat, my darling, I've got to go back on Lilly Bolero.

G-C: What will we do with the twins?

M:   They'll have to choose.

 

So the ingenious couple found a simple solution.  This plan may sound cruel, but in the land of stuffed toys, practicality is often mistaken for cruelty.  In human terms, it got the job done.  They lined the twins, Cindy and Linda, on the midwife's floor between the two adaptable and unusual parents.   And then they waited.........

 

Who will choose Graigh-Cat?  Will Linda go to Mischief?  Will the drama ever cease?  Tune in tomorrow for the next exciting episode of (play GCBA Tiki-man theme) Grrrraigh Cat's Biiig AdVENture."

 

 

---Doug

 

 

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Saturday, October 15, 2005 1:38 PM

Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- October 15, 2005 (Day 4 of passage from Fiji to New Caledonia)

 

2330 local time (1130 GMT) Saturday, October 15, 2005; Lat/Lon: 20 deg 51' S, 170 deg 07' E; Location: approximately 220 miles from Noumea, New Caledonia; Course/speed:  236 deg True at 6 kts; Wind: SE 14-19 kts; Sky: almost cloudless and lit up by big moon; Air temp: 78 deg; Water temp: 74 deg (both air and water getting cooler as we travel further south); Sail tack and combination: still beam reach on port tack, single-reefed main, staysail and 1/3 of the genoa rolled out; Day three 24 hour run ending at 9:00 AM today: 128 nautical miles (despite heaving to for an hour and a half to make water and do some engine maintenance).

 

 

Another day passes aboard the good ship Estrela.  Usually by day 3 or 4 of a passage people's tummies have calmed down, bodies have synchronized with the watch schedule, and spirits have lifted.  In fact I count on this passage-making rhythm.  Knowing that I'll feel sick and sleepy for the first few days, I try to make some food in advance, usually 2 loaves of bread and a big stew.  School is also suspended until further notice by the school nurse...me!  But I also count on feeling better by days 3 or 4.  It's part of the faith that keeps me going. 

 

This passage is no different.  Life is good.  We may have our share of bumps and bruises and we may not have a table, but that is what keeps life exciting.  So what was today like?  Here's a brief run-down.

 

--The dawn is very vibrant this morning.  I am always amazed at the beauty of the waking world.

 

--Abby is up before anyone else, around 0630.  I read to her from the Illustrated Classic edition of Anne of Green Gables.

 

--Banana bread is not cooperating in the oven.  It still needs cooking after an hour already.  (Don't even ask about making the batter.  Oh if dust pans and brooms could talk.  Lots of lurching ingredients, including sugar every where.  Great for our new ant population that we discovered!)

 

--Sails need a lot of attention.  I'm reminded of the skipper's reprimand that our course is also important, not just speed.  (I've become a bit of a speed demon.  Estrela is so fast now, I just want to see how fast--call me Ellen MacArthur!)

 

--Doug and Eliza up at 0730.  The girls read.  This is a big deal because now Abby can read books to herself!

 

--Finally breakfast at 0830--homemade yogurt, banana bread, mango, cups of cocoa for girls and coffee for Doug. 

 

--0900 broadcast of "Graigh-Cat's Big Adventure"

 

--While I clean up after breakfast, Doug takes over watch and the girls play with all their small stuffed animals.  (Doug and I still don't quite know who is married to whom or which ones are siblings and which are cousins.  They have a very precise world going on.)

 

--1030.  Yey, nap for me.  Because of the motion, I sleep on Abby's bunk in the main cabin.  Without a table, that leaves only Eliza's small and cozy bunk for the girls.  We set them up on the computer and they play The Rosetta Stone, their French language cdrom.  They lie on their tummies and work.  Doug spends most of the time on the computer gathering and evaluating weather info.

 

--I'm awoken around 1300.  Time for lunch.  I reheat last night's eggplant and TVP (textured vegetable protein) curry, add water, chix broth and left over rice.  Eh voila....soup!  (We've been eating a lot of curry dishes since arriving in Fiji.  Over half the population in Fiji is Indian.  We made friends with an Indo-Fijian family in Suva and not only prepared food together, but also Salen, the husband. made me a special curry masala made from a myriad of incredible spices from his special stall in the Farmer's Market.)

 

--We have a very relaxed afternoon.  Everything takes 3 times as long on passage--doing dishes, cooking, hanging out..... The school nurse still feels that the staff isn't quite ready to take on such big responsibilities as teaching.  So it's on with a movie for the girls on E's bunk with double headphones!  They watch Whale Rider and think of NZ.

 

--Doug takes his nap at 1600 and doesn't sleep very long.  He's up again at 1715 and just hangs out cuddling the girls.  I spend most of this time before dinner prep on the computer, organizing email.

 

--1930.  Dinner time.  The menu tonight is An American Lunch.  Grilled cheese sandwiches with cabbage and tomato salad.  Yummy.

 

--It's bed time for all girls, including me, at 2000.  Tonight, however, it was more like 2045.  Just means less time for me to sleep.  Oh well.  Because the wind has died down a bit, Doug doesn't have to be at the tiller a lot.  He spends most of his time on the computer writing log entries, emails and getting weather info. 

 

Good night!!

 

---Kyle

 

 

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Sunday, October 16, 2005 6:25 AM

Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- October 16, 2005 (Day 5 of passage from Fiji to New Caledonia)

 

2100 local time (0900 GMT) Sunday, October 16, 2005; Lat/Lon: 21 deg 50' S, 168 deg 21' E; Location: approximately 110 miles from Noumea, New Caledonia (hoping to clear the pass through the barrier reef -- Canal de la Havannah -- with good light and a favorable flood tidal current tomorrow afternoon and then anchor in a protected bay for the night, proceeding the last 35 or so miles along the coast of Grande Terre to Noumea to check in on Tuesday; Course/speed:  239 deg True at 5.8 kts; Wind: ESE 12-18 kts; Sky: mostly cloudy (indicating the approach of a low pressure trough from the SW); Air temp: 80 deg; Water temp: 74 deg; Sail tack and combination: broad reach on port tack with full main, staysail and 2/3 of the genoa rolled out; Day four 24 hour run ending at 9:00 AM today: 128 nautical miles (again!).

