Merry Christmas to all from the southern suburbs of Sydney! We love Cronulla Marina and the great local amenities, including fantastic train service right from the marina to the Sydney CBD. Our friend John Madigan will join us on the 28th before we head back to Sydney Harbour and stake out a spot from which to enjoy New Years Eve. Visited the stunning must-see Queen Victoria Bldg yesterday and gawked at the Swarovski Crystal Christmas Tree adorning the atrium some 75' high! Dinner at Medusa Greek Taverna with Fabio and Lisa, sy Amandla. Opa! You know you've been cruising a while when you see in the marina boats you recognize from the islands... and find out they are now being sailed by new owners! Thus with Voahangy and Knotty Lady at Cronulla. Still delighted with our stay in Oz, Mersoleil will be at Sydney and Cronulla until around 10 January, then head south to Tassie.

Simply can't get over the shock! We LOVE Australia and almost didn't come here at all! Yes, Kerry, we WERE going to Palau, until El Nino made crossing the EQ prohibitively risky. Entered Sydney Harbour today, sailed by the Opera House and under the bridge, then settled at quiet Rose Bay on a pink visitors mooring. The traffic and bustle reminds us of Seattle. Broken Bay/Pittwater was pure bliss. We could spend the entire season there -- but then we'd miss Tassie. Can't have that! Will head south to Tasmania shortly after New Years Eve.

Entered Broken Bay which is about 20 kilometers north of Sydney, but completely surrounded by the Kuring Gai Chase National Park...beautiful. Had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with Michael (sy Patanjali) and Helen & Peter (sy Common Crossing). All is truly wonderfil on board.

Just can't bring ourselves to leave Newcastle - the town is great and the parties are about to begin! Marina credit vouchers, prizes, and an outstanding program have made this rally the one to watch! Jazz nights with live music, an all-day winery tour, and seminars on local druising highlights.... Mersoleil has elected to remain at Newcastle until 25th November. Then we'll work our way down the New South Wales coast to Sydney for the holidays. Both are over the flu and now we're having fun!!! Yay! Oh. And, yeah, all is well on board.

Mersoleil remains at Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club Marina where John Hembrow is producing his first Down Under Rally. Great fun! Lots of activity for early arrivals. Thanks, John. Bev has had the flu since 8 October in Noumea and now, just as she's regaining her personality, Robbie's in bed with the same bug. With luck he'll recover in less than a month! We've not ventured out much, as you might guess, but so far we have every reason to believe we love Australia! We've met some wonderful people, found delicious food in every restaurant we've visited and are delighted with the gourmet delicacies in the stores and delis. The marina is clean and comfortable, very well-located and we're only about 170km from Sydney - an easy one day drive to buy Boat Books or run other errands. Had our anchor and chain regalvanized at a terrific price, too, with four day turn-around. We think/hope to depart Newcastle on Monday and head south. Pittwater will be the first stop, then Sydney.

Date & Time of Report: Monday, October 19, 2015 @ 0800 Sydney, AU Time. Arrived safely and now tied to dock at Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club, Newcastle, AU. Arrived just off entrance to New Castle Harbour at 2AM last night and stood off until first light then followed 1000 foot long freighter "Spring Brave" in to Harbour. Wonderful passage; had to motor last 24 hours as wind tied, but current off shore pushed along at 2-3 kts in a favorable direction. Docked next to Fabio & Lisa on sy Amandla who were nice enough to stumble sleep-eyed from their boat to catch our lines. Now awaiting Customs & Immigration. All well on board.

Date & Time of Report: 05:00 Sunday 18 October 2015

We've been motoring for more than 24 hours.  Well, not quite.  There was that overly optimistic moment when I (Bev) thought I could raise the main, prevent the boom 'way out and sail in 12kts dead astern.   After all my effort the winds promptly returned to 7kts and I got half an hour's practice in raising and lowering the sail and turning in circles.  At the present rate we'll arrive Newcastle at 08:00 on Monday.  Serendipitously that's the time I hit with the dart last week and that's what I declared to be our arrival time on our original yacht report to the AU authorities.  (Nevermind that it was for Bundaberg, not Newcastle.)  It has been unusual on this passage to find the weather growing warmer each day.  We've both cut back on the cool weather gear for night watches.  It's five degrees F warmer tonight than it was the first night out of Noumea.  Is this El Nino?  (I blame all incomprehensible pheno

 mena on El Nino.)  All said, the seas are calm, we're comfy as can be and it's a bit difficult to believe we're climbing into higher latitudes so easily and comfortably. Yay for that!  Thank you, David and Patricia, for YIT.  We've used several position reporting apps, and YIT is our favourite! Your time and efforts are very much appreciated aboard SY Mersoleil!

