-----Original Message-----
Sent: Wednesday, October 12,
2005 1:01 PM
Subject: Estrela
Log Entry -- October 12, 2005 (Day 1 of passage from Fiji to New Caledonia)
2300 local time (1100 GMT) Wednesday,
October 12, 2005; Lat/Lon: 18 deg 16' S, 176 deg 32' E; Location: approximately
70 miles from Lautoka, Fiji and 600 miles from Noumea, New Caledonia; Course/speed: 242 deg True at 6 kts;
Wind: SSE 16-19 kts; Sky: about 1/3 cloud cover
(fluffy cumulus) with great visibility and a brilliant 1/2 moon; Air temp: 85
deg; Water temp: 78 deg; Sail tack and combination: beam reach on port tack
with single-reefed main, staysail, and 1/4 of genoa
(roller furler).
Estrela is on the move again after
a little over three months cruising in Fiji.
We're en route to New Caledonia.
As is typical at the beginning of an ocean passage, the crew have queazy tummies and we all feel very tired . . . and it's
only our first night! The push to
complete a myriad of preparations before going offshore always induces
anxiety. This was probably our smoothest
and most efficient (and enjoyable) passage preparation ever . . . and we still
feel whupped.
Our first big challenge underway has been a misbehaving self-steering windvane, forcing Kyle and me to do a lot of hand-steering
or hand-correcting of the windvane. Hand-steering gets exhausting quickly for a
two-handed boat like ours. Fortunately,
just in the last hour or so I have managed to bring Estrela
into better balance by tinkering with sail trim and adjusting the windvane controls.
Her track under windvane alone is wobbly but
is averaging within 10 degrees either side of our intended rhumb
line course for New Caledonia. I have to
tug on the tiller to put her back on course about every ten or fifteen minutes
now -- a big improvement. I think the
Aries's problem is too much friction, probably occurring in many places rather
than in one key place. It's just time
for another servicing, or at least for replacing some of the most critical
nylon bushings. As Tony Holt, Kyle's
dad, can attest, however, taking the Aries windvane
apart to replace these nylon parts is a real bear. He and I spent many days doing a complete
servicing and rebuild in the Holt's Connecticut barn two years ago. I think Tony had to call in a favor from
every machine shop in Eastern Connecticut to enable us to dismantle the
twenty-five year cast aluminum and stainless steel contraption. I hope we can nurse the vane along to
Australia where we'll be able to service it again. In the meantime -- as our Brit/Aussie friends
would say -- no whinging by the Estrela
watch keepers!
-- Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, October 13,
2005 11:42 AM
Subject: Estrela
Log Entry -- October 13, 2005 (Day 2 of passage from Fiji to New Caledonia)
2300 local time (1100 GMT)
Thursday, October 13, 2005; Lat/Lon: 19 deg 11' S, 174 deg 31' E; Location:
approximately 200 miles from Lautoka, Fiji and 485
miles from Noumea, New Caledonia; Course/speed: 245 deg True at 5.8 kts;
Wind: SSE 17-21 kts; Sky: about 3/4 cloud cover (the
remains of a weak cold front we are passing through) with fair visibility and a
hazy 1/2 moon; Air temp: 83 deg; Water temp: 76.5 deg; Sail tack and
combination: beam reach on port tack with double-reefed main and staysail; Day one 24 hour run ending at 9:00 AM today:
122 nautical miles.
Unexpectedly
wild day today. About 2:00 PM we smacked straight into a cold
front that I had only vaguely seen in the faxes and "grib
files," our main weather information sources, which we receive by SSB
radio. For about six hours or so we had
22 to 27 kts of wind on a screaming beam reach all
reefed down, making about 6.5 kts -- fast sailing for
Estrela. The
motion was violent, contributing to two minor mishaps, both involving
Kyle. I'm not picking on her; she
encouraged me to include these in the web log entry.
First, while at the mast
finishing putting in the second reef in the mainsail, Kyle leaned a little to
close to a pulley leading the taut mainsheet up the mast and out the boom . . .
just as I was trimming in the sheet. It
caught her hair and tore out a nice bundle including a white chunk of scalp --
ouch! -- before I heard her yell and eased the
mainsheet.
Then as we were all working
in the main cabin about 8:00 PM, readying bunks for Kyle and the girls, the
boat lurched. We all went weightless and Kyle grabbed the closest solid object
for support -- the dinette table. Only
it wasn't so solid; she ripped the sole leg clean off, collapsing the table top
onto Abigail who had just settled into her makeshift sea-berth beneath it. Aside from an ugly scrape on Kyle's toe,
everyone was fine. Abby is now sound asleep on the cabin floor, Kyle and Eliza in bunks,
and we have a fun repair project to work on in daylight tomorrow.
Oh, remember my whining
yesterday about the erratic Aries windvane? Well a consequence of today's strong wind is
that the vane has performed very well most of the day; higher wind neutralized
the friction problem. Unfortunately,
though, the vane's control lines have started chafing, a problem we had coming
up from New Zealand and thought we'd licked.
Kyle and I'll keep a close watch on this. Replacing a control line at sea would be
tricky, requiring hanging out over the stern and dangling from the boomkin to reach the attachment point on the top of the
servo rudder, just above the water.
-- Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Friday, October 14,
2005 11:24 AM
Subject: Estrela
Log Entry -- October 14, 2005 (Day 3 of passage from Fiji to New Caledonia)
2230 local time (1030 GMT)
Friday, October 14, 2005; Lat/Lon: 20 deg 00' S, 172 deg 18' E; Location:
approximately 340 miles from Lautoka, Fiji and 345
miles from Noumea, New Caledonia -- almost half-way; Course/speed: 246 deg True at 6 kts;
Wind: SSE 19-24 kts; Sky: about 1/4 cloud cover (just
fluffy tradewinds cumulus) with great visibility and
a brilliant waxing moon; Air temp: 80 deg; Water temp: 77 deg; Sail tack and
combination: unchanged from last night -- beam reach on port tack with
double-reefed main and staysail; Day two 24 hour run ending at 9:00 AM today:
135 nautical miles -- Estrela's cookin'.
In case any of you are
wondering whether Kyle has found an outlet for her creative fires and talent, I
thought I'd fill you in on her current gig.
