Another ride on the Pacific rollercoaster (Passage to Fiji)

 

Day 1.

12 Aug ‘23

Started the day the right way: with a rainbow and a short dolphin visit as we exited the pass at Suwarrow. It’s been pretty special here.. the usual melancholy feeling at leaving an anchorage is magnified for this particular departure. Suwarrow is a truly wonderful place which we’re leaving with very fond memories and we count ourselves very lucky to have been able to visit.

…but move on we must.

Once through the pass, we turned Westish (260 degrees) set up a wing on wing config, and as I write this we’re heading along nicely just shy of 5 knots.

Chez’s back (coccyx) isn’t too good today - we went from:

“This is actually alright” as we exited the pass, to:

“I can’t f**king stand this! It’s physical and mental torture!” within the space of a few short hours.

The side on swell, plus the usual whip crack of the sails in light wind is, I have to agree, somewhat torturous.. and my back doesn’t even hurt! Hopefully she can get some relief over the next few days.

The wind remained on the cusp of good all day.. or to put it in a slightly less cheery way: low, shit and un-useable. Come evening, Chez retired early. Soon after, the wind did just enough for me to get the engine off, keep the main sail full, and for the most part; not flog. Chez’s early night threw our usual, tried and tested shift pattern out the window. It’s all good - as long as one of us remains awake at night, the days are easy and naps can be snatched.

Day 2

13 Aug ‘23

After a night filled with shooting stars (we saw 8 between us), I wake to a new set of dramas..

The wind and swell have increased and turned, meaning as soon as my head is up out of the cabin, we’re jibing. This was achieved, not exactly to plan, and nearly minus a couple of fingers for Chez.. but achieved all the same.

The other item needing my immediate attention is the fridge, which is reportedly “Doing that thing” again. On investigation, it turns out the control panel next to the compressor has been smashed by an errant coconut rolling around the floor. Wiggled a few wires and crossed my fingers… seems OK for now.

Wind has remained good all day, the mainsail wide out on the Starboard side has us going along at around 5.5 knots.

We were hailed on the VHF by SY Kumo close to sunset - an Irish couple in a mono from the last anchorage back in Suwarrow. They’ll no doubt be overtaking us at some stage through the night. Nice to know there’s someone else around regardless.

I re-started my habit of nightshift cinema tonight with a double bill of old films on the laptop:

‘The Warriors’ - a classic that brings back memories of my big brother Doug - it was one of very few Betamax videos we had back in the day and was played to death. 7.5/10.

..and:

‘Revenge of the nerds’ - Amusing in parts, but far from PC - ‘Somewhat problematic’ as Chez would say. 5/10

Day 3

14 Aug ‘23

Absolutely whizzing along today.. big following seas have us going between 5 and 8 knots depending on how well we’re surfing each wave. Chez saw a fishing boat in the night. Other than that…. there’s really not a lot going on.

Tonight’s nightshift cinema delight was one I’d seen before. A feel-good French gem: ‘Amelie’ - 9/10.

Day 4

15 Aug ‘23 (maybe a Wednesday.. but really not sure any more!)

I slept well through Chez’s uneventful night/dawn watch. We decided this morning that with favorable wind forecast for the whole journey we will crack on to Fiji, a week or so sail from here.

Re-tied the fishing rods with some more bottom of the barrel lures - and they’re now trolling off the stern. Fingers crossed once again!

…and a few hours later, just shy of lunch, my finger crossing came up trumps! With a satisfyingly large initial squeal from the rod, and some patient coaxing, I landed a big beautiful meter long barracuda. Now filleted and ready to feed us for the next few days. Biggest fish I’ve caught in a long time… possibly ever.

Reducing wind resulted in flapping and cracking of the sail which stopped any chance of an afternoon nap.

Fish was delish!

Night shift cinema: 'Baby Driver' - OKish entertainment, but not great 6.5/10.

Day 5

16 Aug ‘23 Thursday

Progress has been slow overnight, still sailing, but just barely. Made a ceviche this morning with one of the big barracuda fillets, the last of the limes, some grated ginger, shaved coconut, pineapple and some sweetcorn and onion. Was good.. but possibly sounds better on paper.

The flapping over the last 24 hrs combined with her still painful coccyx has Chez in a slightly less than cheery mood today - shades of the Panama to Marquesas passage. I’m at a bit of a loss, there’s not much I can do to help: she finds my forced perky demeanor annoying at times like this. As I write this a series of exceptionally loud and annoying flap and cracks of the sail have her holding her head in her hands in tortured pain.

