The armed conflict in the Solomons threatened to thwart a plan for April to fly in and replace Chris as Jason's co-pedaler for the remaining 1,450-miles across the Coral Sea to the Queensland coast. But by chance the fighting around the airport outside Honiara subsided long enough for one Air Niugini flight to make it in and out. April was on the inbound flight. Chris made it on the outbound one.

The Coral Sea has a reputation for being one of the worst pieces of water in the world to navigate. For the Moksha crew, attempting a crossing so late in the season (July-August) brought it's own set of challenges: near constant 20-25 knot southeasterlies threatened intially to blow them onto the reef system east of the Papua New Guinea, and later in the voyage onto the Great Barrier Reef. April had never been on a boat before, let alone to sea, and for the duration of the 32-day voyage she suffered terribly from sea sickness.

By day 30 April's inability to hold down food had weakened her considerably and, in addition, they were looking increasing less likely to make their intended destination of Cairns. Predicting a possible catastrophe at the hands of the Barrier Reef they called on the services of Kenny Brown, the expedition cameraman, to commandeer a local vessel and intercept Moksha prior to the impending collision.

Map courtesy of Map Resources

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