Crossing the Tasman Sea

0700 04/04/ 08 Position 29 49S 162 25E

We are currently midway between New Zealand and Australia traversing the Tasman Sea.

This is my third time crossing this body of water in the past three to four months. We've sailed from Auckland to Sydney, Sydney to the Marlborough Sounds in South Island New Zealand and now from Auckland to Queensland.

This morning the sun is rising over the eastern horizon, bursting light over the mixed swells and storm tossed Tasman. The first light of the day is spotlighting three intense water spouts (mini water tornados) just off of our port beam. In the darkness before sunrise we navigated around this strong squall line by watching it on our radar monitor. Sailing just south of it to avoid the high wind, and now we can see three water spouts! Good call to divert a few miles!

It really is an amazing sight, I guess mother nature is ever changing the seascape and horizons for us and that is one of the strong allures this occupation has for me.
It's so close yet we are out of harms way. One of the water spouts is a fierce solid dark column, absolutely exploding the oceans surface as it moves across it. Another water spout extends down from the squall clouds to the sea. It has a wicked arc to it...its building power, defining its shape, size and direction...it is twisting, bending and curving like a cobra ready to strike its prey.
To the right of this spectacular nature show is a SOLID wall of rain, none of the mornings powerful first light can penetrate this. Those sun rays that are making it above the horizon paint a bold yellow, gold and red background, creating an erie background for all of the action on our immediate horizon.

This stretch of the Tasman Sea between Cape Reianga NZ and Queensland Australia skirt two prevailing weather systems. Their are highs and lows coming over Australia and tropical lows forming in the north and piping out of the New Caledonia area. This morning we are splitting - aka "threading the needle" between two very powerful systems. A strong high pressure system (rotates counter clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere) that originated in Tasmania and a Tropical Depression - Low pressure system (rotates clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere) that is moving very quickly out of Caledonia.

It's perfect sailing weather for us on this 1800 mile transit. We are scooting along at an easy 10 knots, rolling down 2 - 3 (6 to 10 feet) meter seas, broad reaching with the wind off of our port aft quarter.

To make the trip even more interesting and special, I am sailing with long time friend and mentor Murray Jacob. Murray is about as Australian as can be! He is chock full of knowledge and one of those few people I would trust my life with when in the s*#t on the high sea.

We are leaving Auckland "the City of Sails" just as signs of the Southern Hemisphere winter are revealing themselves. We have spent the last 5 to 6 months south of latitude 23 degrees south to avoid Cyclones. This is the same as the boats in the Northern hemisphere staying out of the Caribbean until November to avoid Hurricanes.

In this time we have hauled the 28 meter/90 ton yacht out of the water and completed an extensive refit. The goal of the refit is simple: to keep the 7 year old yacht in as close to "new" condition as possible and to ensure all systems are mechanically sound to insure our self sufficiency as we continue to circumnavigate the world.

Official Piracy Report Maps

Piracy is not just "Pirates of the Caribbean" Piracy is a real issue. One that requires planning and due diligence to avoid putting the guests, crew and vessel in harms way.

I feel the best strategy, the same as my storm strategy, that is avoidance! Go around it when ever possible! On top of that preparation, training and a solid security plan is essential.

PS I did not take the picture here. I hope and pray never to get this close to a real pirate.

To see the real picture of the actual attacks and attempted attacks as tracked and published by the International Maritime Bureau, check the links below.

The links are interactive you can zoom in and out and click on a specific attack to get the details.



2008 http://www.icc-ccs.org/extra/display.php?yr=2008

2007 http://www.icc-ccs.org/extra/display.php?yr=2007

2006 http://www.icc-ccs.org/extra/display.php?yr=2006

Somalia Piracy

This account is from a previous Captain of the Yacht that I now run. It tells the real story of what is going on in the Somalia region.

S/y Dolphin
Gulf of Aden, 22 April 2008
0030hrs (local time)
Latitude 12º 49´N
Longitude 047º 15´E

Report from “Pirate Alley” (Gulf of Aden).

