NOVEMBER 8 , 2006
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NOVEMBER 8 , 2006 |
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| CYCLONE'S A COMIN |
September 26 – October 5, 2006 We had a good sail to Luganville on Espiritu Santo and anchored at the anchorage just in front of the Beachfront Resort. There were several other boats anchored there – a place that we had heard would not be a comfortable anchorage in the strong southeast tradewinds. Being on a catamaran, we are fortunate in that we can get into shallower water than most monohulls. In this anchorage we were able to position ourselves out of the strong current and beside, and somewhat behind, a reef – that meant that we would bob a bit but it would be comfortable as the strong winds would hold us solid into the wind and we would not swing around from the tidal current and then have “wind against waves”. The Beachfront resort is very kind to yachties, or “cruisers” as they call us. We had use of the one washer and dryer at the resort, the restaurant had very good food, and internet service was also available. However, getting the dinghy on and off of the beach without getting wet from the surf was a challenge, especially with a laundry bag full of clean clothes. While in Luganville, we provisioned the boat and Mary started preparing and freezing food for the passage to Australia. The challenge was to prepare just enough food that we would not have any frozen meat that the Australian Quarantine officer would confiscate when we arrived. But we only had a tentative departure date and we could only predict how long the 1000 mile passage would take – and what if we caught fish on the passage? Would fish be allowed into Australia? So many questions and for answers we turned to our ham radio net friends and other yachties. Based on their input, Mary decided to provision for eight supper meals and if we caught fish this would be a bonus – we could always eat some of the frozen meals for lunches once we were past the first couple of days where we usually eat lighter. October 6 – 14, 2006 We didn’t want to hang around Luganville (not very picturesque) until the 16th when Sean (our crew, and Mary’s second cousin) was due to arrive from Brisbane, so we decided to head to the south of Aore Island to what is known as the “SDA anchorage” – a favourite of several of our ham radio net friends. It’s called the SDA anchorage because of the presence of a large secondary school run by the Seventh Day Adventist religion. We had the anchorage to ourselves for the first few days and then were fortunate to be joined by John from “Dancyn” and Jim and Ann from “Insatiable II”. We have mentioned before what an avid fisher John is and he and Paul were out in the dinghy catching fish as often as possible. We really enjoy the company of Jim and Ann, two Americans who have been living aboard for almost 20 years and have been in the South Pacific for the last ten years. They are our role models. On Saturday, October 14, we went ashore and attended the Seventh Day Adventist Sabbath service, our first for this religion. We were very pleased to have the entire service spoken in English and enjoyed it very much. After church we were introduced to Allistair an Australian Adventist who teaches boat building in the secondary school. He asked us back to his home for lunch as he and his wife always enjoy the opportunity to speak to yachties. Also at the lunch were Dr. Mark and his daughter Kay, two people who we had met previously when we went ashore earlier in the week. Dr. Mark is an Adventist who is the only doctor in the northern islands of Vanuatu. His wife Naomi was not at the lunch as she was not feeling well from her latest bout of malaria. Dr. Mark told us that all three of them have had malaria and he almost died from the last episode. We had a very enjoyable afternoon and had to tear ourselves away to go back to the boat. October 15 – 19, 2006 On the 15th, we left for Palakula Bay 15 miles north of Luganville, where we would await the arrival of Sean on the 16th. The airport is halfway between Luganville and Palakula and we decided to wait in the more picturesque anchorage. We were the only boat in this deep anchorage and as we looked for the pass between two reefs to get into the more sheltered inner anchorage we were assisted by two Ni-vans, Willie and his wife Melva, who paddled their dugout and led the way. As a thank you we asked them aboard for a cup of tea and