Farewell fabulous Fiji - en route to the Volcanoes of Vanuatu!
Position: 19 00S, 174 46E
En route from Vuda, Fiji to Anatom, Vanuatu (450 nautical miles)
255 miles to destination
It's 0230 on the good ship Victoria and I'm half an hour into my second watch of the night. I was a bit bleary eyed when my alarm went off at 0145, but am a little bit more awake now. The weather so far has been very kind; we've been reaching along in light winds and flat seas, making 6-7 knots, although at times there is not quite enough wind so we use the engine to give us a helping hand. There's a wonderful moon which is almost full, so the sea is lit up and we can see a lot on deck without needing a headtorch. It's night two at sea, and so far tonight is going a lot better than last night, when Angus and I barely got any sleep at all; we spent most of the night with our heads in the engine compartment making good after some engine shenanigans. It all started at 2330, just after I had gone to bed and was drifting off to the land of nod. The engine had been on as there was very little breeze. Suddenly, I heard a call from Angus to come and help, and silence from the engine.
Sounding stressed, Angus gave me the initial report in brief; an alternator belt had broken, the engine had overheated, the coolant had boiled over and spewed itself into the bilge, and we had some work on our hands. On deck, we optimised our sail plan to make best speed, and set the autohelm. Then my long-overdue engine lesson began. With all the children fast asleep, it was easier to concentrate than during the day, although by 0400 when we packed away the last tools, we were both a bit jaded. We were very lucky the sea was pretty flat. We had the main steps and all the engine panels off, several carpets and floorboards up, and towels, tools and greasy rags all over the place. Angus changed the alternator belt, which was shredded, and replaced the freezer belts. We changed the impeller while we were at it. And then we refilled the coolant and cleaned the bilge out. When I say "we", I should be clear that Angus was doing most of this and I was his lovely assistant. Nervously, we restarted the engine to check everything... and almost instantly the boat was filled with smoke which was an alarming new development.
Engine off. Check failed. Smoke alarms shrieking. No flames. George sitting wide-eyed and bolt upright in his "bunk" (the floor in the aft saloon). Eloise and Jack sleeping on through the piercing bleeps. Frowns and furrowed brows and much head scratching and wafting of smoke. I was ready to turn and sail back to Fiji while it was still close; Angus was determined to solve the problem, and after a while he did. Our freezer belts are tensioned using a series of thin wooden chocks, which had inadvertently been put back in the wrong way around, so the wood was touching the rapidly spinning belts, causing a very efficient version of a boy scout rubbing two sticks together. After some more contortionist moves, awkward spannering in impossible places, obligatory grunts and exhalations, and ever more rivers of sweat running down Angus' back, we were finally in business. The second check of the engine was smoke-free. At the crack of 0400, we split the rest of the night into 2 x 2 hours, and each got a little bit of sleep.
Today has been a bit of an effort on so little sleep, but we banked plenty in our last week in Fiji, and this should only be a three night passage. I say "should"; as long as we can keep our speed over 6 knots we will arrive in daylight the day after tomorrow. If we drop below this, we'll have to spend a fourth night at sea, as we can't make landfall through the reef during the hours of darkness. As you can imagine, we are all keeping an eagle eye on our speed! We've had some fantastic sailing today, with five sails flying at our peak - genoa, staysail, main, mizzen and mizzen staysail, and a lot of ukelele playing on deck. We (Eloise, George and I) are learning the song "Lava" in readiness for visiting the volcano at Tanna in Vanuatu.
We were rather surprised to discover a stowaway on Victoria after leaving Fiji. A little caterpillar smuggled itself out of the country inside a sweetcorn. "Catty", as he is affectionately known, has proved to be a fantastic crew member. He is very quiet, makes no mess, eats very little, and is wonderful at entertaining the children. They watch him in silence and wonder as he performs his every day tasks; walking and eating. It's better than any screen. Or any human for that matter. We have made him a house from an adapted tupperware, are feeding him sweetcorn and cabbage, and watching eagerly for some chysalis building.
We loved Fiji and had such a wonderful and varied time there; tiny islands and huge ones, villages and cities, coral, turles, manta rays. We will try to carry with us the broad smiles and warmth that we experienced from the people we met. There are two things we are considering adopting on a permanent basis as a family. The first is to replace "hello / hi" with "bula bula"; it is a much more fun and effective greeting, with much more room for expression, and calling out at a distance. The second is more group singing, especially to welcome people, and when it is time to say goodbye. The singing at the schools we visited was incredible. At Musket Cove Resort, the staff greeted the passengers from every ferry with guitars and a wonderful, uplifting arrival song. At Vuda Marina, we were sent our way with a farewell song performed by every member of the marina team, singing, swaying and clapping. I'm sure they must all go back to work feeling so much better after a community sing together.
Well, that's all for tonight from the North Fiji Basin in the South Pacific. Happy Cowes week to everyone involved. Sail safe, sail fast and have lots of fun! I'll update again on passage or once we have arrived in Vanuatu.
