Onboard Update from Escapade delivery 13/7/13 at 2.29am

Apologies to those of you who have been diligently checking your email each morning to be enthralled with the latest exciting news from Escapade. There has not been a lot to report up until the last 24/48 hours. Its Friday night and we are underway again after a slightly less then brief stop for fuel in Gizo. Motor sailing at 6 kts straight at Honiara.
BTW, The left over Tuna and Mash was mixed with two eggs and turned into tuna patties, very tasty.
We made landfall on the Solomon is around dawn on Thursday and I decided to head south east down the north side of the NW most island heading for manning strait. Knowing there was an adverse current I got in close to the shore but still faced a 1kt+ head current and although the breeze was 12+ it was right in the teeth so around 8am I called the guy in Honiara who I had spoken to previously to arrange a mooring and asked if there was anywhere he could suggest we get fuel and he came back with a couple of suggestions in the New Georgia grp on the SW side of the Arch. Quick check of the chart and distance calculations and I decided to reverse direction and head for Gizo to refuel so we could then motor if needed. We proceeded then to have a great downwind run around the top of Choisel Is and through the Bouganville Str. including reaching 10 kts SOG as the breeze built including some interesting wind against tide overfalls for about 10 minutes in the pitch dark. The sun came up as we were about half way down Vella Lavella Is and as I got lifted around the bottom of the island I decided to take the scenic route through "Beagle Channel" about 1M wide and very picturesque, highly recommended cruising area for Joey, Verna and Nicki when they arrive next week. Finally had about 8M to do up wind to get to the NW entrance to Gizo and then had the usual interesting time playing "what beacon was that before it was hammered by a cyclone?" The leads were gone altogether but the key laterals were where the should be and aided by my meticulously prepared pilotage plan and Felicity's golden rule of navigation "Don't sail where the birds are walking", we made an uneventful entrance. Still no response on 16 from "Gizo Port control" so we motor up to this spiffy looking big bright yellow bouy with some lovely mooring lines attached presuming it to be the quarantine bouy and waited to see if anything happens. Turns out it is the bouy for the local Police vessel but the locals later advised that " weather is too lousy for them, they are not likely to show up". Dropped the dinghy from the davits and rowed ashore to discover that it was an hour later than my watch said and all the government offices were closed so we raided the ANZ bank for the usual S$4000 of WAM and retired to the "Gizo Yacht Club" AKA Pt 109 Bar and restaurant. I went to check on fuel arrangements for the morning while Felicity established the price of a cold beer. Deisel is $14 a litre and a cold beer in "Happy Hour" is $15, Deisel is mildly more expensive than elswhere and beer is as cheap as everywhere which is much cheaper than Australia. Speaking of booze prices I am yet to establish whether the SODU crew discovered the bottles of 150 proof "Hannah Bay" rum for A$16 in Saipan, we're on to the third bottle now.
So we settled in at the yacht club and ordered roast chicken while watching 3 or 4 beers evaporate in front of us (could not possibly have drunk them that quickly?) Then noted that they had wine on the shelf, " Sorry sir, only one type of Red wine" "what sort please, could you read the label on the back please" ... "Cabernat Merlot" "OK" "Would you like me to chill it for you?" "No, thanks, just two glasses please" we were back on board by 7:30 and asleep before the GYC disco started up at 9pm.
Boat arrives to pick up fuel cans as arranged, then wood carving guy number 3 turns up in his canoe, this time we are ready to do business so he hog ties his canoe to the back of Escapade (FYI no mooring cleats, holes, thwarts etc so the rope goes twice round the whole boat. My parting gift to him was to screw and saddle to his gunwhale and give him a home made bailer and lanyard.) So out comes the masks, statues, hair clips, pendants, ear rings, bowls and sharks (no dolphins here, just sharks - seemed kind of appropriate). Let the bargaining begin. "How much?" "negotiable" he says "but much cheaper than the shops in town." yeh, right! "Ok, you start" so he gives us an opening price for each item then starts to give us a bit of a better price on some items as Felicity progressively adds everything he has except the larger shark and the fruit bowl to our pile. Price is now S$2130. Ok, I think, now lets get serious. Thinking back to Bahrain where the shop keeper would be embarrassed if you did not bargain as he knows everything is overpriced to stop the locals beating him down to below cost. I think, I'll be happy if I get this lot for S$1600 I think so I say "1400 for the lot" expecting him to go " no, no 2100" instead he says "OK" I say "no, too cheap 1600, you are supposed to bargain me higher" he has a very baffled look (knowing that he would probably have taken 1000). Someone has to create a local economy and the government are struggling a bit. One of the wood carving guys was very honest "we rely on you white people for us to make a living".