 

 

I'm really excited about seeing New Caledonia.  I wonder if it will be like French Polynesia and if the French bread will be any different.  Heeling over like this is really fun because when a big wave comes you can just crouch down and then get up again without any effort; it's amazing.  But I am a lot more seasick on this passage than I've been on other passages.  I feel like I am not used to big passages because we have been in Fiji for so long (more than three months) and just island hopping.  It's like having to relearn walking again.  School work is really hard on port tack because our homeschool cabinets are on the uphill side and books come flying out when you open the doors.  Plus our table is broken, so I have to do school work on my lap.  Abby and I have been able to really spend time studying our French, working with our three different programs -- BBC Languages Program (Muzzy), The Rosetta Stone, and The Learnables -- which use tapes, cds, cdroms and books.  They're all really fun and it feels like we're learning a lot.  I think I'll feel really shy speaking French in New Caledonia, though, but I hope I'll be able to make some friends with French speaking kids there.  It's exciting going to a country that speaks a "foreign" language that you're studying.

 

Good night, Eliza

 

PS: Abigail is really sleepy and says she wants to write something for the log tomorrow night.

 

 

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Monday, October 17, 2005 5:24 AM

Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- October 17, 2005 (Day 6 of passage from Fiji to New Caledonia) WE MADE IT!!

 

 

1830 local time (0730 GMT; we're now one time zone further west -- GMT+11) Monday, October 17, 2005; Lat/Lon: 22 deg 19' S, 166 deg 42' E; Location: Baie de Ngo New Caledonia, about 20 miles SE of Noumea; Wind: (hard to tell because we are in a long narrow bay surrounded by high, steep peaks, so we'll make a best guesstimate) N to NNE around 15 kts; Sky: broken thick stratocumulus and occasional showers (brilliant rainbow at sunset); Air temp: 78 deg; Water temp: 74 deg; Course/Speed: anchored (yay!!!) in 25' depth, mud bottom, with 175' chain and 35lb Bruce anchor; Day five 24 hour run ending at 9:00 AM today: 124 nautical miles.

 

We arrived at the east-facing Canal de la Havannah, one of the main passes into the enormous fringing lagoon around New Caledonia's big island, Grande Terre, about 1PM local time.  Surprise, surprise . . . despite careful research I had somehow mistimed the change in tidal currents.  Instead of finding the nice flood current we had planned on to pull us through the pass, the ebb was still running.  It had built up a wild sea in the throat of the pass where it ran directly into the wind waves and swell of the well-established easterly tradewinds.  And even with a current of only 2 to 3 kts (at full ebb it runs 5-6 kts) we encountered large, steep standing waves and violent eddies.  We motorsailed hard, slowing to as low as 2 1/2 knots, the boat pitching all over, Kyle at the helm all the way and Eliza capturing the drama on video camera.  Yeee haaawwww . . . a little scary in the middle of it all but a good memory now that we are sitting at anchor, rock still, in this protected anchorage, preparing a big spaghetti dinner and enjoying glasses of rum and orange drink.  What a great passage!  Tonight we'll get some sleep and tomorrow we'll travel the last 20 miles to Noumea to check in and pick up a couple baguettes.

 

-- Doug

 

PS -- Abby asked me to say she's still planning to write her own log entry sometime in the next couple days.

 

 

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2005 7:42 AM

Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- October 18, 2005 (Day 7 of passage from Fiji to New Caledonia) -- Passage Completed!

 

 

2200 local time (1100 GMT) Tuesday, October 18, 2005; Lat/Lon: 22 deg 16.6' S, 166 deg 26.4' E; Location: Slip 13 "A" Dock, Port Moselle Marina, downtown Noumea, New Caledonia; Wind: still; Sky: cloudless with full moon; Air temp: 79 deg; Water temp: 73 deg; Course/Speed: tied to dock, stern facing the lights of the city; Total time and distance covered on passage from Lautoka, Fiji to Noumea, New Caledonia: 6 days 7 hours 45 minutes and 699 NM; Average 0900 to 0900 24 hour runs and average speed: 127.4 NM and 5.3 knots.

 

This city appears very first world and very French.  We intend to get up early tomorrow and walk over to the public market, a couple hundred meters from our slip, where the least expensive croissants in Noumea are available beginning at 5 AM.  We cleared customs and immigration uneventfully.  The firm but friendly quarantine officer kindly sat in our cabin while we madly chopped large quantities of vegetables and cracked eggs.  Most of our fresh fruits and vegetables that she couldn't observe us prepare for dinner tonight, plus all the trimmings, shells etc. from those we did prepare, we had to put in a plastic sack for her to take with her for incineration.  Island nations like New Caledonia have to be vigilant to avoid the inadvertent introduction of exotic insects, fungi, pathogens, plants and animals that could devastate local agriculture or indigenous ecosystems.  This was such a fast passage that we arrived with much uneaten fresh food.  Off in the quarantine officer's sack went many potatoes, eggplants, lemons, onions and heads of garlic.  This marina gives arriving foreign yachts a free night in a slip.  We'll pay the approximately $15US/night to stay here a few more nights, we figure, before moving to an anchorage.  We'll reprovision, wash off the encrusted salt, fill water tanks and enjoy the convenience of no bad weather dinghy commutes for a few days.  Already we've enjoyed hot showers at the marina -- what joy.  And tomorrow we begin to explore Noumea.

 

-- Doug

 

Email from the Virtual Crew: 10/18/05

 

John Amos sends a link to an aerial photograph of Noumea.  http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=16315

Not exactly grass huts!!

 

Also a link to an aerial photograph of Matangi Island in Fiji.  http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=16768

 

-- George

 

 

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Sunday, October 23, 2005 10:26 PM

Subject: photos of Estrela

 

Doug just sent some pix to Betsy and Roy from an internet cafe in New Caledonia--very slow and expensive.  We have asked Betsy to forward these pix for you all, since it is too difficult from here.  Enjoy.

 

We are having a very European experience here.  The french cars, baguettes, and fashion--tres chic!  Lilly Bolero just arrived!  So Graigh-Cat and Mischief and their twins have been reunited once again.  We plan to leave the marina tomorrow and go play in the beautiful islands around the lagoon.  We are watching Doug's stubborn finger infection--seeing doc tomorrow am--and watching the weather for the passage to Australia

 

Love, Kyle

 

 

----- Original Message -----

Sent: Saturday, November 05, 2005 4:11 PM

Subject: Estrela in New Cal.

