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ORCV Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V)

Live Intel.

We are very blessed to have Georgie Mitchell, HBYC Committee Member, on the deck in Vanuatu for us. She's the most sober of the lot, as she flew in, so here are some reports and pics. Thank you, Georgie.

"Lots has happened since I arrived. I'll start at the beginning and hopefully be able to send you some photos this arvo to back it up. If i can't get the photos through today, as the internet is a bit flukey here, I will send them in the morning from Australia."

"I got here at 2am Friday and was greeted by Tim (Beau) at the airport, checked into the hotel and walked down to see the boats. We jumped on The Secretary and had a few drinks with George and Robyn, who had only been in a hour or so. Robyn was exausted from her marathon effort of the previous couple of days. Angus was onboard too. We went from there over to Samskara, to be greated by a very 'tired and emotional' Colin Leake. Nic Foa was on guitar and the rest of the crew were there singing along."

"The next morning, Colin woke up with a trussed up Cockral in bed with him, aboard Tevake II, and giggles coming from another boat who had been waiting for the coq to go off with the sunrise. Colin, who has a thing for chickens, soon had it on deck and was stroking it lovingly! He tried to blame Samskara who was most unimpressed with it's arrival, as it stank and had fleas."

"As you know, there were plenty of updates from the Ship's Cat on Samskara, so we presented them with a real one. She's called Mrs Chippy, which is the name given to Ernest Shakelton's cat. They loved it!"

"There was plenty of swimming off the backs of boats and begging for showers and clean clothes. The Vanuatu Cruising Yacht Club have put a marquee on the shore, in front of the boats, for crew to use. On Friday, Tusker donated two kegs of beer, which were fired up about 4pm. All the crews and families arrived soon after, we even had the Scarlet Runner mob and Brian Pattinson there, the owner of Gusto. Leon Berry got the afternoon skeds and we all drank a beer, or five, for our friends who were still out there. As Vanuatu's Independence Day is coming up, there are fireworks on sale at the moment and the locals are allowed to let them off on the forshore, just near the tent between 6 and 8pm, so we got a bit of a show, as well. It may not have been Hobart or Geelong, but it was enjoyed by all, none the less! The kegs were done by about 8pm and the boat groups slintered off for dinner. Tevake II's choice was the Flaming Bull, where the band played the same song all night long, the cocktails were great and the steaks big. Samskara has loads of kids over, so most of them are over at the Irriki Resort, lapping up the luxury."

The Tent.

"Yesterday was Race Day (Vanuatu Cup and the only day of racing all year!) It's the biggest social event of the year, here. The yachts had been invited to the corporate Tusker tent. Now, how can yachties say no to free beer??!!!  Everyone turned up except Samskara. By the time they had organised the troops, it was too late, so they went off for a 6 hour 100,000Vt lunch (AU$1174.00). Well done, I say."

"We arrived at the races to many huts made of palm fronds, with open fires, selling meat galore. Of course we headed straight for the free beer, more free beer and then sin of sins, the Tusker beer tent ran out of beer! This didn’t matter to the yachties, however, sweet white filled the gap! Again all the crews were there, Brian Pattinson representing Gusto, the Scarlet Runner mob and also David from Bona Vista, which is a motor yacht from Brighton. They came over for the race end, as they had done with their sailing boat, Point of Sail, for the 2006 M2V. I’m glad to say, that unlike last year, all the horses finished with their jockey’s still on them!"

The Races.

"Some of us went on the the Saloon Western Bar, where you buy beer tokens. There are stuffed animals and maniquins everywhere, it was all good until the mozzies started biting and the marlaria paranoia set in! So back to the boats we went, to wait for Garisenda, who got in around midnight As there are no shops open between midday Saturday and Monday morning, three boats had to be raided to raise the mandatory slab for them! Tradition goes that the the boat before them, which was Samskara in this case, has to shout, but with a huge day at the horse races, the bottle shop was certainly missed!"

"The Turbo crew go a bit of religion this morning, at the local Presbyterian church, lots of beautiful signing and somehow, they seem a little purer now. Slinky arrived today, to a fan fare of fog horns and George’s bugle. A covert operation to find beer, in a place where you can’t buy it on the weekend, saw four crates appear from the beer Gods. Again, unfortunately no photo's at this time for you." (May well be incriminating, anyway...)

"George has found a home for the water pump (donation from our Star and very anonymous donator) on a remote Northern island of Vanuatu. It will help get the water to the hospital and school. It is a great story and Robyn said she would try and send an update later on all of the humanitarian efforts.  Delivery crew have been arriving today, so everyone is busy."

Now the Ship's Cat (who may well have been cut cat after the races), also got a chance to put the hands to the keys. Thank you, Kim.

"As I type, Slinky Malinky are signing in for their last sked and that means they are an hour away. We are sitting in the Nambawan (#1) Cafe, with Angus and his VHF radio and the Slinkies sound very happy to be so close. I have plenty of stories for all, but I will pass that information over to the ORCV, with pictures, on my return tomorrow."

This morning (Sunday) as they await Slinky Malinky.

Georgie Mitchell and Ryan Blackstock (HBYC Rear Commodore) at the races...

There will be more, eventually...

By John Curnow

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ORCV Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V)

Then there was one!

Garisenda arrived in Port Vila at 23:21:56 AEST on Saturday. Well done to the Dark Horse. Skipper, Jeff Savage and crew will be delighted, I'm sure. No doubt we'll hear just how delighted, soon enough.

Garisenda, H624 on the right, goes into the line to begin her epic run.

