Blue Moon of Oz back in Australia

Well Blue Moon has finally made it back to Australia.

We are sitting at anchor in Trinity Inlet at Cairns. We are recouperating
after a very rough (for us) passage from Bramble Haven in the Louisides, PNG
to Cairns arriving last weekend. We had been having intermittant problems
with the main outboard that drives Blue Moon while in the Solomons but after
clearing customs at Noro in the Solomons it died and would not restart, It
would turn over but no ignition spark. Unable to fix it, we decided to sail
back from the Solomons to Cairns but then alas we were first becalmed and
then hit by the next front coming from Australia and sailed into Bramble
Haven, an anchorage we knew well from our 2006 trip to the Louisiades and
sailed through the Jomard passage and sailed to anchor and waited......

We arrived on the 8th June and after that the winds just blew and blew... We
kept looking at the weather with Steve (iridium king!) and eventually
consulted Bob McDavitt (New Zealand weather man) for confirmation of a break
in the weather. The weather definitely had eased over the three weeks at
Bramble Haven but we still encounted nothing under 20knots mostly ESE
sometimes SE and the seas were 2-3m occaisional 4m. We basically put George
the autopilot on and he steered us home. We didn't eat a lot as too
uncomfortable. Tried to sleep/rest and hang in there. The kids were both sea
sick several times and we all were very glad to arrive in Cairns 84hrs later
having only used half to third of a headsail the whole way back.

Bramble Haven was a lovely place to spend three weeks but being low on gas
and food supplies was nerve racking. 3 yachts arrived in the strong winds
from Australia and gave us rescue packages of food and gas which was really
appreciated. We ate things we had not seen since leaving Jayapura in October
2009. The 2 families living on Bramble Haven were generous with their food
too and we dined on so much fish and lobster the kids were saying "Not
lobster again!" Must have had at least 30 lobsters all 1kg plus, 5 mackeral
and a coconut crab while there.

Well Cairns has all the delights we have missed but comes at a price! We are
going to stay here for a month or two and wait for more northerly winds to
start. May even visit Lizard Island again. Looking at jobs and schoolling
here too as we have always liked Cairns and have now lived in the tropics
for three years overseas so are used to the heat.

Also considering other locations - sunshine coast, Brisbane, Gold Coast,
Northern NSW and back to Sydney. Our tenants in Sydney have signed for
another year.He is a builder and apparently doing a good job looking after
the property so what ever we decide will involve living on Blue Moon for at
least another year.

Well probably be a while before our next update as we sort out things, but
would love to hear from everyone, so email us or call. The iridium will be inactive until we head to Lizard or sail out of Cairns.

Please keep in touch.

Sarah & crew

Ode to Pura Vida

Ginny & David
WE MISS YOU

In 9 months at sea we have sailed together from Bacan near Halmahera,
Indonesia to Peava nr Morovo Lagoon in the Solomon's.
960nm in Indonesia,
1400nm in PNG,
130nm in the Solomon Islands,
almost 2500nm sailing together within sight of each other.

The Pura Vida taxi has taken on board 4 holiday rats who did not enjoy the
disembarkation!
Kevin from Kudat
Monty from Manokwari
Bobby from Biak
Gazza from Gizo
Left an exploding lighter in an oven
Pura Vida has towed Blue Moon 13nm
Been a power station to drill two holes on Blue Moon
David's bargaining
Ginny's haircolour
Sewing days
Fixing, repairing, brainstorming, planning and lists
Shopping expeditions
Oh Hell!

Shared many a bottle of red, white & port
Smoked many a cigar
Cups of tea on Pura Vida
Coffee on Blue Moon
Many a missing object on Pura Vida with a timer & pastry brush on holiday
from Blue Moon
44 missing 34 or is it 99 and 86?
Natasha giving David footscrubs and massages
Hunting for fruit and vegetables, trading with dugouts and sharing the
spoils.
Many a lost lure and failed spear hunt with a few notable successes:
Huge tuna coming into Tutupa, mackerel in Silver sound, coral trout/cod
& crayfish small to large!
Relying on the "Cumi cumi hunters" - Natasha & James
Ginny singing Sea Hunt to David
Consumed lots of crabs, lobster and occasional coconut crab.
Mammoth Christmas lunch
Seen many a sunset on the deck of Blue Moon and Pura Vidas deck - popcorn
and peanuts

BBQ king David has created many a superb BBQ site -
Kepulan Van Boo
Palau Manem near Numfoor was the most picturesque and hairiest
departure!
Wakde
Makan Island in the Hermits
Island near Lola with Auspray and evicted by locals!
Charapoana pontoon
Matikuri east

Superb Lunches ashore:
Champagne & Smoked Salmon at Nusa Dowra Lama
Waun Bay with tribal warrior dance in vines for dessert.