 

Dear Mom and Dad,

 

Thanks for writing us about your wonderful time with Elaine, Lannie and family.  Its really great that you have kept up a relationship with our Iowa cousins.  I can foresee a Kinney family trip when we return--we'll let the not "of the blood" members come as well!

 

We are still in Noumea, New Caledonia.  We left the marina last week after waiting for our Lilly Bolero buddies to arrive.  We have moved to a little island just 3 miles out of Noumea.  This is a small sandy island surrounded by coral reef with a mooring field in the lee of the prevailing SE trade winds.  It has been very windy--20-25 knots from the SE for days and days, but we feel secure on the mooring ball.  Lilly Bolero is right next to us. We have resumed homeschool in the morning and getting together in the afternoon.

 

Our focus has mostly been homeschool and Doug's finger infection, the result of his getting poked by a spiny lobster antenna in mid-September.  He'd already seen a doctor in Fiji a couple times and had taken courses of three antibiotics.  Here in Noumea he saw a French doctor recommended by acquaintances who live here.  The doctor prescribed another antibiotic for what he diagnosed (like the Fijian doctor) was a nasty staph.  When the finger didn't respond, he extended the prescription for another week and we made an appointment to see him a third time.  In the meantime, Doug emailed a close friend from Yale, Barry Fox, who is an infectious diseases specialist at the University of Wisconsin Medical School.   He basically said that the infection does not sound like staph, but instead an atypical mycobacterium.  He sees these infections regularly, resulting from fish tank injuries.  Barry recommended another antibiotic, azithromycin, and said that

he would have to take it for two weeks to start to see results and then would have to keep taking it for six weeks to three months altogether. Fortunately we already had nine days of azithromycin in our medical chest; so Doug could get started on it right away, four days ago.  Doug printed out and showed his email correspondence to the French doctor who was ooperative

and wrote a prescription for a month of azithromycin, enough to get us to big-city Australian medical care.

 

So now we are getting ready to leave New Caledonia.  We're doing final provisioning and studying the weather to identify a good window.  Today we have an invitation to visit the home of a Canadian family who recently moved to New Caledonia.  The husband works with the large nickel mining company here.  The "Gagnons" are friends of a cruising family we met in Stuart,

Florida and with whom we have stayed in touch by occasional emails.  This has been an unexpectedly social stop here in Noumea.  We have met up with many old cruising boat friends also passing through here on their journeys either west to Australia or south to New Zealand.  We've also made some wonderful new friends, including with boats with kids aboard.

 

Love, Me

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Monday, November 21, 2005 8:12 AM

Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- November 21, 2005 (Day 1 of passage from New Caledonia to Australia)

 

 

2230 local time (1130 GMT) Monday, November 21, 2005; Lat/Lon: 23 deg 05' S, 166 deg 58' E; Location: approximately 40 miles SW of Isle of Pines, New Caledonia and 800 miles E of Brisbane, Australia; Course/speed: 247 deg True at 4.4 kts; Wind: SSE 11 to 14 kts; Sky: about 3/8 cloud cover with good visibility and moon just about to rise through the clouds; Air temp: 80 deg; Water temp: unknown because our dipping thermometer broke when stepped on; Sail tack and combination: beam reach on port tack with full main, staysail and genoa flying.

 

Seven and a half hours ago we raised Estrela's anchor in Kuto Bay, Isle of Pines, New Caledonia, maybe the most idyllic anchorage we've happened across in two years, and began our voyage to Australia.  We had almost left New Caledonia for Australia eight days ago.  But at the last minute we saw something funny in a weather forecast map, something that would become a surprisingly powerful, tightly packed low which formed and deepened SE of Sydney and then tracked directly for New Caledonia.  The low has now passed off to the SE and our wind in Isle of Pines, New Caledonia finally shifted out of the SW and back to the SSE early, early this morning.  So it was time to go.  We completed preparations, took a last swim and up-anchored at 3:00 PM. 

 

We don't know where we'll make landfall in Oz (this really is the nickname everyone in this part of the world uses!) because the weather is volatile and the wind direction and strength along the coast are tough to forecast more than a few days ahead.  Fortunately Oz makes a big target and we have options.  If all were to go really well we'd love to sail directly to Sydney.  We are more likely, however, to clear into the country in Brisbane or in a port about half way from Brisbane to Sydney, called Coff's Harbor.  Then, after cleaning up from the passage, we'd hope to make our way down the coast in a couple short hops to Sydney.  Kyle is determined to sail into Sydney Harbor.  I had really wanted to stop at Lord Howe Island, a glorious national park about 300 miles ENE of Sydney.  But that last low mentioned above pinned down a bunch of boats on the moorings in the lord Howe lagoon with 60 knot winds.  Uggh.  So we aren't quite feeling up to the challenge of stopping at Lord Howe en route to the Australian coast.

 

-- Doug

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2005 3:27 PM

Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- November 22, 2005 (Day 2 of passage from New Caledonia to Australia)

 

 

2230 local time (1130 GMT) Tuesday, November 22, 2005; Lat/Lon: 23 deg 27' S, 165 deg 03' E; Location: approximately 140 miles WSW of Isle of Pines, New Caledonia and 700 miles E of Brisbane, Australia; Course/speed: 235 deg True at 5.4 kts; Wind: SE 12 to 16 kts; Sky: cloudless with lots of stars and great visibility; Air temp: 80 deg; Water temp: unknown; Sail tack and combination: broad reach on port tack with full main, staysail and genoa; Day one 24 hour run: 96 NM.

 

We are approaching a large, brightly lit ship, possibly a cruise ship -- they always seem to burn every light aboard.  Our radar, which I flicked on as soon as I saw the ship's lights, shows it's about eight miles away.  With the binoculars I can see its red (port) bow light and no green light, so it is not heading directly at us.  And after watching its movement with the binocs and the radar I believe it's traveling almost parallel to us but in the opposite direction.  So it's still getting closer but should pass well to our port I figure.  It's to spot ships like this one that Kyle and I keep our watches set to ring an alarm every 15 minutes, reminding us to go on deck to look around at least that often, no matter what we may be doing.  Without these alarms it would be easy, especially when drowsy, to let a half hour slip by while hunched over the computer or working in the galley without going up to scan the horizon.  In a half hour a big ocean-going ship can travel a long way, especially if you are on opposing courses.  By now, in the time I've written these few sentences, the ship is on our beam, only six miles away.  But we are passing each other safely.  I could turn the radar off again now, to save electricity, and resume my low-tech visual watch.  But looking once more at the screen I've noticed some other "targets," eight to nine miles ahead and off to port.  They look like big rain clouds.  Rain clouds show up on radar as blobs with soft edges, usually easily distinguished from a large ship, whose image has sharper edges.  So I think I'll leave the radar on for a while to see where this rain is heading.  The images could be squalls, with strong wind along with rain.  The wind might be strong enough to require dousing some sail til it passes.  But with any luck, the clouds and whatever they're hiding will miss us altogether.  We'll see . . .

