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Post by ComfortZone on Jul 18, 2023 9:57:12 GMT 12
Thanks for the update, CZ. Sounds like life is quite busy up there and it’s not all just snorkelling and sipping cocktails in the sun. I do really like a flattish anchorage for a good night’s sleep - my strange work hours means my sleep window can be quite narrow and I need to be able to put my head down and sleep quickly. The challenging anchoring conditions don’t sound ideal. answering last first, water temp is around 23-24 deg, very pleasant for a swim, going for a longer snorkel we find a 3mm wetsuit is better. Offshore cruising certainly has sits up's and downs. I have been on anchor watch since 03.30am keeping an eye on the bommies close to us, the price we pay for a sheltered bay, Luganville is very short on anchorages when it blows up. The ex IMOCA yacht, Nv was anchored in Palikulo Bay on the SE cnr of Espiritu Santo. They pulled into Luganville yesterday as crew were sea sick on anchor and when the went to depart they somehow damaged their gearbox and ripped a sail. As you can imagine, getting much in the way of technical support up here (and at most islands except Denerau/Vuda Pt Fiji) is a challenge.
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Post by ComfortZone on Jul 24, 2023 11:47:48 GMT 12
since last post we moved from Aore Is to the Beach Front resort bay close to Luganville for Wed night. Most uncomfortable with SE blowing straight in but good holding and we wanted to do some final shopping in Luganville. Thursday pm hauled anchor and proceeded past Million Dollar point and turned northwards to work our way up the coast. It was terrible past $M point until we were able to turn north, 30 minutes motoring into this awful head sea with very short waves coming at us from 2 directions. I was following the 70m line but should have stayed further out as it appears 2 currents converge here. Once we turned north and I was able to roll out some sail things settled down for us to head for Diamond Passage and anchor at Aesi Is. Spent a couple of nights there. War wreckage everywhere, one day I was snorkelling off the stern and found a large ships anchor and chain sitting in the sand. Then headed over to Surunda Bay with its rather challenging "over the reefs" passage. Fortunately had some good way points and were able to creep into the inner anchorage without any dramas. This is a good location to get back to Luganville for resupply. This morning (Monday) we left early for Oyster Harbour, another challenging "over the reefs" passage, but friends already in there came out to meet us and using the "virtual" marks on Navionics (physical ones long gone) once again entered without an issue seems to be a bit of an offset issue on our anchoring location c.f The sat images come from the Zulu Offshore app, you can download the HD images for later use offline. Took over where Ovital left off. A very useful reference has been the Vanuatu Cruising Guide, dated 2015 but mostly still current www.scribd.com/document/250064905/All-Ports-Lead-to-Vanuatu-Cruising-GuideWeather here continues to generally be overcast/wet (not much solar power) but at least warm. We plan on hanging around here for a few days before our next move, probably final, north and then need to to start working our way back to Port Vila for arrival by late August. Current thoughts are sailing to Ambae to visit our friend Charlie's family, onto Maewoo and work down its and Penetcost coast then around Ambryn to EPI and back to Port Vila eventually. As the cruising guide says 96% of the time the prevailing wind is from SE which is more of less the direction we need to travel so will be working the angles as best we can.
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Post by ComfortZone on Aug 8, 2023 11:30:29 GMT 12
since last update we continued north, first stopping at Lonnoc Beach, Hog Harbour for a few days. As usual clear waters but a little rolly Friday last week we moved onto Port Olry, anchoring in the lee of Thion Is in a beautiful clear lagoon our anchorage, photos courtesy of Pierre a French traveller we have befriended. CZ is in the middle of the group of 5 inside the lagoon. There was7-8m clearance over the bommies as we entered between the small island and big island The main beach at Port Olry We were sitting having lunch at the beach side Restaurant "Chez Louis" overlooking the bay (just to the right of the reef patch on the waters edge), thatched roof and sand floors, agreeing this is a very nice place to be even if the weather is not always perfect. Plan is on Thursday, subject to the forecast of winds directly out of the south being correct, to sail approx 50NM east to Maewo Is, work down its west coast, crossover to Ambae for a few days, back to Pentecost and continuing south as wind permits to return to Port Vila by end August.
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Post by muzled on Aug 8, 2023 11:46:55 GMT 12
Awesome! Keep the updates coming CZ, it's interesting looking on googles map to see where you are/have been.
Esp when it's 10 degrees and raining outside here....
Will you sail straight back from Port Vila?
It seems like there is only one wind direction up there at the moment, and it's right on the beak for the return journey.