Now with that news, comes the fact that there is just the one boat of the fleet left racing, Slinky Malinky. They should make it in during the morning of Sunday, July 18, which is of course, two weeks after the whole fleet left.

More soon...

By John Curnow

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ORCV Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V)

Finally, there were none!

On 18/07/2010 at 12:10:49 AEST, Slinky Malinky finished the 2010 M2V. As the last boat in, this piece actually finishes the coverage of the racing section of Australia's longest Category One ocean epic. It may be two weeks and a little bit of change since they started, but Eric Marsh and crew have relished the challenges, worked through the lows and most importantly, been there for fellow competitors in a time of need. Well done to the Slinkies on so many fronts!

Slinky Malinky on July 4, 2010. Pic © Teri Dodds.

We will bring you pictures of the presentations and also the container and its contents, as soon as is practicable. A big thank you to all those who dug deep and got Robyn Brooke's container so full of humanitarian aid. To Rotary International, Extra Transport for getting the container to the ship and APC Logistics for getting it to Vanuatu, we say ‘cheers’.

Cheers also to all the competitors. Well done. Competitors need fantastic Skippers, who get their boats ready and enter them. Well done to those ten magnificent people, especially the ones making it for the first time. To those that did not quite make it, we hope (and actually kind of know) you'll be back for more. We also really appreciate you making the time to send us updates of your travels, too.

Well done to the ORCV Sailing Committee, as well. A race like this needs a heap of organisation and the individuals responsible for this were Chairman Simon Dryden, Race Director Bob Tanner, Vice Commodore Don Fraser for all the effort with the Tracker, Sally Williams, Dennis Livingston and Tanya Stanford in the office, Peter Clancy, Coast Radio Hobart (specifically Stuart Braunholz) and Kordia for being on those radios, AMSA for responding so efficiently along with the Victoria and Queensland Police Forces and also Customs and Immigration. The authorities in Noumea who expedited Mirrabooka’s entry into New Caledonia, after her retirement, are also very much appreciated.

On the ground locally in Vanuatu were the Vanuatu Cruising Yacht Club Commodore Sam Bell and Secretary, Jesse Bell. Showing that it is a sport based on camaraderie, were Brian Pattinson and Rob Date, who were there at Vila, welcoming the crews in, despite not being able to make it with their own boats.

A big thank you also to the all the media outlets that covered the race and all the activities that went a long with it. To Steb Fisher and Teri Dodds, who gave us rights to use their fantastic imagery - nice one. Finally then, to all the readers, thank you for your interest. It has been appreciated and we certainly acknowledge your effort to call or email and let us know what you thought. Very kind.

To the Scoreboards then:

Line Honours - Tevake II was the only boat to go over the top of New Caledonia and as such, disposed of their opposition, who at one stage had closed to within 19nm of Tevake's transom.

IRC - great effort by Turbo for the win and also in PHS and the two-handed crew aboard The Secretary for 3rd.

PHS - Garisenda, the Dark Horse, gets 3rd.

There will be more, eventually...

By John Curnow

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ORCV Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V)

Tropical Cat.

Kim McKee, Samskara's now Tropical Cat, has checked in with a story and pics. Let's check it out...

"We have finally arrived in the Tropical paradise of Vanuatu."

Samskara's Crew - Left to Right are Jesse, Rick, James, Nick, Capt Stoopy, Mike and our Ship's Cat, Kim McKee.

"After a loooooong slow day with very little breeze Huey (wind god) dropped out the 0.00 knots as we drifted over the finish line doing 0.01 knot - (thank the current/tide god for us finishing on the right side of the harbour leads) at 22.10 on Thursday night! Grrrrr - frustrating to say the least. Most importantly though we did make it and were all VERY happy to tie up alongside our fellow competitors (Tevake, Turbo and 51st Project) about 11pm Thursday night."

"The obvious happened.......... bottles and cans were cracked and the stories got bigger and better and both cans and stories flowed until the wee hours of the morning. This cat hit the rack at about 1.00am and awoke to stories of roosters being purchased from the markets and planted on various boats. Crew forgot where they were and went in search of Souvlaki and kebabs rah rah rah. All in all it was the usual post race lies, fun and frivolity."

The fellow competitors are parked and awaiting the whole gang. A jubilant Angus Fletcher keen for more...

"Customs, Quarantine and Immigration did their thing (in their own island time of course) and we were free to get amongst it in Vanuatu on the Friday. Most of the crew then checked into Irriki Resort and had our first sleep in a real bed for a few weeks - very pleasant indeed!"

"Thanks to all those who have tuned into the cats tales and I am glad to hear most of you have enjoyed them. The Vanuatu Races are on today and given my winning gambling form, we are going to hit them with gusto! Frocked up, feeling good and signing off for one last time on behalf of all the Samskara Crew."

Over and Out! - The Ships Cat.

When I saw this I thought the Tropical Cat would be happy...

Then I saw this and knew this would much more fit her style and requirements...

PS: "I have just been informed by the crew that there is no prize for winning the closest ETA. Ripped off or what?! Apparently there is just a loser (the one who was furthest out), which is Captain Stoopman, who now has to write 'KNOB' in slippery nipples on the bar for the crew to then enjoy. OK. That's sounding a lot better!"

Our Cat obviously like the little Citroen 2CV. Aircooled, maybe that's why? Perhaps it is because it's small and just perfect for curling up in, away from all the crowd?

More soon... (but you knew that, too).

Please remember, that if you want to find out where everyone is in the chase for the container of humanitarian aid that APC Logistics sent to Vanuatu for us, then please go HERE. Sked times are 4.30am and pm EST.

By John Curnow