Barren Island to Laccam Harbour

15 Jan 2011 | Start: 1220, Finish: 2323 | Eng hrs: 1859.0 – 1861.3 | Avg RPM: 2,400 | Conditions: About 1m seas, 10-15 kts wind consistent from NE, sunny

Woke up at 6:30, waiting for 9:30 so the light will be good for our dive. Will be first dive from the dinghy so expect mayhem. Not sure how we get the boat clean from so much volcanic ash, but we’ll deal with that later. Boat had been swung around a good bit. Chain had been caught short on a bombie right where it met the sea floor, so snubber was getting a workout. Chain kept mysteriously slipping and had to lower more chain slack onto snubber. Could tell when weight was on windlass and not cleats as boat would shake. Amazing dive down by the lava flow. Beached dinghy on small sandy cove and entered water from beach. Dove down to 30m. Saw 2 spotted rays, turtle. Surveillance planes overhead. Very survivor-esque camp setup under boulder, out of sight of surveillance. Adam freed the chain and had no issues getting anchor up. Tough to anchor by the beach and not upset some coral – if not with anchor then with chain. But swell is much calmer there. Around the island for a bit, but stopped as swell was big and killing our speed. Made our RPMs drop to 2k from 2.5k and speed down to 2 kts. Weird. Turned around and RPMs picked up and speed normal. Good 10-15 kts winds the whole way back – no motoring. Hitting us at about 90 degree apparent. Autohelm would fluctuate 30 degree at times, especially if she rounded up to far. Speed varied from 4-6.5 kts. Overall, good sail. Into Laccam before midnight. Port Control was actually on the radio – first time they were awake past 5 PM! Came in slightly west of our normal track and ran into 3.5m spot – yikes. Anchored same spot as when we left. Sleep!

About Ian McHenry

Princeton '05
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