Date & Time of Report: 06:30 Sydney, AU Time, Sat., 17 October. Wind went away last night and we are now motoring. We'll turn a little more south this morning to coast down to Newcastle as we hunt for the favorable current. All well onboard.

Date & Time of Report: 16 OCT 2015 08:35 Sydney time. Thunder showers during the night gave another nice bath and we continue to make good time. Even with the wind as deep as 150-165 degrees off the port bow we're making better than 7 kts. Sea temp is above 73F now and we welcome the south-flowing current. Blue skies again this morning and we notice the air is getting cooler. You've just gotta love a nice passage!

Date & Time of Report: 15 Oct 2015 05:00 The Magic Passage to Oz Continues! OK, we missed Bundaberg. But the winds and weather favoured Brisbane, so why not make for Brisbane? Or even Newcastle? It looks like these lovely conditions will hold, so we raked the sand and wrote a new plan - Newcastle will be our Port of Entry. About 3 hours ago the wind dropped to 6-8kts, so we're motoring on a glassy surface. Sunrise will probably stir things up a bit. Maybe we'll hoist the sails then. A few showers on radar. One gave Mersoleil a quick bath, the others have stepped aside to allow her to pass.

Date & Time of Report: Wednesday, 14 Oct 2015, 13:15 I wonder what made me think a passage to Oz was going to be difficult! Except for 3 hours overnight when the wind wasn't up to the task of pushing Mersoleil along, we've been enjoying the best sailing ever, since departing Noumea on Monday afternoon. With a little favourable current to enhance our speed, we've been swishing across the Coral Sea at speeds of 7 to 9.5kts, enjoying turqua skies and a silky ride. Full main and genoa are both out to starboard and puffed with air even though we're deep downwind - and there's no rolling! Who took the rolling out of downwind? Maybe we're traveling at swell speed.... This is the passage we would order for guests. Heading for Brisbane and looking forward to seeing David, Angelina and Natalie there.

Exited Passe du Dumbea at Noumea Monday afternoon at 1700 local time. Weather thus far just as forecast. Winds last evening SE @ 20-23 kts; seas SE at 2 meters. Now steering course of 233 degrees true (for better wind angle) at 8.1 kts SOG.

Arrived in Noumea, New Caledonia at 1500 local time, Friday, Oct. 2nd, which was too late to clear in to the country. We anchored in the very busy harbour over the weekend in a fairly boisterous blow (20-25 kts), and checked in with Customs & Immigration yesterday. Last night had a love dinner with Helen & Peter (Common Crossing). Will spend today and tomorrow sorting out our mainsail and fridge issues. All well on board.

Departed Tanna Island yesterday at 0830 and after clearing the coast we have been on one long, gorgeous beam reach. The first few hours we were close to the wind, but but for the last 12-14 hours the wind comes at 85 degress off the port bow. Mersoleil is loving this and we're doing 7.5 - 8.5 knots...which is now a problem. She is sailing too fast and we find that we'll arrive in the dark at the entrance to Nw Caledonis's very tricky eastside pass through the reef. We have a rule to not shoot pases in the dark this pass is not a candidate for breaking the rule. We're now pondering options which are essentially two: take down our full sails and put up our postage stamp heavy weather sail which would cut our speed quite a bit, or...approach the pass entrance, but stand off in the dark 10 miles or so and heave to. Oh well. Weather is lovely. Our freezer has mysteriously gone off line. Couldn't have happened at a better time as we emptied it pretty thoroughly before we left Tanna Island anticipating that New Cal bio-security was going to take everything anyway.

Still anchored at Port Resolution, but planning on departing for Noumea, New Calendonia, tomorrow morning. Weather looks good. We're going to the "traditional village: today with Peter & Helen (Common Crossing)....a little unsure what this means, but we're game for most anything. Weather is gorgeous and hot. All well on board.