Anyhow that was the fun bit. Now ashore to complete arrival formalities. Immigration first, fill in some forms then off to Finance via the ANZ bank (blew yesterdays 4Gs of WAM on wine, food, wood carvings and 90l of diesel) with the 1 hour queue (ATM exhausted) to pay the fee and then to Customs. Customs guy has chosen the only day on which there are some yachts to process (Swedish world tour arrived an hour before us) to take a 3hr lunch break. I leave Felicity on stakeout while I go looking for Quarantine. Quarantine guy is fantastic and quick, might have something to do with the fact that he is on annual leave and his offsider was out. All done in 10 minutes and then back to finance to pay the fee... No sign of the customs guy so back to Rose at immigration to beg that we really have to leave today. She gets on the phone and starts tracking him down as well as finishing her part of the process. Eventually he returns at 1515 and we fill in his forms, declare 2l of alcohol and pay another fee, this time directly to him, no visit to finance this time! Ironic really given that customs and finance are the only two departments in the same building and next to each other <sigh>.
Great, we're cleared in, only 5 hours to do it - now we can leave.

Back to the yacht club, pick up the dinghy, pay for second 90l, loaded and underway by 1730.
Felicity will be back in Melbourne on Sunday and I return on Tuesday for a whirlwind house moving event. Joey et al arrive just before I leave in time for a handover.
TTFN R&F

Onboard update from Escapade delivery: 7/7/13 at 8.16am

No, we're not quite out of fresh food, $300 worth of fishing gear yields a result.

The cabonara a la boat will have to wait at least two more days. At 1530 yesterday afternoon the reel started buzzing and I grabbed up the rod and started to wind in. About 10 minutes later after a bit of playing to tire out the hapless victim (if your'e a fish you have to be s**t out of luck to be caught by me!) a yellow fin tuna of about 3kg arrives in the cockpit and gives a few exhausted flaps before expiring under my knife. 20 minutes later after cleaning and wrapping in alfoil with a few slices of fresh lime he's in the oven (had to remove the tail 'cause he was too long for the oven) and ready to be dinner for two. I talked Felicity out of doing more peas but she insisted on doing some mash. At 1800 we sat down in the cockpit with a baked tuna across both our laps and the computer playing reruns of star trek. The only down side was the fish juice leaked off the plate and onto my shirt and board shorts both of which have been banished to the back of the boat awaiting a wash. We got through about 2/3 and a token spoonful of mash before the rest went into the fridge - tuna patties tonight. Oh, the fridge has mad a come back that would make Lazarus proud; I suspect loose connections on the back probably knocked off by wrestling with the pots in the same cupboard. What this means is that we still have cold beer and elevenses this morning will involve cold coconut juice to go with the gin and limes.
Speaking of coconuts, I "husked" the last of our coconuts yesterday. The ones we have been given by the islanders come pre-husked to make them easier to stow and easier to get at, however we did have about a dozen that we had collected and my attempt to de-husk them had so far yielded one broken Japanese kitchen knife. Xavier on Lamotrek offered to sharpen the tomahawk I had purchased in Saipan using their angle grinder to get the right set on the blade. I then honed the blade using my sharpening stone and it made quite a good tool for de-husking coconuts. AFter watching the locals do it I have been honing my technique in the cockpit - until yesterday when, on the second last coconut, I missed - its only a flesh wound but as usual it was the left hand that coped it. Thumb will be redressed sometime today.
Otherwise, using the time honoured Captain Ron passage planning technique, we must nearly be there because we have run out of cereal, fruit, whisky, red wine, veggies, oh, and fuel.
After finally running off nearly 170miles on Friday the breeze returned to its fickle self yesterday and we only made 122, although at least we had breeze. Today looks like being much the same however at least we made a good distance east in the early hours this morning. At 0700 this morning we had made 28M although we are doing much better now the sun fish/dead body/chinese fishing net, or whatever it was that was caught around the keel, has finally dropped off. We are back to doing 6+ in 10kts when I was struggling to get to 4 in 12 kts earlier. (Un)fortunately whatever it was dropped off before the sun got up far enough for me to have a look underneath from the duckboard so we'll never know what it was. SOG has just climbed to 7 although not quite the right the direction so I'm hoping the wind will back 30 degrees as it is forecast to do. VMGC is still 6kt.
Second big news from yesterday was another ship and this one we could actually see. Around sundown we sighted a ship off to port and the AIS confirmed that it was a freighter bound for Honiara also, doing around 9kt and due in about a day ahead

