Ode to Chaotic Harmony
For the past five years Chaotic Harmony has been our home, our transport, our adventure. During the past three years we have explored the South West Pacific and our wonderful catamaran has been all, and more, than we could have dreamed. Safe, strong, dependable, fast when we have needed to go fast, comfortable in the deep deep blue. We have travelled 12,340 nautical miles together and arrived safely home in Cairns, Queensland, Australia with soul renewed, our lives expanded by the gift of experiencing different cultures, exploring unique countries and sharing the passion with our many cruising friends old and new. At times we were scared when the wind howled and the seas thrashed. At no time did we feel threatened. We are now anchored in Trinity Inlet, Cairns, and the hidden gems anchorages of the Pacific are but images on our laptop and memories seared into our being. We will be back again, doing it again somewhere. For now the LeSueur' will be based in Cairns for a few years. School, work, family and friends all need attention that we have missed - but the salt runs in our veins still.
Chaotic Harmony is a yacht that needs to be lived on and loved. If anyone is interested in her then she is for sale for Aus $410,000. If you are seriously interested then email Gavin at docgav@hotmail.com. www.multihullbooks.com will have a dedicated page on Chaotic Harmony in the near future.
docgav on 11.14.08 @ 08:30 AM EST [link]
Friday, November 14th
Home!
Chaotic Harmony is home! We made it!
Our official entry into Australia was done at anchor in Trinity Inlet. Quarantine and Customs visited the boat to go through the formalities. It was a smooth, efficient and friendly experience. We have to fly our Cat, Tusca, the Sydney in a few days for Quarantine for a month so we will remain anchored until that is completed. When Tusca goes on his first excusion ashore in three years we will move Chaotic Harmony into the Marlin Marina in Cairns.
Our ocean crossing was a dream run. Slow due to lack of wind but calm and time to talk, to slow the pace of life.
Many thanks to those who have emailed us with news. We have loved opening our emails every day.
A special thanks to Catherine's father, Arthur Reed, in Fiji. He has been our radio land contact when we have sailed offshore for the past three years. When we raced Cyclone Xavier he was there. When we drifted aimlessly about in no wind he was there. Our twice daily skeds were what we planned our day around, always a smile when we heard 'Navini Base' come up on 8, 12 or 16 meg's. Thanks Arthur.
docgav on 11.14.08 @ 08:53 AM EST [link]
Wind glorious wind
Our last sunrise at sea on three year tour of Melanesia - Louisiades, Solomons, Vanuatua, Fiji, Futuna, Fiji, Vanuatua, New Caledonia. In the east the sun awakens the sky, the early morning watch - in this case Estelle - slowly starts to nod at the helm. The flag is flying as Chaotic Harmony closes on the Australian Coast. Sixty nautical miles to go and we will be in Cairns. We are doing ten knots and will be there by lunchtime. The excitement is palpable aboard.
docgav on 11.14.08 @ 08:06 AM EST [link]
Cabin Fever
Our crossing continues to go at a leisurely pace. Baden reads to Fletcher, Gavin chews through novels, Estelle does schoolwork, Catherine keeps us healthy and manages to get out her cross-stitch. We play cards, drafts and chess. We talk. We plan. We dream. Cairns is four days away at our current pace but a gale warning has been issued for Queensland waters. Some of it will get us. Now for some adventurous sailing.
docgav on 11.14.08 @ 08:02 AM EST [link]
We know Australia is over there somewhere
Each evening at sunset we watched the horizon, knowing land will appear at some stage. The forecast was consistent - no wind, flat seas. We continue to crawl across the ocean but enjoy the solitude and the time before the flurry of life on land - cars, phones, crowds. In a way we are looking forward to the next challenge and another slightly anxious about what awaits us in that other world.
docgav on 11.14.08 @ 07:58 AM EST [link]
Message in a bottle
Mid ocean we each sent a message to the world. If you are wandering a deserted beach somewhere and find our message then we hope to hear from you! Estelle told some of our story of the past three years travel and sealed her bottle with a kiss.
docgav on 11.14.08 @ 07:55 AM EST [link]
halfway across
More wind please! Chaotic Harmony is in 2500m deep water, hundreds of miles from land and the crew decide to swim into Australian waters. Any means of travel other than wind would be faster. We have just managed 120 miles a day in drifting conditions, spinnaker up, meandering downwind. There is something very disconcerting about jumping into the mid ocean and knowing the floor is a long long way away.
docgav on 11.14.08 @ 07:50 AM EST [link]
heading home
Farewell to New Caledonia, another chapter in the adventure in life draws to a close as we depart this lovely French Pacific Nation on our 1300 nautical mile crossing to Cairns, Australia. Our first few days at sea were calm - very light trade winds. Fletcher serenade's the sunset watch on the foredeck. The tatoo is a stick-on but he cuts the image of a son of a son of a sailor.
docgav on 11.14.08 @ 07:47 AM EST [link]
Thursday, October 23rd
Home
Sometimes we arrive somewhere and it feels like home. This islet had it all - sandy spit for kiting, crystal clear water for swimming, exploration potential and a great anchorage. We send an email message to Australia to say we might stay for three years...