At anchor, Port Resolution, Tanna Island, Vanuatu. Having a great time here; quite lovely at Port Resolution. The Bay is commodius and now shelters 8 boats. Dinner last night with Helen & Petter from sy Common Crossing. Good conversations. Thinking about a weather window to head out to New Caledonia, perhaps tomorrow, perhaps not. All well on board.

Anchored at Port Resolution, Tanna Island, Vanuatu. Arrived here after uneventful overnight passsage from Port Vila. Sharing anchorage with Commons Crossing (Helen & Peter) and a small ketch, Four Winds. Aprodite left as we came in. The anchorage is well protected with good holding in 5-6 meters. Local ni-Vanuatus are very friendly and eager to trade for food stuffs, fishing hooks and line. The head man of the nearest village, Stanley, organizes trips to the volcano and charges $11,700 Vatus (about USD$117) to take us to the top. All well on board.

About to drop the mooring at Port Vila. We checked out of the country yesterday reserving the right to stop at Tanna for a few days on the way to New Cal. How very accommodating of the officials in Port Vila! We've begun the daunting research for our eight months in Australia - so far we're completely overwhelmed with the new and unfamiliar. Thank God for Mark and Cat on Tuuletar and their sage advice.

Tsunami?? What Tsunami??? We don't need no stinkin' tsunami! No tsunami here. Back to Port Vila to wait for weather window to Tanna Island and The Fireworks! All well on board.

Left Port Vila several days ago and had a nice sail up to Port Havannah which we now share with Kractd, Loafer and Loch Marin. The weather has been sunny to partly cloudy and this morning the wind picked up to the mid-teens and a rare gust to 20 kts. This is a protected anchorage with good holding. We've baked bread (in the new bread maker machine which we LOVE!), washed clothes, made water and have generally been slugs. We will return to Port Vila...maybe tomorrow, maybe a day or two later...do a little provisioning and then bash southward to Tanna Island for The Great Volcano Expedition. All is well on board.

Welcome to Vanuatu! We made landfall in the dark about 5am and made an easy passage through the harbour entrance into Port Vila at 8:00 am. Customs, Bio-Security and Immigration went easily and professionally. We went to town and enjoyed the incredible produce available at the market. Like the Fijians, the people of Vanuatu are warm and friendly. We're going to like it here.

Mersoleil is making the very best of light winds sailing happily at 6.8 - 7.0 knots with just 10 - 11 knots of wind. The seas are calm and life is good on board. After three days we've hit our sleep cycle sweet spot so we both feel, if not exactly "rested", then not exhausted either. Both of us are reading books, puttering, sleeping and standing watch.

Beautiful night at sea with soft breeze, gentle clouds hiding then revealing a golden moon. Flying the main only as wind is deep astern. Only making 5 knots, but we really don't care as the seas are quiet. All well onboard.

After a lovely wind and wing day sail the wind has fallen and we are motor-sailing, but doing so with high hopes the wind will fill back in later today. Weather and been grand and the sea is azure and relatively calm. We have fallen into passage mode which means trying to sleep when off watch, eating little and reading alot. All well onboard.

Soooooo sad to leave Fiji and our wonderful friends. This is Passage Day 2 to Port Vila, Vanuatu. Weather has been wonderful, although wind is slacking off; we're sailing wing-and-wing at the moment, but I think we'll have to motor for a while.

Departed Fulaga on the only weather window available in the past few weeks and had a wonderful sail across to the S side Viti Levu. Took Beqa Passage toward the West side and stopped for a fun two day visit at Likuri Island, Robinson Crusoe Resort. Their fantastic reputation for cultural entertainment including fire dancing is justly deserved.

Headed for Denarau on the 2nd August and are still there tucked in at the end of C-dock totally dwarfed by Dragonfly and other superyachts. We'll wait here until some parts arrive from the US, then will press on for New Cal. Not in early August as planned... more like early September. The new Denarau Yacht Club which was under construction last season now boasts a fantastic new restaurant, Rhum-ba with reasonable prices and the very best food at the marina. El Nino seems to have brought lots of wind to Fiji this season and it's challenging to find comfortable breezes for moving about amoung the islands. We're content to stay put for now finishing projects (Bev is replacing the stitched leather on grab rails, Robbie has a long list of things that will keep his head in the bilge for several days) and visiting with Nadi and Lautoka friends.