She runs an SSB radio morning show now -- every day at 2100 GMT (0900
local time) on 8173 khz,
running three to five minutes. As
outlets go, this one's all right. Since
Kyle writes her script before every show (with plenty of help from Abigail and
Eliza) I can type it up for you to read.
You won't hear Kyle's amazing range of voices but you'll get the
idea.
By way of background, Graigh (pronounced "grey") Cat is Abigail's small
stuffed animal -- cat, specifically. Graigh Cat was married a few months ago in an elaborate
ceremony with many guests to a small stuffed monkey named Mischief. The mischievous plush primate is owned by
Abby's dear buddy Bess on Lilly Bolero, a boat and family (the Lyons) with three
girls with whom we spent lots of time in New Zealand and cruised together in
Fiji for the last month. Lilly too is
headed to New Caledonia, we learned via another cruiser's sailmail
message this afternoon. Though Lilly left Fiji only today she'll make up much
of our 250 mile head start since she's a fast, and very lovely, 50' traditional
schooner -- like a mini-tall ship. Well Graigh Cat and Mischief said tearful goodbyes in Fiji's Yasawa Islands 11 days ago, expecting to be separated for
quite a while; at that time Lilly was planning to sail back to New Zealand
directly from Fiji. A cruiser's life can
be marked by unexpected twists and turns, however. So when Graigh Cat
became unexpectedly ill en route back to Lautoka
where Estrela was to reprovision,
the unfazed feline took in stride the possibility she might be . . .
expecting. Fortunately, Graigh Cat was able to alert Mischief of her suspicions via
VHF radio before getting out of range.
This began a cascade of rethinking aboard Lilly Bolero, the upshot being
that the Lyons decided to return to New Zealand via New Caledonia! Graigh Cat also
gave birth -- to tiny fraternal twin stuffed bears -- in Lautoka,
just before Estrela departed Fiji. Well this short synopsis should bring you up
to date in the continuing radio theatre saga of "Graigh
Cat's Big Adventure." The humans
aboard Lilly Bolero tune in each morning to listen but they can only receive,
since they don't have an SSB transmitter.
Here is Kyle's script of the
last two episodes of GCBA:
10/13/05
[First give Estrela's lat/lon position and wind, sea condition and distance from Lautoka]
"In yesterday's episode
Graigh Cat's twins were born. And now for the next episode in the
continuing saga of [play GCBA Tiki-man theme music] Grrraigh Cat's Biiig AdVENture . . .
"There was silence in
the air in the midwife's office. The
only thing that could be heard was the sound of two twins suckling. Graigh Cat was in
heaven. Not only did she have two of the
cutest babies, who somehow resembled bears, but her beloved husband, Mischief,
was at her side. Mischief may have
wanderlust, but when you need him, he's always right there. The happy couple showed Cuddles [Graigh Cat and Mischief's first child, a small stuffed dog]
his twin sisters, named Cindy and Linda.
All was well . . . except . . . [hum a dark, scary riff]. Tune in
tomorrow for the next episode of (play GCBA Tiki-man
theme) Grrrraigh Cat's Biiig
AdVENture."
10/14/05
[First give Estrela's lat/lon position and wind, sea condition and distances from Lautoka and Noumea]
"In yesterday's episode
all was well with the happy family . . . except . . . [hum the dark, scary
riff]
"And now the drama
continues in (play GCBA Tiki-man theme) Grrrraigh Cat's Biiig AdVENture . . . The voices of Graigh
Cat and Mischief will be played by Kyle.
G-C: Mischief, what's wrong?
M: Graigh Cat, my
darling, I've got to go back on Lilly Bolero.
G-C: What will we do with
the twins?
M: They'll have to choose.
So the ingenious couple
found a simple solution. This plan may
sound cruel, but in the land of stuffed toys, practicality is often mistaken
for cruelty. In human terms, it got the
job done. They lined the twins, Cindy
and Linda, on the midwife's floor between the two adaptable and unusual
parents. And then they waited.........
Who will choose Graigh-Cat? Will
Linda go to Mischief? Will the drama
ever cease? Tune in tomorrow for the
next exciting episode of (play GCBA Tiki-man theme) Grrrraigh Cat's Biiig AdVENture."
---Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Saturday, October 15,
2005 1:38 PM
Subject: Estrela
Log Entry -- October 15, 2005 (Day 4 of passage from Fiji to New Caledonia)
2330 local time (1130 GMT)
Saturday, October 15, 2005; Lat/Lon: 20 deg 51' S, 170 deg 07' E; Location:
approximately 220 miles from Noumea, New Caledonia;
Course/speed: 236 deg True at 6 kts; Wind: SE 14-19 kts; Sky:
almost cloudless and lit up by big moon; Air temp: 78 deg; Water temp: 74 deg
(both air and water getting cooler as we travel further south); Sail tack and
combination: still beam reach on port tack, single-reefed main, staysail and
1/3 of the genoa rolled out; Day three 24 hour run
ending at 9:00 AM today: 128 nautical miles (despite heaving to for an hour and
a half to make water and do some engine maintenance).
Another day passes aboard
the good ship Estrela. Usually by day 3 or 4 of a passage people's
tummies have calmed down, bodies have synchronized with the watch schedule, and
spirits have lifted. In fact I count on
this passage-making rhythm. Knowing that
I'll feel sick and sleepy for the first few days, I try to make some food in
advance, usually 2 loaves of bread and a big stew. School is also suspended until further notice
by the school nurse...me! But I also
count on feeling better by days 3 or 4.
It's part of the faith that keeps me going.
This passage is no
different. Life is good. We may have our share of bumps and bruises
and we may not have a table, but that is what keeps life exciting. So what was today like? Here's a brief run-down.
--The dawn is very vibrant
this morning. I am always amazed at the
beauty of the waking world.
--Abby is up before anyone
else, around 0630. I read to her from
the Illustrated Classic edition of Anne of Green Gables.
--Banana bread is not cooperating
in the oven. It still needs cooking
after an hour already. (Don't even ask
about making the batter. Oh if dust pans
and brooms could talk. Lots of lurching
ingredients, including sugar every where.
Great for our new ant population that we discovered!)
--Sails need a lot of
attention. I'm reminded of the skipper's
reprimand that our course is also important, not just speed. (I've become a bit of a speed demon. Estrela is so fast
now, I just want to see how fast--call me Ellen MacArthur!)
--Doug and Eliza up at
0730. The girls read. This is a big deal because now Abby can read
books to herself!
