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Log of S/V High Drama

No.17 New Caledonia to Australia

January, 2003

G’Day, Mates! Welcome from Australia! Happy New Year!

Welcome back to the Log of High Drama. We write from the Mooloolaba Yacht Club, about 50 miles north of Brisbane, Australia. After leaving charms of Vanuatu we traveled to New Caledonia and then to Australia. We had a brief trip to the United States in December and have now returned to the cruising life of boat projects and travel.

We extend a warm Happy New Year to you all. The more we travel, the more we miss family, friends, and colleagues from work. We certainly enjoy hearing from you! We welcome news about you and appreciate feedback on our website. We receive email by radio, even at sea.  Write to us at which has the best reception now, but we still access .

The Passage from Vanuatu to New Caledonia

        Our year of robust passages continued. We sailed out of Luganville Harbor in Vanuatu on a Saturday morning in mid October headed for Noumea, New Caledonia, directly south about 410 miles. The winds were often blustery, at times up to 30 knots, but mostly in the 20s. On the third day, the sun came out and the wind dropped to a delightful 18-22 knots, and we extended our Genoa sail completely. Winds blew mostly out of the southeast, which meant that we sailed to weather, or put another way, we sailed at about a 45-degree angle to the wind.   The seas were not as rough as we expected, but about every 5 minutes the bow crashed into a wave hard enough that it splashed over the top of the dodger (windshield in front of the cockpit, high in the center of the boat). Once in awhile the waves soaked us.  High Drama was so caked with salt she looked like she came out of a light snowstorm.  We averaged 160 miles a day for three days, which isn't bad since we sailed a double reefed main and stay sail most of the trip. More importantly, we stayed even with of our sailing companions on Aldebaran, a Swan 43, a faster lighter boat. But we have a longer waterline and that makes the biggest difference.

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