Made it!

Ok folks, since they're not telling you themselves.... I'm just confirming they made it, they are home and well. The yacht "Streetcar" got to it's final destination in Mooloolaba, Australia, and Pete and Geoff are busy finding their land legs, and considering what will come next in their lives. I'm not putting my money on another ocean crossing, but... you never know.

Mooloolaba

Position: 26.2 S, 153.2 E

We should be arriving in Mooloolaba, our final destination, at 8.00pm

Fraser Island

We're just rounding the northern tip of Fraser Island, heading South to Mooloolaba, our final destination. We should get in there late tonight. We almost got hung up in Bundaberg with paperwork, inspections, etc related to boat importation, but we were able to steer through the bureaucracy and keep moving.

Almost in Bundaberg

Position: 24.52 S, 152.7 E
Just 30 miles to go to Bundaberg but the starter motor broke, no battery power so sailing slow. 3pm arrival. Then we'll try to get a start so we can get to moo land. We'll plan to depart Bundaberg at around 8pm tonight, so we can arrive in Mooloolaba at 9am on the high tide.

Almost home

Position: 23.97 S, 155.48 E

This is almost the last position update. We should be into Bundaberg by midday tomorrow, then Maloolabah on Wednesday morning.

Geoff


From Martin: Today is Geoff's birthday. He and Peter are celebrating as they complete their first crossing of the largest ocean in the world. Cheers to that guys, nice work. You two make it look easy.

Half way

Wind was 50 to 60 knots all night. We are OK, and it has eased now to 40 knots. We're about half way to Australia (from New Caledonia). We're hanging on tight. Will send position later in the day.

UPDATE:
Position: 23.42 S, 158.88 E

The boom is hitting the water only occasionally now. Lots of big green waves over the boat. We have a new top speed of 23.7kts!

Update

Position: -23.033, 163.23
Good winds, the boat is flying. Raining though, so we are mostly below decks, where it's hot and stuffy. Still on track for Tuesday arrival in Bundaberg.

Departed Noumea

Left Noumea at 2pm. Next Stop Bundaberg, Australia! 740 miles to go. We're aiming to do it in 4 days, so hopefully we'll get in on Tuesday.

Short stop in Noumea

Hi everyone,
We have stopped very briefly in Noumea. The flogging of the early part of the trip from Fiji tore the main sail in 3 places which really needed to be repaired. We are doing that between rain showers now - a big job with sail cloth, gaffer tape and sikaflex! If all goes to plan we will be heading off tomorrow (with luck!). Our extra crew have decided to leave us here as the motion of the ocean did not quite agree! Loretta was an amazing help in some very ordinary conditions. Thank you very very much. All OK though, they are well and comfortable now and even managed to eat some of my scrambled eggs and bacon this morning!

As for family commitments - the great news is that I now have a new neice! She shares Peter's birthday (18th) and is really far more important than a sailing trip. From Peter and I, a very big congratulations to Martin and Jody (more Jody really!). Jody - you won the race! Can't wait to get home and find out more, and maybe even plan a trip to see my new relative. Such big news was great to have out here!!

For those weather watchers - yes, we know about the low pressure system just to our west. The plan is to head out and see what happens! Perhaps run a bit south and then across the front of it and back into the trade winds. The wind for the past few days has been awesome - 20 to 35 knots of wind, giving us a constant 10 to 12 knots! If we can get back into that grove after leaving here - Australia is about 4 days away!...if the sikaflex dries!

Our French is not very good, but the people seem nice and our short stopover should be enjoyable. Peter just found the last 2 Corona's, so we are having a belated birthday drink for him. So got to stop an get on with that. Catch you all very soon in Aust.

Just out of interest...Chiefmakembigfire - is that you Benny? If not we are confused.

All's well

Position: 21.89 S, 169.76 E

Things are going well. The weather has eased somewhat but still good
wind.

Geoff.

Update: (from Martin)
Sorry blog posts have been temporarily delayed from appearing here due
to family committments. Everything should be returning to the normal
daily updates over the next two days. Thanks for your patience :-)

Wind, swell and storms.

Position: 19.9 S, 175.7 E

This was our worst day yet. We had wind, swell and storms from every angle - not very fun. Little sleep. By the way, it will be Pete's birthday tomorrow, and mine on Monday.

Geoff.

All good

Position: 18.55s 178.0e

All is good

Departed Suva

Left Suva at 1.pm. All five of us are well, and excited to be on the way.

