30/4/05
Ian Stewart.

Vigilant left Gosford Marina at midnight on Sunday evening 10th April 2005 with 10 crew, 2 Skippers, 2 Chefs, 1 Diesel Mechanic, 1 Marine Electrician and 4 Deck Hands bound for Lord Howe Island.

That evening conditions were below average on the way out to the continental shelf battling 3 metre seas and 30 knot winds. After crossing the shelf the swell slowly subsided and throughout the course of the day the winds reduced in strength to 5 – 10 knots by evening while we passed whales as the sunset. We all continued our 3 hour driving shifts throughout the evening and awoke to a morning of glass for our second day at sea. We could not believe as we approached 200 nautical miles from mainland Australia that conditions could be so calm. We deployed a pattern of skirted lures from 3 game rods and declared Marlin morning, as we motored over some sea mountains that rose to 290 metres below us from 4000 metres deep. Within 2 hours we had a 100kg plus Marlin tail dancing at the back of the boat. We lost the fish 30 metres from the boat after 2 crew battled the fish for 40 minutes. We were still stoked as we would have released it anyway as we would have had no refrigeration spare to store it.

The next morning we arrived at Lord Howe Island to an insane sunrise with the incredible Balls Pyramid in the foreground. We cleared customs stayed for a few days, surfed the reef out front, did a bit of fishing and left for Norfolk Island. What a trip, 60 hours of 3 metre swell and direct 30 knot easterly winds. Dramas aplenty but nothing life threatening! We arrive to news from the Norfolk Coastal Patrol that they are waiting on their supply ship from Yamba for fuel (diesel) for their Island as they are running low. We are a distant second priority! The Anzac day weekend came and still no fuel for us.

The boat left fully fuelled bound for Tonga at 11am Tuesday 26th April. Hopefully the boat will still be on time for arrival in Tahiti for the Billabong Pro at Teahupoo. Fingers crossed for good weather.