Chaotic Harmony is on the way back to Australia in a week or so. We do not know exactly our arrival date in Caitrns but imagine we should be on land by mid November. Our plan is to return to work, put 'Chaotic Harmony' on the market and plan to buy another catamaran in Europe and cruise there for a few seasons before sailing back to Australia. Estelle is to do year 11 and 12 starting 2009 so it is an opportunity for us to settle back into land life and our sorely missed land friends, planning for the next challenge.
docgav on 10.23.08 @ 12:50 PM EST [link]
Le Tricot Raye a la Fletcher
While exploring the many islets in the New Caledonia Lagoon Fletcher managed to step on three banded sea snakes at the same time. There are lots ... in one square metre we counted 13 snakes. Fortunately the 'Tricot Raye' snake is timid and not really that fast so we continued our meandering with a more watchful eye on where we - and especially Fletcher - put our feet.
docgav on 10.23.08 @ 12:42 PM EST [link]
Noumea rock n roll
After a quiet kitesurfing cruise through Vanuatu, New Caledonia is providing great beaches, great wind and lots of fellow kitesurfers to play with! At Ilot Maitre Gavin has spent time with cruising mates from Lionheart, Camissa, Kai Pai and Procyn - maining tearing past one another pushing their individual envelopes in ideal kitesurfing conditions.
docgav on 10.23.08 @ 12:33 PM EST [link]
Wednesday, October 22nd
Dinghy in Paradise
What can we write. Blue water, sandy beach, our home just offshore. We are trying to stretch this cruise out as long as we can.
docgav on 10.22.08 @ 10:08 AM EST [link]
The birthday continues
It is a Reed family tradition that birthdays last quite a few weeks (sometimes months). As we had been away from any shops for a few months Estelle had to cope with kisses, home made sweets and good behaviour from her brothers until we could get to the French shops in Noumea. In her own special laconic style she coped admirably. Catherine got a silver wrist bangle for her 16th and the two girls searche Noumea high and low on arrival - and voila' - the identical bangle was found. Catherine still wears hers now (forever a problem at airport security checks as it does not come off) and hopefully Estelle will have as much pleasure and memories of hers.
docgav on 10.22.08 @ 10:07 AM EST [link]
Estelle sweet sixteen
Estelle celebrated her 16th birthday at the Isle of Pines. When in a french country do as the french do - so we had escargot d'isle du pin (local snails). They were amazingly nice once you got over the idea of it being a snail.
Estelle has celebrated many birthdays at sea and has become a competant and useful sailor. Our wonderful daughter is a pleasure to have as company and has helped make the last three years journey on our tour of Melanesia a pleasure. Thanks for being a great kid Estelle! We love you.
docgav on 10.22.08 @ 10:02 AM EST [link]
Isle de Pins, New Caledonia
Off the beaten track, over a shallow reef and into the most south eastern lagoon of New Caledonia is the most perfect catamaran exploration area. Shallow, less than two metres in much of the lagoon, there are three islets, turtles, sharks, fish, eagles and exploring to be done. We are in search of the unique New Caledonian nautilus. So far 17 specimens, none complete. Still, it is an excuse to meander the beaches and search the places few can or try to get to.
docgav on 10.22.08 @ 09:58 AM EST [link]
Fletcher surfing Ovea, New Caledonia
Ovea is a beautiful clear sandy lagoon, wonderful anchorage and great playground for the kids. The beach was a haven, the water warm and the seas calm inside the cresent shaped islands.
At first hesitant, Fletcher now likes to be towed everywhere. Lots of fun but a killer of dinghy fuel.