Yesterday afternoon we received phone calls over the Satcom from relatives of some of the crew, living in Germany and Austria. They were concerned as to our well being since hearing on the local news of a reported “pirate attack” in the Gulf of Aden, the report said a commercial tuna fishing vessel was boarded and hijacked by a gang of pirates. This attack happened in close proximity to our location. The report was correct, but that attack was only one of FIVE during the last 24 hours.
Yes, pirates do still exist, unfortunately though they are not as charming and sympathetic as a certain Captain Jack Sparrow, the personification that most people associate with pirates nowadays. Piracy on the high seas, especially this part of the world is nothing new. Ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union and their satellite communist regime in Somalia, in the 90’s, there has been a regular pattern of pirate attacks. I sailed through here, December 1998, as Captain on Geraldo Rivera’s sailing yacht “Voyager”. We were chased by pirates, the duration of a night, in the Strait of Sucatra. Only two weeks ago, April 4th, the French sailing yacht “Le Ponant” was attacked and hijacked in the same area as the tuna boat. Over 30 crew, mainly French and Ukrainian citizens were held hostage onboard, while the pirates took the vessel to a Somalian port. One week later the French government paid a ransom of $2.000.000, the vessel and its crew were released. Soon after four French assault helicopters, one warship and French Special Forces launched an attack, killing eight pirates, arresting the rest and recovering most of the ransom.
April 12th, before setting sail, on our return journey from the Maldives to the vessels home port Palma de Mallorca Spain, we contacted the IMB (International Maritime Bureau) Piracy Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They informed us that since the “Le Ponant” incident there had been no other attacks reported, as CMF (Combined Maritime Forces) had sent additional warships to patrol the area. The CMF consists of Spanish, Italian, American, British, German, French and Australian warships.
But that report was two weeks ago………
April 20th and all hell broke loose here.
It started 20.35hrs (local time) with a Mayday call on the VHF radio. “Faisal Mustafa” a small traditional wooden cargo ship, a common vessel in the Middle East known as a “dhow”, was en route from the Red Sea to India. As it turned out their position was only four nautical miles off our starboard side. We witnessed four small speedboats (dinghy type) quickly approach the ship. The last radio transmission, from the captain, was “Merciful God, can somebody help us, the pirates are boarding, merciful God, help us please!” There was a commotion of screaming and shouting in the background, then the radio went silent. We changed course immediately, contacted CMF and made radio contact with an American warship in the vicinity. They advised us to head south westerly at full speed, to get away from the pirates as soon as possible and in the general direction of a British warship “HMS Chatham”, 30 nautical miles from our position. They also launched a helicopter to meet us. The helicopter soon arrived and stayed over us until “HMS Chatham” had us plotted on their radar. Meanwhile the American warship was steaming towards the distressed vessel to help in some way. We still do not know the outcome of that situation.
Later the “HMS Chatham” Operations Officer advised us to continue towards our destination, Djibouti, on a westerly course leading us into an area patrolled by the German warship, frigate “Emden”. Sailing along through the night and 7 hours later we once again heard the heart wrenching “Mayday, mayday, pirate attack”. This time the call for help was from “Takayama”, a Japanese oil tanker en route from Japan to the Suez Canal. “Takayama” was under attack and only 25 nautical miles ahead of us, on our intended course.
From out of nowhere a small fast (appr. 30knots) fiberglass speedboat came alongside the tanker and opened fire with machineguns and RPG:s (Rocket propelled grenades). With the intention of stopping the tanker, they fired at the tankers rudder, she was badly hit along the whole portside, the lifeboat was shot to pieces, and the fuel tank was penetrated, causing heavy fuel oil to spill into the sea.
The captain of “Takayama” went full speed ahead and changed his course to North West, in the hope of reaching the German warship “Emden”, in the vicinity. “Emden” launched a helicopter which was on site within approximately 10 minutes and the pirates subsequently broke off their attack, we later found out that they returned to their “mothership”. By then “Takayamas´s” portside resembled Swiss cheese, with fuel pouring out of it. “Emden” finally reached the tanker and helped temporarily patch the leaking fuel tanks. She is now 30 nautical miles in front of us slowly limping towards the port of Aden, Yemen, for repairs, escorted by the German frigate.
