No smooth sailing for the stranded Aussies boating home

After almost 50 days at sea, the stranded Aussies sailing a flimsy vessel from Panama to Australia have finally made it to French Polynesia … but it hasn’t been easy.

Jake Shepherd and Tamara Ilic are stranded Aussies sailing from Panama to Australia in a desperate attempt to return home.

The young Australian couple who set out to sail home from Panama to circumvent flight caps has hit troubled ­waters after the boat sprung a leak early in the voyage, forcing them to bail hundreds of buckets of water by hand.

Flat batteries, a flooded engine and a double-crossing captain are only the tip of the iceberg for what has been the journey of a lifetime (or two) for the intrepid travellers.

Jake Shephard and Tamara Ilic made it to French Polynesia three days ago, and while they’re technically illegal arrivals, they are simply glad they got there after almost 50 days at sea.

Prevented from flying home by astronomical ticket prices and crushing flight caps, the couple made the decision in March to return home by boat.

Ten days after leaving Rio Hato in Panama aboard China Plate with Skipper Trev, they made a first emergency stop at Santa Cruz in the Galapagos Islands.

“Our battery, alternator, navigation system and autopilot failed after a day and a half at sea,” Ms Ilic said.

“The exhaust also split, which caused a serious water leak that led to us emptying over 300 buckets of water from the boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean while hand steering for five days as we altered our course to Santa Cruz to seek refuge.”

The trio was allowed to stay in Santa Cruz for only 76 hours on an emergency visit, during which time they frantically worked to repatch the dilapidated craft. Shortly after beginning the next 3000-nautical mile stretch to French Polynesia, the batteries died and navigation system failed again.

“It took us 32 days to get here, when it should have taken only 23,” Ms Ilic said. “Most of it was done in the pitch black, without safety lights, and navigating using an app we downloaded.”

Mr Shephard and Ms Ilic have also since realised they knew very little about the man navigating them home: this was Skipper Trev’s third attempt to sail China Plate from Panama to French Polynesia.

The first time, he made it two days out before returning to Panama in need of crew. The second, China Plate found itself with a broken engine and two busted sails drifting between the Galapagos Islands and Panama before being towed 300 nautical miles back to land by the Ecuadorean coast guard. After this, he and China Plate were forbidden from entering French Polynesia as the boat was not deemed sea-worthy.

Ms Ilic and Mr Shephard were informed of this only once they arrived on the island of Hiva Oa and spoke to local maritime police. “We’re not massive fans of Trev at this stage,” Mr Shephard said. “He put our lives at risk taking us out there. We won’t be headed to Australia with him.”

After a few days sleeping on a beach on the “stunning” island of Hiva Oa, the couple has sourced a new boat with a captain willing to sail them home, and “feeling a ­little less confident, but eager to get home”.

They are tracking their journey on YouTube under the account ‘Lockdown Travellers’.

Just another 3250 nautical miles to go.