Onboard Update from Escapade return delivery 5/7/13 at 5.36pm

Back in the Southern Hemisphere

So- we crossed the equator at 1140 this morning - no champagne, but a round of ship's grog & a toast to King Neptune. It crept up on us: Even after a scintillating bit of mathematics by Skipper, calling on Mr Pythagorus, we crossed 20 mins ahead of the estimate. We are Smoken'! Following a pitiful 42, 68 & 66 nm/day for the past 3 days, achieved mainly by using the squalls that came our way, the breeze finally kicked in yesterday (100 nm); and we've clocked 141 so far today. Escapade has kicked up her heels & is having a ball, under a #3 and one reef. It's a great feeling to be blasting along again - but it was a tricky climb from the galley to the nav station & the keyboard does not want to sit still (not to mention trying to use the head... no, really best not to mention)!
We used the last of our fresh supplies (actually there are 4 onions - carbonara tomorrow!) last night - polish sausages (vacuum packed), potatoes, sweet potato & out new favourite boat veg dish: cabbage, onion & peas (were dried ones) with a balsamic/honey glaze [caramelise the onion in butter/olive oil; add the finely sliced cabbage & sweat until the cabbage is soft; add the reconstituted peas & some balsamic vinegar & honey: yummy! We do this at home, sometimes with bacon, when we don't have fresh peas, coz frozen ones aren't nice on their own.] This afternoon's dinner will be the last of the turtle stew that we vacuum packed before we left Feshaiulep. After that it will be pasta carbonara a la boat, then a selection of 'Easy Meals', which are pretty good - much better than tinned stuff, and they last much better too. The cans go rusty in the damp lockers & the labels are very difficult to read now! Oh! I forgot the bananas. I don't know what variety they are, but they're better than the ones we get at home - the skins are thin, and even when they look (over)ripe, they're stil firm, sweet & delicious inside! Robert has tried mashing them with some fruit juice & rum - nice but a bit lumpy! Also, at Feshaiulep, we cooked them in honey with fresh lime - delicious on their own or on pancakes (or even with breakie cereal if we're desperate to use them - although that option won't float now because we used the last of the cereal this morning! Eggs & bacon are stil plentiful, including some we got in Osaka - little packs with 5 slices (of the really good stuff with no rind & very little fat). The Japanese LOVE packaging - Everything seems to have at least 3 layers of packaging - not such a bad thing in this case, as the bacon is still good.
It's a very domestic blog today... Oh, we saw another ship last night! - well, not a ship exactly - we saw some blurry lights in the distance and the little AIS triangle on the chart plotter - it didn't get close enough for the detailed info be displayed. Otherwise pretty much no signs of life apart from the odd bird and a very large (insert appropriate collective noun) of dolphins with whom we crossed paths on Sunday morning, just after Skipper had gone off watch. And something took a bite of one of Skipper's lures and pulled out a few hundred metres of line - but that's as close as we've got to a fish since Feshaiulep.

Ok, time to abseil back down the galley and extricate the turtle stew from the recalcitrant fridge, which I've just turned back on, to see if it has decided to start work again, lazy thing.
Mrs Skipper out.

Update from onboard Funnelweb 4/7/13 at 0459hrs

"Hi to all back in Aus
Just passed safety etc for transpac . Hawaii here we come again. Nothing like chewing off more than you can handle and then chew like hell.
Cheers Ivan the mad sailor"

We received this brief email from Ivan this morning. Check out for more news of their adventures HERE

 

Onboard Update from Escapade Return Delivery

Middle of Nowhere 3 deg 51'N 150 deg 29'E  2/7/13 at 0916am

OK, we've made it to 4N but there is a noticeable lack of wind (I can see my reflection when I look over the side, not bad following a beard trim) and an alarming dent in our fuel supplies, fuel is now being rationed for charging only and we have been becalmed for 24 hours managing to make about 40miles through a combination of wave action and current. Slept most of the night with the wind alarm set to 7kt to wake me up - not a peep from it all night.
Its a bit hot but I compensated by spending three hours in the water yesterday cleaning and inspecting the hull. improved boat speed by .2kt ... and the hull looked fine alleviating concern over one source of the amount of water accumulating in the bilge despite minimal rain and upright sailing? Also shifted the main bilge pump forward one compartment so at least I can remove most of the aforementioned water using the electric pump while the engine is running. Still becalmed today so my next job is to properly mount the solar panels to reduce the need for charging with the engine. It does a reasonable job of keeping up with demand between about 7am and 5pm so its worth the effort. The job has been made easier by the regulator falling off the back of the solar array. The glue melted in the heat the other day, must read the instructions again, perhaps I'm not supposed to leave the thing in the sun?
Breakfast time now - more bananas - minimum per head banana consumption is 8 per day or you don't get your rum ration.
If there is nay chance of an air drop of supplies, we're running short on diesel, beer and red wine. Banana and coconut supplies will last until August.

