Homeward bound … Australia here we come …

Port Vila, Monday 22^nd October 2018

We were ready to leave, we had been up to Customs and cleared out with them, we had been to Immigration and cleared out with them, meals had been prepared and frozen, all was in order. We were leaving midday today.

Leaving the Immigration office, we got a call from a young Spanish girl – I had placed a sign in the marina office last week saying we were leaving soon and had room aboard for one or two crew – she had just seen it, and did we still want/need crew as she was available. We quickly tossed up - we were organised to do the passage just the two of us, but an extra person aboard means more sleep for us!! A valuable commodity when facing an 8-day passage – so five minutes later we were climbing the stairs back up to Immigration and changing our paperwork to enable Andrea to accompany us to Southport. Then of course it was back to Customs and a quick trip to the store for a few more provisions.

This time we were leaving for sure.

Goodbye beautiful Vanuatu, an extremely brief visit that left much of it unseen but time for us had run out and we needed to be out of the cyclone area before December 1^st to satisfy our insurance policy.

A magnificent sky

With 1030 nautical miles ahead of us, we set sail in perfect conditions aiming for the Grand Passage at the top of New Caledonia which we hoped we would clear in two days, changing our route, as we left, for the smaller but more direct passage through Grande Fausse Pass we made good speed arriving there after a super 34-hour sail.

However – not such a good plan to approach a pass through a fairly narrow reef at midnight with only electronic charts to guide us. The moon, which had been poking through the clouds intermittently during the night now disappeared completely, so we could not rely on her help. With both engines on “just in case” and Andrea and myself on the bows trying to see any obstacles through the blackness, Jamie, relying almost entirely on technology took us through the entrance as if he had done it a hundred times before. Not a procedure we would recommend actually, but achieved marvellously and it was with great relief we sailed through New Caledonian waters and out the reef on the other side as dawn broke.

Sailing across from Vanuatu back to Australia

Of course, the good times don’t last forever and the wind dropped away necessitating a period of assistance from the trusty Yamnar. We alternately motored and sailed for the next day – and half of the next – looks like it will be a slow trip home!! We were counting down the miles and after 6 days we still had 173nm to go before landfall back in Australia.

On Sunday 28^th October, Phil sent us a weather update via the Garmin Inreach so we were aware that a nasty patch was ahead of us, and in anticipation of winds 35knots plus, we put two reefs in the main and had it ready for the third. It was predicted to hit us around 8pm but it was closer to 10pm that we hastened above to put the next reef in the sail – too late – the squall hit just as we were in the process of doing so and blew a huge hole in our mainsail – between the second and third reef points – the main was still useable above the third reef – just. With enough to continue sailing and with around 140 nautical miles to Southport off the Queensland coast we limped home, catching sight of the Australian coast on Monday afternoon.

It was with great relief we sailed through the Gold Coast Seaway, then dropped the anchor, raised the yellow “Q” flag, and poured a glass of wine just before sunset on Monday 29^th October.

Customs and Immigration formalities were completed at the Southport Yacht Club next morning, Andrea left us to join friends in Brisbane and we returned to Paradise Point where we had spent some time at anchor last year.

We had made the passage from Port Vila, Vanuatu to Southport, Australia in 7 days and 5 hours – we thought we had been going slow but the customs boys said they thought we had made a fast trip compared to most other boats passage times.

What a journey.

We left Australia on 23^rd November 2017 and arrived back on 29^th October 2018

In the 11 months we have been away

• we have travelled around 10,000 nautical miles

• sailed to New Zealand, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu and back to Australia

• seen so many incredible places

• met so many amazing people

• AND HAD SO MUCH FUN !!

Our route over the past 11 months (but take away Tasmania - we hadn't been here yet)