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Post by ComfortZone on Aug 8, 2023 13:11:38 GMT 12
Awesome! Keep the updates coming CZ, it's interesting looking on googles map to see where you are/have been. Esp when it's 10 degrees and raining outside here.... Will you sail straight back from Port Vila? It seems like there is only one wind direction up there at the moment, and it's right on the beak for the return journey. Hi Muzled, glad you are finding our travels interesting. Cruising Vanuatu is rewarding but not without its challenges, particularly if like us you eventually want to head back south. As this page from the very useful Vanuatu cruising guide says, the wind is coming from the SE ~96% of the time Vanuatu Cruising Guide routes guide.pdf (744.39 KB) You can see we intend following its recommended route back to Port Vila, via Maewo, Pentecost, around Ambryn, to Epi (maybe a side trip to the Maskeline Is to chase dugongs) and then on to Port Havannah and finally a run around Devils Pt back into Mele Bay for Port Vila. The key for us getting to Maewo is the wind swinging a bit more south on the day of our passage and this has been consistently forecast for the last few days. We will initially head for Lelevela near the top and then work our way down the coast in the lee of the 2 islands. Here are excerpts from PW's weather routing this morning so if the forecast is correct it should be quite a good passage, almost a beam reach. Might get a bit light in the shadow of Ambae requiring some motoring but so be it, just want to get across.
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Post by fish on Aug 8, 2023 14:59:38 GMT 12
What do they say? Cruisers never sail to windward!
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Post by Fogg on Aug 8, 2023 18:29:39 GMT 12
How would you say Vanuatu compares to Fiji for first-time cruisers travelling from NZ?
I’m thinking both in terms of getting to / from NZ and the ease of living whilst there?
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Post by ComfortZone on Aug 8, 2023 21:10:47 GMT 12
How would you say Vanuatu compares to Fiji for first-time cruisers travelling from NZ? I’m thinking both in terms of getting to / from NZ and the ease of living whilst there? Like most things in life the answers are not totally black and white, but in general and in no particular order 1.Getting to either is much the same, only exception is boats going directly to Fiji seem to be a little more susceptible to systems coming down from the Solomons, the yachts that left NZ on Fri 12 May copped some weather close to Fiji 2. Gong to Fiji (or Tonga for that matter) gives you the Minerva stop over option 3. Central and Western Fiji are the easiest from a provisioning perspective, very well served at Savusavu and Lautoka/Denerau. Eastern Fiji, ie Lau group and east of Taveuni you are on your own. In Vanuatu the 2 principal places for provisioning are Port Vila and Luganville. Everywhere else it is local markets, maybe someone who bakes bread and little stores with cans on the shelves that date back to Captain Cook visiting. Vanuatu beef is awesome and we have had some great fresh Tuna and Wahoo in cafes the last 2 days 4. Denerau and Vuda Pt by far the best places for tech support between French Polynesia, Australia and NZ. 5. Navigation around Vanuatu is easier than Fiji as you do not have all the reefs to deal with, just the occasional lagoon entrance as I have described and being very aware of tides and currents. In Fiji, you need to be on your toes, reefs everywhere and not all charted. Google earth a very good aid to spotting these. 6. Sailing around Vanuatu definitely more challenging from the aspects that most passages between islands are essentially ocean passages and the fact that the chain runs SE - NW and the prevailing trades are SE. As described in my previous posts we are now facing the challenge of working our way south. 7. Getting back to NZ I think it is best to leave from New Caledonia. Yachts leaving from Fiji often finish up passing close to New Cal before they can turn south anyway, so might as well make this the jumping off point. Norfolk Is is pretty close to the rhumb line from New Cal so it is often used as a "staging point" whilst yachts wait for crappy weather to pass to the south. 8. A left field option is to come up thru the Vanuatu islands, then turn left north of Espiritu Santo and head for Australia, 10 day broad reach to Mackay to clear in and then cruise the Whitsundays and return to NZ in November/December. The hardest decision to make is the one to go and not put mental road blocks in the way. If you have not done an offshore passage before, catch a ride with one of the boats coming back from the islands (one of my return crew is a first timer, taking his boat away next season), enrol for your sea survival and first aid courses, start the list of things you must complete( and nice to haves), talk to your insurer about their requirements and think about crew - I don't recommend single handing. Also check around who else you know is heading away, if you are not on a rally it is nice to have a buddy boat or 2 (I know our mutual friends on Kokorua reckon they will be making the trip next season)
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Post by Cantab on Aug 10, 2023 9:36:19 GMT 12
I've sailed to Fiji a couple of times on other people's yachts. Just spent 10 days in the Yasawa Islands using local boats. Gave me plenty of confidence to sail here, it's way easier than I imagined. I asked a ferry captain what map he had on the gps, one was obviously out by quite a bit, the other looked right. He said neither was any good and he used his phone to get the gps way point using satellite images and put them in the gps. You get data almost completely around the islands, it's so cheap you can live steam maps, or video chat, whatever you like. The images can be downloaded too to be sure. Food is cheap and plentiful in the towns and markets on the mainland.
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Post by GO30 on Aug 12, 2023 10:03:59 GMT 12
Whats the weather like up there CZ? I've had a few boats telling me it's still less than ideal.
