17:44.594S  168:18.817E

Thursday 29 th July    

We left Musket Cove at 10.30 am on Monday 26 th July for Vanuatu, a 500-mile passage.  The wind started to increase just as the fishing line started screaming,  we were romping along at 8 knots so it took some time to stop the boat and land the fish – a nice tuna. We decided it was probably best to put the fishing rod away as the waves were growing in size.

By day two we had 25 – 30 knots of wind gusting 45 knots at times with large rolling seas – great. We were also getting a lot of water over the boat and every time Paul went into the cockpit he got soaked. So for the remainder of the passage, almost three days we stayed down below. It was a very unpleasent motion and I was seasick for most of the passage, taking over Amy’s role as horizontal sailor.

We arrived at Port Vila, Efate, Vanuatu at 5.30am, shattered and relieved to be in. We anchored by the quarantine buoy and caught up with some sleep whilst we waited for customs to open at 8.30 am.

There were a few casualties during the passage, one boat had a knock down, two boats suffered sail damage and a lot of people were seasick who had never been ill before. The only consolation was it had been a quick passage.

The best part of a passage like that is catching up with everyone for a few beers and swapping stories. For us though the evening was cut short as Paul passed out, he was helped back to the boat by Pete and Brian and given the once over by Sheila, who is a nurse ( midwife) she confirmed he wasn't pregnant . It was put down to dehydration and exhaustion, he had hardly slept in three day's. After a good night's sleep he was as good as new.