When I rise mid afternoon, she’s perked up, tied her hair up Helga style and is a happier captain all round - it probably helps that the wind has picked up!

That wind played nice all afternoon and evening, right up until midnight, when a nasty short lived squall caught me off guard. This had me shouting below for assistance, the wind, rain and waves making for a hairy 10mins until we managed to get her back under control. Not a lot fun for me - soaked and fumbling around at the helm and definitely not the best way for Chez to have been woken up!

Day 6

18 Aug ‘23 (Friday???)

…and just like that - the 17th of August 2023 has vanished from our lives, never to be lived... Lost to the realm of the Golden Dragon if sailor lore is to be believed. The reality is that we’ve crossed the dateline (well we’ve decided today is the day) and reset our clocks accordingly, and in doing so have lost a whole day. Just like Phyllis Fogg before us, the ongoing Westward travel and the hour adjustments along the way have resulted in… actually, I don’t really know what it’s resulted in and I don’t understand it at all. I’m starting to get a headache thinking about it.. just trust me: it’s now the 18th! …and the 17th never was.

That being the case, today, the 18th, marks 33 years since we stood on a hill in Yorkshire, exchanged rings and professed our love for each other.

Happy Anniversary Love x

In the absence of Google, I’ve told my wife a little fib… Chez is now under the impression that the traditional gift to give on a 33rd Wedding Anniversary is coconut - which works out really well, as we do actually have some of those on board

We’re sailing well this morning, both sails up, partially reefed, making 5.5 knots. We’re turning slightly more South as we pass the Western most corner of Samoa to Port.

Wind dropped to an unusable level again at sunset, as Samoa began to fade behind us. Engine on for the next few hours.

Day 7

19 Aug ‘23

Laid in until after 9 this morning. Then up, Skip was hungry and wanted her brekkie so straight to the galley for me! Wind is light this morning, on the verge of engine off (which it now is) and we’re slowly making progress in the right direction (WSW), it picked up through the day, so much so that rising from my afternoon nap, we needed to reef. Nice to be whizzing along again. Forecast is good for the next couple of days to remain like this - we’ll see.

I moan about the wind a lot - I know. Well for once, from mid afternoon today until now (well after sunset), we have been having a perfect sail. A day that you can delight at being lucky enough to be out on the water. Both sails up, filled and reefed for overnight sailing, close reach on a port tack, cutting through the lowish swell at 6+ knots. Like a good spell of batting by England in the cricket: I know it won’t last.. but I’m enjoying it for the moment for what it is!

…and I’ve seen the moon in the night sky for the first time all week - it’s setting, following the sun down by a couple of hours. Although it’s only a sliver of crescent for now, it’s still nice to know it’s still up there regardless!

At the stroke of midnight, a new weather man must have turned up for his shift and realised his earlier colleague's mistake: That lovely wind I mentioned dropped was turned off completely. In the space of 5 minutes it went back down to our more familiar ‘just barely’ range. The speed falling from the 6 to 7 knots we had been enjoying to the usual flappy 2s and 3s. Ho hum.

Day 8

20 Aug ‘23

Awoke to a familiar flapping. For a short while that was fixed with a sail tweak, that was also short lived and the sails persisted to flap as I cleaned out the fridge, cooked breakfast, washed up and cleaned a couple of dirty spots on deck with some oxycalic acid.

The sea is fairly calm today, so not the worst conditions by any means..

However... Chez has just checked the weather and reports that ‘it couldn’t be any worse!’ …hmmm.

Force 10? Kraken? Tsunami? No, just a bit of light wind for the next couple of days, increasing to forecast high winds for our arrival - not much fun if, as is the case for her at the moment: it’s impossible to get comfortable, and you’re always tuned in to the noise.

Both a bit tired and snappy today - so from yesterday afternoon’s ‘This is the life’ highs, we’re back down into the now sadly familiar: ‘Get me off this f**king boat!’ in the space of just 12 short hours!

By sunset things are improved. After a mid afternoon motoring session we are once again under sail in almost pleasant conditions.. let’s see what the night brings!

The Ladies World Cup soccer final was on today: England Vs Spain - unaware of the result at this stage. (Edit - Spain won 1-0)

The night: Blah blah blah - more moaning about the wind, can’t be arsed with specifics.

Goodnight! (That's not to be confused with a 'good night')

Day 9

21 Aug ‘23

We managed to get the engine off shortly after I got up. Breakfasted on porridge with muesli, apricot jam and sliced pineapple.. nice, but we’re down to the last carton of milk, so not a repeatable feast. As our provisions get closer and closer to empty, conversation is tending to focus more and more on the foods we miss. Like hungry orphans from ‘Oliver’ we list all the food glorious foods we’ll be eating when we reach civilization. High on those lists are steak and a chicken Parma for me, and fresh broccoli and some rocket salad for Chez.