banana bread. During our conversation, we reviewed with Willy our plans for Paul to take the dinghy ashore the next day and take a bus ride to Luganville for some last minute shopping and then to the airport to meet Sean’s plane at 6:30 p.m. Willy agreed that the plan sounded sensible and pointed out a spot on the beach where his village (one of eight villages) resided and where Paul should place the dinghy. The next day at noon, Paul went ashore as planned. Of course, nothings is ever easy and he couldn’t find the spot that Willie had pointed to and ended up putting the dinghy in the Chief’s backyard (as he found out later)! Off he went to Luganville for business and then to the airport. Mary stayed back on the boat and made pizzas for a late dinner that night and to freeze for the passage. Paul and Sean returned to the boat at around 8:30 p.m. and as Paul describes it, “it was a real skit trying to get our taxi driver to find the correct, small village where I had left the dinghy”. It seemed easy enough when he left in daylight, however, when the sun goes down and there is no moon, it gets really, really dark around here. Finding the location where he had left the dinghy safely beached took a lot of dumb luck and the kindness of local villagers. For the next few days we concentrated on finishing getting the boat ready for passagemaking and re-orientating Sean to Bella Via. The boat began to look pretty bare, but very prepared. Anything that is usually loose was stowed, including dozens of family pictures that normally add to the quaintness of our mobile home on water. We had cleared out of the country with Customs and Immigration while we were in Luganville (officially we should have left immediately but, realistically, we were not leaving for a few days), checked the rigging, scrubbed the bottom, prepared and froze many passage meals, closely monitored the weather and more. All systems seemed to be “go” for an early Monday morning departure. |
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"Any reef fish can cause ciguatera poisoning, but the species such as barracuda, moray eel, grouper, red snapper, jack, sturgeon and sea bass (all of which we have avoided) are the most commonly involved. The occurrence of toxic fish is sporadic and not all fish of a given species or from a given locality will be toxic. Ciguatoxin originates from toxic algae in coral reef areas and is passed up the food chain through reef fish feeding on the toxic algae that are then consumed by larger carnivorous fish, which in turn are consumed by humans. The toxin is harmless to fish but acts as a poison in humans. Ciguatoxin is not destroyed by freezing, cooking or other fish-processing methods. It is odorless and does not alter the taste or appearance of the fish. Therefore, it is impossible to easily identify a fish that may be contaminated by the toxin. Worldwide about 25,000 cases are reported annually, with the highest rates occurring in the endemic areas in the Pacific and Indian Oceans and the Caribbean Sea. Symptoms generally arise 1 to 6 hours after eating contaminated fish, and may increase in severity over the next few hours. Typical symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, hot-cold sensation reversal, tingling sensation in the mouth or (limbs), as well as pain or weakness in the (limbs). Signs of poisoning often subside within several days of onset. (In Paul’s and Sean’s case symptoms began subsiding two days after consumption.) However, in severe cases the neurological symptoms are known to persist from weeks to months. Sensitization can occur after an incident of ciguatera poisoning, resulting in reoccurrences when the victim consumes reef fish again. (Which means we need to be more careful than ever.)" End of quote. In our case, Sean and Paul ate a fish called a "Long-Mouth Emperor". By good luck, Mary did not eat any of the toxic fish because Sean and Paul split the emperor and Mary ate an entirely different fish that evening. John from “Dancyn” and Paul had caught two of these long-mouthed emperors one afternoon. John is a marine biologist and informed Paul that this fish could be toxic in a full grown adult twice the size of the ones we caught. We often ask locals if a particular fish is safe to eat, which is what we did in this case. In fact we gave a local Nivan one of the two fish that we caught. He reported to us the next day that he and his family enjoyed the fish we gave him. It was a