Well, we made it to the Solomon Islands! The passage started out tame
enough but a few days into it, the seas became large on the beam and
the motion was uncomfortable. There was wind though so we sailed most
of it. Caught a nice Yellowfin Tuna a day out of Aus and
feasted on that for a couple of days. Ran into squalls in the night
and gusty winds with heavy rain but came through it to flat calm so we
motored the last two days. Our welcome to Quadalcanal Island was
rain, wind and more squalls in the night but a fleet of dolphins
escorted us around the point and up to Honiara. The new autopilot was
mounted so poorly it drove the quadrant up and overloaded the
hydraulic pump. Lucky we still had any steering at all. Not too
happy with the idiot in Townsville that installed it. But we found a
couple of great kiwis here starting up a yard and with their
facilities, I managed to make a new bracket. It works but still has
issues! Queen's bday here so everything is closed down. We hope to
take on diesel and clear customs Monday, then head for Majuro in the
Marshall Islands. This leg will involve an equator crossing so we're
hoping the SPCZ, a nasty bit of weather system, stays clear of us till
we get far enough N. Will attempt updates underway but radio
connections are a challenge (as are eating and sleeping).....have
managed to join Pacific Seafarer's Net daily though and posted our
position to Yotreps.
Caught a young Mahi Mahi the other day and feasting on
crayfish(lobster) and mud crab from the locals.
Have pics but internet too slow and flaky here....more later!!!
