Quick Update Wednesday 15 October 2014
Tashi Delek
Mike & Carol Kefford
Wed 15 Oct 2014 04:26
The wind has just gone from North to South in the space of a millisecond.
Sails flapping and backing so quick change of sailplan and we are balanced
again although it is not entirely clear what the wind is planning on doing.
The forecast was that it would change from north to south at some point
during the course of today. We expected a gradual clock round from one to
the other. Not this time.
We still have between one and two knots of current against us so, although
we now have 15 knots of wind, we are needing the engine in order to keep the
boat speed over ground above 5.5 knots. Normally we would just go with it
and go slowly, however we want to arrive in the coastal waters early in the
day in order to make the best use of daylight and tides. We also want to
arrive on Friday so that we don’t incur the ferocious overtime charges you
have to pay to check in out of working hours.
We have already exchanged several emails with customs and immigration by way
of advanced notice of our arrival and preparations for quarantine and
hopefully being released from quarantine. As anyone who has flown into
Australia knows their biosecurity rules are, quite rightly, very strict. We
have heard terrible tales of yachts being told to haul out so that a team of
microbiologists can go over every molecule of their hull looking for alien
molluscs while men in white overalls take magnifying glasses to their fridge
and food stores removing every item of everything edible while yet another
group inspect the wood for termites, ticks, mites, cockroaches, worms,
fleas, flies and ferrets. Well, OK no one actually mentioned ferrets.
Once you actually talk to people who have been through the process recently,
or read blogs and sailing websites, it all seems considerably more
proportionate and sensible. Certainly the email responses we have had have
been extremely helpful and welcoming. Nevertheless there are some clear no
no’s on the food front so we are now enjoying a strange diet of eggs,
tomato, cabbage, bacon, banana, honey and green pepper in order to use up
our remaining fresh rations. Anything edible we don’t use will go over the
side before we reach the marine park boundary. Better that than landfill.
We have managed to keep the hull relatively clean throughout in spite of the
challenges of the very warm and nutrient rich water around Galapagos and the
Marquesas. Nevertheless some flora and fauna had latched on in the
difficult to reach places. While we were at anchor in Port Vela, Vanuatu
there was a knock on the hull and a gentleman in the water asking if we
would like our hull cleaned. Certainly we said partly thinking this was a
lucky break for us but mostly thinking it was incredibly enterprising of him
and therefore worth every penny. The price was very low for the effort
involved so big tip to match our delight at getting the barnacles on the
propeller busted. Amos then came aboard for a hot drink and told us he only
works two days a week so does this to supplement his income. He walks into
Port Vila from his home and then swims round the (large) anchorage looking
for hull cleaning work. Mike gave him a lift ashore in the dingy as
hopefully everyone else does after such a good job done.
Difficult to believe we only have two more nights at sea and we will have
sailed Tashi Delek crossed The Pacific.