During the attack, we were advised to change our course to a north westerly course so we could catch up with the tanker and safety of the German frigate.
At that point everyone thought it was over, there couldn´t possibly be more pirates out there. We were sadly mistaken as at 12.28hrs it was time again for “Mayday”, this time another small cargo ship, en route to Somaliland, was attacked and boarded close to the Somalian coast, 12nautical miles. As of yet we have no further information regarding that incident. It was time again, at 13.05 another Spanish commercial fishing vessel, approximately 100 nautical miles east of our position, was also attacked and boarded. They are now hijacked and the vessel is on its way to Somalia, with pirates in charge and the crew is held as hostages.
We are now slowly steaming westwards (8 knots) with our eyes glued to the radar, and constantly scanning the horizon with binoculars. All ships are on high alert and airing to the side of paranoia, changing course as soon as anything suspicious or unrecognized appears on the radar or horizon. Everyone is just listening to the radio dreading the next “Mayday”. Hopefully, Insh´Allah in this neck of the woods, it will not be us making that call………
Insh´Allah, God willing we will reach Djibouti, in one piece, within the next 36 hours, where we will bunker diesel, hopefully get fresh food and rest our minds of the mental stresses endured sailing through the Gulf of Aden.
Our only comfort at this point is seeing helicopters flying overhead, once in a while and the occasional warship. In fact we have a helicopter over us right now seemingly leading us in a westerly direction.
Whilst floating here feeling like sitting ducks, we could not help but wonder. “Is it not about time that the rest of the civilized world dealt with this Somalian issue?” “Is it not possible for either, if not all of these organizations UN, NATO, EU to develop a plan of action and resolve the instability of this poor country?” After all NATO intervened with Kosovo, Bosnia and Afghanistan.
If there is one place on earth that has been truly forgotten, it is Somalia, a country where the poor starving population has no human rights, no functioning infrastructure with no justice system, no police and where the law spells AK47, a weapon readily available and cheaper than a pair of tennis shoes. Where RPGs sell by the dozen, where very few journalists dare to go and foreign aid workers can not go for knowing they would most definitely be kidnapped on setting foot in Mogadishu. Where food aid shipments need naval escorts to guard their cargo being discharged and where fishermen become pirates at night. Something is definitely wrong when a blind eye has been turned and this has been accepted for decades. The only viable looking option is military intervention and I mean something more than the few thousand, poorly equipped, troops from the African Union (mainly Ugandan troops) stationed there right now. One would think it would be in the interest of the international community to see peace and stability here, since most of the Persian Gulf oil and commodities from the Far East must pass through the Gulf of Aden to reach their destinations in Europe and the east coast of North America. If this “piracy enterprise” continues as is it will definitely lead to many more deaths, hijackings, kidnappings, burning oil tankers and sunken ships. These pirates are desperate, they have nothing to loose and they are prepared to risk their lives for daily luxuries most of us take for granted. If they could have had peace, stability and prosperity sooner, they would most probably never have resorted to piracy on the high seas. With a form of central government in control the pirates could be stopped, even before they step into their boats.
So, politicians of the world, do something! Only you have the power to devise a plan and implement it. Only you can make it happen. The chaos in Somalia is so far gone and beyond control that there is no possibility that they themselves can bring anything about to resemble peace in the foreseeable future. Many Somalis, I am sure, would be forever grateful and thankful to the international community if we were to help their country become civilized and peaceful. Many mariners out there on the high seas would also be very grateful for any kind of normalcy. Instead of worrying our selves to death over pirates we could instead concentrate on the usual nautical factors like the weather and wind…