We joined with the Island Cruising Association fleet to clear into Ovea. This is not usually a port of entry but the fleet had arranged to fly the officials in, giving us an opportunity to spend time getting to Noumea and not having to work backwards late in the season.
docgav on 10.22.08 @ 09:55 AM EST [link]
Tusca in New Caledonia
We have arrived in New Caledonia! Tusca was happy to see the sight of land after a fast crossing from Tanna to Ovea. The last 12 hours were wild and as we came over the shallower water the seas rose to four metres, a rollicking great ride on a beam reach. Under reefed headsail and three reefs in the main we surfed into Ovea at up to 13 knots.
We are to get our permit to bring Tusca back into AUstralia from Noumea. Although he is an Aussie cat and has not been 'imported' into any country (other than declared on the customs forms) he still need an import permit and a month in Quaratine in Australia. Luckily he remains fit and at 20 years of age should cope okay. We hope to spend at least six weeks in New Cal and get into some serious kitesurfing.
docgav on 10.22.08 @ 09:51 AM EST [link]
Awesome Tanna
With our breath held we all climbed to the lip of Mt Yasur to watch the fireworks. From one viewpoint we could peer down into the bubbling lava, popping and waiting to burst. After ten minutes in this position Gavin erred on the side of caution and we moved back from the very lip to watch the fireworks erupt. You could actually see the compression wave in the air from the explosion as the sound wave thudded into our bodies. Larva flew hundreds of metres in the air. The rule is never take your eye off the eruption. If lava heads toward you move left or right to get out of it's way. Yeah right....
docgav on 10.22.08 @ 09:46 AM EST [link]
Tanna volcano
The LeSueur family is standing on the lip of Mt Yasur volcano. Everyone is approaching it with anticipation as an eruption occurs every few minutes - serious lava is thrown into the air. Tanna is the last island we have visited in Vanuata and from here we cross to Noumea. The trip to the volcano from Port Resolution was an adventure in itself, packed into the back of truck and bundled across a rough dirt track.
docgav on 10.22.08 @ 09:43 AM EST [link]
Friday, August 29th
Deeper Catherine
Million Dollar Point at Luganville, Santo, Vanuatu - tanks, ships, generators, bulldozers, guns, etc litter the deep dropoff at the end of a jetty that adjuts into the passage into Luganivlle. Estelle, Baden and I scuba dived the area - and at 27m were still able to see the debris continue into the dark. Catherine, keen not to miss out, freedived to this ship rail at 6m to just get into the picture.
The story is that the Americans offered the war surplus to the local government for a low price. When it came time to settle the local government reneged and tried to negotiate down further, expecting the Americans to go and leave it all anyway. Rather than just give the stuff away they simply drove and pushed it off the end of the jetty which became known then, as Million Dollar Point. Sixty years down the track it is a great snorkel and dive and probably will (and has) benefited the community more than the surplus would have done had it been bought. You have to love the way the world turns.
We picked a magic day - calm enough to pick up the dinghy mooring rope that is marking the site. The crew from the monohull Carl joined us for the run, a pleasant motor sail from Luganville.
docgav on 08.29.08 @ 10:31 AM EST [link]
Saturday, August 23rd
Where does one look?
Chaotic Harmony is moving south toward Port Vila. En route we stopped at South West Bay, Malakula. We were told there would be a small festival for the opening of the local Yacht Club. It was bigger than we anticipated with 40 yachts turning up. The bay looked like Christmas and the local villagers had never seen anything like it.
At a Custom Dance at firebeach on the secon day the high chief agreed to have his photo taken with Catherine. I did not need to ask her to smile...
The Chief, in our society, would be a professor with a PhD. In NiVan society he is held in the highest esteem and exudes an aura of great knowledge and power. No wonder Captain Cook walked ashore here with a sprig of green to signify peace.
docgav on 08.23.08 @ 10:39 AM EST [link]
A rare monohull
It is not often the monohulls sneak closer inshore than a multihull. At Palakula Bay we anchored in just over a metre of water to do a propeller anode change - and our new friends on the yacht 'Carl' came in and anchored on the dry! Although Carl is 50ft long, she has a swing daggerboard, bilge ballast and a flat enough bottom to sit comfortably on the sand. A lovely protected anchorage, white sand and twenty NiVan kids came down to play after school so the paddleboards were in high demand. Cruising is often about making new friends, enjoying adventures with them and then departing hoping we cross wakes again. The world is a suprising small place and time and time again we have crossed paths and renewed the relationships with pleasure.
docgav on 08.23.08 @ 10:27 AM EST [link]
Mt Hope Champagne
The hosts at Oyster Island resort invited the Chaotic Harmony crew to visit their family farm at inland Santo at Mt Hope. This spectacular countryside was thick jungle, blue holes, streams and a beautiful farm for beef, Kava and Vanilla. We swam in two locations - the first a stream running out of the ground, through a cave and into a champagne pool. Fresh water is, well, very re'fresh'ing after years of swimming in the ocean.
docgav on 08.23.08 @ 10:11 AM EST [link]
Tuesday, August 19th
To the beat of your own Drum
Brian off 'Drumbeat' said "lets go for a snorkel".
