Captain’s Log: Noumea New Caledonia to Bundaberg, Australia, Day 4.5, Arrived

Sept 13

Hi All,

Amazing what a flat calm anchorage can do for ones spirits…..plus a good night’s sleep:)))))

We arrived safe and sound at the marina around noon….shaken but not stirred:))))

Border Force (used to be called Customs and Immigration, they have now merged) had some issue and they can not check us in until Sunday…..which is ok I guess…..so we had to anchor in front of the marina….they do not have a Q dock here….we got to eat the pork tenderloin last night they would have taken:))))) All we are going to do now is rinse the salt off Mystic…..after I gather a bunch for tequila tonight…..then catch up on the internet and sleep, sleep, and sleep some more…..and Kathy to walk around and exercise her leg…..really bad morning but better now!!!!!

It is a very surreal moment for us. We don’t seem to acknowledge many of our cruising moments….I guess because we are so focused on what is next…..but this one caused us a moment to reflect and just let the sense of accomplishment wash over us. WE DID IT…..first time boat owners and WE HAVE COMPLETED CROSSING THE PACIFIC!!!!!

So many of our cruising buddies have done so much more but for Kathy and me this is a big moment. Maybe not to the emotions we felt when we landed in Hiva Oa with Les & Rose after the 19 day crossing from the Galapagos, but this feeling of accomplishment is right up there!!!!

If we had just come straight across it is about 8500nm, but by cruising the various islands and making 4 trips back/forth to New Zealand we did 14,000 nm…..whoa!!!!

And we survived several “moments of terror”…..operator error shutting the Main off on the Galapagos to Marquesas run….the infamous April Fool’s joke, yeah right…..or the transmission gear cooler going out and my “voice of God” moment…..or this latest rudder incident and doing donuts in the middle of the frickin ocean!!!! I have to say I really do not know how many more of these “moments of terror” I can handle…..I was just getting my mojo back after the transmission one and now the rudder incident…..hopefully it is like a cat….9 lives, right!!!!!

We had a very lovely dinner last night, a Craggy Range bottle of Syrah….a Pink Panther movie….we have the series and they are hilarious…..but, we both promptly fell asleep in the middle….yep, fun dates:)))) I slept for 10 hours…..yes, it was so sweet….Kathy got in 7 hours before she needed to massage her leg and the internet was calling her!!!

Passage Rating: I give this on a 50-60% rating…..meaning 50-60% was acceptable…Kathy gives it a 25%…..maybe her worse passage yet but I think some of it has to do w/her leg…..it does take a lot of leg/core use to keep your balance in a rocking boat. We usually target at least an 80% acceptable passage so we miserably failed on this one.

Bundaberg: Our first impressions are it is like Brunswick Georgia…..has that same feeling…..it is very flat, maybe marshy but don’t know that yet, and a lot of shrimp boats are around….we sure hope to be able to get some fresh shrimp….we remember the ones out of Brunswick…..shrimp in cheese grits….now that is some good eating!!!! This is also home to the famous Bundaberg Rum…..hmmmm, I’m sure a visit is in order…..for comparison purposes you know:))))

Boat Stuff: Well…..after 11 years of Big Bay Computers we are saying adios. Yep Mr Big Bay crashed for good about 1 hour out of Bundaberg. We will install Mr Lenovo of solid sate drive technology and hope we can solve that “crazy mouse” syndrome we had when we installed it in NZ and forced us to go back to Mr Big Bay…..I think this southern Ocean is just too rough for Mr Big Bay:(((((

So today we hopefully will get checked in, get to our slip and solve the electrical connection problem….we now have 3 different adapters for these shore power receptacles….any bets if we will be buying our 4th one:)))) Then to completely give Mystic a good scrubbing or a least a good rinse….fill the water tanks. On Monday it will be to find a way to town….we hope the marina has a shuttle…..find a new GEN battery….yes, I’ve still been jumping…..restock our fresh provisions and get our smart phone hooked up!!!!

Border Force: As I was writing this blog, the marina calls and says Border Force Control will be here in 30 min, can you move to the dock that says quarantine control. OK…..no problem…..we tidy up from breakfast and up anchor and move over. Evidently the marina has a Q dock but some boaters violated the “rules” by getting off the boat, sneaking around a locked gate and trying to circumvent the rules so Border Control no longer allows cruisers to use the Q dock. The more I cruise the more I get angry from cruisers not following a country’s rules. It’s called respect and when the rules are not followed it typically hurts us all. We call it leaving a clean wake!!!!

Anyway, the Border Control officials could not have been nicer….very friendly, courteous and professional. No issues and welcome to Australia!! We now are waiting for Quarantine and Kathy is getting the food ready we know we must depart with….ugh….so sad:)))

Quarantine came…..another very friendly and professional person….we lost what we thought but kept some also….about the same as New Zealand!!! If you want to know about the details email us!

Tell the marina we are ready….ok, that is Orange 1 berth….what is the depth, you know we are 6’….oh, that is right…stand by…well, that berth will not work and we are full up on the others but many are leaving tomorrow…so, just stay on the Q dock tonight and we will get you a berth in the morning….ok, no power but we can string up some water so guess we are on the GEN again tonight…..what a marathon to get checked in and into a berth….arghhhhhh!!!

Final Stats:

Position: 24 26S 152 50E
Traveled: 194nm today; 798 nm total; Arrived Bundaberg marina @ noon, 11:00am local time
Speed: avg 7.9 kts for passage; 1675-1700 rpm
Boat sightings: all on AIS; 5 total; did see 4 shrimpers on the way in!!!
Fishing: Nope, too cold, too choppy and we have too much food in the freezer; yep, just lazy
Sail: down
Fuel burn: 1.18 nmpg, about right where you expect for 1700 rpm; used 680 gallons

Hope all is well!

John
Mystic Moon
GO MYSTIC GO
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