week or two later that Sean and Paul ate our toxic version of this devil, the same fish, although a couple of pounds larger than the one we gave away. So, even though Paul and Sean were now experiencing Ciguatera poisoning, if the weather window for Monday morning continued to be acceptable, we intended to leave Vanuatu with approximately 20 other vessels departing from various locations in Vanuatu and New Caledonia, all heading for Bundaberg as part of the "Port2Port Rally". Since there was no cost to enter the rally and it includes two free nights at the Bundaberg Marina, free food and parties, we decided we had nothing to lose by registering to participate. These 20 or so sailing vessels, most crewed by husband/wife teams, will be keeping a daily radio contact with one another during passage for safety purposes. Although the rally is NOT a race, there is a prize for the vessel that makes the crossing closest to their predicted time. We predicted our arrival to be 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 31. Those of you who remember that Paul did this passage in 4 days last year are probably wondering why we were now predicting 8 days. The reason is because we were planning a stop over at the much-touted beautiful Chesterfield Reef (if the weather co-operates). Plus, as Mary points out, this is a few hundred miles longer than last year’s passage. This one was about 1,000 nautical miles. October 19, 2006 We left Palakula Bay and headed back to Luganville so that we could attend an information session at the Beachfront Resort on Sunday, October 22, the day before we intended our departure for Australia. Unfortunately, the information packages did not arrive from Bundaberg in time for the session and the boats in Luganville had to do without the information, which included fun contests, i.e. best passage photo, best passage story, etc. We learned all of this after we landed in Australia. We headed back to Bella Via on the Sunday afternoon and were relaxing with our friend Jim from “Insatiable II” when we received a call on the VHF from Rolf from “Moana” who we had met in Palakula Bay. Rolf wanted to let us know that he had just received a weather report that the depression (a low pressure system) that we were all watching had now been upgraded to a named storm, Cyclone Xavier. Yikes!!! That was not good news. After consideration of this recent development, we thought it prudent to stay put instead of venturing out into the ocean. It is very rare for there to be a cyclone in October. Most cyclones occur later in the season, i.e. January to March. We then began to get regular weather updates about the cyclone and the "yachtie info network" was unbelievably good. Rolf in Palakula Bay had the ability to receive more sophisticated reports and he began broadcasting these 4 or 5 times a day, via VHF marine radio, to yachts anchored nearby. The first report showed that the cyclone was presently northeast of us (280 miles away) and gaining in strength, but moving slowly. Unfortunately, the direction was still somewhat unpredictable. We were hoping that it really would turn to the west or southwest in the next 12-24 hours as predicted. If it continued on the same track (southeast) it would come very close to us. Also, if it waited too long to turn west it could go over top of us. The atmosphere was very grim aboard Bella Via that night, as well as on every other boat around us. Jim and Ann from “Insatiable II” had a dilemma because they were not intending to leave Vanuatu until early December, their daughter and her family were flying in for a visit in two weeks, and they need almost 8 feet of water under the boat. Their choices of a cyclone anchorage near Luganville were almost non-existent. Jim and Ann left early the next morning to get as far south as they could, intending to get to Port Sandwich on Malakula Island where they would be offered protection from the cyclone. We were worried about having Sean aboard, especially as he is a relative and not just crew. We felt very responsible for his safety. Even before we left Luganville on Monday morning we explained what was happening to Sean and offered him the chance to go home. He stated that he was staying with the boat. Even so, as he is only 18 years old, we wrote a somewhat difficult email to Bill and Brenda, his parents, and told them of Sean’s decision. They acknowledged Sean’s decision and we were happy to have Sean’s help pre and during the passage.