--Finally breakfast at
0830--homemade yogurt, banana bread, mango, cups of cocoa for girls and coffee
for Doug.
--0900 broadcast of "Graigh-Cat's Big Adventure"
--While I clean up after
breakfast, Doug takes over watch and the girls play with all their small
stuffed animals. (Doug and I still don't
quite know who is married to whom or which ones are siblings and which are cousins. They have a very precise world going on.)
--1030. Yey, nap for
me. Because of the motion, I sleep on
Abby's bunk in the main cabin. Without a
table, that leaves only Eliza's small and cozy bunk for the girls. We set them up on the computer and they play
The Rosetta Stone, their French language cdrom. They lie on their tummies and work. Doug spends most of the time on the computer
gathering and evaluating weather info.
--I'm awoken around
1300. Time for lunch. I reheat last night's eggplant and TVP
(textured vegetable protein) curry, add water, chix
broth and left over rice. Eh
voila....soup! (We've been eating a lot
of curry dishes since arriving in Fiji. Over half the population in Fiji is Indian. We made friends with an Indo-Fijian family in
Suva and not only prepared food together, but also Salen,
the husband. made me a special curry masala made from a myriad of incredible spices from his
special stall in the Farmer's Market.)
--We have a very relaxed
afternoon. Everything takes 3 times as
long on passage--doing dishes, cooking, hanging out..... The school nurse still
feels that the staff isn't quite ready to take on such big responsibilities as
teaching. So it's on with a movie for
the girls on E's bunk with double headphones!
They watch Whale Rider and think of NZ.
--Doug takes his nap at 1600
and doesn't sleep very long. He's up
again at 1715 and just hangs out cuddling the girls. I spend most of this time before dinner prep
on the computer, organizing email.
--1930. Dinner time. The menu tonight is An American Lunch. Grilled cheese sandwiches with cabbage and
tomato salad. Yummy.
--It's bed time for all
girls, including me, at 2000. Tonight,
however, it was more like 2045. Just
means less time for me to sleep. Oh well. Because the wind has died down a bit, Doug
doesn't have to be at the tiller a lot.
He spends most of his time on the computer writing log entries, emails
and getting weather info.
Good night!!
---Kyle
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Sunday, October 16,
2005 6:25 AM
Subject: Estrela
Log Entry -- October 16, 2005 (Day 5 of passage from Fiji to New Caledonia)
2100 local time (0900 GMT)
Sunday, October 16, 2005; Lat/Lon: 21 deg 50' S, 168 deg 21' E; Location:
approximately 110 miles from Noumea, New Caledonia
(hoping to clear the pass through the barrier reef -- Canal de la Havannah -- with good light and a favorable flood tidal
current tomorrow afternoon and then anchor in a protected bay for the night,
proceeding the last 35 or so miles along the coast of Grande Terre to Noumea to check in on Tuesday; Course/speed: 239 deg True at 5.8 kts;
Wind: ESE 12-18 kts; Sky: mostly cloudy (indicating
the approach of a low pressure trough from the SW); Air temp: 80 deg; Water
temp: 74 deg; Sail tack and combination: broad reach on port tack with full
main, staysail and 2/3 of the genoa rolled out; Day
four 24 hour run ending at 9:00 AM today: 128 nautical miles (again!).
I'm really excited about
seeing New Caledonia. I wonder if it will
be like French Polynesia and if the French bread will be any different. Heeling over like this is really fun because
when a big wave comes you can just crouch down and then get up again without
any effort; it's amazing. But I am a lot
more seasick on this passage than I've been on other passages. I feel like I am not used to big passages
because we have been in Fiji for so long (more than three months) and just
island hopping. It's like having to
relearn walking again. School work is
really hard on port tack because our homeschool
cabinets are on the uphill side and books come flying
out when you open the doors. Plus our
table is broken, so I have to do school work on my lap. Abby and I have been able to really spend
time studying our French, working with our three different programs -- BBC
Languages Program (Muzzy), The Rosetta Stone, and The Learnables
-- which use tapes, cds, cdroms
and books. They're all really fun and it
feels like we're learning a lot. I think
I'll feel really shy speaking French in New Caledonia, though, but I hope I'll
be able to make some friends with French speaking kids there. It's exciting going to a country that speaks
a "foreign" language that you're studying.
Good night, Eliza
PS: Abigail is really sleepy
and says she wants to write something for the log tomorrow night.
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Monday, October 17,
2005 5:24 AM
Subject: Estrela
Log Entry -- October 17, 2005 (Day 6 of passage from Fiji to New Caledonia) WE
MADE IT!!
1830 local time (0730 GMT;
we're now one time zone further west -- GMT+11) Monday, October 17, 2005;
Lat/Lon: 22 deg 19' S, 166 deg 42' E; Location: Baie
de Ngo New Caledonia, about 20 miles SE of Noumea;
Wind: (hard to tell because we are in a long narrow bay surrounded by high,
steep peaks, so we'll make a best guesstimate) N to NNE around 15 kts; Sky: broken thick stratocumulus and occasional showers
(brilliant rainbow at sunset); Air temp: 78 deg; Water temp: 74 deg;
Course/Speed: anchored (yay!!!) in 25' depth, mud
bottom, with 175' chain and 35lb Bruce anchor; Day five 24 hour run ending at
9:00 AM today: 124 nautical miles.
We arrived at the
east-facing Canal de la Havannah, one of the main
passes into the enormous fringing lagoon around New Caledonia's big island,
Grande Terre, about 1PM local time.
Surprise, surprise . . . despite careful research I had somehow mistimed
the change in tidal currents. Instead of
finding the nice flood current we had planned on to pull us through the pass,
the ebb was still running. It had built
up a wild sea in the throat of the pass where it ran directly into the wind
waves and swell of the well-established easterly tradewinds. And even with a current of only 2 to 3 kts (at full ebb it runs 5-6 kts)
we encountered large, steep standing waves and violent eddies. We motorsailed
hard, slowing to as low as 2 1/2 knots, the boat pitching all over, Kyle at the
helm all the way and Eliza capturing the drama on video camera. Yeee haaawwww . . . a little scary in the middle of it all but a
good memory now that we are sitting at anchor, rock still, in this protected
anchorage, preparing a big spaghetti dinner and enjoying glasses of rum and
orange drink. What a great passage! Tonight we'll get some sleep and tomorrow
we'll travel the last 20 miles to Noumea to check in
and pick up a couple baguettes.