Shared many a recipe - pawpaw chutney, papaya salad, banana bread, cabiatta,
chocolate cake, Anzac biscuits, surprise Lemon pie
Don't forget the eggplant!
Shared many a pizza
Sushi
Blue Moon Blue Moon cake - blue of course!

River washing days at English Cove, Ringgi Cove, Bimbolo & Kavolavata
Plunge pool of icy refreshing water at English Cove
River prawn snacks

Had company for a few days here and there with other yachts:
Crasara Cruising
Second Winds
Port & Starboard
Twin Image
Auspray
Kiss me Kate
Hanuman

The trip has been awesome and better for sharing with you.
I will miss looking out the window and seeing the blue flashing light and I
guess Ginny will miss the Blue Moon star.

Stuck in Munda again

Hi,

Well a month since the robbery and we have been over to Morovo Lagoon and
spent our last days with Pura Vida. Ginny and David are now in Honiara, shopping big for the next leg to Vanuatu and New Caledonia. We've spent a fab 9 months traveling through Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon's. It was a very sad farewell. We hope to catch up again round Xmas/New Year in Queensland somewhere......

Our plan was to come back to Munda on Friday for the big market get veggies and spend the weekend at Lola. Then clear customs and immigration next week at Noro, on to Gizo for last shop and wait at Simbo for a weather window to
Louisiades and wait for the weather window to Cairns. We are 870nm away from
Cairns.

Best made plans......

We arrived safely at Munda after a couple of days of great light sailing winds and anchored. Off to the market. Back to the boat and cannot start the engine. John spent the rest of the morning trying to isolate the electrical problem. Key start didn't work and couldn't start by bypassing via starter solenoid. Turned over but no start.

It is now Sunday morn and the engine is still not operational. Found a chaffed wire shorting to the block, found a loose magnet in the stator, key start now works but still not starting, turns over but nothing else. We have the help of a great mechanic Boboe - a half Solomon, half Aussie guy who has been very methodical and helpful. Not sure what to do next. I have left John to it and gone to Agnes Resort to email!

I haven't slept well of course as I imagine people climbing on the boat in the wee hours.

Alas problems come in threes....

Our autopilot has decided to rotate to starboard only (Just ants to head for Australia!). Yesterday though via the internet I managed to locate a hardly used second hand ST3000 in Tin Can Bay. It is a dicontinued model so
cannot buy a new one or spare parts. This is being mailed hopefully on Monday and you guessed it to MUNDA!

ALSO I managed to snap the iridium phone aerial. Still operational but now held together with tubing and hose clamps.

Everyone has been very friendly here in Munda. No repeats of our last visit so far but we have locked ourselves into the boat at night. Our visas expire June16th so still have a while to go to sort all the problems out.

Actually in addition to the problems James has managed to fall over on some world war II wreckage and needed to have three stitches in his knee at Munda hospital. Everyone but John has a cold. Natasha is the worst, i just have a runny nose and sore throat - a leaving present from our week in Paeve. Fab place near Morovo Lagoon.

We all feel in need of big hugs and a fairy godmother to fix the problems and make all our wishes come true. The kids are having a good time as we speak, playing in the resort gardens. I hope John is having better luck with the engine. Better go and find out....

Bye for now

Sarah

Blue Moon robbed in MUnda

Hi all,

Bad news from Blue Moon.

We arrived in Munda the Tuesday after Easter and wednesday morning at 2am we were broken into while anchored off Agnes resort. A place we were advised was safe as the resort encourages yachties to share the facilities and has security guards who are monitoring the resort will flash torches regularly around the bay and anchored yachts.

They got past the door and screen which were in. We cannot remove these without making a noise and took our mobile phone, camera, the kids portable dvd player, torch, bag, money, phone and wifi recharge cards.

Big bummer! Offered reward as everyone knows who broke in as they have had a spate of breakins locally but because of the wontok system and the fact the kids involved are under prison age. Nothing can be done or nobody will
arrest them. Yet. Very frustrating. The bag upsets me as it is irreplacable (made by a friend in the Hermit islands PNG), the dvd player is a pest as the kids love it and it is useful on passage making. The phone has been replaced with a new cheap Nokia bought at Telekom here in the Solomons, Hopefully it will work in Australia, it was only $50 and they gave me back the same number with its credit unused!! + 67-7430107

I have never been broken into before and feel unsafe when i sleep at night so don't sleep well. Time will heal and i guess we weren't confronted by men
with machettes and tied up like other breakins we have heard of first hand in PNG.

