Passage from Fiji to Vanuatu

Our first ever open ocean sailing began on Monday afternoon about 4pm as we left “Tom Hanks Island” and our glorious Castaway re-enactment filming behind. It would be a 500 mile journey to reach Vanuatu, a distance the captains estimated would take about 4 days to complete. The watches were set with the crew split into four teams, each to be on duty for 2 hours at a time. As we were seven on the boat, Adey was teamed up with his trusty MP3 player, "Colby", and the mighty time filler – Windows Solitaire.  Ben with Jen, Alex with Shannon, and Patricia with Dan rounded out the pairs.

  

Leaving the island and making our way towards the open ocean left the new crew with a feeling of nervous excitement. As if sensing the mood onboard, a pod of dolphins surfaced to splash in the waves alongside Ruby Soho putting a huge smile on our faces and giving us a memorable send off. We had a good sail that day under a mix of sun and cloud harnessing the power of 20 knot winds from the south. The inexperienced sailors spent this day working through the instability of their new environment with the help of seasickness pills and bouts on deck for fresh air. All stomachs stayed strong.

On Tuesday the weather turned a bit dark and the skies opened up on occasion, drenching those on shift with delicious drinkable water. This also provided the added benefit of keeping the sailor smell down to a minimum on the boat. The wind was similar to the previous day, but the swell began to increase, a bit of foreshadowing for the days to come. Alex pulled in a nice chubby Skipjack tuna after a good half hour battle with the strong fish. Fortunately given the effort, the crew pronounced the fish delicious and chef Horbal’s breaded creation was quickly decimated. The watches continued overnight on schedule and the crew sailed into another day on the open ocean.

On day three, the wind came around to the north and then onto the nose and we beat into it with sunny skies and large swell sometimes building up to the height of a good-sized bungalow. During his morning shift, Ben pulled in a 20lb Mahi Mahi on the hand line, reeling it in under arm power pull after pull. Mahis are a very unique looking fish with colourful bodies, a large dorsal fin and a rounded bull head.

Under Alex’s instruction, Ben killed and cleaned the mighty fish, a process that took more than an hour of concentrated work in heavy rolling seas. Chef Horbal then met his own high standards, slowly and delicately assembling a platter of sushi for the crew. More than being a fun fish to catch, Mahi’s are also very delicious!

The conditions continued to be very heavy, and when not on shift most of the crew spent time lounging in their bunks. On this day all felt rough with the seas tossing Ruby from side to side and banging hard underneath the main cabin, causing dishes and meals to go flying and crashing roughly into the hulls causing resting crew to bounce into the air out of their bunks. A great tuna pot pie was whipped up by the chef, which was promptly consumed and kept down with the help of medications and a quick return to resting.  This might be the time to give another big shout-out to our favourite sea cook, Dan Horbal!  Throughout the trip he kept whipping up delicacies from the on-board kitchen, even in the most turbulent waters. Here is a picture of him with his own baked bread which he made while we crashed along the stormy ocean. Amazing! This was truly a luxury cruise ;)

On the fourth day the wind mercifully started to shift back to the south and we sailed on a reach towards our destination. This more comfortable sailing angle combined with the glorious sunshine gave us a chance to enjoy the ride. Ben and Dan picked up the boat instruments and worked through some of Dan’s party songbook, culminating in an almost bearable version of “Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes”.

The clear skies also allowed us to enjoy the starry nights on our overnight shifts. The views were sparkly above and sparkly below, with the phosphorescence twinkling in the wake of the boat as it cut silently through the water under the power of the wind. With no light pollution in sight and no boats for miles around making the stars too numerous to count in the sky, it was easy to feel at once insignificant, and yet connected to some energy flowing through our vast universe.

 In between the sailing action, little projects are always taking place on the boat, some more productive than others. Alex was always tinkering with something mechanical, finding a way to get down and greasy at every opportunity (thank goodness we had an on-board mechanic!). Ben felt a bit left out in the project category and so took on the challenge of mending the strap on his water bottle that had finally given out after a year of use. The crew enjoyed watching this project evolve over the several hours of careful planning and execution, losing count along the way of the number of tools involved.  

At midnight that night, after relieving Ben and Jen, Alex decided to “Hove To” about 15 miles off of Vanuatu since it was certain that we would make landfall in the middle of the night. This manoeuvre essentially stalls the boat by opposing the two sails and pointing it up into the wind. Four hours of rolling and banging ensued as the waves beat relentlessly against the boat with the crew resting uneasily. After taking over at 4am from Dan and Patricia, Adey and Dan set the boat sailing once more, attempting an easy pace to time our arrival for first light, something the strong winds made difficult.

At 7am on Friday morning we pulled into a large bay leading to the mouth of Port Vila harbour and a very welcome shelter for some weary sailors. The crossing was completed and what a beautiful sight! We celebrated our arrival with a well-deserved breakfast mimosa and enthusiasm for the adventures to come. Ahoy Vanuatu!