We might hop a bus to Suva before the end of the month and spend a couple of nights at the Grand Pacific Hotel. Have heard the museum is worth a visit and, well, this is our last chance to soak up some more Fiji! We do love this country.

passing by Suva to Notoya area.

Left Fulaga through the pass at 1600 near the end of a flood tide, 1.5-2.0 knot fair current. Very sad to leave; Fulaga must be experienced to believe; storybook beauty and the loveliest, most gracious and giving people we have encountered. Now heading W toward Suva (which we will bypass) and going to Robinson Crusoe on Likuri Island for a couple of days, then on to Denarau. All very, very well onboard.

We are anchored in an area known as the "Sand Spit Anchorage in the lagoon at Fulanga Island, Southern Lau Group, Fiji. We have discovered paradise. This is really, no kidding, paradise. The weather the past few days has been quite windy: 20-25kts (occasional gust to 30, but rare), however the fetch in the anchorage is minimal

We are settling in to village life on Fulanga. Yesterday (Sunday here) we attended church. The choir was lovely as usual, although not as euphonious as we are used to on other islands. The sermon was a rousing affair with much arm waving and rising inflections, but sadly lost on us as it was entirely in Fijian. Afterwards we were invited to the Chief's house for Sunday Dinner, a huge repast. Much gaiety. Much experimentation with sea creatures cooked in various ways. Crabs, yes! Sea Cucumbers, not so much. All well onboard.

More boat chores this morning as we remain anchored in the Fulanga Island lagoon in 15 feet of the most incredible turquoise water. Visited with Doug & Carla on Moondance whom we've not seen for almost a year. Good to catch up with them. Tomorrow church and lunch at the Chief's house. All well onboard.

Spent all morning cleaning and putting the boat back together after the passage to Fulanga. Offered sevusevu to the Chief of the Village, a lovely gentleman. Fulanga is everything it is touted to be and more. Perhaps the most beautiful lagoon we've ever seen. All well onboard.

Date: July 9th. Departed Vanua Balavu yesterday for the overnight passage to Fulanga and shot the pass this morning at 11:30 Fiji time at the end of the flood tide. Worked well. The passage is tight but the water is so clear one can fairly easily avoid bommies. Taking naps and cleaning up the boat now. Al well onboard.

Returning to Savusavu after 2 wonderful weeks visiting the islands East of Savusavu. Snorkeling and diving amoung the reefs in Somosomo Strait were delightful; enjoyed the company of Windstar, Calusa and Ithaka along the way; and we particularly enjoyed making Tuvaluean friends on Kioa Island during our week there. Women?s Day on Kioa Island was great fun for Bev who had not run relay races or played soccer on the beach in a very long time. We?ll move back into the Copra Shed Marina this morning to reprovision for a six week trip to the remote Lau Island Group, leaving Savusavu on ~18th June or whenever the weather gods permit! Looking forward to being with Heather and Derek Stembridge who will fly into Vanua Balavu on the 24th.

We have moved from Dolphin Bay to Kioa Island. Over the past several days we had a wonderful, though anxious time while anchored at Dolphin Bay. We just never felt the anchor was ?stuck. We dived on the anchor, which was about 70 feet down, finding it laying placidly on its side in sand not stuck or dug in to anything. The chain ran uphill and down, then back up and down again as it crossed hillocks, draped itself over, and occasionally around, bommies. We moved the next day. Not, however, before diving with Dolphin Bay Divers at the Coral Garden. Gorgeous coral and very abundant smaller fish and sealife. Our dive master, Suzanne, was great. Yesterday afternoon we moved to Kioa, an island with an interesting history. Short version: citizens of the island nation of Tuvalu began immigrating here in large numbers in the 1950s partly in response to rising sea levels and now account for almost the entire population on Kioa Island. (See Wikipedia for an interesting account of the rising sea levels threatening Tuvalu). The Tuvaluans on Kioa Island all speak English and Tuvaluan, but few seem to speak Fijian. Their church, which we attended last evening, is Christian (London Missionary Society) mixed with Tuvaluan ancestor respect. Lovely singing. All well on board.

