Kokamo sails on... without us
Kokamo's Pacifc Meanderings
Tom and Rachel
Wed 3 Nov 2010 12:04
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Kokamo is at 17:44.7S
168:18.7E
After a great weekend with Marve and
Molly - lots of kitesurfing, followed by a very gentle sail/motor and a taxi
ride for a lunch in the capital before they caught their flight home -
it was time to bring Kokamo back to Port Vila. It felt like we were
sailing into the harbour of a heaving metropolis - the two and half
months since we left the town, not to mention our 6 months in the Pacific, had
evidently adjusted our pace of life more than we'd realised.
Once we'd got over the bright city
lights, we set to in preparing the boat for a potential buyer flying in from
Australia. As well as giving her a good scrub inside and out, I changed the oil
and other jobs, as whoever ended up with the boat, us or them, was
going to want to exit Vanuatu pretty quickly before the cyclone season,
officially kicking off in November, sets in.
The last couple of days have been
taken up with Anne and her friend Alan going over Kokamo with a fine tooth comb
- understandable from such a couple of seasoned ocean sailors.
As expected, they found that despite her age, Kokamo is in remarkably good
shape, is built for serious sailing, handles beautifully, and that all the work
we did before leaving New Zealand makes her well equipped and maintained
package. The price agreed and the ease of passing her on is too good an
opportunity to miss (despite part of me being disappointed not to complete
the circuit and sail back to New Zealand. But this is a notoriously
difficult, often wild passage and it must be said that Rachel is less
disappointed!). So sadly, tomorrow morning, it is time to say farewell to
Kokamo.
I don't know why boats seem to
command such emotional attachment... it is ridiculous really. But it
is good to know that Anne has big plans for Kokamo. She hopes to sail her
in Australia and the Pacific for a couple of years, before taking her south to
the ice of the Antarctic peninsula. I never expected to trust a boat
so much after just 9 months on board - but I have every faith in Kokamo coping with everything that the
Southern Ocean can throw at her.
So on to the final chapter of our
year away... (Sad to be stepping back on to dry land, I'm trying not to see it
as an epilogue.) We have about 7 weeks left, and hope to catch up with
friends in Sydney, Brisbane and NZ, plus any other adventures we can squeeze
in. I reckon it might be a shock to be forced out of cruising
at island time, and accelerated to jet travel and city life... but it'll be
great to catch up with mates and gently rejoin the real world...
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