Team Sandpiper Update 5 Nov 2006

• Noon Position, 24'20.5S/152'46.8E
• 31.1nm to Bubdaberg
• 955nm from Port Vila
• 109nm last 24hrs
• 10-15NW winds
• seas calm

Ron here. It is actually now 8pm 05-Nov and we are here! We arrived at 5pm today and are anchored in the quarantine area to clear customs in the morning. We are about 1/2 a mile up a river and a few yards off a beach. We broke out the cold beers and are enjoying a night at anchor with no rocking.

This trip has been awesome. Tom and Amy think this was the best passage ever. I can't claim credit for this. Most of the credit goes to the new autopilot that Tom installed in Vanuatu. It work beautifully! Very impressive. The other factor was the awesome weather. The winds were good and we and only had to motor 5 hours or so. Lastly, having 3 people to take watch allowed all of us to get plenty of rest.

When we arrived at the channel this afternoon, we also found a small "rush hour" traffic jam of other Port-to-Port Rally sailboats that arrived at the same time. We came in with 4 others. What perfect timing.

Our friends on the Blue Sky are stuck offshore today with a broken motor and no wind. They may not make it in until Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on the winds. They must be frustrated! They are floating in the shipping lanes tonight with no way to move. This is going to be a nerve racking night.

This may be the last post for a few days. We have a lot to do in the next couple of days.

Glad to be here!