 

-- Doug

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Thursday, November 24, 2005 12:09 AM

Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- November 23, 2005 (Day 3 of passage from New Caledonia to Australia)

 

 

2330 local time (1230 GMT) Wednesday, November 23, 2005; Lat/Lon: 24 deg 11' S, 163 deg 00' E; Location: approximately 700 NM NE of Coff's Harbor, an Australian port of entry roughly half-way between Brisbane and Sydney; Course/speed: 234 deg True at 4.4 kts; Wind: ESE 6 to 12 kts; Sky: clear; Air temp: 79 deg; Water temp: unknown; Sail tack and combination: still on a broad reach on port tack with full main, staysail and genoa; Day two 24 hour run: 114 NM.

 

[Here is Eliza's journal entry from this afternoon 11/23]

 

Estrela is sailing from New Caledonia to Australia.  We are two nights and three days out of New Caledonia.  This morning on the "Nemo Net" (a single side-band radio net for boats going to Australia that we just started with Aliesha and Ascension) Dancyn, our old friends who we had met in French Polynesia, came up and we talked with them after the net.  They're probably the best cruising fishers we know.  Anyway, then a few minutes later when we were eating breakfast (delicious fluffy American pancakes), Dad checked the fishing line.  It was heavier than usual.  So Dad pulled the line in to find we had hooked a Mahi Mahi, only our third so far on our whole round the world trip.  "Get the gaff; quick, the fishing hook is bending out of its mouth,"  yelled Dad.  "Get the rubbing oil (we knew she meant rubbing alcohol)," yelled Abigail.  Mom gave the gaff to Dad and I got the rubbing oil (alcohol).  Dad yanked the fish on board with the gaff.  When the fish realized it was in the cockpit it began to thrash wildly around on the cockpit floor.  That fish sure was strong.  By the time Dad had finally got it under his foot the floor was very bloody and slimy with scraped off fish scales.  The fish had also mostly lost its unbelievably brilliant iridescent blue color.  Then Dad calmed the fish down by putting a rag over its eyes, picking it up and holding it upright so that Mom could pour rubbing alcohol down its throat to knock it out.  This worked after two tries, killing the fish.  Then we left it in the cockpit and finished our breakfast.  Afterwards, Dad started to clean it, with Abby's help.  Dad pulled out all the different organs so that we could see and touch them.  I can't believe the heart is so small compared to its body.  It's only about an inch long.  The fish was a female full of roe (eggs).  I asked Dad to give me some measurements to write down with a little sketch I made of the fish.  Here are the measurements:  nose to notch of its tail: 36 inches; tip to tip of forked tail: 11.5 inches; top to bottom of head at the widest part: 6.5 inches; length of pectoral fin: 5 inches; top to bottom of dorsal fin at widest part: 3.5 inches.  I guess we'll be eating fish tonight.  "I'm having fish tonight!" says Bruce [in Finding Nemo]. . . "Fish are friends AND food!"

 

After dinner -- Those fish sticks sure were yummy.  We also made fish stew and about half the meat is drying for fish jerky.  Abigail laid out most of the meat strips on the drying rack.

 

-- Eliza

 

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Thursday, November 24, 2005 1:29 PM

Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- November 24, 2005 (Day 4 of passage from New Caledonia to Australia) Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

 

2000 local time (0900 GMT) Thursday, November 24, 2005; Lat/Lon: 25 deg 24' S, 163 deg 50' E; Location: 393 NM NNE of Lord Howe Island; Course/speed: 204 deg True at 5.2 kts; Wind: SE 11 to 13 kts; Sky: 3/8 cloud cover; Air temp: 80 deg; Water temp: unknown (but feeling steadily cooler as we sail south); Sail tack and combination: sailing 60 degrees from apparent wind on port tack with full main, staysail and 1/2 of genoa; Day three 24 hour run: 120 NM.

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

 

We had a wonderful holiday on Estrela--no school and lots of cooking!  We put together as close to a traditional Thanksgiving feast as was feasible in the middle of the ocean.  We all scoured different stowage areas for ingredients.  I found 4 quite pathetic potatoes, on their last leg, and a few cups of Potato Buds that a fellow cruiser gave to me in a ziplock bag.  These became the obligatory mashed potatoes.  We pulled out the canned Danish ham, canned carrots, and canned beans that we purchased in New Caledonia.  I referred to my friend Betty Crocker for a glaze recipe for the canned ham.  I found a simple and delicious one which called for combining brown sugar, dijon mustard and a little vinegar.  The result magically transformed the wedge of can-shaped ham into a mouth watering roasted jambon.  I could almost picture the cloves stuck into the crispy diamond scored outer surface. While digging in the bottom of the stowage area for canned items, the girls discovered 2 cans of pumpkin that I had purchased in Florida in 2003!   I was relieved.  The thought of attempting pie dough in the tropics (read sticky sticky--Betty Crocker always talks about high altitude alternatives.  What about sea level in the tropics?!) was daunting enough for this neophyte pie chef.  But to actually do as the Pilgrims did and use a REAL pumpkin (which I do have) was quite beyond my brain capacity.  As it was, Abigail and I ended up pressing the unrollable dough into the cake pan--no pie plate--as one would for Scotch short bread, not pie dough.  I also found one of our last evaporated milk cans (from French Polynesia) and then substituted cardamom for the required powdered cloves and ginger root.  Thankfully, I still had a bit of cinnamon. I somehow forgot that I was baking on a moving bumpy boat.  So when I put too much filling into the pastry-lined pan, the result was an oven doused with delicious baked pudding and one of the most odd shaped pies that I've ever seen.  Voila--"Bumpy Bilge Pumpkin Pie"!