We've spent two and a half gorgeous days at Viani Bay with an absolutely stunning snorkeling trip with Jack Fisher and the crews from Ithaca and Wind Star. Jack guided Ithaca very close to the "Fish Market" reef where we anchored, then we all went into the water except Jack who paddled around close by in a dinghy watching out for his flock. This may have been the best snorkeling trip we've had since leaving the U.S. in 2011! Fantastic, very diverse coral which all appeared to be very healthy. There was abundant fish life including some Black-Tipped Sharks lying on the bottom at about 25 meters...utterly uninterested in us, I might add. We would suddenly be enveloped in huge schools of small shockingly iridescent blue fish; wonderful. Jack is very skilled and knowledgeable and we heartily recommend him. There's no trouble finding him if you anchor in Viana Bay; he'll come to you. We plan to leave Viani this morning and head...well, we're not sure. Dolphin Bay, Catherine Bay, Albert Cove??

Bev spent part of yesterday making up fishing lures and I worked on our secondary bilge pump. The weather has been deliciously warm with a gentle 5-10 kt SE Trade Wind; no rain; steady glass at 1015 hPa. Other boats in Bay: Selena, Exit Strategy, Another Adventure.

All well on board.

Yesterday we sailed from Fawn Harbour to Viani Bay. As noted in our previous post, Fawn Harbour is well protected...so protected, in fact, that barely a whisper of breeze reached us making it a hot and muggy stay. No mosquitos. Additionally, the ability to land a dinghy is made difficult by the broad and gradually shoaling approach which leaves it very shallow for quite a distance from the land. The tides were such that high tide came too early and too late to go ashore so did boat chores and read. By contrast, Viani Bay is, as the pictures show, wonderful. One photo shows the Fijian "school bus" full of kids off to the closest school like children throughout the world. We've met the famous Jack Fisher, a Fijian of mixed ancestry (English, Samoan, Fijian) who came over for a gin and tonic in the afternoon and seemed to be prepared to move in with us. We're going snorkeling with him today. Viani Bay is adequate to hold 10+ boats. Holding is good in 20-60 feet of 81 degree F water

After our lovely stay at Savusavu,we have sailed/motored into stiff SE winds to begin our exploration of the western side of Fiji. We arrived at Fawn Harbour in the late afternoon and were grateful that we timed our arrival so we would enter the area during daylight...the channel is narrow in places and not particularly well marked. Curley Carswell's waypoints were spot on. Bev fixed a wonderful salad and we spent a couple of hours in the cockpit watching daylight fade into night with scattered stars. There is only one other boat here, a catamaran, and we're not even sure anyone is on board. The harbour is well protected with good holding in 42 feet of water. Water temp is 82.5 degrees F and I had a wonderful swim and shower on the swim platform after. We marvel at our life.

Hitched to a mooring ball in Nakama Creek, Savusavu, Fiji, on a brilliantly sunshiny day?.glorious really. We?ve spent the past week waxing Mersoleil?s topsides, doing some repairs and odd chores, and generally preparing for leaving Savusavu some time next week to begin explore the Eastern side of Fiji?.Fawn Harbour, Viani Bay, Kioa, Rabi, Mate. We hope to get some diving in as well. It has been so very, very nice to renew friendships we made last year. We had the Gulabdas Family over to Mersoleil last night for dinner?great fun. We?re planning on seeing Paul and Karen on sv Gigi tonight. All is smashing on board?in a good way!

Tied up at Copra Shed Marina for boat washing, clothes washing and people washing activities. Sorting out repairs from passage. So good to see friends Simi and Dolly at at Copra Shed. Rainy yesterday and muggy today. All well on board.

Landfall! We arrived in Savusavu Wednesday, May 13 at 1730. Our last passage day was a gentle downwind effortless trip through the northern Koro Sea. In the afternoon the wind picked up to 15 kts, but remained persistently SE. Coming in to Savusavu was a bit like "coming home". Simi from Copra Shed Marina was there to welcome us and assist us catching our mooring ball. Our many, many thanks to Bob McDavitt, Patricia and David at Gulf Harbour Radio and a special thanks to the men and women of New Zealand Maritime Radio. All very well on board. Baro-1014 Temp-77 deg F Wind-L&V Gorgeous sunrise.