-- Doug
PS -- Abby asked me to say
she's still planning to write her own log entry sometime in the next couple
days.
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Tuesday, October 18,
2005 7:42 AM
Subject: Estrela
Log Entry -- October 18, 2005 (Day 7 of passage from Fiji to New Caledonia) --
Passage Completed!
2200 local time (1100 GMT)
Tuesday, October 18, 2005; Lat/Lon: 22 deg 16.6' S, 166 deg 26.4' E; Location:
Slip 13 "A" Dock, Port Moselle Marina,
downtown Noumea, New Caledonia; Wind: still; Sky:
cloudless with full moon; Air temp: 79 deg; Water temp: 73 deg; Course/Speed:
tied to dock, stern facing the lights of the city; Total time and distance
covered on passage from Lautoka, Fiji to Noumea, New Caledonia: 6 days 7 hours 45 minutes and 699
NM; Average 0900 to 0900 24 hour runs and average speed: 127.4 NM and 5.3
knots.
This city appears very first
world and very French. We intend to get
up early tomorrow and walk over to the public market, a couple hundred meters
from our slip, where the least expensive croissants in Noumea
are available beginning at 5 AM. We
cleared customs and immigration uneventfully.
The firm but friendly quarantine officer kindly sat in our cabin while
we madly chopped large quantities of vegetables and cracked eggs. Most of our fresh fruits and vegetables that
she couldn't observe us prepare for dinner tonight, plus all the trimmings,
shells etc. from those we did prepare, we had to put in a plastic sack for her
to take with her for incineration.
Island nations like New Caledonia have to be vigilant to avoid the
inadvertent introduction of exotic insects, fungi, pathogens, plants and
animals that could devastate local agriculture or indigenous ecosystems. This was such a fast passage that we arrived
with much uneaten fresh food. Off in the
quarantine officer's sack went many potatoes, eggplants, lemons, onions and
heads of garlic. This marina gives
arriving foreign yachts a free night in a slip.
We'll pay the approximately $15US/night to stay here a few more nights,
we figure, before moving to an anchorage.
We'll reprovision, wash off the encrusted
salt, fill water tanks and enjoy the convenience of no bad weather dinghy
commutes for a few days. Already we've enjoyed
hot showers at the marina -- what joy.
And tomorrow we begin to explore Noumea.
-- Doug
Email from the
Virtual Crew: 10/18/05
John Amos sends a
link to an aerial photograph of Noumea. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=16315
Not exactly grass
huts!!
Also
a link to an aerial photograph of Matangi
Island in Fiji. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=16768
-- George
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Sunday, October 23, 2005 10:26 PM
Subject: photos of Estrela
Doug just sent some pix to Betsy and Roy from an internet cafe in New Caledonia--very slow and expensive. We have asked Betsy to forward these pix for you all, since it is too difficult from here. Enjoy.
We are having a very European experience here. The french cars, baguettes, and fashion--tres chic! Lilly Bolero just arrived! So Graigh-Cat and Mischief and their twins have been reunited once again. We plan to leave the marina tomorrow and go play in the beautiful islands around the lagoon. We are watching Doug's stubborn finger infection--seeing doc tomorrow am--and watching the weather for the passage to Australia.
Love, Kyle
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, November 05,
2005 4:11 PM
Subject: Estrela
in New Cal.
Dear Mom and Dad,
Thanks for writing us about
your wonderful time with Elaine, Lannie and
family. Its
really great that you have kept up a relationship with our Iowa cousins. I can foresee a Kinney family trip when we
return--we'll let the not "of the blood" members come as well!
We are still in Noumea, New Caledonia.
We left the marina last week after waiting for our Lilly Bolero buddies
to arrive. We have moved to a little
island just 3 miles out of Noumea. This is a small sandy island surrounded by
coral reef with a mooring field in the lee of the prevailing SE trade
winds. It has been very windy--20-25
knots from the SE for days and days, but we feel secure on the mooring
ball. Lilly Bolero is right next to us.
We have resumed homeschool in the morning and getting
together in the afternoon.
Our focus has mostly been homeschool and Doug's finger infection, the result of his
getting poked by a spiny lobster antenna in mid-September. He'd already seen a doctor in Fiji a couple
times and had taken courses of three antibiotics. Here in Noumea he
saw a French doctor recommended by acquaintances who
live here. The doctor prescribed another
antibiotic for what he diagnosed (like the Fijian doctor) was a nasty staph. When the
finger didn't respond, he extended the prescription for another week and we
made an appointment to see him a third time.
In the meantime, Doug emailed a close friend from Yale, Barry Fox, who
is an infectious diseases specialist at the University of
Wisconsin Medical School. He basically
said that the infection does not sound like staph,
but instead an atypical mycobacterium.
He sees these infections regularly, resulting from fish tank
injuries. Barry recommended another
antibiotic, azithromycin, and said that
he would have to take it for
two weeks to start to see results and then would have to keep taking it for six
weeks to three months altogether. Fortunately we already had nine days of azithromycin in our medical chest; so Doug could get
started on it right away, four days ago.
Doug printed out and showed his email correspondence to the French
doctor who was ooperative
and wrote a prescription for a
month of azithromycin, enough to get us to big-city
Australian medical care.
So now we are getting ready
to leave New Caledonia. We're doing final
provisioning and studying the weather to identify a good window. Today we have an invitation to visit the home
of a Canadian family who recently moved to New Caledonia. The husband works with the large nickel
mining company here. The "Gagnons" are friends of a cruising family we met in
Stuart,
Florida and with whom we
have stayed in touch by occasional emails.
This has been an unexpectedly social stop here in Noumea. We have met up with many old cruising boat
friends also passing through here on their journeys either west to Australia or
south to New Zealand. We've also made
some wonderful new friends, including with boats with kids aboard.
Love, Me
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Monday, November 21,
2005 8:12 AM
Subject: Estrela
Log Entry -- November 21, 2005 (Day 1 of passage from New Caledonia to
Australia)
2230 local time (1130 GMT)
Monday, November 21, 2005; Lat/Lon: 23 deg 05' S, 166 deg 58' E; Location:
approximately 40 miles SW of Isle of Pines, New Caledonia and 800 miles E of Brisbane,
Australia; Course/speed: 247 deg True at 4.4 kts;
Wind: SSE 11 to 14 kts; Sky: about 3/8 cloud cover
with good visibility and moon just about to rise through the clouds; Air temp:
80 deg; Water temp: unknown because our dipping thermometer broke when stepped
on; Sail tack and combination: beam reach on port tack with full main, staysail
and genoa flying.
