Fast sail from Bora Bora to Vanuatu via Tonga. Ep. 130
In the last last episode we installed an ocean-going Starlink and then we sailed to Bora Bora. In this episode we have our final day in Bora Bora before we sail on to Tonga. We wait in Tonga for appropriate weather window to sail on to Vanuatu.
we are Pierre, Lisa and our furry crew member Tiller. We are sailing around the world in our Outremer 5x catamaran and we're going to be sailing to Tonga so that we can rejoin the GLYWO rally after spending a full year in French Polynesia. Please subscribe to join our adventures and a big thank you to everyone who's already subscribed [Music] Bora Bora we can see the moon by the sailboat behind us it's kind of pretty it's 6 o'clock in the morning and we're going to leave later today after we do a dive After our dive we pulled up anchor and we left for Tonga Before we continue I just want to mention a Foundation that we support a not-for-profit foundation called The Alliance to Cure. They work to bring
awareness for cerebral cavernous malformation and support research to try and find a cure for this devastating disease. The foundation has set up a donation page for viewers who enjoy our sailing videos and if you'd like to contribute please see the link in the comments below or on the biotrek sailing website. We've just put the mainsail up and we're leaving Bora Bora one reef for the night we are just about to go out the pass There we are just leaving Bora Bora There is our route. Tonga. I put in some marks of nice anchorages From Tonga we are going to head further west and pass south of Fiji to Tanna in Vamuatu That is our big black sail or Gennaker Got Tiller watching me every step of the way. She is tied up
That is where Tiller likes to be when we are going fast Too fast - can't fish so since we left our average speed is 10.7 but today our average is 10.9. Maximum speed today is 22 knots but since we left is 22 knots but today 21.7 knots Surfing down a wave Another day at sea, the wind changed we were going directly down wind so we put up the spinnaker Next the net jib that prevents hour glass formation It is the second day we have had our spinnaker up. So it's been pretty smooth sailing the last couple days. Calm motion, following seas l just got hit by a fish in the head and it really wacked me. OK Tiller want it. Let Tiller bring it out. She wants to see what it is Taylor's so gentle when she picks up a flying fish she just wants to play so we threw it back so it could live We just took the spinnaker down putting it away. We don't need it again.
It's gonna be a stormy night It is our last night at sea on this sail to Tonga. Sunset is looking beautiful but there's a lot of storms around. We just put the Spinnaker down and there's no wind so the main sail is not up right now but the plan is just to get the genoa out when the wind comes back Approaching Tonga We arrived too late for customs, immigration quarantine and health to visit the boat so we anchored in an anchorage near town and we were going to proceed to town the next morning Here is the summary of our trip. Maximum speed 25 knots distance traveled 1308 nautical miles check-in process was easy but took most of the day we had to take the boat to the dock and then the four officers had to come on board. After that was done we headed over to
the local market so we could buy some fresh vegetables and then at four o'clock we headed over to a restaurant Kraken, a restaurant owned and run by an Australian couple good exercise. It weighs a couple pounds anyways And how do you like it Mr Beer Expert? it's okay and it's beer. Fish, fish, and fish.Cchicken and spaghetti and the prices, those are Tongan dollars which is about one third USD. Cheers the weather was a little unstable so we headed over to a beautiful anchorage at the Blue Lagoon to wait for better weather before heading off to Vanuatu. It was a beautiful sheltered place to wait out some northwest winds and rainy weather Super rainy day out today so town is that way it's finally stopped raining there is a resort there there is a cave in there We had a weather window we went back to town to check out It was so nice to see all the activity going on in town to prepare for the ARC. Restaurants finally getting repaired to be ready to open. Those pink boats shown on AIS, those are the
ARC boats coming across the Pacific. So I'm going for a little walk in Tonga but it's a little difficult to go for a walk here because some of the dogs are a little aggressive I was told if you just pretend you're picking up a stone that'll do the trick and it does do the trick but it's not very pleasant. So I'm heading back towards town right now. It is a beautiful day. it's Sunday. I am looking at the houses people sitting on their porches. Some really nice houses, some run-down ones. Basically anything that's a tourist institute a hotel or things they're decrepit and run down. It's been closed for three years here so that's really taken a toll on the economy super friendly people though most of the houses have gates and check out the gate to this house. It's pretty nice and
