Brisbane to Vanuatu

We made it!

This was a long trip of 11 days, 1323 nautical miles (2000 odd km), 56 hours at anchor for an average passage speed of 6.5 knots. Top wind speed of 38 knots and maximum boat speed of 10.8 knots. The weather for the passage was not the most comfortable with approximately 50% being ahead of the beam and a short wind wave crossing the swell that would cause the boat to pound when sailing close to the wind. We were able to reduce the pounding significantly by cracking sheets just a bit to be sailing 40 to 44 deg apparent. Still making good headway but at a much more comfortable motion for the crew as well as the boat.

Evan working on the anchor windlass

We made it safely to Port Vila arriving at 8am on the morning of the 13th May to a beautiful sunny day. After contacting Yachting world marina we were directed to the quarantine buoy to await quarantine inspection and then I was off to complete Customs and Immigration paperwork while Evan, John and Paul tidied up the boat at the marina wall. It was a fairly painless exercise with all the officials being helpful and friendly. 13,300 vatu later the process was complete and we had officially completed our first entry process for a foreign port.

John and Paul (still relaxing) on watch

Paul and Evan relaxing on watch

The highlight of the trip was our 48 hours at Chesterfield reef. The diving and snorkelling was amazing. The coral in the lagoon looked as if they had been constructed for a private aquarium at the cost of millions of dollars. They were picture perfect with an abundance of hard and soft corals with no signs of damage from boat anchors or other human influences. It really was an amazing experience.

Willo 1 and the Skipper anchored at Chesterfield Reef

The view up from the coral at Chesterfield reef

The low point of the trip was the last slog to windward to Port Vila. We knew it was inevitable that we would have to sail directly into the wind at some point. It was just that this came at the end of the trip and a combination of tiredness, no sun to dry the wet weather gear between watches, persistent wet throughout the boat due to a "someone forgot to close the through hull and flooded the boat with about 500 litres of salt water" incident and a confused and uncomfortable sea state.

But it was worth it. The sights on the way over here combined with the friendly locals and sites of Vanuatu have made it all worthwhile.