 

News from Escapade at Lamotrek

We had a very easy run across to Elato Atoll. Gentle southerly breeze propelling us at around 4-5 kts which is all we needed for the short run. So easy that we set up the computer on top of the companion way hatch and watched videos for most of the the trip. As usual we arrived in the dark, 11pm off Elato so decided to amble on the extra 8M to Lamotrek instead. arrived off the south entrance to Lamotrek around 2am after observing that, once again, the charts were a little bit out, as I went past the first island of the atoll I noticed the depth gauge start to register as well as noting that I could see the breakers on the shore and count the palm leaves in the trees - 30 degrees to stbd and the depth gauge returns to --- Hove to off the entrance to wait for daylight and a good decision again as the islands prove to be .9 miles WSW of their charted position. The chart itself is correct so with the use of a couple of clearing bearings and a good look out in the bow (she refused to climb the mast despite my insistance that it is the best place) we made our entry around 0630 noting the location of the main reef is right were the chart says the passage should be! About 3 miles from the main island of Lamotrek we are hailed on the VHF "Yacht Boat this is Lamotrek" I was in the bow preparing the anchor albeit with a handheld VHF in my pocket but Felicity beat me to it and responded. During the ensuing conversation I noted that this was the first place since we left Australia to get their mouth around "Escapade" correctly the first time, turns out that Fash aulep had warned them of our presence in the area. The real bonus was advice that there were two moorings close to shore and we were invited to use either. Turns out they were installed only a month or two ago by another yacht touring the area who had come back especially to install them. Interesting and simple arrangement using chain with a large rock as the ground anchor. After organising ourselves we went ashore with the landing fee in hand as well as a couple of basic gifts for the chief. No Polo shirt this time as we already knew from reading other blogs that no-one on this island wears a shirt, no-one at all. Chief seemed happy with his gift of Coffee, a cap and some strawberry tarts. The cap went straight on his head so we figure we scored one point at least. A young lad from village #3 was appointed as our guide and we headed off for and island tour. This island was larger than Fash aulep and has three villages . It was also noticeably cleaner and better kept which helped explain the comment from Thomas (GF3), the Health worker on Fash aulep, who had just returned when we arrived there and remarked to me that they had let the place go while he was in Yap and he was hassling the chief to organise a clean up and get rid of the mosquitos. Gino took us around and showed us a couple of Japanese WWII plane wrecks as well as visiting a few houses were they were making Lavalava. They get more visitors here including the odd cruise ship so it wasn't long before they started bringing out things to trade. Felicity bought two Lavalava and ordered two palm leaf fans which we agreed to pick up the following day. This is the island were we had read that they were building a new sailing canoe, the largest they had ever built and by now it had progressed to a full hull with the prows and gunwales being worked on and trimmed down. The sections are made from a single piece of wood and carved out into the required shape so the two prows were a real work of carving with the hand adze the use. They had also managed to add a few modern tools to their collection and there were a couple of hand planes, an orbital sander and an angle grinder around, the later being powered by a petrol generator. They had recently broken the sanding attachment for the angle grinder and asked if I had one the same but not to be. They did gleeful accept the gift of sikflex 291 and 250ml of epoxy.

Building the canoe	The Prow being carved

I was invited to the after noon QLD starting at 3pm to which I arrived with my own cup. These guys drink "Tuba" which is made from juice extracted from coconut palms by modifying the part which grows the coconut, they then add water and yeast like the guys in Fash aulep but they the reckon the Tuba is much better than the "yeast". My experience could best be described as - "what flavour of fermented loin cloth would you like sir?" However I have learned that they dont think much of the taste either which is why I have now noticed they scull the whole cup full in one hit, a habit I have had to plead with them not to employ when drinking "Yacht Boat Tuba" as I refer to the rum/water/sugar/limejuice combo. On the plus side these guys organise there "Tuba circles" a bit more than the guys on Fash aulep and that night when I returned for the evening session they were sitting around passing on the local navigation practices to the younger chaps.
They next day we took five of the boys sailing, 4 senior high school and one teacher from the elementary school. They Knew their way around so we went out the first channel and around the outside of the lagoon past the Japanese longline fishing boat (high and dry on the reef, so High the chart says it's an island!) nd back in through a 3m channel which got me a little nervous. By the time we were half way around they had things worked out and I left them to it. Despite the number of visitors the get, none of them had been on a "yacht boat" before and they seemed genuinely thrilled with the experience. Felicity filled in the local yacht log while we were sailing noting that Cadibarra 8 had stopped for a day a few weeks earlier.

Out sailing for the day

Felicity came down with a bout of gastro the next day so she was laid up and our departure delayed by at least a day. I continued to muck around fixing power inverters and some things on the boat. When it came time to leave the Chief presented us with a lavalava for Felicity, hand made rope using coconut fibre for me and a carved figure for Escapade called a Monkey man which bears a striking resemblance to ... The final gift was a couple of lobster freshly cooked which unfortunately Felicity did not feel well enough to help me eat and a bunch of bananas and I mean the whole bunch, as well as the obligatory coconuts which are always accepted welcomingly.

