Well! How long it’s been. I get a little sad sometimes, thinking about this blog… It was a little bit of a lifeline while I was out sailing – A little place to put all my thoughts that built up after miles of sailing. Unfortunately now, I’ve hit land, and while the thoughts still pile up, they’re not necessarily anything to do with sailing!

So what have I be doing anyway? Oh yes! I did get some sailing in a couple of months ago, quite unexpectedly… I flew to Palau, returned to Melbourne, and then flew back to Palau, to help deliver a boat to Darwin. It was a mighty long, and mighty hard trip. We sailed (or rather, motored, burning close to 600 litres of diesel), against the winds and currents for two weeks. Several engine failures later, a few hair-raising moments and a couple of pirate scares off of Indonesia, we arrived in Darwin, Australia. This was my second entry into Australian waters by boat, and also my second time across the equator:

The sailing was pretty extraordinary… It was also the longest distance I’ve ever sailed with others aboard, which was a very different experience to being alone. I dare say, harder… We sailed close to shore for a few days, right amongst the Indonesian fishermen. At one stage we even sailed through a small straight, just 1nm wide, at the top of Papua New Guinea. To the left and right of us were small subsistance living communities, as enormous tankers took advantage of the water way:

Some nights we were surrounded so tightly by small fishing vessels, it was virtually impossible to sleep. The curious ones would come close by, and scare the daylights out of us… Flare guns at the ready, minds churning with self-defence tactics… Thankfully curious was all they were, and through the waters we sailed with little outside trouble.

So other than that brief month of sailing, there is little other news to report on the personal voyaging front. For avid followers, you will already know I moved to the countryside, and am working away at my own business… We (re)launched two projects in the last two weeks -Neverstop Pedalling, an online bike store, and our web hosting company Serversaurus…

SV Harmony still lies at rest in California… Awaiting her owner (me)… How and when I will ever scrounge the money together to get there, I’ll never know (perhaps buy a bike, or change your hosting provider! Plug plug!) … However, I guess when the time is right, it will all come together.

A massive congratulations to Adam who recently completed his first solo transpac – I finally have someone to commiserate with about sailing small vessels alone, across that stretch of from SF to HI… We both concurred: Yes, it’s possible, but…

Jack continues to work on the documentary about my voyage, however, from my understanding, the creation of the documentary is just as financially crippling and difficult as the voyage itself… ! We hope it will screen in European film festivals this year, but as to if and when it will be available to buy as a DVD or stream online – I have no idea. This is Jack’s film, so it will be up to him as to how it’s distributed…

I will be archiving this site as we know it soon, and replacing it with a new site which will allow me to just generally blog about sailing – At the moment, the layout and construction of this website is for a voyage which is now complete: It will still be at Bigoceans.com, however I’ll move the current incarnation of the site and start afresh… What do you guys think?

Cheers! Nick

Last weekend I flew up to Palau, to inspect a sailing boat for a friend – It was incredibly hot and humid so near the equator!

A few photos…

A few more images in the usual place.

I still have some Contessa 26 tshirts for sale – Unfortunately now only in small & medium!

nick.

I’ll leave the photos and video to do the talking, but I’m sticking around a little longer here in Apia, Samoa to volunteer with the Red Cross. I took this media while out today, volunteering on the worst affected area: The east of the island.

Thank you to Weide, Stuart, Mark, Benjamin and Lidia for their donations to the sailing kitty – I will be using the donated money to cover the costs of staying longer here in the marina. I cannot stay long, due to the weather situation (I’m always… Late in the season). However I will stay for a bit longer, and think about departing early next week.

The start of my second day with the Red Cross










Recovering a body

More photos online here.
Nick.

The trip south to Samoa from Palmyra Atoll afforded steady trades, and good sailing, with only a few days of wind that might have tended on the ‘too strong stop spilling my coffee!’ side. Constellation averaged 110nm days, and I know she could do another 20nm a day, however as I always have, the sailing was more about conservation of the boat, and comfort for her crew than speed. During nights, I reef the main, roll in a bit of jib, and soldier on through the dark nights. Signs of life all the way from Hawaii were scarce: One tuna clipper, and one airplane. It felt lonely out there.

