Leg 4 Palau-Ninigo

Palau flag drop

After a very relaxing break, exploring the beautiful Rock Islands of Palau, the new team boarded, provisioned, CIQ'ed ($215!) and departed at midday on 16 Apr for our next (and longest) leg across the South Pacific.

Leaving the Eastern Passage, the engine went off and we enjoyed 12 hrs of 7-7.5 kts, and with an E'ly current to assist. We had obviously found the Equatorial Countercurrent - finally! The first Tuna was landed at sunset; all was starting well!

Asahi Sunset

Then followed 12 hrs of motoring, refreshing rain showers with squally winds, then glassy calms. And so it continued, with daily Tuna (and other monsters, impossible to land), occasional showers (always a shampoo moment), and amazing ocean sunsets & dawns. The E'ly current eventually disappeared and increasing calms renewed our efforts for efficient fuel usage, usually motor-sailing at 1700 RPM.



Neptune Rex

Until Day 6, when we had a visitor: King Neptune himself! He stepped aboard just after 'S' replaced 'N' on the chartplotter. Very strange - now we were all sailing on our heads! Or perhaps that was the 'shark's blood' that Neptune brought with him.



Trusty Shellbacks

He appeared glad to see us, in a gruff sort of way. Seemed a little peed-off though, that his Barber had taken the day off and he was forced to shave everyone himself (amongst other things), by way of welcome into the Ancient Order of the Deep - Trusty Shellbacks, one & all. Aaaarrrr. All the crew now enjoy Freedom of the Seas, as commanded by Neptune Rex.



Yellowfin Tuna

This was proved the next morning at dawn as the heavens opened and the seas boiled around us for hours, the air filled with birds, Tuna & Dolphins leaping in a feeding frenzy. We duly thanked Neptune for his bounty, and plucked a few Tuna aboard at our whim. "Stop now!", someone called. "We have enough!". We could have filled the boat to the gunwales, had we wanted.

Coral watch

"Land ho!" was heard at dawn of the seventh day - we had arrived at the remote atolls of NW Papua New Guinea, the Ninigo Islands, famous as home of some the last Pacific sailing navigators & builders of sailing outrigger canoes.

Read on...

Crew for Leg 4: Jim & Chris (A-watch), Dave & Colin (B-watch), Steve & Will (B-watch)

Shampoo Panoramic