On our way again
My Way
Mike Kopman
Sun 16 Nov 2008 01:40
Hello everyone,
We left Vanuatu yesterday morning (Saturday for us, Friday for you) and are en route in light breeze and flat sea. Yes, motoring! The wind is a paltry 7 knots and it's H.O.T.
We actually cleared customs and immigration yesterday and then decided to wait out a nasty thunderstorm before getting underway. Well it ended up lasting through much of the night: torrential rain, black skies, thunder, lightning and gusty winds. Exactly what Commander's Weather suggested we might find en route to Australia. The water temperature is around 29 degrees C around here at the moment which is perfect for all kinds of crazy convective activity. The atmosphere is quite oppressive. Weird streaky clouds in the sky and a distinctly 'unsettled' feel to the air. It's made for some awesome blood red sunsets though. It's this same warm water that sets off Tropical Storm formation so let's hope it cools off a bit. According to Commanders the water temp off the Solomon Islands has dropped a degree or two over the last week so that's a good sign for us.
All the rain meant Espiritu Santo's many rivers discharged an armada of coconuts, branches and, the heavy battleships of the fleet, some huge logs! We spent a stressful few hours after leaving Vanuatu dodging these wooden icebergs until we got far enough offshore to have left them all behind. We hope! On top of that, we had a really strong opposing current against us - up to 3 knots at times! Good thing we spent a few hours in the water giving the hull and props a good clean before we left. Every bit helps!
Our time in Vanuatu was really special for one big reason: the SS President Coolidge, the largest diveable World War 2 wreck in the world. The Coolidge was a luxury cruiseliner that was converted into a troopship. She sank in 1942 after hitting friendly mines while approaching Luganville. Amazingly, only 2 lives were lost out of a complement of 5,000 men. We did several dives on this enourmous piece of history that really took our breath away. Most spectacular was a surreal night dive using no torches. We penetrated one of the murky cavernous cargo holds to watch thousands of Lantern Fish flashing their bioluminescent eye sockets in the darkness. We both agreed we've never experienced anything like it. It defied description really, like visiting another planet.
There was of coure a lot more to see besides the Coolidge, but all too soon it was time to leave Vanuatu. We're now officially in cyclone season, and we have to get to Australia asap. We expect to be in Thursday Island around the 24th of November.
Lots of love,
Mike & Sarah