Bananas!

Following messages of panic/despair/approaching armageddon from our newly independent offspring, we have altered plans and are now making a beeline/rhumbline/goat track for the solomon islands although with the current rate of fuel consumption and the wind forecast, we will be relying on favourable ocean currents to make it there.

Olimarao- just the two of us...

Latest update from Escapade

At last! we arrive somewhere in daylight. Only because we got sick of beating to windward for a day and a half and as I studied the chart to see how long to stay on Starboard tack trying to get to Elato I realised we were pretty much on course for this other, uninhabited atoll about 20M away and we would get ther before sundown. Pilot book seemed quite optimistic and also the reference from a blog by another couple touring the area made mention of this atoll as a good place to vist. So at 5pm we lined up on the bearings I had worked out for the main passage and tentatively felt our way in only altering course to starboard about 30m as the depth reduced to 3 - 4m, then went back to 15+ as we crossed the reef. No obstructions inside so we motored up to the north end and found a spot in 12 - 15m and put out 50m of chain with the anchor landing in a large patch of sand. Yes, you can see the bottom in 15m. Anchor set first time and has survived up to 30kt gusts including a 180 wind shift this morning. If all goes well we leave for Elato later this afternoon with a gentle southerly blowing at last. 

We have explored the island, been coconut hunting (plenty of gin but running out of coconuts) slept a lot, swam around in some lovely undisturbed coral until a reef shark showed up and then Felicity lost interest. Explored the island but decided to leave it to the rats and mosquitos unless we need more coconuts. Found some some cute shells, mostly occupied by hermit crabs. Seen all varieties and sizes of fish but haven't tried to catch any yet. Observed what we think are turtle egg nests based on their appearance and the tracks around them and annoyed a lot of coconut crabs, which are nowhere near as big as a coconut. Unfortunately no photos as the camera has been missing since we left Fashaulep.

Off to Elato now, bye bye.