Whilst translating this report from Swedish (my native language), it was our turn to call “Mayday”. At 16.51hrs only 28 nautical miles off the Yemeni coast, Pos. 12º 22´N 045º 17´E, a crew member spotted two small speed boats, 4 nautical miles ahead and fast approaching from either side. We immediately sent out a “Mayday” and made a full speed U-turn. Our call was received by Spanish warship “Mendez Muñez”, approximately 15 nautical miles from our location and a U.S Marine Corps surveillance plane was in the vicinity. Within 9 minutes the plane flew over, circling us and the pursuing boats at very low altitude, the pursuers stopped and turned south. The closest they got to us was 0.8 nautical miles (1.5km), but even that is to close for comfort…..




Johan Lillkung
Captain S/y Dolphin
Satellite tel. +870-764061860
Email: captain@sydolphin.com


Dolphin is a 27 meter long, private sailing yacht, currently returning to Spain having spent the northern hemisphere winter cruising the Seychelles and the Maldives islands.

Dolphin crew:
Johan Lillkung, Sweden
Lionel Laboureur, France
Rene Paganetti, Germany
Sarah Fitsch, Austria
Julietta e Silva, Britain
Gordon Henderson, R.I U.S.A.

The Amazing 2008 Sydney Fireworks

The harbor and shores swelled with 1 million people. All eagerly awaiting the fireworks extravaganza. We had our position in the harbor, sighting straight down the line of 6 fireworks barges, the Opera House and Harbor Bridge and Downtown Sydney all in clear sight. The count down to 2008 begins....

All I can say is this experience should be added to your "things to do before I die list". Simply spectacular!



Check out the videos to the right...

Sydney to Hobart Race 2007

It is Boxing Day in Sydney Australia. The day after Christmas celebrations. The day the infamous Rolex Sydney to Hobart Race starts.

It's only 1000 and the race, several hours before the 1300 scheduled race start time. Already there is a steady procession of boats heading for the spectator areas. This day for local Sydney folks seems to be steeped in as much tradition as is opening presents and spending time with family on Christmas morning.

One hour to go before the start. Thousands of spectator boats of every shape and size crowd the tight spectator lanes that fringe the first leg of the race. The fleet will start upwind and sprint for the Sydney Harbor Headlands and the entrance to the Tasman Sea. From hoist their spinnakers, hook in to the Australian Current (similar to the Gulf Stream off Florida) and point their bows toward Hobart Tasmania - which lies about 600 miles south.

It's just not the same being a spectator in a major sailing event like this....However I know very, very well the feeling that all of these guys have prior to the start. The feeling you get before starting a long distance race is a mix adrenaline, butterflies, the breakfast you had a few hours ago, and the anticipation for the unknown that lies ahead.

Today I temper my racing energy with aggressively defending my spot on the spectator line. I have staked out a spot sighting directly down the starting line.

It is a great start with one boat over early. He is bumming as it will be very difficult to turn around - crazy to be over early in a long distance race....

The race is off as is the spectator fleet following, the harbor is extreme kaos to say the least!

I have always dreamed of doing this race, I am so close I can taste it. Some day I'll be on the other side of the spectator line defending my spot on the real starting line of the Sydney to Hobart Race. I chalk today up as a scouting mission for the future...

Check out the photos on the left by clicking on the Sydney (or any other) Photo....

Weather Prudence and Patience

It's always better to wait for a proper weather window...

Here is the story of Maximus, http://www.supermaxi.co.nz/ one of favorites for line honors in this years Sydney to Hobart.

They left Auckland bound for Sydney about 10 hours before my earliest departure option for the same route.

My weather data and the consultation from Commanders' Weather Consultants http://www.commandersweather.com/ showed a deepening low pressure system being followed by a very strong high pressure system - the conclusion was to delay 48h to avoid very rough conditions in the middle of the Tasman Sea.

Maximus departed Auckland to keep their schedule for race prep and got caught in very rough weather and suffered keel damage.

