Kim and Simon Forth
Kim and Simon Forth Joined: January 7th 2008
Logged in: November 16th 2010
Logged in: November 16th 2010
Travel Blog Posts
Dead Calm
We left Vanuatu with light winds and a moderate sea…it did not stay that way for long. By day two we had 20 kts on the beam and four meter waves coming from the same direction. We had waves smashing into the side of the boat and a few making it into the cockpit. We even had water cascade into the saloon…who forgot to close the hatch??? By day three things had started to lighten up with the wind and waves behind us so we poled out wing and wing…very nice. We put the fishing line out and caught a big male dorado. He had plenty of fight and could not quiet get him onto the back scoop before he finally worked his way free. We were both happy to see him go as he was ... read more
Anchorage at Port Villa
The passage from Fiji was hard work and it seems as though the days of champagne sailing are behind us. Unfortunately Si caught a cold the day after leaving Fiji so he was miserable for two days. During the four day passage we were constantly looking over our shoulder for the dark clouds associated with the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ). We thought we had got away but sure enough on day four, the heavens opened and stayed that way for the next 24 hours. At mid morning we approached Vanuatu, we could barely make out land. Thankfully the pass into Port Villa was easy to navigate. When we arrived at the bay, it was still pouring so getting the anchor down was the next on the agenda. As the quarantine anchorage area is deep (25m), ... read more
Uninhabited Island
I rate a passage by three important elements; what percentage of time do we spend outside in the cockpit, the number of bruisers I acquire through constantly knocking myself and lastly, how much sleep I get per night (can range from 2 hrs to 7hrs). So the overall passage rating from Tonga to Fiji was “HORRIBLE”. It was overcast and cold, by the time we reached Fiji, my butt was one complete bruise and I was a walking zombie. We also got hit by our first real tropical storm that came out of nowhere. We were lucky in that we had already furled the head sail so we just had to drop the main. We stayed in VHF contact with Flame (Steve and Di from Cottesloe) whose preventer (line that stops the main sail from an ... read more
Palmerston Reunion
We arrived in Tonga, the Vava’u island group to blue skies and lush green islands. The topography was different to what we both expected but not disappointing. We docked next to the main wharf and watched the procession of local bureaucrats…quarantine, customs, immigration and health come on board for us to fill out their paper work and a chat. They where all very sweet as Si had sustained a burn (cup of hot coffee) on route and needed to get it checked by the doctor. The health guy drove us to the hospital, the bank and back to the hospital rather than us having to catch a taxi. The people of Neiafu are friendly & the village had good facilities for visiting yachts. We caught up with the Palmerston Island gang for a number of reunions. ... read more
Palmerston Pass
Palmerston in the Cook Islands is a tiny isolated atoll 600nm West of Bora Bora and 500nm from Tonga. There is no airstrip and it is only accessible by sea. There are approx 70 people residing on Palmerston including 25 children. Most of them are descendants from the William Marsters and his three wives. There is a bit of inbreeding but when you are that isolated….anything looks good. We knew that bad weather was on the way and made the decision to stop at Palmerston rather than risk being caught in strong winds and swell enroute to Tonga (4 day sail). We arrived at Palmerston on a Thursday to blue skies and light winds. We where greeted by Bob (mayor)& Topou Marsters. They later picked us up and took us through the pass to the main ... read more
Marina at Tahiti
We had a wonderful time in the Society Islands. The islands are stunning. They are a mix between the Marquesas with tall lush volcanic mountains and the Tuamotus with lovely coral reefs and turquoise water. Add plenty of blue sky, four of our closest friends from Perth, and you have the ingredients for an amazing 11 days. After another windless passage from the Tuamotus to Papeete (Tahiti), we arrived with barely enough fuel to spare. We were fortunate to get a berth at Marina Taina where we got to work doing boat chores before Bec, Andrew, Jono and Mornay joined us. The French supermarket, Carefour was just down the road so provisioning was made easy with vacuum packed NZ beef, yummy French produce as well as local fruit and veg. Gas on the other hand was ... read more
Kauehi Lagoon
The passage to the Tuamatu’s was fairly uneventful. Once again, we ran out of wind after the first day and had to motor for the remaining three. If we had of left two days earlier, we would have had too much wind…seems to be a reoccurring theme. The Tuamatu’s are a group of 78 coral atolls that generally enclose a lagoon. The pass into the atolls are to be navigated with care as they are relatively narrow and have strong currents running depending on the time (high and low tide). Best time to attempt the passes is during slack water, though we never quiet sure when this was, so we went with the flow…literally. The first atoll that we visited was Kauehi. Once we successfully navigated the pass, we motored for 8nm until we reached the ... read more
Anchorage - Baie Taiohae
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, Sailing Yacht Woodsia arrived in the mysterious land of Marquesas. The people spoke a strange tongue but they all looked like Kiwis. It is a tropical island with tall volcanic mountains that jut sharply into the deep deep sea (1,185m high and 40 - 100m deep). It was warm and the hills were lush and green, a magnet to clouds that had never seen land (it rained a lot). Anyway, fairy tale stories aside on our arrival at the island of Niku Hiva, we were welcomed into the harbour by other yachts blowing their horns and just in time for the Bastile day long weekend. The locals don’t actually celebrate Bastille day but have their own indigenous celebrations in July that just happens to coincide. We ... read more
Galapogas to Marquesas Chart
Close your eyes and imagine for three weeks you and one other (recommend that it is someone you get along with rather than someone you fantasise about), are confined to your lounge room, kitchen and bathroom, now divide that space into one third. With the exception of email, you have no contact with the outside world, no television, no newspapers and no internet. You are only able to prepare meals with food that you currently have available to you and the alcohol has been confiscated. By the way you are unable to use the microwave, bread maker, freezer, food processor or toaster. To top it off, at any one time, one of you has to be awake. Having fun yet???? Well strangely enough, we are. I think that we have both gone a bit crazy (some ... read more
Kim and Si and giant torteise
As the sun rose on our 10th day at sea, you could see the Galapagos Islands. The swell dropped and looked like we would see blue sky for the first time in days. Already you could tell there was something special about the place. I decided to have a quick nap so to be fresh for our imminent arrival. Si was under strict instructions to wake me if anything exciting happened. Within 5 minutes of putting my head down, I got the call. I came on deck to find the water bubbling with fish. It was quiet a site to behold. No more naps for me. We sailed down the North coast of Isla San Cristobal past Kicking Rock which is a small island with a large population of frigate birds. With the binoculars out, you ... read more