Since we know that there is (at least) one 3rdclass that look at this each week, and we also know that you went to Underwater World recently, here are some pictures of some of the fish that we have caught along the way. Sorry, some blood might be in these pictures!

Suva YachtClub

Position: Royal Suva Yacht Club

Hi everyone,
We are sitting in the yacht club for a couple of days before the last leg of the trip! We should be home in about 2 weeks at the most now. It has been a long way with just 2 people in a 51 foot prison! Has been fun, but I will really enjoy being able to walk a bit further than we have been able to much of late!

I am going to try tonight to upload some pictures - many requests to see some of the fishing, and if I can, maybe even one of us working onboard!

Suva is busy and a bit polluted (cars all need servicing), but the people have been really friendly and helpful and it is perhaps the first place we have stopped where we have been able to get all the bits and pieces that we need. We are planning to leave on Sunday on the high tide - which we need to get into or out of the yacht club, and intend to head straight for Bundaberg to clear Customs. From there it is just 100 miles to Mooloolaba which will be our final destination. So you only have a couple of weeks left of this blog! When I get home though, I will put together a short CD of photos from the trip. Just let Pete or me know if you want a copy.

We have many people that we will need to catch up with when we get back - and yes I will be coming back to work! But please don't think we are being rude if it is not in the first day! It is going to take a little while to settle back into Australian life, actually being able to sleep a full night and just adjust back to home life and not get scared of how big the backyard is!

From here we are no longer on our own. Phil (owner), his son Clay (13) and Loretta (family friend) are joining us for the last leg. It will change the dynamics a bit, and we are both looking forward to being able to talk to someone else along the way! Stand by for some pictures a bit later, but for now (at top).... one of the storms that ran over us with about 50 knots of wind in front of it! and some of the beautiful scenery of Nuku Hiva.

See you soon! Geoff

Suva, Fiji

Position: Suva

Arrived in Suva at 10.30am, we'll be here until Sunday.

Mahi mahi

Position: 17.75 S, 180.0

Caught a good sized mahi mahi. Should be in Suva at around 11am tomorrow.

Good winds

Position: 16.62 S, 176.56 W

Good steady wind so far today. Should arrive in Suva earlyish on Thursday.

Dateline

Position: 15.67s S, 173.92 W

We crossed the international dateline. 467 miles to Suva.

Fiji bound

Position: 14.66 S, 171.16 W

Underway again. At this stage we will arrive in Fiji sometime on Thursday (local time). We cross the date line in a couple of days.

Hopefully we'll be able to access internet once there, and update the blog with some photos and stuff. American Samoa has no tourism, so there are no internet cafes in Pago Pago. It is really a full on Tuna processing and canning town - with the smell to match!

Still in Pago Pago

We're staying a second night in Pago Pago, American Samoa. Fuel supplies to yachts is almost to hard for Am Samoa. We have to get it in the morn at 8am. So another night here. We're tied to a tug not anchor, it's better. There's a NOAA ship here and they have offered weather info in morning. They are doing coral reef work down here. We had a good tour of the ship today.

Pago Pago

Position: 14.27 S, 170.69 W

We got into Pago Pago at 1300. Will try to get going again tomorrow.

Slow and steady

Position: 14.6 S, 168.5 W

Hey there. Slow, but so far steady breeze today. If it holds, we should arrive in American Samoa mid afternoon tomorrow.

Slow start, fast finish

Position: 14.7 S, 166.42 W

Hi, a slow start and a fast finish today so far. A big front helped. only 240 miles to go to Samoa. It may be a long night. Looks like more to come.

tropical sailing

Position: 14.1 S, 163.86 W

Wind died from 40 knots down to nothing. It's hard to sail the tropics this time of year! 390 miles to Am.Samoa.

BIG storms

Position: 13.8 S, 161.45 W

It was a big day of BIG storms. Now we have NW winds. Not much sleeping. We think we'll reach American Samoa on Thursday with luck. We're keeping a close eye on the weather.

About Streetcar

You might be interested in some details about the yacht on which Pete and Geoff are sailing. She is named "Streetcar," and her owner, Phil kindly provided the following photos and information to share through this blog.

Click the main image below to advance the slide show.