My problems are nothing compared to the adventures from other yachts. Two
dismastings, one in the pacific one in the indian ocean, a tow up the red sea and various break downs. The worst news was the dismasting by friends - Twin Image who we met in Kavieng. Alone in the north pacific just north of
Guam, the rig crashed to the deck in the middle of the night 120nm NW of
Saipan. The front forebeam broken and everything in shambles.

I don't want to go through that......

Hugs to all, we're all healthy. Hope you are too.....

Sarah

Moving on in the Solomon Islands

After having enjoyed two weeks at Lola resort it is time to move on. We have had a lovely Easter here. The kids are ecstatic as both the Easter Bunny and the tooth fairy found us last night. Natasha had lost another tooth and the beetlenut fairy found it and left a red glass of water!! (If interested I can explain all.)

Next stop is Munda, then Rendova island group and then Morovo Lagoon. We will turn around there and retrace our steps whereas Pura Vida will continue on to Vanuatu via Honiara. It will be sad to say goodbye to our cruising friends of the last three years. We have been sailing together on and off since June 2007. Davids birthday is coming up before we split so I am sure it will be a night to remember. I have saved special treats from Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New guinea to share, food and drink that we cannot purchase here in the South Pacific. When we get back to Australia, the supermarket will be an Aladdin's cave of treats that we have not seen for a very long time!

The plan is still to leave the Solomons around the end of May and head for the Louisiades in Papua New Guinea and then wait for a window to sail to Cairns June/July as long as the cyclone season appears to be over and the South East trade winds are in. Winter in Cairns will be a shock after and heat and humidity of the last three years but I have dreams of being cold so will enjoy the change I am sure!

Pura Vida ran on to the reef entering the Vona Vona lagoon to get to Lola and enjoyed the night at a bit of a list. John dived under the boat and chiseled some coral head away to make the pull off the reef easier. With Auspreys help, their engine doing the pulling and Pura Vida reversing, in minutes Pura Vida were free. David was embarrassed as he was at the helm after having asked Ginny for a cuppa, but no damage done, thank heavens for steel hulls and bilge keels.

Another rat had also found Pura Vida, this is number five - Gazza from Gizo. Pura Vida weren't in a marina this time so not sure how Gazza got onboard might have swum or called the dinghy taxi perhaps. Our cockroach problems seem to have come under control. It is always difficult with cardboard boxes and fresh produce from markets and dugouts to keep control of ants and cockroaches but Asian pesticides have done the job. We had a sea snake try to make a home in the main outboard housing but managed to discourage that. Squid though have been welcomed and many a meal has been hooked onboard by the kids. The yelling and screaming "I've got one" and then the pumping black ink I could do without. Squid ink and tropical sun are a bad combination causing the ink to dry quickly so the ink must be cleaned off the hull quickly, usually by mum or dad. We must have caught about 3 kilo's of squid while here at Lola. Yum "Cumi cumi goreng" and papaya salad are a regular meal.

Well life aboard Blue Moon is school, swimming, fishing, walking, kayaking, visits by dugouts with fruit and vegetables or wood carvings and occasionally crocodile heads......

All is well, more exploring to do.....

Zipolo Habu resort, Lola Island, Vona Vona Lagoon, Solomon Islands

Wow, what a truly beautiful location, laid back and in company with three other yachts.

We have enjoyed the Solomons more than Papua New Guinea as we feel safer. There was alot of violence in various places we visited and we had to lock ourselves inside at night to make it difficult. We have heard awful first hand stories of robberies and being tied up, generally along the mainland coast of Papua. Kavieng has had a few issues and petty theft from the dinghy and decks if yachts seems a common occurrence.

Solomon islanders are very friendly they have as much or as little depending on how you look at it as those in New Guinea but seem to have more pride in their appearance and their homes. Maybe more hope...

We are doing well and hitting year 6 and year 1 school work. We are planning to stay around the western province for our three months and then sail back to Australia in May via the Louisaides's, we will be looking for a good weather window and no cyclones!! Ului missed us by about 300nm and made landfall at Airlie Beach. I hope all those we know were safe...

More news as we go...