Seven and a half hours ago
we raised Estrela's anchor in Kuto Bay, Isle of
Pines, New Caledonia, maybe the most idyllic anchorage we've happened across in
two years, and began our voyage to Australia.
We had almost left New Caledonia for Australia eight days ago. But at the last minute we saw something funny
in a weather forecast map, something that would become a surprisingly powerful,
tightly packed low which formed and deepened SE of Sydney and then tracked
directly for New Caledonia. The low has
now passed off to the SE and our wind in Isle of Pines, New Caledonia finally
shifted out of the SW and back to the SSE early, early this morning. So it was time to go. We completed preparations, took a last swim
and up-anchored at 3:00 PM.
We don't know where we'll
make landfall in Oz (this really is the nickname everyone in this part of the
world uses!) because the weather is volatile and the wind direction and
strength along the coast are tough to forecast more than a few days ahead. Fortunately Oz makes a big target and we have
options. If all were to go really well we'd
love to sail directly to Sydney. We are
more likely, however, to clear into the country in Brisbane or in a port about
half way from Brisbane to Sydney, called Coff's
Harbor. Then, after cleaning up from the
passage, we'd hope to make our way down the coast in a couple short hops to
Sydney. Kyle is determined to sail into
Sydney Harbor. I had really wanted to
stop at Lord Howe Island, a glorious national park about 300 miles ENE of
Sydney. But that last
low mentioned above pinned down a bunch of boats on the moorings in the lord
Howe lagoon with 60 knot winds. Uggh. So we aren't quite feeling up to the
challenge of stopping at Lord Howe en route to the Australian coast.
-- Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Tuesday, November 22,
2005 3:27 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry --
November 22, 2005 (Day 2 of passage from New Caledonia to Australia)
2230 local time (1130 GMT)
Tuesday, November 22, 2005; Lat/Lon: 23 deg 27' S, 165 deg 03' E; Location:
approximately 140 miles WSW of Isle of Pines, New Caledonia and 700 miles E of Brisbane,
Australia; Course/speed: 235 deg True at 5.4 kts;
Wind: SE 12 to 16 kts; Sky: cloudless with lots of
stars and great visibility; Air temp: 80 deg; Water temp: unknown; Sail tack
and combination: broad reach on port tack with full main, staysail and genoa; Day one 24 hour run: 96 NM.
We are approaching a large,
brightly lit ship, possibly a cruise ship -- they always seem to burn every
light aboard. Our radar, which I flicked
on as soon as I saw the ship's lights, shows it's about eight miles away. With the binoculars I can see its red (port)
bow light and no green light, so it is not heading directly at us. And after watching its movement with the binocs and the radar I believe it's traveling almost
parallel to us but in the opposite direction.
So it's still getting closer but should pass well to our port I
figure. It's to spot ships like this one
that Kyle and I keep our watches set to ring an alarm every 15 minutes,
reminding us to go on deck to look around at least that often, no matter what
we may be doing. Without these alarms it
would be easy, especially when drowsy, to let a half hour slip by while hunched
over the computer or working in the galley without going up to scan the
horizon. In a half hour a big
ocean-going ship can travel a long way, especially if you are on opposing
courses. By now, in the time I've
written these few sentences, the ship is on our beam, only six miles away. But we are passing each other safely. I could turn the radar off again now, to save
electricity, and resume my low-tech visual watch. But looking once more at the screen I've
noticed some other "targets," eight to nine miles ahead and off to
port. They look like big rain
clouds. Rain clouds show up on radar as
blobs with soft edges, usually easily distinguished from a large ship, whose
image has sharper edges. So I think I'll
leave the radar on for a while to see where this rain is heading. The images could be squalls, with strong wind
along with rain. The wind might be
strong enough to require dousing some sail til it
passes. But with any luck, the clouds
and whatever they're hiding will miss us altogether. We'll see . . .
-- Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, November 24,
2005 12:09 AM
Subject: Estrela
Log Entry -- November 23, 2005 (Day 3 of passage from New Caledonia to
Australia)
2330 local time (1230 GMT)
Wednesday, November 23, 2005; Lat/Lon: 24 deg 11' S, 163 deg 00' E; Location:
approximately 700 NM NE of Coff's Harbor, an
Australian port of entry roughly half-way between Brisbane and Sydney;
Course/speed: 234 deg True at 4.4 kts; Wind: ESE 6 to
12 kts; Sky: clear; Air temp: 79 deg; Water temp:
unknown; Sail tack and combination: still on a broad reach on port tack with
full main, staysail and genoa; Day two 24 hour run: 114
NM.
[Here is Eliza's journal
entry from this afternoon 11/23]
Estrela is sailing from New
Caledonia to Australia. We are two
nights and three days out of New Caledonia.
This morning on the "Nemo Net" (a
single side-band radio net for boats going to Australia that we just started
with Aliesha and Ascension) Dancyn,
our old friends who we had met in French Polynesia, came up and we talked with
them after the net. They're probably the
best cruising fishers we know. Anyway,
then a few minutes later when we were eating breakfast (delicious fluffy
American pancakes), Dad checked the fishing line. It was heavier than usual. So Dad pulled the line in to find we had
hooked a Mahi Mahi, only
our third so far on our whole round the world trip. "Get the gaff; quick, the fishing hook
is bending out of its mouth," yelled Dad. "Get the rubbing oil (we knew she meant
rubbing alcohol)," yelled Abigail.
Mom gave the gaff to Dad and I got the rubbing oil (alcohol). Dad yanked the fish on board with the
gaff. When the fish realized it was in
the cockpit it began to thrash wildly around on the cockpit floor. That fish sure was strong. By the time Dad had finally got it under his
foot the floor was very bloody and slimy with scraped off fish scales. The fish had also mostly lost its
unbelievably brilliant iridescent blue color.