Nearing Samoa, the wind died, and as I normally do, I became antsy and irritated. Thankfully after a bout of heavy squall activity, the wind re-appeared, and destroyed my entrance schedule into Apia, Samoa (perfectly timed until the wind stopped…)- We entered at 02:30am. Nervously listening to the waves crash upon the reef to starboard, the port authority directed us to anchor, and after 32 days, we’d officially made it to a south pacific island. Unable to clear customs and forced into the marina (cheekily, anchoring and staying at the marina costs the same…), the quarantine flag flew, yet security didn’t mind me going into town without clearance – I would have died, sitting on the dock watching people eating real food, and drinking cold beer after so long at sea, bound by the gates of the marina. As Monday rolled around, we were visited by five state departments: Immigration, health, customs, agriculture and the port authority. All those names might seem intimidating, but really, you just write your name, address, and boat name on five different pieces of paper, holding different titles…

Arrival, Apia, Samoa

For the first time in awhile, Constellation was not the smallest boat in the harbour. There lay, a boat registered in Copenhagen, a 25ft yacht. I was livid! Yet after that particular boat left, life went back to normal, where Constellation was dwarfed by what seems to be a dominance of 40ft+ boats – Many registered in Australia, and New Zealand – Home seems just around the corner…. The shops are full of Maggi Two Minute noodles, Milo, Vegemite, Tim Tams… (Apologies to non-Australians, none of that will make any sense). It’s beautiful here, and the people are extraordinarily friendly – The Samoans appear to have held onto their culture more than any other place I’ve visited, and it’s refreshing to be on an island that hasn’t been completely overrun by colonialists. It isn’t devoid of missionary success though, however I guess that’s another discussion best saved for my non-existent blog covering geopolitical musings and island theology… !

I’ve experienced much of the island with the friendly help of local Samoan, ‘Time’ (pronounced ti-may), having the opportunity of seeing a Samoa not everyone gets the opportunity to experience – This weekend I have been invited to a local wedding, and even a spot of night bat hunting! Yet as with every landfall, it isn’t long before ones mind starts wondering to the next port of call. I feel a tinge of melancholy and excitement about seeing the east coast of Australia on my Pacific charts. The official two year anniversary of this voyage passed on the 17th of this month, but really, this is all I’ve done for three years (the first spent paying for the boat, among other things). While I’m sure it will wear off very quickly, I often yearn for a dose of my former reality: The ability to lay in a bed and bend my legs completely, to buy a coffee on a whim, or see long lost friends. I know some of you are sitting there, scoffing at that idea, but what can I say – I do know wanderlust will hit me again like a freight train soon after this is all done, but I have to be somewhat honest – I am getting tired. Not tired in a bored sense, but tired in an emotional sense. Thankfully the very thought of these beautiful islands and my distance from home, keeps my motivation strong, even on the worst of days. Anyway, I think you came here to hear about paradise in the south Pacific, not the idle whimpering of a palagi… Here are some more photos.

So, the next stop is Fiji. I will leave next week, and after that… Who knows. Maybe a straight hop to mainland Australia. Or maybe I’ll scrap all that and visit Tonga en route… Or Wallis Island, or Norfolk Island, or maybe even Lord Howe. There is a lot to see, but limited time as another hurricane season follows me around the globe. Every boat I seem to meet is high-tailing it to New Zealand – I would love to touch the north island of NZ, yet it would mean waiting another several months before I could make my passage across the Tasman Sea…

Nick.

Struggling with ‘August the mighty Yanmar’ outside of the channel markers, it was a stressful finish to 27 days at sea… With a surf break on one side of the buoys, and a breakwater on the other, I had the genoa sheets in my hands in case the engine failed, so I could unfurl and tack back out under sail. Thankfully we made it in, and safely tied up to the fuel dock after another long passage. The first sounds of land that I heard, were the chirps of caged birds – Cockatiels, budgies, and other tropical birds, their bird-condos overlooking the harbour… There was a surf shack next door, someone paddled past on a standup board, and the sun set with a picturesque tropical tradewind orange tinge…

Oh, hello Hawaii.

I radioed the coastguard for the Customs phone number, but the payphone speaker was on the blink, and no one could hear me. Surrounded by a locked gate, I was lucky enough to find liveaboards tied up alongside, and asked them what I should do – ‘Nothing till morning’ they said, and I tied up along side. My new friends, Sherri & Gene, then handed over ice cold Longboard beer, a plate of rice, sautéed mushrooms and a lamb steak. Whoa.

And not just any lamb. Australian lamb. I was in heaven… And also now a third of a way across the Pacific ocean… Obviously somewhat closer to home than last month – On account of the lamb, and of course, the mileage. Thanks Sherri & Gene!