 

Thankfully the seas were calm enough for us to enjoy our feast together at our Thanksgiving table.  We reminisced about other Thanksgiving meals that we have shared with our families.  Doug and I talked about our own childhood Thanksgivings and all the wonderful rituals that we each experienced during the holiday.  And most importantly, we gave thanks for all the bountiful blessings that we have received during our voyage.  It's hard to put into words how full our hearts feel.  We are thankful for all the generous people who helped us prepare and actually depart for this journey.  We are thankful for all the wonderful people that we've met along the way.  We are thankful to have had incredible opportunities to witness the beauty of this earth and all her magnificent creatures.  And we are thankful that we have been "covered with His feathers, and under His wings we have found refuge."

 

---Kyle

 

 

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Friday, November 25, 2005 12:25 PM

Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- November 25, 2005 (Day 5 of passage from New Caledonia to Australia)

 

 

2330 local time (1230 GMT) Friday, November 25, 2005; Lat/Lon: 27 deg 45' S, 160 deg 39' E; Location: 237 NM NNE of Lord Howe Island; Course/speed: 203 deg True at 6.4 kts; Wind: ESE 18-24 kts; Sky: total cloud cover and hard rain; Air temp: 72 deg; Water temp: unknown; Sail tack and combination: sailing 90 degrees from apparent wind on port tack with double reefed main and staysail; Day four 24 hour run: 134 NM.

 

Challenging sailing conditions.  We were motorsailing in almost no wind after dinner, though we had already passed under a black mass of cloud and it was raining steadily.  Then the wind picked up sharply.  At first we thought it was just a strong cell of convection -- a rain squall -- and the wind would soon slack.  So we furled the roller-furling genoa jib and carried on with the staysail and full main, trying to ride it out, hand steering.  This sail combination is not balanced, too great a portion of the sail is aft of the boat's pivot point, making Estrela want to round up -- head more into the wind, especially in gusts.  As she heads closer to the wind her apparent wind speed increases, accentuating her desire to round up.  One has to throw all one's weight into moving the tiller to windward to urge her to fall off again.  Slowly, slowly Estrela responds and returns to the intended course.  Motorsailing in light air we generally steer with our ram-type electric autopilot -- a simple machine guided by an electronic compass and attached at one end to a socket screwed to the boomkin and at the other end to a fitting on the underneath side of the tiller.  It pushes and pulls the tiller back and forth to steer.  When the wind picks up though it usually can't overcome the boat's "weather helm" -- it's tendency to round up especially in gusts.  So we swap it for the mechanical Aries windvane, which works better the harder the wind blows.  Finally getting the Aries all hooked up, once Kyle and I had realized this rain squall was no mere squall but instead the beginning of a significant change in the weather, we made our plan for reefing the main to get Estrela back in balance and slowed down.  By now she was regularly running up over seven knots in gusts over 30 and the motion was getting wilder.  It was also raining harder.  Kyle was supposed to be off-watch and sleeping by now -- no such luck.  She had crawled cheerfully from her bunk (really!), donned her foulies and joined me in the cockpit.  Once we were confident the Aries could keep her sailing more or less straight, helped by a bias we adjusted for using a control chain, we called down to Eliza (also drafted into action) to flick on the bright spreader lights to make us safer and more efficient.  Kyle moved forward to the mast and smoothly led the reefing procedure.  It's a heck of a lot easier to reef in daylight and before the wind has risen; tonight we'd been caught by surprise.  We put two reefs in the main and Estrela calmed right down and straightened up some, though she maintained good speed, around six knots.  We both went below, stripping off soggy foul weather jackets (now high on our finally-needs-to-be-replaced list) and clothes and toweling off.  Kyle and Eliza were soon asleep and I have had an uneventful watch since. 

 

We are headed for Lord Howe Island.  We decided to alter course for this speck in the central Tasman Sea (though a speck with a supposedly excellent all-weather anchorage) yesterday afternoon.  It had became clear from a series of weather faxes and "grib files" we had received during the day that an unexpected low was forming in the area around Tasmania.  It looked as though it would drag a significant front across the Tasman Sea, bringing a strong southerly wind shift all up the Australian coast.  The southerlies, including steep seas generated by their collision with the south running East Australian Current (remember the EAC in "Finding Nemo"!?), would make arriving in one of the East Coast ports difficult -- we weren't going fast enough to reach Brisbane or Coff's Harbor before the front.  So we have diverted to Lord Howe.  This is an ironic decision for us.  We had badly wanted to visit Lord Howe en route to Sydney (it's a gorgeous and unspoiled national park), but then we gave up the idea when it just seemed we'd almost certainly get smacked by uncomfortable weather if we tried.  So here we are, sailing for Lord Howe now as the most risk averse strategy.  Go figure.  We think we need to arrive there by Sunday evening or Monday morning to beat the frontal passage.  So we have our pedal to the metal.

 

-- Doug

 

 

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Saturday, November 26, 2005 1:11 PM

Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- November 26, 2005 (Day 6 of passage from New Caledonia to Australia)

 

 

2330 local time (1230 GMT) Saturday, November 26, 2005; Lat/Lon: 29 deg 58' S, 157 deg 37' E; Location: 80 NM NNE of Lord Howe Island, 30 NM E of Elizabeth Reef and 33 NM SE of Middleton Reef; Course/speed: 192 degrees True at 5.4 kts; Wind: E 14-17 kts; Sky: stars, stars, stars -- excellent  visibility; Air temp: 77 deg; Water temp: unknown; Sail tack and combination: motorsailing about 100 degrees from apparent wind on port tack with single reefed main, staysail and full genoa; Day five 24 hour run: 142 NM.

 

 

 

Go go go go .  Today has been all about "put the peddle to the metal".  If we can just maintain a 6 knot average boat speed, we will make it to Lord Howe by tomorrow, Sunday, by the afternoon, and be safely on a mooring before this weather front comes by Monday.  Now granted, last year before the refit, the notion of Estrela going 6 knots, let alone maintaining a 6 knot average, was unheard of.  But the new and improved Estrela {and crew, by the way--we're more gutsy} is a like a racing machine--ok more like a racing bath tub, but you get the picture.  So today, parenting and cooking and tutoring went to the wind and high-performance sailing was the event of the day.  Doug and I were either in the cockpit, the bunk, or at the computer--sail, sleep, weather; sail, sleep, weather, our new mantra.  We kept up full sails for most of the day.  When the wind speed and growing seas finally made us call "uncle", we'd put in a reef or two.  If the wind died down and our speed dropped below 6 knots, we'd shake out the reefs.  If the wind got below 10 knots and we couldn't keep up the speed with all the sails, on went the "iron genny"--the engine.  Constant constant constant.  And always our eyes are fixed on the chart plotter screen watching the boat speed.....