Streetcar was built in 2001 by Sovereign yachts in South Africa and has a custom built fitout. She is a full composite / fibreglass construction, which means she is solid fibreglass with balsa wood and foam stiffening in the deck and some parts of the hull along with various stringers and bulkheads ( 5 full bulkheads and a number of half and partial )

She a fin keel with 5,600 kg of lead ballast and an outboard rudder. Keel stepped 3 spreader rigged mast with all stainless steel rigging. Mast height from deck is approximately 18 meters.

The layout of the boat is centre cockpit with wheel steering in the cockpit and navigation instruments forward of the wheel.

She is powered by a Volvo Penta 60 HP diesel with saildrive leg.



Internal layout from bow, moving aft is:(as seen on plan)

• Forpeak....Anchor and windlass


• Sect aft of anchor locker is a general sail and rope storage compartment, accessed through a deck hatch.


• Internally the master cabin is situated just in front of the mast, with ensuite bathroom.



• The main saloon is aft of the mast and this area includes the galley and settee area with table that will easily sit six people.





• The stove is gas, with normal burners and an oven . The stove is gimballed with fiddle rails, which means it will swing when the boat heels and the fiddle rails hold the pots on the top of the stove in position over the burners.





• Refrigerator and freezer are located side by side and accessed through the galley bench on the starboard side. They are both 12 volt powered.



• A good sized double bowl stainless steel sink is also in the galley with pressurised hot and cold water. The water is fresh and is heated through the heat exchanger on the diesel engine.



• On each side of the boat when you turn to the rear from the main saloon are two cabins, each of which have a queen size bed and also have ensuite bathroom.
  These are the cabins that Peter and Geoff would be using, as the movement of the boat is less severe in this area being near the middle of the boat.





• The engine is situated in the centre of the boat under underneath the cockpit.
  Fuel tanks and water tanks are stainless steel and are under the floor of the saloon, which keeps the weight low and to the centre of the boat.

There is a small 12 volt water maker that will make approximately 12 litres of fresh water from sea water per hour.

She carries 600 litres of water and 400 litres of diesel in underfloor tanks, but extra fuel and water is also carried in drums....This is essential on extra long legs of the trip, where no supplies are available.

As most equipment on the boat is 12 volt power, keeping the batteries fully charged is essential...Unfortunately the boat is not equipped with a wind generator or solar panels, so all power generation need to come from either the main engine or the small Honda generator on the boat. Constant monitoring of this is critical as all the navigation equipment and auto pilot steering gear requires full 12 volt power.

Navigation on board is done with the aid of a Garmin 4012 chartplotter GPS, which will give accuracy to within about 5 meters of their location 24 hours a day. They can see precisely where they are heading, what the depths of water is, how far they have travelled and how far they are from their destination, all this on a 12 inch LCD screen.

Of course there is also two more critical requirement for any ocean going vessel. Communication and safety equipment.

As far as communication goes, normal mobile phones will not work when you are thousands of miles out to sea, so Peter and Geoff have 2 Iridium Satellite phones, which they can communicate to shore and get weather forecasts etc....On the shorter range of communications, there is a VHF radio which operates excellently when within relative close proximity. (Up to about 50 miles)

Safety wise, there is a 6 man RFD liferaft, self inflating with full provisions along with all the necessary life jackets, harnesses etc. full set of flares etc.

On deck there is also a 9 ft inflatable dinghy with a 15 horsepower Yamaha outboard motor.

Sails, halyards, mast, boom, rigging and rope sheets have to be constantly monitored and inspected for wear and damaged items replaced or repaired..... Nothing can be overlooked.

windy, but calm

Position: 13.98 S, 158.6 W

We're still experiencing lots of thunderstorms and squalls. This means the wind is all over the place. It can be gusting up to 45 knots right ahead of a storm, and die down to nothing shortly thereafter. Overall, the wind is pretty calm.

We are not sleeping very well right now, because when these storms kick in (day or night), there is a lot to do. We're having to monitor the self-steering system, which does really well but can be tested in severe squalls. And we want to make sure the boat doesn't suddenly gybe without notice, and that sort of thing.

At other times, the wind is almost calm, and we have therefore been relying a lot more on the engine to make forward progress, so we have been doing quite a bit of motor-sailing over the last few days. Without using the engine from time to time, we can't sail in any kind of rational direction when the wind is almost calm. This is why we've decided to stop briefly at American Samoa to replenish our fuel - although Fiji is our real destination for this leg.

Squalls and rain

Position: 13.73s 156.24w

Lots of lightning, squalls to 35 knots, and rain. But at least we're going forward now. 1528 miles to Fiji.