Both did a bit of cleaning mid morning. We’re likely to be boarded by the various authorities on arrival in Fiji, and want to try and ensure a hassle free inspection if possible. Apparently tinned meat is an item forbidden to be brought in to the country. My stores of Spam are long gone, as are the slightly less tasty, but still edible, tins of ‘Tulip’. All that is now left are the barely canine worthy tins of salty browny-pink ‘Zwan’ and ‘Dak’. Those two varieties, I foolishly picked up along the way thinking; ‘How bad can they be?’

The answer: ‘Very very bad indeed’.

The customs officers are welcome to them!!

6 knots at 11am - we're back to being happy on the water again.

Woke from my afternoon nap with the dream I was having still vivid: I’d been carrying the dinghy to the top of a big grassy hill, I’d then jump in, race it down and repeat… The conditions this afternoon explain why my mind was going there. We’re still whipping along at around 7 knots and surfing down the waves: definitely not complaining today! Heard from the Gingers, they’re now hot our heels ~250 nms behind - looking forward to seeing them in our next stop, Nawi Island Marina, Savusavu, Fiji in a few days time.

After a fast but uneventful night watch for me, Chez gave me a shout at 4am to join her for some reefing. The gusts were getting a bit too feisty for comfort, so we reefed both down to about 1/3 of the sail showing. This still has us going at 6ish. Struggled to get back to sleep - 5:30.. currently writing this!

Day 10

22 Aug ‘23

The roller coaster ride continues.. up at 8am, the wind remains, and the swell frequency has increased. This gives us a fast but uncomfortable to and fro rolly ride - it’s all good, we’re nearly there!

I had another dream related to the bumpy sleeping conditions overnight: I was in a hospital, and in the room above me a CT scanner would turn on and off - this resulted in me being magnetized and floating up and being violently bumped up and down in the air.

We’re both zombie tired now.. we vacantly stumble from the bedroom to the cockpit, occasionally stopping at the galley to feast on human brains. (Sorry… typo: that should be wraps made from wheat and grains).

The wind increased throughout the day.. that’s a fairly innocuous sentence for the conditions we endured for the afternoon. Reefed down to almost nothing, the wind howled through the rigging as we beat into the 3m plus swell at a hairy 7 knots, well heeled over and clinging on for dear life. The waves came up over the rail to soak us occasionally. We’re approaching land now, and an upcoming coral reef loomed large as the wind and swell seemingly conspired to not allow us to sail away from it. This isn’t the weather that was forecast, and isn’t the weather we’d have chosen to sail in..

I remember going down to Maroubra Beach one Sunday to watch some big waves. One of the more adventurous Bra Boys (the local beach gang) was being towed out by jetski to surf in the massive sets. I thought at the time - ‘Who the hell goes out on the water on a day like this??’ - well, it turns out me and Chez would.. not through choice though!

I spent a large part of the afternoon below trying, unsuccessfully, to snatch back some sleep - this left Chez on deck on her own. Not a situation I’m proud of, but she’s a absolute gun - brave, clever and more than capable despite not being able to sit anywhere comfortably at the moment. Good onya Capn x

My night watch continued with similar conditions: right at the top end of what feels safe, and some way along the way of what feels scary. It did calm down a bit after midnight. Hopefully it will stay fine for our final run in to the marina in the morning.

Day 11

23 Aug ‘23

Arrived!! Chez woke me as we neared our destination. Very grey and overcast this morning, but as we approached the wind faded and the sea state calmed. After a few attempts, I managed to raise the marina on the VHF. A tender came and helped us to a buoy, then immediately changed his mind and had us tie to the customs dock instead- which is where I’m writing this. Two and half hours later, having been told to stay on board, we have seen no one since.

The wheels of Fijian bureaucracy turn pretty slowly apparently.

I can’t leave it there - having now been checked in by the most lovely officials we have met on our travels - initially apologetic for the delay, the three of them (two ladies and a guy) made our first impression of Fiji such a delight: smiling laughing and genuinely welcoming us into their country.

Bula Vanaka as they say here: literally ‘the good life’ - and today, tied up to a flat calm berth in a new marina does indeed feel like the good life!

Note: The barracuda picture: the top one is one I drew in Crete back in April 2020 when we were locked down there. The other one is the beauty I caught on this passage.