 

And what about the girls?  Well, when I looked down below I saw Abigail standing over Eliza wielding a red and white braided rope, with knots strategically arrayed down its length.  That same line became handcuffs and leg shackles!  It's amazing what lack of adult supervision, very active imaginations and limited space will produce!  It's also incredible that despite all the pent-up energy a little schooling was done.  Of course a teacher has to wonder when her 7 year old student {Abigail} confesses that she wanted to PRETEND to listen to her French tape.  "Mom, when I got the tape in the walkman and put on my headphones, I was going to pretended to press the play button.  But Eliza wouldn't let me."  Do you see what we're up against??!!

 

Later in the evening.....

 

Not looking too good.  We must be bucking a current.  We haven't been able to keep up the 6 knots for most of the night. The engine is on, the sea is pretty calm, the sails are full except for a single reefed main-- which really just adds a safety net in case it starts to really blow.  At  0145, I woke up from my 4 1/2 hour sleep to find a dejected Doug.  He'd been struggling all night to maintain a 5 knot average!  That puts us at Lord Howe at dusk, which is about 1930 or 7:30 pm.  Unfortunately, the moon is now rising around 0330, so we can't count on moonshine to bring us in.  We can only do our best.  There's no need to be frantic, because we can only do what we can only do.  So we wait. We do all that we can and wait.....

 

---Kyle

 

 

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2005 6:53 AM

Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- November 27, 2005 (Day 7 of passage from New Caledonia to Australia)

 

 

1745 local time (0645 GMT) Sunday, November 27, 2005; Lat/Lon: 31 deg 31' S, 159 deg 03' E; Location: moored Lord Howe Island lagoon; Depth: 11 feet; Wind: NNE 25-30 kts; Sky: a patch of blue overhead and torrential rain in powerful squall just passed through; Air temp: 75 deg; Water temp: unknown; Day six 24 hour run: 138 NM.

 

No sailing here tonight, no sailing here tonight, no sailing here tonight . . . we're on a mooring!  What an arrival!  It couldn't have been more dramatic.  The wind kept rising all day.  We finally put a reef in the main around 3pm, when it was blowing steadily 25 to 30 and we had everything up, the staysail poled out to port making us wing 'n wing.  Estrela exceeded 8 kts occasionally, surfing down waves.  And we ended up needing every bit of speed we squeezed out through the day.  Lord Howe's peaks rise sharply from the sea, first visible more than 30 miles away.  Dolphins joined us about 3:30, the biggest we've ever seen, and they were rocketing out of the water, just like Flipper.  Kyle may have caught some acrobatics on video.  And the seabirds were mesmerizing, dozens of petrels dipping and skimming all about us.  And an albatross appeared -- such a vast wingspan, so graceful -- like watching a 747 do aerial acrobatics.  This was a most magical landfall.  And now we can all sleep.  We're securely tied with three lines and a chain to the mooring tethers.  The wind is building and we expect the front to arrive sometime tomorrow morning.  How wonderful it will feel to be securely attached to a stout mooring inside a lagoon with a protective fringing reef (the southern most coral reef, we just learned).  The combined customs, immigration, police and port captain guy who piloted us in by whaler at 5:15 this evening said he'll be back in the morning to handle the Australian check-in formalities. Tonight we will try to eat up all the food we think would otherwise be confiscated tomorrow.   Maybe we'll open a bottle of wine too . . .

 

-- Doug

 

-----Original Message-----

 

Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2005 11:12 AM

Subject: Estrela on the move

 

 

We left Lord Howe Island at 5:45 PM today.  We are en route to Sydney.  All is well--just a bit bumpy for me to write much more!--Love, Kyle

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2005 6:11 PM

Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- December 11, 2005 (Day 2 of passage from Lord Howe Island to Sydney, Australia)

 

2330 local time (1230 GMT) Sunday, December 11, 2005; Lat/Lon: 31 deg 03' S, 156 deg 42' E; Location: 125 NM WNW of Lord Howe Island and 316 NM NE of Sydney; Wind: SSW 25-30 kts; Sea: rough with irregular large swell and wind waves; Sky: about 60% cloud cover but good visibility; Air temp: 76 deg; Water temp: noticeably warmer - ("EAC!?); Course/speed: 298 deg T at 4 Kts; Sail combination: double reefed main and staysail; Tack/apparent wind angle: port/close reach (approx 60 deg); Day one 24 hour run: 106 NM at 279 deg T.

 

The Tasman Sea is living up to its reputation as a challenging place to sail.  The weather here is notoriously difficult to forecast accurately; it changes rapidly as lows and fronts are born and develop in the waters of the Great Australian Bight and around Tasmania and move east.  Associated troughs and fronts that might look insignificant in one fax can start looking much uglier just 12 hour later.  And often the changes aren't picked up quickly enough to show up at all in the faxes.  The "squash zone" of steepened pressure gradient and strong wind we are experiencing right now is a good example.  A minor trough that we skirted to its north last night, using the engine because the wind was so light, deepened and stalled early this morning, causing the winds to stay uncomfortably out of the SW and to steadily increase.  It's been blowing 22 to 30 all day and pushing us already 65 NM north of our rhumb line from Lord Howe to Sydney.  When we left Lord Howe late yesterday afternoon, the weather forecasts and faxes we'd picked up had us anticipating a passage of mostly light air and motoring to Sydney.  Our passage plans are a little more complicated now.

 

-- Doug

 

 

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 12:20 AM

Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- December 12, 2005 (Day 3 of passage from Lord Howe Island to Sydney, Australia)

 

 

2330 local time (1230 GMT) Monday, December 12, 2005; Lat/Lon: 31 deg 10' S, 155 deg 35' E; Location: 190 NM W of Lord Howe Island and 265 NM NE of Sydney; Wind: SSE 5 to 7 kts; Sea: confused but calming down; Sky: about 90% cloud cover but good visibility; Air temp: 77 deg; Course/speed: 229 deg T at 4 Kts; Sail/engine combination: motorsailing at 1400RPM w/single reefed main and staysail; Tack/apparent wind angle: port/close reach (approx 60 deg); Day two 24 hour run: 61 NM at 282 deg T.