Escapade-Our First Pacific Atoll Visit

OK, I seem to have got the fiddly, unreliable software and the shonky, unreliable, satellite phone working again at the same time after being offline and without weather information since June 12 - thanks this time to the Xgate people and their dodgy billing processes and faulty error recovery in their software ... vent, vent, vent etc.
Enough bad news, what a week/10 days!! We have discovered Island life, breadfruit, drinking coconuts and drinking the local hooch (water, sugar, yeast and 3hours of fermentation). I went fishing with the local village - all of them (men/boys, any male old enough to swim). We've eaten - fried fish, steamed fish, smoked fish, fish in coconut milk, smoked fish in coconut milk, ripe bananas, taro cake, more coconuts, breadfruit, breadfruit in coconut milk and the best donuts in the world. I also introduced them to the ship's grog and when I mentioned that I was running low on limes they said no worries, they had plenty and came back with some limes. I looked at them and thought, they look like limes but a bit small? well, small they might be but about 5 times the flavour of anything I've had from Coles. Suffice to say that we procured a bag full before we left and they are going well in the gin and coconut juice at 11.
The last time I wrote it was early evening on june 11 and we had just put the anchor down outside the lagoon of Faraulep which is correct spelt Fash-Aulep meaning big Fash tree and pronounced Fashileep. ... all of which helps explain the lack of response I got on the VHF radio earlier in the day. We had a passably comfortable night; after mounting an anchor watch until around 1130pm I decided that it would be safe to get some sleep so I set the wind and depth alarms and crawled into my bunk with the lee cloth up. All went well and at about 0730am we were hailed from the main island via VHF as " yacht outside the the lagoon" we replied and the chap on the radio asked if we were coming in and if we would like a pilot - a big yes please to both and shortly after we see a small outboard making its way across the lagoon towards us so I shortened up the anchor and waited til they arrived. The chap in charge of the boat turned out to be Sibeeno, one of now three close friends we made on the island. We followed him in at about 3 kts and about 15m between us. It was interesting to watch them navigate by looking through the water and using the submerged features as their marks. Made it through with min depth 5m and missed the main obstruction. They then took us to an anchorage spot in 15m with a sand bottom about 200m from the island. So far so good, no sound of drums beating, no steaming cauldrons in sight and no one licking their lips as the looked at us. We fluffed around getting the dinghy down from its new davits and collecting up a gift for the chief. So much so that a canoe wandered out to greet us with three girls of varying ages in it and only the oldest one wearing a shirt who proceeded to say hello in flawless english with an American accent. Great we though, they all speak english. As it happens Kati was her name and she is the ESL teach who lived in Guam and when to Uni there - soon to be friend number 2. Then we went ashore to be greeted by a welcoming committee in the "Mens" house, which could best be described as a cross between an English pub and and australian garage. ie. used for community projects during the day and hitting the fermented sugar and water from 4 til 530pm when they stagger off home for dinner. So after a welcome and a round of introductions by Thomas (CF number 3) who we initially thought was the chief we presented the real chief with his Escapade team shirt only to discover later from Kati that apparently he has never worn a shirt. No problem, turns out his torch had stopped working and he likes coffee ... almost as much as he likes Rum. We then were invited to the chief's house for "ripe bananas" and some taro cake. After completing pleasantries with Chief Piuss and his wife we had a full tour of the Island by Kati who took us around all the family houses and introduced us to all her cousins, uncles, aunts etc. At one point I needed a toilet stop so we asked Kati and she said "1s or 2s" I replied with "2s" and Kati said, "sorry its the bush or the ocean". Ocean it was and all went well except for the 2kt current heading straight for where the rest of the kids were having a swim. We stopped at a house where a lady was weaving and watched for a while as well as more ripe bananas. Then back to visit Kati's house and say hello to her grandmother. By this time it was nearly 4pm and I had a date back at the mens house and I was on a promise to bring something special. Back to the boat to pick up the rum, sugar, lime juice and a large mixing bowl. Well, lucky I took a full bottle of 150proof rum because these guys do a cup of grog a bit like Aimee and Lucy do shots ... bottoms up and its gone and thats how the chief finished the last dregs in the bottle after the rest of them went through 4.5 liters of grog in about 25 minutes!! Then the Chief, Sibeeno and a few of the lads came back to Escapade for a nightcap, still can't get them to sip a drink! Finally sent them home with two of the young blokes playing designated driver to make sure Sibeeno and Chief Pius made it back to shore. Just as well too as Sibeeno managed to miss his own boat and fall between Escapade and his boat clinging to our gunwhale. Took Elija and I to pull him up far enough to clamber into his boat.
Didn't make that mistake again - told the chief I was having an AFD the next day much to his disappointment. Next time I took "something special" it was whisky and coke and I mixed 2 litres before I went and told them when that's gone that's it. Mind you after tasting the local hooch I can see why they go after the real stuff with such gay abandon - I managed half a cup and that was being polite. On a visit to the other island I was offered "the good stuff"; "tuba" they call it made from coconut juice - tasted just as bad thanks very much.
We also gave the kids some sweets and then set up the computer to play movies on two nights along with bowls of chips. I also got approval to to a little project with the kids and I swapped them two soccer balls for two large bags of plastic rubbish which they collected up from the island and I now have strapped to the duck board to cart back to where it came from. The chief gave approval for us to swim anywhere with the instruction that we were to be accompanied by someone to look after us as there are sharks around and he was concerned for our wellbeing as well as his sharks. I actually saw one reef shark while I was fishing with the men and Sibeeno chased it out of the net telling me later that they don't catch the sharks for a number of reasons - primary one being what to do with an unhappy shark in an open 7m boat! Their method of fishing in a large group consists of motoring around in the boats loaded (overloaded) with men, boys, kids and tossing them into the water at 10m intervals until they form a large circle. then about 15 of them are left to set up the net with floats on the top and rocks to hold it down in 2 - 5m of water. The circle then contracts herding whatever fish are there into the net. On the first run not only was there the previously mentioned reef shark but also an adolescent sea turtle about the size of a basketball. They shooed it out of the net and then played with it for a while for my benefit and a few photos before letting it go. They do have rules about when they can catch and eat turtles as they are aware of the breeding cycle and timeframe. On our last day there they did catch a few turtles and gave us about 3kgs of turtle meat which we turned into steaks and turtle stew. We also got heaps of fish, mainly as a thank you for the things I fixed while I was there including setting a new watch, the Chief's torch, Three solar panels and the mount on Sibeeno's 15hp outboard.
I diagnosed the fault in an inverter and repaired the fan but lacked the 2200 uF capacitor to fix it.
There was a major lack of tools, even their grease gun had given up the fight so their outboards where not getting greased. The only tool that I saw was a rusty spark plug spanner which was good since I didn't have one for the outboard - Joey bring a 13/16 spark plug spanner, there's not one in your socket set.
When we left I gave Sibeeno my spare WD40 and winch grease so at least they had something to keep the salt water at bay.
We were due to leave on Monday around 2pm but Sibeeno did not get back from the other island until late so we invited our three new close friends Kati, Sibeeno and Thomas to Escapade for Dinner along with Thomas' wife Patricia. They had Lamb shanks with peas and mash for the first time - and, as they remarked, quite possibly the last! Along with a bottle of red for the boys it went very well. At 8am on Tuesday Sibeeno turned up in his boat to guide us out again and we waved goodbye with the traditional "Adios" and "Seeyalater" including a full salute from Escapade's crew.