I'm not sure what the story is for this abandoned house but it's quite a sight it's half finished maybe it was going to be a hotel I'll have to ask somebody And there is the view of the town down below A beautiful rainbow as we departed Tonga so today we left for Vanuatu from Tonga it's pretty fast sail. The winds are not that high they're around 20 knots or so but we've got very big seas we're going downwind and we're surfing down waves at incredible speeds. And once in a while you get a monster wave going by it looks like it's 20 foot or so but I think the general waves are about 10 foot not too rocky. We've got one reef in the main we've got our big black sails, the gennaker and so far so good it's a fast sail so far and our plan is to ride the end of this bit of wind and we'll come into lighter winds as we go past Fiji and come into Vanuatu but then there'll be another storm coming next week so we're kind of between two storms to get to Vanuatu and the plan is to meet the GLYWO rally there and we're so anxious to see all our friends we haven't seen them for over a year it'll be so much fun we pass through the many islands south of Fiji during daylight hours we're in the second morning of our trip to Vanuatu we're just passing Fiji now this is the southern Lao group a bunch of little islands and we're going through a pass. Pierre is navigating and we're keeping a distance from all these atolls. It's kind of an overcast morning not
so bad ,it's not too hot and we still have our big black sail up or the gennaker Seas have calmed down. It was pretty rough last night. Rock and roll sleeping but it's much better this morning and onward We are going to go for awalk so today we came in the southern Islands we were lucky enough to come in at daybreak so we could see you the atolls, all the water breaking and the atolls. By superimposing the radar image and the islands right away you can tell that the image of the hard echo of the island matches the land so that's a good safety if you were navigating here at night and we're having morning oats for breakfast. Morning oats. You just take either normal oatmeal
or a muesli cereal add in some almond milk leave it overnight also with some chia seeds it's very good and then add some bananas or other fruit in the morning and eat it up Waves increase between the island You tell me when Gybing the gennaker Almost past Fiji by sunrise the next day The winds became light and we tried some differe sail combinations. With slower speeds we also caught a fish We had to fish on. The line's got tangled we lost one and I don't know if we still have another. It's still there it is a big-eyed tuna and I have killed it with an ice pick she thinks she caught it she's so happy [Music] oh curse of the modern boat. Splice, and splice, and splice and re-splice. This is one of many splices. Thankfully we have new rope arriving when the rally boats arrive We switched to east. I guess I missed it. We will now be counting down our longitude from east 180 instead of counting up towards 80 from the west We are just passing Fortuna Island which is the eastern most island in the Vanuatu chain I read that it was the first island converted to Christianity by missionaries and there are many churches on the island. There's a population of about 500. Supply ships are rare and it
has a little airport that' serves the island. It is too bad that we don't have time to stop We are sailing on the windward side of the island and most of the villages are on the leeward side of the island it was formed by an underwater volcano and it certainly looks like it, doesn't it! Tanna island in view so we're approaching Tanna and we can see the outline of the island and we can see where the volcano has steam coming out from it. Pretty obvious. Looking forward to seeing it a little bit closer up but maybe not from the rim. I've been doing some research I'm not sure I want to do that trip right to the rim. Sounds a bit sketchy to me It is not smoking now Arrival, Port Resolution if you enjoyed this video please consider contributing to the Alliance to Cure. In the next video you're going to be seeing more of Mount Yasur and a volcano up close and personal Until then please enjoy being in the present moment, stay safe and see you soon and for those of you who wonder where Tiller goes on the boat, here it is
2023-05-06 23:02