 

Phew--we're finally getting a calm ride.  This is the calm before the storm, as we have a trough/low approaching later today.  Who knows what that will bring.  In the mean time, it's time to catch-up on emails and galley stuff.  Bread is in the oven as I write.

 

I thought that I'd write about Lord Howe Island, our home for the past two weeks.  When we changed course and diverted to the island, we did not know what to expect. Would there be a town? Could we get water and propane? Could we take showers? Would the customs/quarantine officer take all my "condemned" food--any fresh stuff, eggs, beans and legumes, seeds and nuts, dried fruit? Was there a store for re provisioning?  So we conserved water and I made a "quick-the-quarantine-officer-is-coming" soup--which was filled with a mixture of beans, lentils, the rest of my garlic, ginger root, onions, and potatoes and seasoned with all my spice seeds (fennel and caraway).  I popped it in the pressure cooker and voila--a deliciously textured stew with a "complex" flavor.

 

As it turned out, Richard, the police/customs/quarantine officer on Lord Howe Island (LHI), was very kind and let us keep all our food.  We just had to save all the food scraps and dump them at sea en route to Sydney and then see the quarantine officer there.  He also answered all our questions.  There is a town with a population of 300 people and a maximum tourist population of 400 people, who arrive by the daily plane service and stay in small B&B's around the island.  No resorts!  There is a water spigot next to the toilets and showers just for visiting yachties.  We could also get propane and even diesel if we needed.  Well, so much for our imagined uninhabited island!  Regardless of our initial shock, we fell in love with this low-key, stunningly beautiful, brimming with wildlife, World Heritage Sight.  A true naturalist's paradise.

 

The stormy weather--rain and wind up to 45 knots--kept us aboard Estrela for the first three days.  Finally the sky got clearer and we were amazed at the view.  We were surrounded by a crescent moon shaped island with two very high volcanic mountains to the south and three smaller peaks to the north.  Between these two ranges are lower hills and flats, with several bays with white sandy beaches.  We were moored in the crystal clear and bright blue-green water of the lagoon, which lies in the center of the island, with a reef enclosing the other side.  At high tide LHI looks like a half-moon.  At low tide, the reef is exposed, turning the moon into a capital D.  Wow!!!

 

We went ashore for an explore, camera in hand.  We were greeted by people walking, biking and even golf-carting around the island.  The quaint town center has a post office, general store, town hall, a few shops and a restaurant.  There are shops that rent bikes, snorkel gear and kayaks.  There are dive boats, charter fishing boats and glass-bottomed boats.  There are many marked trails for hiking at various difficulties, including climbing the high Mt. Gower with a guide.  The snorkeling is excellent with plentiful big fish, since LHI is a marine reserve with designated no-take areas.  There is a small museum, where a resident naturalist/photographer gives lectures every night on different aspects of LHI wildlife.  There is also a particular beach where you can feed a wild gang of swarming hungry Kingfish and Trevally and Mullet.  Where to begin?!!

 

Suffice to say that it took two weeks of intensive exploration and we covered maybe 1/3 of all the delights of the island!  We hiked, rented bikes, snorkeled, fed the fish, went on a guided nature walk, had a "barbie"--that's Aussie for a BBQ--at one of the many wood-stocked grills and picnic tables, collected shells, homeschooled on the beach, went to a nature lecture at the museum, ate ice cream, enjoyed the museum, went to the town hall for the weekly viewing of 3 old promo films for LHI, took showers, did laundry by bucket at the spigot, went to church and the church picnic, provisioned at the shop and local co-op, watched incredible weather come and go--including a big lightening "light show", and Doug even went to the hospital.....wait a minute, Doug went to the hospital?

 

Well, on the morning of our last day on LHI, we were getting ready for church.  We were being picked up at the jetty by Clive Wilson, the pillar of the island as the Port Captain/head of Search and Rescue--in one morning we watched him tow in two injured boats and coordinate an ambulance plane for an islander's emergency trip to the mainland--church deacon and descendent of one of the first settlers in the 1800's.  The bags were packed, the dinghy was ready and Doug just had to put on his contact lenses.  A scream came from the head.  I rushed over and saw Doug frantically dousing his eye with water from the tap.  "I used the wrong bottle.  I thought that it was my contact fluid, but it was the toilet chemical lubricant"   My heart sank.  Just that morning I had noticed that all the hand-marked poison signs that I had put on that old contact lens fluid bottle had faded off.  Weeks ago I had decanted a diluted batch of toilet chemical into one of Doug's old contact lens fluid bottles  because the existing system in the head was not working.  I needed to get the chemical into the head to lubricate it.  I thought that the bottle was a good solution.  Good solution, bad labeling.  We got Doug into the cockpit, continually flushing his eye as the girls kept the water flowing and I checked the bottle for ingredients and instructions.  I also checked our Boat Med book as well as the Merck Manual.  Didn't look too good.  Just keep flushing and get to a doctor.  We got to the jetty just in time for Clive to arrive.  On the way to the hospital, which was closed, Clive saw the nurse's car at a park and got her going on finding the doctor.  Within minutes, everyone had arrived at the hospital.  By now Doug had been flushing his eye for a good half hour and he felt confident that the chemical was out.  Clive had to rush to church, as he was giving the sermon that day.  Doug insisted that we go with Clive and leave him in the good care of the nurse and doctor.  Doug had a thorough examination by the visiting physician, including dyeing his cornea to get a better look.  Everything looked fine.  His lid would be swollen for a few days, but that was all.  They gave him some sodium chloride solution to irrigate the eye and lid and an anti-biotic ointment as well.  Doug was driven to church and made it in time for the last hymn.  All is well.  Phew!     

 

---Kyle

 

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 10:54 AM

Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- December 13, 2005 (Day 4 of passage from Lord Howe Island to Sydney, Australia)

 

2300 local time (1200 GMT) Tuesday, December 13, 2005; Lat/Lon: 32 deg 10' S, 154 deg 03' E; Location: 167 NM NE of Sydney, bearing 234 deg T; Wind: NNE 12 to 16 kts; Sea: short, steep following waves causing very rolly motion; Sky: about 80% cloud cover; Air temp: 81 deg and humid; Course/speed: 210 deg T at 4.4 Kts; Sail combination: single reefed main (reefed to reduce roll) and staysail, wing and wing; Tack/apparent wind angle: port/dead run; Day three 24 hour run: 91 NM at 234 deg T.

