A brief stop in New Caledonia We visited New Caledonia for a brief stop over on route to Mackay. New Caledonia is the fourth largest island in the Pacific, being 250 miles long by 31 miles wide. It is mountainous and as we approached it appeared much more barren than the previous islands we had visited. It is surrounded by an offshore barrier reef which is the largest insular coral reef in the world. The hills are covered with pine trees and the New Caledonian...

Amazing Tanna, it doesn't get better, an active volcano!! The crossing from Fiji to Tanna in the Vanuatu islands was very boisterous to say the least. We had 40 plus knot winds and rough confused seas with 15-foot waves, 36 hours in a washing machine. The boat coped superbly, cutting through the waves at speeds of up to 10 knots, which is faster than hull speed, must have been downhill! I was in the head, reviewing my dinner and watching the water go down the ...

Fiji We had a boisterous 445-mile sail from Tonga to Fiji, initially in strong winds and a rough sea. Just when we had only 33 miles to go the wind died completely and we had to use the iron sail. We anchored in the harbour at Suva, the capital city situated on Viti Levu island at noon on Tuesday and called Suva port control as required to inform the authorities of our arrival. Arriving in Fiji on a yacht is complicated. Yachts are required to email a form to ...

We arrived in the Vava'u group of islands in the kingdom of Tonga, on Saturday morning the 13th June. We had left Niue, 240 miles away, on Wednesday, expecting to arrive on Friday. We made good time in 20 to 30 knot winds and rough seas. When we contacted Vava'u radio they informed us that it was Saturday and customs were closed for the weekend. We had crossed the international date line and lost Friday. We picked up a mooring buoy outside the yacht club and wait...

We left Bora Bora on Friday afternoon, 29th May and sailed towards the Cook Islands. The trip was a mixture of good winds and fast sailing at 8 knots or no wind and having to motor. During a period of light wind we flew the cruising chute. At 1 o'clock in the morning, it became wrapped round the fore stay, what's known as a wine glass, because that's what the sail looked like. Not much fun sorting this out in the dark. The next day William poled the chute out to ...