Lots of love from the Victorians
XxX
En route from Vuda, Fiji to Anatom, Vanuatu (450 nautical miles)
255 miles to destination
It's 0230 on the good ship Victoria and I'm half an hour into my second watch of the night. I was a bit bleary eyed when my alarm went off at 0145, but am a little bit more awake now. The weather so far has been very kind; we've been reaching along in light winds and flat seas, making 6-7 knots, although at times there is not quite enough wind so we use the engine to give us a helping hand. There's a wonderful moon which is almost full, so the sea is lit up and we can see a lot on deck without needing a headtorch. It's night two at sea, and so far tonight is going a lot better than last night, when Angus and I barely got any sleep at all; we spent most of the night with our heads in the engine compartment making good after some engine shenanigans. It all started at 2330, just after I had gone to bed and was drifting off to the land of nod. The engine had been on as there was very little breeze. Suddenly, I heard a call from Angus to come and help, and silence from the engine.
Sounding stressed, Angus gave me the initial report in brief; an alternator belt had broken, the engine had overheated, the coolant had boiled over and spewed itself into the bilge, and we had some work on our hands. On deck, we optimised our sail plan to make best speed, and set the autohelm. Then my long-overdue engine lesson began. With all the children fast asleep, it was easier to concentrate than during the day, although by 0400 when we packed away the last tools, we were both a bit jaded. We were very lucky the sea was pretty flat. We had the main steps and all the engine panels off, several carpets and floorboards up, and towels, tools and greasy rags all over the place. Angus changed the alternator belt, which was shredded, and replaced the freezer belts. We changed the impeller while we were at it. And then we refilled the coolant and cleaned the bilge out. When I say "we", I should be clear that Angus was doing most of this and I was his lovely assistant. Nervously, we restarted the engine to check everything... and almost instantly the boat was filled with smoke which was an alarming new development.
Engine off. Check failed. Smoke alarms shrieking. No flames. George sitting wide-eyed and bolt upright in his "bunk" (the floor in the aft saloon). Eloise and Jack sleeping on through the piercing bleeps. Frowns and furrowed brows and much head scratching and wafting of smoke. I was ready to turn and sail back to Fiji while it was still close; Angus was determined to solve the problem, and after a while he did. Our freezer belts are tensioned using a series of thin wooden chocks, which had inadvertently been put back in the wrong way around, so the wood was touching the rapidly spinning belts, causing a very efficient version of a boy scout rubbing two sticks together. After some more contortionist moves, awkward spannering in impossible places, obligatory grunts and exhalations, and ever more rivers of sweat running down Angus' back, we were finally in business. The second check of the engine was smoke-free. At the crack of 0400, we split the rest of the night into 2 x 2 hours, and each got a little bit of sleep.
Today has been a bit of an effort on so little sleep, but we banked plenty in our last week in Fiji, and this should only be a three night passage. I say "should"; as long as we can keep our speed over 6 knots we will arrive in daylight the day after tomorrow. If we drop below this, we'll have to spend a fourth night at sea, as we can't make landfall through the reef during the hours of darkness. As you can imagine, we are all keeping an eagle eye on our speed! We've had some fantastic sailing today, with five sails flying at our peak - genoa, staysail, main, mizzen and mizzen staysail, and a lot of ukelele playing on deck. We (Eloise, George and I) are learning the song "Lava" in readiness for visiting the volcano at Tanna in Vanuatu.
We were rather surprised to discover a stowaway on Victoria after leaving Fiji. A little caterpillar smuggled itself out of the country inside a sweetcorn. "Catty", as he is affectionately known, has proved to be a fantastic crew member. He is very quiet, makes no mess, eats very little, and is wonderful at entertaining the children. They watch him in silence and wonder as he performs his every day tasks; walking and eating. It's better than any screen. Or any human for that matter. We have made him a house from an adapted tupperware, are feeding him sweetcorn and cabbage, and watching eagerly for some chysalis building.
We loved Fiji and had such a wonderful and varied time there; tiny islands and huge ones, villages and cities, coral, turles, manta rays. We will try to carry with us the broad smiles and warmth that we experienced from the people we met. There are two things we are considering adopting on a permanent basis as a family. The first is to replace "hello / hi" with "bula bula"; it is a much more fun and effective greeting, with much more room for expression, and calling out at a distance. The second is more group singing, especially to welcome people, and when it is time to say goodbye. The singing at the schools we visited was incredible. At Musket Cove Resort, the staff greeted the passengers from every ferry with guitars and a wonderful, uplifting arrival song. At Vuda Marina, we were sent our way with a farewell song performed by every member of the marina team, singing, swaying and clapping. I'm sure they must all go back to work feeling so much better after a community sing together.
Well, that's all for tonight from the North Fiji Basin in the South Pacific. Happy Cowes week to everyone involved. Sail safe, sail fast and have lots of fun! I'll update again on passage or once we have arrived in Vanuatu.
Lots of love from the Victorians
XxX
Well done guys. Maybe a high temp alarm on the coolng system at some point. (oil pressure too?). Great update, as usual. Safe passage the rest of the way!
ReplyDeleteAll looking good. Exciting times. You'll love Vanuatu. ATB, Kokiri!
ReplyDeleteWilliam has been telling me all about your adventure, and i am following your updates. Lots of love to you all and the Caterpillar, take care, Michael Brighten
ReplyDelete