 

We've been shaken from our isolated world here at sea by a sketchy BBC headline reporting race riots in Sydney, where we hope to arrive in a little over a day, weather willing.  Kyle's mother Kay emailed us tonight saying she had just watched video footage of violent racially based attacks on a Sydney beach.  Our hearts are heavy and we pray for calm and healing.  Scars from this kind of tragic, hate-driven conflict can separate people for a long time.

 

-- Doug and Kyle

 

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2005 8:26 AM

Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- December 14, 2005 (Day 5 of passage from Lord Howe Island to Sydney, Australia)

 

2130 Australia Eastern Daylight Time (1030 GMT) Wednesday, December 14, 2005; Lat/Lon: 33 deg 08' S, 152 deg 32' E; Location: 70 NM NE of Sydney, bearing 234 deg T; Wind: SE 11 to 15 kts; Sea: gentle beam sea; Sky: not a wisp of a cloud; Air temp: 80 deg and much less humid; Course/speed: 225 deg T at 6.6 Kts; Sail combination: single reefed main, full genoa and staysail; Tack/apparent wind angle: port/broad reach (about 120 degrees); Day four 24 hour run: 101 NM at 231 deg T.

 

I'm reluctant to say anything until we're safely anchored or moored in Sydney Harbor . . . but we've had a very lucky go with the weather for the second half of this passage.  The first 2 1/2 days wore us out; about what we could expect, having to beat into 20 to 30 knots of wind and a well developed and occasionally very confused sea.  But we were really expecting the worst conditions of all to hit us during our last day and a half before making Sydney.  As things turned out however, a long frontal system (packed with strong westerly wind, thunderstorms and rain) sort of split into two.  A gap opened off Sydney just wide enough and timed just right to let us slip through without seeing more than about three hours of wind west of south and no more than an hour of steady wind over 20 kts.  Our good fortune finally became apparent when our barometer bottomed out and started rising steadily and we hadn't been whumped yet.  Dramatically, about an hour before, we had passed between two towering black thunderclouds dumping torrential rain, without a drop landing on Estrela.  The weather faxes had been hinting for four or five hours at the possibility we'd amazingly be spared the grueling frontal passage off the Sydney coast that we'd been anticipating for several days.  And now another much stronger front is forecast to pass over Sydney about twelve hours after Estrela should have reached a safe anchorage in the Sydney Harbor.  So for now, we have a lovely evening, the moon nearly full, the easterly wind slowly dying as a high pressure ridge builds.  I'll probably have to crank up the engine in a while.  The warm East Australia Current (think, the Gulf Stream) is boosting our speed by a couple knots.  The girls and Kyle are asleep.  Eliza and Abigail have asked Kyle to wake them early to watch the sun rise and to be the first aboard to sight the Australian coast.  Eliza expressed relief she won't be spending her 11th birthday (Friday the 16th) on passage. She's now talking about how maybe she'll get to sail by the Sydney Opera House instead!

 

-- Doug

 

 

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2005 11:18 PM

Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- December 15, 2005 (last entry for passage from Lord Howe Island to Sydney, Australia)

 

1615 Australia Eastern Daylight Time (0515 GMT) Thursday, December 15, 2005; Lat/Lon: 33 deg 52' S, 151 deg 11' E; Location: Black Wattle Bay, Sydney Harbor; Wind: E 5 to 10 kts; Sea: flat; Sky: cloudless blue; Air temp: 78 deg; Anchored in 13', great holding in muddy sand; Day five 24 (actually only 22) hour run: 100 NM.

 

At 2:45 today Estrela sailed past Sydney's Opera House and under the Harbor Bridge wing and wing at 6 knots on a dead run in a gusty 20 knots of wind, Eliza occasionally standing in as whisker pole holding the staysail's clew to starboard.  We had an outbound Panamax car-carrier freighter approaching close to port assisted by tugs, a harbor passenger ferry overtaking us on starboard (its captain waving at us and smiling from his bridge), and a speedy modern racing dinghy directly aft of us with spinnaker flying and its sailing coach in an outboard launch shadowing on its starboard quarter and calling out instructions.  An Open 60 maxi racer, black hull with vast black sails emblazoned "Hugo Boss," practiced gybes in the more open harbor reach a quarter mile behind us.  Overhead a stunt biplane was doing barrel rolls, loop di loops and vertical stalls.  This was the craziest and most thrilling sailing experience of my life.  Kyle and the girls were jumping back and forth snapping pictures and shooting video -- hollering to each other when another unmissable lighting moment or camera angle was about to come into view.  We had at least two virtually uncontrolled mainsail gybes (fortunately we had a reef in her) as the wind swirled near the bridge.  This was definitely worth the 15,000 odd miles we've sailed so far. 

 

-- Doug

 

Remembering the exact view of the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge from the dentist's office in "Finding Nemo," I think Mom and I spotted the dentist's (that's P. Sherman's) exact building at 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney.  Mom used the super zoom on the video camera to take a picture of it.  We also saw some of the "mine, mine, mine . . ." seagulls and some pelicans, no tropical fish though.  I couldn't believe it when we rounded the bend in the harbor and saw the Sydney Opera House and the Harbor Bridge for the first time.  The lights tonight are really incredible, making the city's skyline even more beautiful than in the daytime.  We're anchored just to the side of the downtown area.  I'm so excited that my birthday is tomorrow.  I'm going to be 11.  I'm so happy we're finally in Sydney.

 

-- Eliza

 

I'm excited to go into the Sydney Opera House.  From the water it looks like the bows of boats stacked up and you can't really tell where the floor of the opera house is.  When you're looking straight at it, it doesn't look the same as when you're looking at it from the side.  It looked like the Harbor Bridge had a big heart on it.  Eliza thought there was a smiley face inside the heart.  I didn't see the smiley face, though, but when we got closer Eliza couldn't see the smiley face and neither could I.  I'm really, really excited about Eliza's birthday because it's tomorrow and she'll be 11.

 

-- Abigail

 

Now that we're in Sydney I'm going to shave my legs.

 

-- Kyle

 

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