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Post by ComfortZone on Aug 12, 2023 10:48:50 GMT 12
Whats the weather like up there CZ? I've had a few boats telling me it's still less than ideal. Right now bloody windy, 25 maybe gusting 30 SSE, but sunny and 25 deg. Currently sitting under the cliffs in Vinahe Bay, NE Ambae. had a boisterous sail over on Thursday from Port Olry, 20-25 kt, gusting high 20's out of the south. Intention was to anchor on the NW coast of Maewo but stiff southerly meant none of the anchorages were tenable so it was a 4 hr motorsail to reach Ambae plugging almost straight into it. Wind looks like easing off tomorrow afternoon, next planned stop is Asanvari on the SW corner of Maewo, then down the west coast of Pentecost and around Ambrym to Epi in the next week or so. Bob McD has a discussion in his latest blog about the weather in Vanuatu, see Blog in metbob.wordpress.com/To sum up, not the greatest weather, probably have a really sunny day on average once every 4/5 days, but has not stopped us doing just about everything we want to and sounds alot better than winter in NZ.
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Post by ComfortZone on Aug 13, 2023 19:16:47 GMT 12
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Post by Fogg on Aug 13, 2023 19:25:09 GMT 12
👍
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Post by ComfortZone on Aug 17, 2023 18:18:17 GMT 12
this morning's passage was from Ansavari to Loltong Bay, Pentecost. Once again the rule about cruisers not sailing to windward was well and truly broken Tacking angles not exactly to AC standards, started off with 2 reefs in the main and a partially unrolled genoa into sloppy sea, as wind and sea eased went down to 1 reef and about 4 rolls in the genoa. Next time I go offshore I will fit a furler to the inner forestay so i can have the staysail instantly available. Loltong is the only anchorage on the W coast of Pentecost with reasonable shelter, inside the main reef thru a fairly narrow pass went for a walk ashore. The surprise was to find the village is fully reticulated with power, supplied from a mini hydro generator financed by NZ government and supported by a PV cell and battery bank financed by some UN agency. The amount of aid that has gone into Vanuatu from Australia and NZ and other organisations such as Rotary is huge. When we were driven from Port Olry to Luganville (about 70km)I noted that the road was remarkable quality and asked the driver who built it, response was NZ Government. I have been told by an expat (hearsay of course) that the national government politicians siphon off a lot of the country's revenue and rely on aid to build/maintain infrastructure. Tomorrow continuing south to Ambrym, then Saturday take advantage of some light weather to head around its W cnr and onto Lameen Bay, Epi.
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Post by ComfortZone on Aug 25, 2023 14:44:02 GMT 12
Well we have closed the loop for Vanuatu, back in Mele Bay (Hideaway Resort) Port Vila. Been hard work getting there since last update, we had a 35 NM bash from Lolton Bay to a little cove on NW Ambrym, half hard on the wind, then eased sheets a little until we sailed into the shadow of the Ambrym volcano and the wind dropped to 0, on with motor. Next day was a straight 20 NM motor on the nose to Lameen Bay, Epi, once we rounded the western cnr of Ambrym had 20 kts dead ahead to plug into. The tidal overfalls near Lameen Bay were fierce pushing CZ all over the place. Spent a very pleasant 3 nights at Lameen Bay, 2 meals at Benny's little "restaurant", she and he husband Kenneth are a fantastic Ni-Van couple and Lameen Bay is a bit of cross roads for yachts heading north/south. Tuesday afternoon we went 10NM down the coast to Revolu (Ravioli) Bay to take a bit off the distance to Havanna the next day. Revolu has a bit of shelter from a reef but it was still a pretty rolly night. All the PW models said we going to have 17-18 kts (odd gust to 27) from approx 120T which was good to lay thru to Havanna. Vanuatu Metservice said we would have 25kts abd they were spot on. 50NM slog in solid 25kts with 2-2.5m Vanuatu "washing machine seas and lots of water over the deck, never had so much water over CZ before. I hand steered a fair part of the trip and we managed to lay thru to Purunea Channel on the 1 board. Very happy to drop anchor in Havanna near the Napkoa River mouth. Gf has done incredibly well in the crap conditions we have been thru but she does not believe any of the weather forecasts. All the GRIB models and PWs own modified seem to light by at at least 5-8kts Thursday was a rest day, launched the kayaks in the afternoon and went round to visit Simon, an expat Kiwi (used to have a 20m charter cat "South Seas Vagabonds) building a new hoem for him and his wife. The anchorage was pretty rolly so pulled the anchor chain in a bit, tied a long warp to it, eased the chain out quite a lot and pulled her round to face into the roll with the warp cleated off at the stern. This morning we were up at 4.45 to get around Devil's Point, famous for its overfalls, nice and early before the trades kicked in. We were abeam the point about 0800 and anchor down in Mele an hour later. Mele is full of cats, all but 1 (Pacific Bliss from Bayswater) Australian. Will spend the weekend here and head into Vila Monday morning, big night out for GF's birthday. Have started watching the weather models for a window for the trip to Noumea. Wednesday initially looked promising with alot of east in the wind angle, but gusts of 35kts and quite alot of rain will not get the Ok from GF. Will see how it develops over the next few days.
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