October 23, 2006 In our preparations, we looked for the safest anchorage that we could go to and we were quite satisfied with our choice. We left early in the morning for Palakula Bay, 20 miles north of Luganville. This bay is described as having the best holding (for anchors) in Vanuatu and the best cyclone protection on Espiritu Santo Island. If the wind were to be out of the north, we would be in trouble. This was the least likely wind direction to be expected so far. Paul and Sean were exhausted as they spent all afternoon readying the boat for possible high winds. Mary helped as well, of course, but the majority of what had to be done required great strength and thus, they were very tired and sore. What did we do? Well, we set three anchors, at three different points (like a triangle). We removed the foresail and folded and stowed it away. The main sail was still lowered on the boom and in a sailcover, however, Paul and Sean wrapped another long rope around the sailcover and boom (gusseted the main, Paul described it as). We also removed almost all loose items from the outside of the boat. The rest of the loose items would be removed in the next day or two
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Sean, helping Paul “gusset” the mainsail by tying a long rope around the boom and cover. Click on Pics to enlarge |
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Here is Paul at the ham radio and computer, tracking the actual and projected path of Cyclone Xavier. With these reports and a small plastic template of the clockwise motion of a cyclone that he applied to the computer screen, Paul was able to predict what quadrant (and thus, what wind direction and strength) we would be sitting in if the cyclone came at us. |
Tuesday, October 24, 2006 On this morning we learned that the projected path of Cyclone Xavier was for it to arrive right on top of us on Thursday morning at 0830h. Not good news! With that in mind, we set out to make our situation more secure. There was one other boat in this anchorage when we arrived the day before and they are a German couple who have lived in the anchorage for three years and have been through two cyclones there. Paul asked them about their experiences and they were very helpful. They suggested that we were too exposed where we were and offered use of their second mooring over in the north end of the anchorage. Paul brought Sean and Mary over in the dinghy and we checked it out and we all agreed that we would be protected from all but northerly winds. With the circular clockwise motion of a cyclone in the southern hemisphere we could predict that the northerly wind would affect us after the eye of the cyclone had already passed and would be, hopefully, a bit less intense. We decided to go for it and Paul and Sean lifted all three anchors and we moved to the new location. The entire rest of the day was spent positioning the boat so that we were tied amidships to the mooring but tied with three lines to the shore, fore, aft, and amidships. We were right up against the mangroves and the sound of the cicadas was quite loud. Paul and Sean also set one stern anchor and intended to set another two anchors the next day. As far as we could tell, and the German couple agreed, we should be okay from wind and waves but flying debris would affect poor Bella Via, probably in scratches and broken windows. Sob!!
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Under pressure of time, Paul waded in and under the mangrove trees to tie three of our longest and strongest lines to the base of mangrove trees. |
Paul purchased this oversized Fortress anchor in Canada a year before we left for just such an occasion as this. Little did we realize how soon it would be needed. Although it’s light, its large surface area is absolutely perfect for the sandy bottom of Peterson Bay. It was a brute to get out of the sand once it had been set. Ask Sean |
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At 2130h we listened to another weather broadcast on our ham radio (love that radio!) and were quite heartened by the news. The cyclone's current position was more east of us and travelling south. It had not yet turned to the west as previously predicted. It would probably still turn west but, hopefully, too late to hit us on the island of Espiritu Santo. Wednesday, October 25, 2006 At 0718h Wednesday morning we learned that Cyclone Xavier was 222 miles due east of us and moving away. The laughter and jokes aboard Bella Via spoke volumes about the tension that we had been under and the relief that we were feeling at that time. Compounding the stress problem was the fact that we learned that Winlink, our email service, had been down and for 24 hours we were not getting our incoming emails. It was not a good time, as Mary’s mother had fallen two days previously and had undergone emergency surgery – we were not receiving any progress reports and had no idea how she was doing. There was also no available phone nearby and anyway, it is near impossible to call anyone from Vanuatu. It was with great relief that we started receiving reports on Mary’s mom from home and learned that she was slowly recovering from the surgery. Thursday, October 26, 2006 In the morning we learned that our relief of the day before may have been premature. Our latest weather report showed that we were still not out of the woods yet regarding the cyclone. It was now heading northwest which put us in its path, "AGAIN". However, it was expected to be dissipating and only bring us 15 knots of wind and heavy rain. Needless to say, we were very disappointed as we planned on leaving Vanuatu the next (Friday) morning and had already left our secure spot in the anchorage (the inner bay) and moved to another less protected anchorage (the outer bay). Now, we would have to go back inside to the more protected area. This wasn’t as easy as it sounds, as we needed to wait until almost high tide to go over a very shallow spot. This time, we didn’t tie up to mangroves, nor did we set more than one anchor. We anchored in the middle of the space available and decided to wait and see what would happen with the cyclone. In the meantime, we had been joined in Palakula Bay by our friend John from “Dancyn” and we had a champagne celebration (perhaps prematurely) dinner in honour of Xavier’s hopeful dissipation and John’s 33rd birthday in two days. A good time was had by all! Thursday, October 26, 2006 We learned on this day that Cyclone Xavier had now been downgraded to a storm and we breathed a sigh of relief. The weather forecast was still calling for high winds and rough seas, therefore, we decided to delay our departure from Vanuatu by a few more days. We also looked at our diesel fuel situation. We had purposely left our fuel tanks quite low as we go slower when they are full. We kept just enough to be able to motor all the way to Australia, which we would only do if we had to. However, our departure had been delayed by over one week and in that time we had to use fuel to charge the batteries and heat up water, so the fuel gauges were registering lower and lower. For peace of mind more than anything else, Paul decided to get more diesel fuel. Unfortunately the fuel would only be available in Luganville and involved a complicated process of either tying up to a dilapidated wharf (with some danger to the boat) or having 200 litre drums delivered to a beach and then using jerry cans and making multiple trips by dinghy to the boat. Yuck!