The voyage of 27 days was somewhat longer than expected… Yes, this isn’t a race, but I was really hoping for a 20 day passage, 25 at worst, and anything under 20 would have been extraordinary. Alas, conditions were not on my side, and I simply didn’t have the equipment to take advantage of the light winds I experienced either side of the blustery tradewinds – A large asymmetric spinnaker may have pushed up my average, as I only had 24 hours of glassed over ocean – But the rest of the time it was light winds… Unfortunately, Constellation simply cannot sail an ocean swell in much less than 8kts of breeze – Overloaded with water, provisions, equipment, and coupled with ‘Windy the Windpilot’ unable to steer without bucking off course, it was mildly irritating. Constellation and I fought for every mile, and eventually neared the islands enough to catch their localised breeze. Once we were hooked, Constellation screamed along, and we flew into Honolulu with a setting sun, and idyllic sailing, in the lee of the island. The sundowner catamaran crowds all sailed past, full of drunken tourists, strangely… Listening to Billie Jean. Yes, even in the middle of the ocean, I was clued in on the death of the king of pop…

It’s difficult for me to really express more about the leg across from San Francisco more than I already have via other posts at sea… I experienced many of the same conditions and situations I did on my other crossings, including several breakages which I’ve already mentioned – However I might add the mainsheet did eventually come completely off, and I ended up handling the mainsail by hand, via a tied up mooring line on the aft end of the boom… Gybing a mainsail by hand (ie. my arms being the sheet) is an interesting experience… On the topic of sails, my mylar sail lost it’s covering in the tropical sun, and my only other genoa is showing strong signs of wear, having survived the past 20 odd years in the Solent, the coast of Europe, an Atlantic crossing, the Bermuda triangle and a third of the Pacific… Not bad at all, but the sun is so incredibly harsh on these sails – I actually did a mid-ocean swap with my very nice UK/Halsey mainsail, which was sponsored by Dial Before You Dig in 2007 – And ran up my old mainsail for downwind sailing – I couldn’t justify burning such a nice sail in the sun; it needs to be preserved for beating upwind and other such pleasures.

I’ve been here in Honolulu four nights now – I spent two days just organising myself, dealing with customs etc and recovering from the trip. I couldn’t sleep the first night – The boat wasn’t moving enough! It was too quiet… I was restless and agitated. I found myself caught up in the bureaucratic machinations of local government, stuck deep in a building with endless corridors, only to be in the wrong place… Also, my cruising permit has expired, making it very difficult for me to move between islands. Disappointing. But, I also don’t have a lot of time, so, we’ll see what happens.

Other than that, I’ve been exploring this surreal island, swimming, planning, and drinking iced coffee. The Caribbean, warmer Pacific latitudes etc, really invoke a deep lethargy, and as I am mildly hyperactive, it makes me feel lazy. I have a ton of stuff to do, yet without iced kona coffee, it simply isn’t going to happen…

I have more to write, but it will have to be saved for the next post… I feel tired. In the meantime, here are some photos. It was an amusing experience going through the photos, and deciding what ones to upload. Basically, I realised, in 27 days, I had about 9 to upload… I then thought to myself… 27 days, squalls, dozens of waves in the cockpit, whales, dolphins, revelations, the meaning of life and crazy talking to myself… And all I have are 9 photos to show? Anyway, here they are, and I’ve even included my track to Hawaii – I give full permission for all Transpac racers and the like to laugh and my squiggly route… ! They don’t call me Australia’s answer to Michel Desjoyeaux for nothing… (Said in extreme jest).

More photos here.

I know what you’re all about to say – DID YOU CATCH THE FISH? No. My friend Rob in San Francisco, told me Dorado mate for life. After hearing that, I couldn’t do it… But, I did actually catch a few, however I de-barbed my hooks, and released them. Everytime I caught one and considered making fish curry, all I could do was imagine myself walking down the street with a girlfriend, and her suddenly disappearing from my side, never to be seen again. That’s what it must be like for Dorado…

So the Transpac is about to come in – Super maxi Alfa Romeo is coined for Friday night I think – I plan to negotiate a straight trade with Constellation, I hear they’re wanting to downsize because of the recession – You only need a skipper to sail a Contessa 26 instead of all those expensive crew-

…Imagine, sailing that boat at full-tilt, I’d be me home within a few weeks!

And last but not least, I was excited to see the three page article about my trip in this months Latitude 38… Thanks LaDonna for your great writing and for capturing my voyage so nicely, and thanks to Latitude 38 for publishing it. Viewable here: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3 – Better yet, grab the entire magazine for free.

Nick.

I have a lot to write about, but little internet access, and little motivation to post… Jack and I flew to Denver, and drove across country as planned, and now I’m here in California, living on a friends boat near Berkeley. I’m being messed about with my boat transporter (Constellation is still in New York), and if this continues, the entire project is in genuine jeopardy. Some photos of our roadtrip to tide things over…

More here

I’m in love with the American landscape. As if I wasn’t already.

nick.