Then Dad calmed the fish down by putting a rag over its eyes, picking it
up and holding it upright so that Mom could pour rubbing alcohol down its
throat to knock it out. This worked after
two tries, killing the fish. Then we
left it in the cockpit and finished our breakfast. Afterwards, Dad started to clean it, with
Abby's help. Dad pulled out all the
different organs so that we could see and touch them. I can't believe the heart is so small
compared to its body. It's only about an
inch long. The fish was a female full of
roe (eggs). I asked Dad to give me some
measurements to write down with a little sketch I made of the fish. Here are the measurements: nose to notch of its tail: 36 inches; tip to
tip of forked tail: 11.5 inches; top to bottom of head at the widest part: 6.5
inches; length of pectoral fin: 5 inches; top to bottom of dorsal fin at widest
part: 3.5 inches. I guess we'll be eating
fish tonight. "I'm having fish tonight!"
says Bruce [in Finding Nemo]. . . "Fish are
friends AND food!"
After dinner -- Those fish
sticks sure were yummy. We also made
fish stew and about half the meat is drying for fish jerky. Abigail laid out most of the meat strips on the
drying rack.
-- Eliza
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, November 24,
2005 1:29 PM
Subject: Estrela
Log Entry -- November 24, 2005 (Day 4 of passage from New Caledonia to
Australia) Happy Thanksgiving!!
2000 local time (0900 GMT)
Thursday, November 24, 2005; Lat/Lon: 25 deg 24' S, 163 deg 50' E; Location:
393 NM NNE of Lord Howe Island; Course/speed: 204 deg True at 5.2 kts; Wind: SE 11 to 13 kts; Sky:
3/8 cloud cover; Air temp: 80 deg; Water temp: unknown (but feeling steadily
cooler as we sail south); Sail tack and combination: sailing 60 degrees from
apparent wind on port tack with full main, staysail and 1/2 of genoa; Day three 24 hour run: 120 NM.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!
We had a wonderful holiday
on Estrela--no school and lots of cooking! We put together as close to a traditional
Thanksgiving feast as was feasible in the middle of the ocean. We all scoured different stowage areas for
ingredients. I found 4 quite pathetic
potatoes, on their last leg, and a few cups of Potato Buds that a fellow
cruiser gave to me in a ziplock bag. These became the obligatory mashed
potatoes. We pulled out the canned
Danish ham, canned carrots, and canned beans that we purchased in New
Caledonia. I referred to my friend Betty
Crocker for a glaze recipe for the canned ham.
I found a simple and delicious one which called for combining brown
sugar, dijon mustard and a
little vinegar. The result magically
transformed the wedge of can-shaped ham into a mouth watering roasted jambon. I could
almost picture the cloves stuck into the crispy diamond scored outer surface.
While digging in the bottom of the stowage area for canned items, the girls
discovered 2 cans of pumpkin that I had purchased in Florida in 2003! I was relieved. The thought of attempting pie dough in the
tropics (read sticky sticky--Betty Crocker always
talks about high altitude alternatives. What about sea level in the tropics?!) was
daunting enough for this neophyte pie chef.
But to actually do as the Pilgrims did and use a REAL pumpkin (which I
do have) was quite beyond my brain capacity.
As it was, Abigail and I ended up pressing the unrollable
dough into the cake pan--no pie plate--as one would for Scotch short bread, not
pie dough. I also found one of our last
evaporated milk cans (from French Polynesia) and then substituted cardamom for
the required powdered cloves and ginger root.
Thankfully, I still had a bit of cinnamon. I somehow forgot that I was
baking on a moving bumpy boat. So when I
put too much filling into the pastry-lined pan, the result was an oven doused
with delicious baked pudding and one of the most odd
shaped pies that I've ever seen.
Voila--"Bumpy Bilge Pumpkin Pie"!
Thankfully the seas were
calm enough for us to enjoy our feast together at our Thanksgiving table. We reminisced about other Thanksgiving meals
that we have shared with our families.
Doug and I talked about our own childhood Thanksgivings and all the
wonderful rituals that we each experienced during the holiday. And most importantly, we gave thanks for all
the bountiful blessings that we have received during our voyage. It's hard to put into words how full our
hearts feel. We are thankful for all the
generous people who helped us prepare and actually depart for this
journey. We are thankful for all the
wonderful people that we've met along the way.
We are thankful to have had incredible opportunities to witness the
beauty of this earth and all her magnificent creatures. And we are thankful that we have been
"covered with His feathers, and under His wings we have found
refuge."
---Kyle
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Friday, November 25,
2005 12:25 PM
Subject: Estrela
Log Entry -- November 25, 2005 (Day 5 of passage from New Caledonia to
Australia)
2330 local time (1230 GMT)
Friday, November 25, 2005; Lat/Lon: 27 deg 45' S, 160 deg 39' E; Location: 237
NM NNE of Lord Howe Island; Course/speed: 203 deg True at 6.4 kts; Wind: ESE 18-24 kts; Sky:
total cloud cover and hard rain; Air temp: 72 deg; Water temp: unknown; Sail
tack and combination: sailing 90 degrees from apparent wind on port tack with
double reefed main and staysail; Day four 24 hour run: 134 NM.
Challenging
sailing conditions. We were motorsailing in almost no wind after dinner, though we had
already passed under a black mass of cloud and it was raining steadily. Then the wind picked up sharply. At first we thought it was just a strong cell
of convection -- a rain squall -- and the wind would soon slack. So we furled the roller-furling genoa jib and carried on with the staysail and full main,
trying to ride it out, hand steering.
This sail combination is not balanced, too great a portion of the sail
is aft of the boat's pivot point, making Estrela want
to round up -- head more into the wind, especially in gusts. As she heads closer to the wind her apparent
wind speed increases, accentuating her desire to round up. One has to throw all one's weight into moving
the tiller to windward to urge her to fall off again. Slowly, slowly Estrela
responds and returns to the intended course.
Motorsailing in light air we generally steer
with our ram-type electric autopilot -- a simple machine guided by an
electronic compass and attached at one end to a socket screwed to the boomkin and at the other end to a fitting on the underneath
side of the tiller. It pushes and pulls
the tiller back and forth to steer. When
the wind picks up though it usually can't overcome the boat's "weather
helm" -- it's tendency to round up especially in
gusts. So we swap it for the mechanical
Aries windvane, which works better the harder the
wind blows. Finally getting the Aries
all hooked up, once Kyle and I had realized this rain squall was no mere squall
but instead the beginning of a significant change in the weather, we made our
plan for reefing the main to get Estrela back in
balance and slowed down. By now she was
regularly running up over seven knots in gusts over 30 and the motion was
getting wilder. It was also raining
harder. Kyle was supposed to be
off-watch and sleeping by now -- no such luck.