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Paul had the bright and very good idea to take a bus from Palakula Bay to Luganville and then to hire a transport truck (a pickup) to deliver two drums back to the beach at Palakula. That involved half a day and the remainder of the day was spent filling the fuel tanks and returning the empty drums to Luganville for our deposit refund. |
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Saturday, October 28, 2006 We left at 0800h from Palakula Bay, bound for Bundaberg Australia. It took us almost 4 hours to clear Vanuatu land and finally, we were out in the open sea. There were lumpy conditions, as the seas were confused. Not good for our stomachs – Paul and Mary were taking Stugeron but Sean didn’t need anything as he has an iron stomach. We quickly settled into a routine. With three people aboard we could use a 4-hour watch system and everyone had 8 hours off between watches. Here was our system: We had good winds most of the way, mostly 20 – 25 knots, sometimes gusting to 30+ knots. We put one reef in the mainsail on the first night but took it out the next day and sailed with a full main the rest of the passage. The winds were steady off of our port side and abeam of us. Our average speed was 7.5 knots with a top speed of 12 knots at one point. We did bypass the Chesterfield Reefs. Once the cyclone had passed, Mary asked if we could go directly to Australia as she felt the need for “big land beneath my feet”. We have spoken with several people who stopped at the Chesterfields after Cyclone Xavier and they said that it was very windy and quite choppy there. We intend on returning to Vanuatu another year and we will go to the Chesterfields then. We had some success with fishing. Paul and Sean caught a Wahoo early on but then nothing for a few days. Do you remember the story of Paul and the shark last year? Well, here’s another one:
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On our last night at sea Paul left the lines out a little after dark. This produced a double hit. With both Sean and Mary ‘off watch’ and in need of sleep, Paul didn’t want to wake them to bring these fish in. By the time Paul got to the second, a shark had breakfasted on his catch. Of course the commotion awoke Sean who was able to capture the “bloody” moment. |
This is the fish that both Sean and Paul have dreamt about. It’s a small, black marlin caught only one hour out from our landing in Australia. This too, was a double hit, which Paul ignored at first while he brought in a much smaller mackerel. It took Paul and Sean all the strength they had to get this fish aboard. The end result was dozens of fresh marlin steaks that were cut using a hacksaw. We will be enjoying these Ciguatera-free steaks for many days to come. |
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Friday, November 3, 2006 Exactly six days after leaving Vanuatu, we motored into the channel at Burnett Heads at 0800h. Mary hailed the VMR on the VHF radio to announce our arrival and ask about the location of the quarantine mooring. We were shortly hailed on the radio by our good friends Bob and Julia from Kinta, who had been waiting at the marina for us since Wednesday. We were so pleased to hear them.
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Julia took this picture as we arrived in Bundaberg six days after we left Vanuatu. |
Thus, we began our week of Port2Port Rally festivities. It’s been fun meeting the other yachties and trading Cyclone Xavier stories. In between events, we have been madly cleaning the boat inside and out (salt and salt dust everywhere), reprovisioning food supplies, and doing lots of clothes washing. The festivities end on Saturday and we plan to start heading south on Sunday, November 12. |