I am very grateful for the full support of the owner and yacht management company on the weather and safety decisions for the yacht that I captain.... Here is the story as reported on the Rolex Sydney Hobart website

DISASTER AVERTED
Sydney, Australia (December 17, 2007) The New Zealand 30m
maxi yacht Maximus will be lifted from the water Monday to have its keel
damage fully assessed, which was sustained during its delivery voyage from
Auckland, NZL. Maximus left Auckland on Wednesday and was in the final stages of
the delivery trip to Sydney on Sunday when the crew heard a loud bang. It
was when they sent a diver overboard to investigate that the cracked keel was
discovered. The Rolex Sydney Hobart entrant limped into Sydney in the
early hours of Monday, motoring with the Sydney Water Police vessel Launch Alert
as escort for the final 78nm in case assistance was required. It has not yet
been disclosed as to what may have been the cause of the damage. –
http://www.rolexsydneyhobart.com

Around the World....by plane

Its Dec 6 2007 I am just returning to the yacht in Auckland New Zealand after a month long flight around the world. My travels originated in Auckland New Zealand and would take me to Thailand, Malaysia, Italy, Amsterdam, Michigan, Florida and California.

In Thailand I began my humbling learning curve with kite boarding. Based in Phuket, I ventured into the water daily to forcefully get drug around through the murky water by an enormous untamed kite. I have a saying on the boat regarding being in control while driving "is the dog wagging the tail, or the tail wagging the dog...? Well this saying went through my mind like a broken mantra record for the first several days. By the fourth day I was getting up on the board and able to stay sailing for 10 minutes at a time. I have a long way to go with this sport.... but what an amazing adrenaline thrill when you get it dialed in and are flying across the water and have moments of literally flying through the air.

On to Milan Italy, actually my first time in Europe. I was here to meet with a yacht designer for a future project. Being my first time to Italy, I was really captivated by the architecture, culture, fashion, food and preserved history of the area not to mention meeting and working with a legend in yacht design.

From Milan to Amsterdam to attend the 2007 MET'S show. This is the annual international Marine Equipment Trade Show. Acres of booths manned by all of the top marine equipment manufactures. Everything was represented, from generators, to carbon fiber masts to communications and navigations equipment to...if it goes on a yacht it was there. In the three days visiting the show I must have walked 15 miles, learned about many new products and emerging technologies and made numerous valuable contacts for the future.

While in Amsterdam, I drove south about one hour to Medemblik to tour the Jongert yacht building facility. www.jongert.com It was apparent here, why the Jongert name has such a strong pedigree in the sailing yacht builder world.

From Amsterdam I flew through Michigan. I met my good friend Sam (who recently sailed with me 3500 nm from Galapagos to Marquesas) at the Detroit Airport and was the comfortable guest at his home in Toledo Ohio for the next two days. That evening was a highlight of my travels, Sam and his wife Maggie organized a get together of about 50 friends. It was very good to see all of these people and re-connect even if only for a brief evening. Toledo and this group of people are very important to me, these are the people that I learned to sail with, race with and who my passion for this lifestyle originated. Many, many, many very good memories...many warmly relived this night.

The next morning was Thanksgiving, I joined my friends Dick and Steven, Jim and Norm and Scott for the "Turkey Day Sail" at North Cape Yacht Club in Lasalle Michigan. This is where I did a great deal of sailing and lived right down the break wall from the yacht club. This was a special sail and day for me as my Dad (who passed away 13 years ago) founded the event about 22 years ago. The tradition lives on, a few hearty-die hard sailors keep their boats in the water after all others have pulled out for the season, anticipating the winter freeze. Come Thanksgiving morning they all rendezvous, suit up in warm weather gear, sip warming beverages and venture out on to Lake Erie. This Turkey Sail, I sail on Norms boat - Norm and Jim where locally know back in my racing days at NCYC for their "post race debriefs" that ceremonially began with the ringing of the ships bell inside their boat. True to Turkey Day Sail form we sailed in snow flurries and about 25 knots of breeze - I was about as far from the warm South Pacific breezes that I had just spent the last 6 months sailing in as I could be - but I was very warm inside being around my friends and sailing where I grew up.

From Michigan to Ft Lauderdale Florida for one more class for my MCA Class IV Captains License. The highlight of my Florida trip was reuniting with my good friends Dan and Pat who traveled to Ft Lauderdale to meet up.

From Florida to California for time with my Son Alex and my Family. Short but very nice....

Back to Auckland and completion of flying around the workd - now time to get back to the business of sailing around the world.

Through out all of my travel over this month the tough trade off with my lifestyle realy hit home...Its hard to be away from family and friends for long extended times.