She had crawled cheerfully from her bunk (really!), donned her foulies and joined me in the cockpit. Once we were confident the Aries could keep
her sailing more or less straight, helped by a bias we adjusted for using a
control chain, we called down to Eliza (also drafted into action) to flick on
the bright spreader lights to make us safer and more efficient. Kyle moved forward to the mast and smoothly
led the reefing procedure. It's a heck
of a lot easier to reef in daylight and before the wind has risen; tonight we'd
been caught by surprise. We put two
reefs in the main and Estrela calmed right down and
straightened up some, though she maintained good speed, around six knots. We both went below, stripping off soggy foul
weather jackets (now high on our finally-needs-to-be-replaced list) and clothes
and toweling off. Kyle and Eliza were
soon asleep and I have had an uneventful watch since.
We are headed for Lord Howe
Island. We decided to alter course for this
speck in the central Tasman Sea (though a speck with a supposedly excellent
all-weather anchorage) yesterday afternoon.
It had became clear from a series of weather faxes and "grib files" we had received during the day that an
unexpected low was forming in the area around Tasmania. It looked as though it would drag a
significant front across the Tasman Sea, bringing a strong southerly wind shift all up the Australian coast. The southerlies, including steep seas
generated by their collision with the south running East Australian Current
(remember the EAC in "Finding Nemo"!?),
would make arriving in one of the East Coast ports difficult -- we weren't
going fast enough to reach Brisbane or Coff's Harbor
before the front. So we have diverted to
Lord Howe. This is an ironic decision
for us. We had badly wanted to visit
Lord Howe en route to Sydney (it's a gorgeous and unspoiled national park), but
then we gave up the idea when it just seemed we'd almost certainly get smacked
by uncomfortable weather if we tried. So
here we are, sailing for Lord Howe now as the most risk averse
strategy. Go figure. We think we need to arrive there by Sunday
evening or Monday morning to beat the frontal passage. So we have our pedal to the metal.
-- Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Saturday, November 26,
2005 1:11 PM
Subject: Estrela
Log Entry -- November 26, 2005 (Day 6 of passage from New Caledonia to
Australia)
2330 local time (1230 GMT)
Saturday, November 26, 2005; Lat/Lon: 29 deg 58' S, 157 deg 37' E; Location: 80
NM NNE of Lord Howe Island, 30 NM E of Elizabeth Reef and 33 NM SE of Middleton
Reef; Course/speed: 192 degrees True at 5.4 kts;
Wind: E 14-17 kts; Sky: stars, stars, stars --
excellent visibility; Air temp: 77 deg;
Water temp: unknown; Sail tack and combination: motorsailing
about 100 degrees from apparent wind on port tack with single reefed main,
staysail and full genoa; Day five 24 hour run: 142
NM.
Go go
go go . Today has been all
about "put the peddle to the metal". If we can just maintain a 6 knot average boat
speed, we will make it to Lord Howe by tomorrow, Sunday, by the afternoon, and
be safely on a mooring before this weather front comes by Monday. Now granted, last year before the refit, the
notion of Estrela going 6 knots, let alone
maintaining a 6 knot average, was unheard of.
But the new and improved Estrela {and crew, by
the way--we're more gutsy} is a like a racing machine--ok more like a racing
bath tub, but you get the picture. So
today, parenting and cooking and tutoring went to the wind and high-performance
sailing was the event of the day. Doug
and I were either in the cockpit, the bunk, or at the computer--sail, sleep,
weather; sail, sleep, weather, our new mantra.
We kept up full sails for most of the day. When the wind speed and growing seas finally
made us call "uncle", we'd put in a reef or two. If the wind died down and our speed dropped
below 6 knots, we'd shake out the reefs.
If the wind got below 10 knots and we couldn't keep up the speed with
all the sails, on went the "iron genny"--the
engine. Constant constant constant. And always our eyes are fixed on the chart
plotter screen watching the boat speed.....
And what
about the girls? Well, when I looked down below I saw Abigail
standing over Eliza wielding a red and white braided rope, with knots
strategically arrayed down its length.
That same line became handcuffs and leg shackles! It's amazing what lack of adult supervision,
very active imaginations and limited space will produce! It's also incredible that despite all the
pent-up energy a little schooling was done.
Of course a teacher has to wonder when her 7 year old student {Abigail}
confesses that she wanted to PRETEND to listen to her French tape. "Mom, when I got the tape in the walkman
and put on my headphones, I was going to pretended to press the play
button. But Eliza wouldn't let
me." Do you see what we're up
against??!!
Later in the evening.....
Not looking too good. We must be bucking a current. We haven't been able to keep up the 6 knots
for most of the night. The engine is on, the sea is pretty calm, the sails are full except for a single reefed main-- which
really just adds a safety net in case it starts to really blow. At 0145, I woke up from my 4 1/2 hour
sleep to find a dejected Doug. He'd been
struggling all night to maintain a 5 knot average! That puts us at Lord Howe at dusk, which is
about 1930 or 7:30 pm. Unfortunately,
the moon is now rising around 0330, so we can't count on moonshine to bring us
in. We can only do our best. There's no need to be frantic, because we can
only do what we can only do. So we wait.
We do all that we can and wait.....
---Kyle
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Sunday, November 27,
2005 6:53 AM
Subject: Estrela
Log Entry -- November 27, 2005 (Day 7 of passage from New Caledonia to
Australia)
1745 local time (0645 GMT)
Sunday, November 27, 2005; Lat/Lon: 31 deg 31' S, 159 deg 03' E; Location:
moored Lord Howe Island lagoon; Depth: 11 feet; Wind: NNE 25-30 kts; Sky: a patch of blue overhead and torrential rain in
powerful squall just passed through; Air temp: 75 deg; Water temp: unknown; Day
six 24 hour run: 138 NM.
