Tuesday 29th July  We are delayed in Port Villa, waiting for a weather window so we can set sail for Mackay in Australia.  Neva, Paramour, Glendora and Rascal were planning to leave three days ago but decided against it when the bad weather was reported as a tropical depression, although it wasn’t given a name. 

We have all been extremely worried about Hakuna Matata, caught in the middle of it, but we have now heard from them that they are safe.  Jeremy wrote to us all:

‘We are now on the other side of the storm.  We have had a dreadful and sometimes terrifying crossing - with some furious winds, driving rain, and scary seas.  At one point we were doing 17 knots under bare poles alone. The seas are still rough, but with the lighter winds, should steadily settle down.  We thought from the gribs we had and the Meteo France forecast we would be able to sail south of the system and not encounter winds greater than 25knots - but the system moved and we were caught in the middle of it.  We have sustained some minor damage to the jib, the sail cover, lost the cover for the dinghy motor, and had quite a lot of water in the boat - so considering everything we consider all that to be fairly minimal.  At one point in 45 knots of wind during the night we had the main down, but wind caught it from behind and it started flapping around wildly so I had to go up and managed to get it under control after a bit of a fight.  Had several ceiling panels fall down as we impacted waves, but again, nothing a little Velcro can't fix.’

Nobody wants to leave Port Villa until the gale has abated – hard when many of us have onward flights booked from Australia or friends and family meeting us when we get there.  This is a danger of any Rally – where you have perceived deadlines to reach.  As a direct response to Jeremy’s email we have decided to get our storm ‘sea break’ (which would slow the boat down in heavy weather) out from under the bunk and rig it up so it is more accessible. 

Our ‘Seabrake’, which requires 80 metres of rope and chain attached to it before deploying – and another 90 meters rigged up to the other end to form a ‘trip’ when you want to bring it back in!

We have had a really nice time in Vanuatu – visiting the town, other independent yachts, replacing our fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and cheese (which was confiscated on arrival) from the well stocked, modern supermarket and the local fruit and vegetable market.   We have got all our ‘jobs’ done in between relaxing and will clear out today – ready to leave tomorrow if the forecast is good.  We have a ten day trip to Australia and Jimmy Cornell writes:

Some of the obstacles which lie ahead of us…………..

‘Steady winds and a favourable current usually ensure a fast passage across the Coral Sea although there are many reefs waiting to strike the unwary.’ ‘Utmost attention is still required when navigating through this area’

So we really need our wits about us…..

Paul with ‘Jade’ a 22 year old cat who lives happily on a cruising yacht named Long Tall Sally!

Anahi at anchor in Port Villa…….