I jump at any opportunity for an explore so the two of us went outside and along the coast of Oyster island. I would normally drop close to the shore and run along the reef edge. Not Brian. He is a freediver, big fins, weightbelt, big lungs. He drops in ten metres and starts exploring where usually only the scuba divers go. Just to be different he also picks spots even they are unlikely to check.
We were anchored in deep water, a moderately strong current and with not much coral when lo and behold Brians espies a plane wreck! It was then on for young and old. We spent the next few days re-visiting the site finding new bits each time - control panel, wings, windows - even a wing mounted gun.
You never know what the day will hold if you are open to opportunity.
docgav on 08.19.08 @ 09:17 PM EST [link]
A canoe find
The LeSueurs, with the help of the catamaran 'Drumbeats' crew, rescued a holed, well reef rubbed, outrigger-less canoe on Turtle Island. We took it back to Chaotic Harmony but had no idea what we were going to do with it then. Baden and Fletcher were all for plugging the holes and building the outrigger but lack of fibreglass and lack of Dad's enthusiasm to chop down the right tree and probably do it all himself meant we simply put it ashore at Oyster Island resort - for someone else to play and adventure with.
docgav on 08.19.08 @ 09:10 PM EST [link]
Reciprocating
When we visit people it is nice to bring a gift - but after a few years at sea we have run out of most things but the children have come up with a solution. We entertain! Fletcher, Baden and Estelle put on a small but bright performance at sunset that sets the smiles alight! They have become proficient fire twirlers, still have no burns (a few singed bits) and enjoy giving back to those that welcome us something a little different.
This display was to the crowds at Oyster Island. Yachties and NiVans alike enjoyed the show.
docgav on 08.19.08 @ 09:06 PM EST [link]
Burial at Sea: Vale Matilda
Nearly 20 years ago my co-skipper asked if we should get a cat.
"I'm not really a cat person," I replied. Catherine did not say anything. The next day she went out and got two of the cutest kittens - A female tortiseshell who we named Matilda and a black and white male who we named Tusca. I became a cat person and I loved them.
20 years on we have the same two cats. When we left Cairns three years ago we debated the merits of taking our fit but old cats with us. They love company and after a trial run aboard we decided to bring them. They eventually overcame seasickness and have enjoyed the close contact in their senior years.
A month ago Matilda was ailing. We knew this time would come and eventually she drifted off and died quietly as we were sailing south down the east coast of Santo. We had just had dolphins playing off the bow and it was off Isle du dolphin that we decided to bury at sea our much loved and well travelled Matilda.
Gently nested in her favourite blanket, tucked in a cotton shawl sewn tightly with sail thread and weighted with a clam shell; amidst tears and love, we set Matilda on her next adventure.
docgav on 08.19.08 @ 09:00 PM EST [link]
A leap of faith
From the Banks Islands Chaotic Harmony sailed south to Guau island where we were fascinated by the Women doing 'water music'. This group of a dozen Nivan ladies make an amazing pattern of musical sounds by clapping and swooshing thought the water with their hands and arms. They are currently in Spain at the world Expo showing their skills.
With more settled weather we sailed south to Santo and Oyster Island. At this anchorage is a four kilometer run up a river to a 'blue hole'. This is the end of the river - a white sand hole that water runs up into from an underground stream. The clarity of the water is amazing and the colour is stunning. To leap from the trees into the deep blue was an exciting way to experience a unique part of Santo.
Estelle did not need to be pushed and leapt of her own accord.
docgav on 08.19.08 @ 05:46 PM EST [link]
Nice Hats
The Custom dances at Ureparapara had interesting head gear. The village has a limited number of ways of earning money and they perform custom dances for visiting yachts, 5000v a pop. (about $60 Aus). They put in considerable effort, clearing a jungle area, making and keeping the head pieces intact (made from flowers and tree bits) and performing for a small crowd. We appreciated their effort. Vanuatu wages are not high and 5000v is about a weeks wages for most labour workers. A house made from thatch and bamboo, dirt floor might cost about the same amount from the village builder.
docgav on 08.19.08 @ 05:39 PM EST [link]