Two days later we dropped anchor again, not in Elato as we planned but in Olimarao, an uninhabited atoll 20M short of Elato. More about our time playing castaways in my next instalment.

Happy Sailing,
Captain Rob and his Girl Friday - Felicity.

Rota Island to Faraulep Atoll

Escapde continue to send news of their trip home.

We fluffed around anchored off Rota island harbour until 4pm in the afternoon cleaning up, properly stowing stuff we acquired in saipan including plenty of payola for the locals on any islands we happen across. We have an ample supply of lollies, soccer balls, swimming masks and goggles, fishing gear, tomahawks, practically everything they already have.
The 4pm departure was based on calculating that it would take 2.5 days to cover the 340 miles and since I'm tired of arriving in the middle of the night I thought we'd aim for an early morning arrival. Well, what a dream run, #3 and 2 reefs all the way, wind on the beam at 12 - 15 kts, assisting current .5 - 1 kt for 80% fo the time with the occasional squall to push the SOG past 9. Nett result is we arrive at 1830 today just in time to discover that the islands are charted correctly but are about 2.5 miles WSW of where they are shown on the chart and in the pilot book so no night entry using the chart plotter for this one. There was however, a supply ship anchored outside the lagoon and they left just after dark so we took the opp to anchor right were they had been. Anchor seems to be holding as I type this but I'll need the lee cloth to avoid being rolled onto the floor tonight. Into the lagoon at first light I think.

Wasabi catches a ride home.....

Some Osaka entrants are enjoying the leisurely cruise home and some have ventured further afield.

Wasabi has departed via ship!

Bye Bye Saipan........

Escapade posted 6/6/2013

Well, after a fun filled, very hot week in Saipan we have done everything, been everywhere and managed to order custom made davits to carry the dingy. The davits had a test fitting this morning and went back to the Pacific Marine workshop for the finishing touches. Tic and Anthony will be back at the smiling cove marina tomorrow morning for the final fitting. Then we have to shove off as our visa was a Parole Visa only good for 7 days and we turn into pumpkins sometime tomorrow night.
We've been around the usual WWII tourist sites and checked out a few of the beaches as well as provided the usual stimulus to the local retail economy. This is definitely a tropical Island and the rainfall is regular each day as well as heaps of sunshine so the vegetation in the forested areas is impenetrable. Also done a bit of drinking at the beachfront bar and sleeping.

Brian left us last Sunday morning after a three week sail and no-one has turned up to crew the next leg which is a pity as it looks like the most interesting. Having Brian aboard was a great help and I think he both had a good time and wished we hadn't had to rush so much to get him on to his return flight. We have picked out 3 or 4 tropical atolls as candidates for a visit and got the latest info on all of them via a blog site from a Cat called Downtime which went through the islands and atolls from east to west about a month ago. Check out places like Lamotrek, Woleia, Urithi and Chuuk. After a short stop at one or more of those we will continue on our way to the Solomons where Joey will look after the boat, while Felicity and I return to Melbourne to finalise the sale of our old house and move into the new one.

Cheers, Felicity and Robert

 

Escapade visits Pagan Island

1300 Thursday 30th May 2013
Escapade made a brief visit to Pagan Is. (18 07.2N 145 46.1E) this morning. As usual, we arrived in the dark and hove to waiting for the sun to come up. Principal reason for the visit was for Brian and Felicity to see a real smoking volcano which is a feature of Pagan. The island is also inhabited and we happened upon the vessel from Saipan delivering supplies so we stopped for a chat, first of all with the chap in the dinghy and then a quick hello with the small village which seemed to inhabit the actual boat. They asked if we were going ashore and informed us that visitors are welcome. We replied that we first had to get clearance and permission in Saipan but that we would like to return especially if we were welcome. The Island itself is relatively large and there are signs of crops being grown as well as the few buildings of the village under the palm trees. Not sure how many flat roads there are for my new folding bike.

Blue Marlin

Pagan Island volcano at full steam

Yesterday we visited the Maug Is (20 01.2E 145 13.3E) group which consists of three islands in a ring formation being the remains of a collapsed volcano. As usual we arrived in the middle of the night so waited for the moon to rise before attempting entry then drifted around inside the caldera until sunup whence we had omelettes and hot coffee while enjoying the view before leaving.
Have been motoring for over 24 hours now as we have to get Brian to Saipan in time to clear customs during business hours on Friday. Past Alamagan Is (17 36.1N 145 49.8E) about 2 hours ago and now coming up on Guguan Is (17 18.8N 145 50.1E) which is also an active volcano but not as distinct as Pagan.
Its beer o'clock leading into happy hour at the moment as time has moved on through lunch (salad wraps) to 1700.