No sailing here tonight, no
sailing here tonight, no sailing here tonight . . .
we're on a mooring! What an
arrival! It couldn't have been more
dramatic. The wind kept rising all
day. We finally put a reef in the main
around 3pm, when it was blowing steadily 25 to 30 and we had everything up, the
staysail poled out to port making us wing 'n wing. Estrela exceeded 8 kts occasionally, surfing down waves. And we ended up needing every bit of speed we
squeezed out through the day. Lord
Howe's peaks rise sharply from the sea, first visible more than 30 miles
away. Dolphins joined us about 3:30, the
biggest we've ever seen, and they were rocketing out of the water, just like
Flipper. Kyle may have caught some
acrobatics on video. And the seabirds
were mesmerizing, dozens of petrels dipping and skimming all about us. And an albatross appeared -- such a vast
wingspan, so graceful -- like watching a 747 do aerial acrobatics. This was a most magical landfall. And now we can all sleep. We're securely tied with three lines and a
chain to the mooring tethers. The wind
is building and we expect the front to arrive sometime tomorrow morning. How wonderful it will feel to be securely
attached to a stout mooring inside a lagoon with a protective fringing reef
(the southern most coral reef, we just learned). The combined customs, immigration, police and
port captain guy who piloted us in by whaler at 5:15 this evening said he'll be
back in the morning to handle the Australian check-in formalities. Tonight we
will try to eat up all the food we think would otherwise be confiscated
tomorrow. Maybe we'll open a bottle of
wine too . . .
-- Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Saturday, December 10,
2005 11:12 AM
Subject: Estrela
on the move
We left Lord Howe Island at
5:45 PM today. We are en route to
Sydney. All is well--just a bit bumpy
for me to write much more!--Love, Kyle
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Sunday, December 11,
2005 6:11 PM
Subject: Estrela
Log Entry -- December 11, 2005 (Day 2 of passage from Lord Howe Island to
Sydney, Australia)
2330 local time (1230 GMT)
Sunday, December 11, 2005; Lat/Lon: 31 deg 03' S, 156 deg 42' E; Location: 125
NM WNW of Lord Howe Island and 316 NM NE of Sydney; Wind: SSW 25-30 kts; Sea: rough with irregular large swell and wind waves;
Sky: about 60% cloud cover but good visibility; Air temp: 76 deg; Water temp:
noticeably warmer - ("EAC!?); Course/speed: 298 deg T at 4 Kts; Sail combination: double reefed main and staysail;
Tack/apparent wind angle: port/close reach (approx 60 deg); Day one 24 hour
run: 106 NM at 279 deg T.
The Tasman Sea is living up
to its reputation as a challenging place to sail. The weather here is notoriously difficult to
forecast accurately; it changes rapidly as lows and fronts are born and develop
in the waters of the Great Australian Bight and around Tasmania and move
east. Associated troughs and fronts that
might look insignificant in one fax can start looking much uglier just 12 hour
later. And often the changes aren't
picked up quickly enough to show up at all in the faxes. The "squash zone" of steepened
pressure gradient and strong wind we are experiencing right now is a good
example. A minor trough that we skirted
to its north last night, using the engine because the wind was so light,
deepened and stalled early this morning, causing the winds to stay
uncomfortably out of the SW and to steadily increase. It's been blowing 22 to 30 all day and
pushing us already 65 NM north of our rhumb line from
Lord Howe to Sydney. When we left Lord
Howe late yesterday afternoon, the weather forecasts and faxes we'd picked up
had us anticipating a passage of mostly light air and motoring to Sydney. Our passage plans are a little more
complicated now.
-- Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Tuesday, December 13,
2005 12:20 AM
Subject: Estrela
Log Entry -- December 12, 2005 (Day 3 of passage from Lord Howe Island to
Sydney, Australia)
2330 local time (1230 GMT)
Monday, December 12, 2005; Lat/Lon: 31 deg 10' S, 155 deg 35' E; Location: 190
NM W of Lord Howe Island and 265 NM NE of Sydney; Wind: SSE 5 to 7 kts; Sea: confused but calming down; Sky: about 90% cloud
cover but good visibility; Air temp: 77 deg; Course/speed: 229 deg T at 4 Kts; Sail/engine combination: motorsailing
at 1400RPM w/single reefed main and staysail; Tack/apparent wind angle:
port/close reach (approx 60 deg); Day two 24 hour run: 61 NM at 282 deg T.
Phew--we're finally getting
a calm ride. This is the calm before the
storm, as we have a trough/low approaching later today. Who knows what that will bring. In the mean time, it's time to catch-up on
emails and galley stuff. Bread is in the
oven as I write.
I thought that I'd write
about Lord Howe Island, our home for the past two weeks. When we changed course and diverted to the
island, we did not know what to expect. Would there be a town? Could we get
water and propane? Could we take showers? Would the customs/quarantine officer
take all my "condemned" food--any fresh stuff, eggs, beans and
legumes, seeds and nuts, dried fruit? Was there a store for re provisioning? So we conserved water and I made a
"quick-the-quarantine-officer-is-coming" soup--which was filled with
a mixture of beans, lentils, the rest of my garlic,
ginger root, onions, and potatoes and seasoned with all my spice seeds (fennel
and caraway). I popped it in the
pressure cooker and voila--a deliciously textured stew with a
"complex" flavor.
As it turned out, Richard,
the police/customs/quarantine officer on Lord Howe Island (LHI), was very kind
and let us keep all our food. We just had to save all the food scraps and
dump them at sea en route to Sydney and then see the quarantine officer
there. He also answered all our
questions. There is a town with a
population of 300 people and a maximum tourist population of 400 people, who
arrive by the daily plane service and stay in small B&B's around the
island. No resorts! There is a water spigot next to the toilets
and showers just for visiting yachties. We could also get propane and even diesel if
we needed. Well, so much for our
imagined uninhabited island! Regardless
of our initial shock, we fell in love with this low-key, stunningly beautiful,
brimming with wildlife, World Heritage Sight.
A true naturalist's paradise.
The stormy weather--rain and
wind up to 45 knots--kept us aboard Estrela for the first
three days. Finally the sky got clearer
and we were amazed at the view. We were
surrounded by a crescent moon shaped island with two very high volcanic
mountains to the south and three smaller peaks to the north. Between these two ranges are lower hills and
flats, with several bays with white sandy beaches. We were moored in the crystal clear and
bright blue-green water of the lagoon, which lies in the center of the island,
with a reef enclosing the other side. At
high tide LHI looks like a half-moon. At
low tide, the reef is exposed, turning the moon into a capital D. Wow!!!