Bev & Robbie

After a wonderful night of ever so slow sailing in light air, the dawn has broken with glorious sunshine and a modest SE breeze. We have "threaded the needle" through the relatively narrow (4nm) passage past Batiki Island and now have clear water for the final run into Savusavu. We anticipate making landfall today in the late afternoon or early evening. We are still trying to puzzle out our persistent water leak and although we have many nutty theories, none seem to have been definitively proven (or dis-proven). All Mersoleil's systems have worked well on this passage. While we'll be glad to anchor at Savusavu, the passage has been a good one. We fell into our sleep deprivation routine about three days ago and both of us, though tired, feel pretty well.

arriving Savusavu

Another stunning night under tropical stars, snoozing cumulus clouds backlighted by a waning moon. Even though the breeze is so gentle, 7-9kts, that we’re gliding along at less than 5, sometimes under 4, we’re simply not motivated to crank up the engine. It would ruin the soft whisper of the water swishing past our hull and intrude on the off-watch slumber. In the morning we’ll wake up our Google Earth images and find out where the reefs really are, fine tune the last few waypoints and head for Savusavu.

It seems ridiculous, on one hand, to take this long to get to Fiji, The bashing into northeasterlies on days 1,2 and 3 was no fun at all, though, and we felt totally justified in bailing on that route for the longer road off the wind. Now, on the other hand, we see this as a dandy decision in more ways than one. If the beginning of a passage is less than idyllic, maybe one should just stay out there till one gets it right! Smooth seas, flying along behind the genoa, with the main centered, we’re comfy and having a wonderful sail. We’re in no hurry and it just doesn’t get any better than this.

After a day of motoring in light contrary winds for most of Saturday, at 1800 NZST the lovliest SE-S wind of 15 kts appeared from nowhere (forecast for NE to N to NW to W, blah, blah). Spent the entire night on the most wonderful broad reach with boat speeds mostly 6.5 to 7.5 kts. This Sunday morning, wind decreasing. All well on board.

On yesterday's Gulf Harbour Radio, Mersoleil was designated as the boat with a target on it being most likely to come into close contact with a developing Low sliding down to our position. We're reefed down and happy. Everybody has to be somewhere and here we are! We think it's going to be an OK ride...we'll get the decks washed. Seas at the moment are quite nice. You can certainly feel the wet in the air as we close with the system. All well on board.

will brace for the low on Friday

full sail. McD has advised a route further to the west before heading to Fiji and this is giving a better ride

Checked out of New Zealand from Marsden at 1500, waved at the Poor Knights in the dark, now motor sailing. Oh my, how we will miss New Zealand and our the wonderful friends me made. All well on board. Looking forward to hearing Patricia and David in the morning.

At Marsden Cove and will check out of New Zealand tomorrow bound for Fiji. The weather forecast looks very promising. We're really, really going to miss NZed!!

All good to go. Left Gulf Harbour this morning. NO WIND. At anchor in Mansion Bay, Kawau Island. Will head off to Marsden Cove Saturday morning for a Sunday check out with Customs then off for the Islands.

It's Life on a Boat. All set to leave Gulf Harbour to check out of NZ when our wind instrument r really "checked out". Had to locate a replacement, but we installed it this afternoon and all is good to depart tomorrow. We'll overnight at Urquhardt Bay, then to Marsden Marina Saturday morning to check out with Customs. Weather looks promising for a Saturday departure to Fiji which will take us 9-11 days.

Trough moves over Gulf Harbour with a dropping baro, rain, consistent northerly winds at 25-30 kts. and an occasional gust to 35 kts. We're going through our pre-passage checklist and looking to leave Gulf Harbour bound for Marsden Point where we'll check out from NZed. We're ready to head off the warmer weather, but very sad about leaving this magnificent country and all the many lovely friends we've met

We're now watching the weather very carefully as our departure date nears. Any weather window after May 1st will be great with us. Final provisioning is almost done. All our repair items are complete.

Motuihe

Waiheke Island

Coromandel