Latest news from aboard Spirit of Downunder

"Pos: 23 51N 143 32E 1530EST Current cons: 15knNE Sunny Boat Speed 10kn FRO
up All well now hangovers have worn off Happy hour in progress Trivia on
deck under beach umbrella Fruit fermenting in alcohol for Cocktail Hour
Veggies marinating for dinner - Update Fish biting FRO down MUST get
fish boat speed 6kn
Left Chichijima 10am 23/5 after a full month in Japan it will be weird to
not to continually speak in broken Jenglish to all Too much fun (all
nighters) were had with new local friends Cadibarra & Escapade crews New
Karaoke stars - Pottsie Barnes Ryan Twist n Shout & Labeeto (Bladderly)
Pinball Wizard New friends - Masa (Customs Officer) scary man at first then
he & Terrumi (Fiancee & Reggae singer) are new BFFs of the SOD crew they
met the others but WE are favourites taking us to dinner lunch drinks
Parting gifts pen pal status & non-official seeing off More parting gifts
from pier construction crew who had been jack hammering next to our heads
and from the Crazy Japanese Cruising boat captain who was berthed aft
Yankee Town - Great bar ran by local who spent 20 years in USA local
knowledge in English with alcohol cant ask for more Awesome beaches people
bars & food Hobbos tour next destination Saipan via Maug Island & Pagan
Island (Active volcano) Love SODs"

Escapade in Io-Jima

Made it to Io Jima at day break 25 May. Rounded Kita Io (North Io) at mid-night and got a spectacular view thanks to the moon. The island rises several hundred metres but the sides are incredibly steep. I estimate that most of the sides rose from the water at 50-60 degrees. We spotted one shallower slope and estimate it at a miserly 40 degrees! Miserable weather then developed in the last 4 hours before dawn. Good news - the promise by the pilot book of moorings in behind point Kama (active volcanically) at Io SHima was a good one and we found 4 very substantial, well maintained moorings. Then the fun started - they are small ship moorings about 3m in diameter so no convenient rope hanging off to pick up and hook on but a shackle the size of a tractor wheel in the middle. Option 1 - pull up 5m upwind, drop Brian in the water with a line let him drift down climb aboard and attach the line. Brian voted against this one. Option 2 - nose up to it (they also have a very nice rubber bumper strip around the edge - nice these Japanese people) and hold station while Brian works out how to lasoo the shackle. All going well, so well in fact that Brian decides to climb on to the bouy to attach the line - Option 2 turns rapidly into option 1, if only he'd tied off to the bouy before he went for a swim. Good news - iPhone was in a brand new zip lock bag! NOT classified as Escapade's first MOB as he fell off the bouy, not the boat. SSSC students will note that the air trapped in his gear (in full oilies) allowed him to stay afloat long enough to swim to the boarding ladder and climb up without deploying his PFD.
Spent the day complaining about the rain and trying to enjoy the view of the island. Did do omelettes and pancakes for breaky and three course japanese lunch both courtesy of Vladimir avec la jocks (and not much else). 2230 now and the wind has finally started to abate, the rain stopped at about 2000. Should be off in a few hours now.

Morning of the 26th and at least it is not raining - touch wood. Pictures of the island,  you can see steam venting in the middle of the frame. Note the wrecks littering the beach.

 

 

Escapade on the slow road to Oz.

Escapade continue to send updates on their cruise home from Osaka.

Southern tip of Honshu, Friday morning 19th May, heading into what turned out to be 3.5 days of non-stop 1.5m chop from 3 or more different directions, occasional large waves.

 

Chichi-jima main street looking East- very busy work day - note the traffic

Harbour entrance is on the right of the big rock.

Main street looking West - the weekly ferry in the midground, traffic police (one each end) to handle the chaos caused by the cable works - yes, it looks like Chichi-jima is getting NBN too.

Dinner at Boudin restaurant (Mark and Ryan from Spirit of Downunder met some girls who worked there

 

Yes, the photo of Vladmir includes
Escapade: Vladimir, Ms Vladimir, Brian

Spirit of Downunder
Mike, Tim, Georgie, Mark from McKay (empty plate at bottom, no turtle for mark), Ryan (hands grabbing his piece of green turtle)

Spirit headed off this morning just after 9:00, headed for Saipan, expecting
to be there in about 5 days.

Escapade is heading out this afternoon, about 17:00, destination Saipan via
a number of stops on the way, 1st may be HaHa-shima, but weather conditions/night
time arrival may preclude and may end up further south instead.

Did washing today, sitting out on the boat, and now bucketing down and me in town. Oh well.
130524 Escapade pos 24may 1500 26 10n 141 43e cse 215 spd 6kt Next stop io jima shabu shabu for lunch Haha jima last night, beggs(bacon and eggs!) for bfast.Vladimir.