Latitude: 18 11.082 South
Longitude: 176 37.446 East
Course Over Ground: 242 at 6 knots
Wind Direction: S/SE 15 knots
Sea Swell: 2-3 meters 6-10 seconds apart
Sky: Starry and clear
Update: Last Day in Fiji, June 21, 2011 - Happy Solstice
Neither of us slept particularly well last night. Knowing that we're going on a journey, good, bad, or ugly makes for a restless sleep. Cruising the ocean is an adventure. It is an uncertainty and challenge that makes for restless nights.
We were up by 5:30 a.m., did our final prep, said goodbyes to our slip mates, and motored out of Vuda Marina by 8:00 a.m. There was no wind and the sea inside the reefs was calm. We had to motor an hour an half in the opposite direction from our course to Vanuatu in order to check out in the port city of Latouka. When we checked in last November, it was so casual that no one even came out to our boat. Russ had hoped that we could check out the day before and took a taxi to the port office. They completed all the paper work and then the immigration officer said he wanted to come out to the boat to make sure that I was on it. (Usually Russ takes in my passport and crew list, gets them stamped and we are on our way). Sometimes I come along, sometimes I don't. In this case I didn't. Well the immigration official wasn't happy that I wasn't there and insisted we bring the boat back the following day.
Even though we got there at 9:30 and the paperwork was completed,it was almost 11:30 before the immigration officer arrived at the boat. He boarded, looked around to make sure that not only was I there, but no one else was either, and was gone within 1 minute. We hurriedly raised up the dinghy, weighed anchor and headed south on our course. It would take at least 4 hours to get to the pass which would put us with low sunlight as we threaded through the reefs on both sides getting out to the open ocean. It was dark an hour and half later. In the southern hempisphere, we too are celebrating the winter solstice. After tonight, the days will get longer and the nights will get shorter.
Our trip to the pass was uneventful. It was just 4:00 p.m. as we made our way out to the open ocean. As soon as we were clear of the island and the reefs we were met with 18-20 knots of wind and moderate 2-3 meter seas on our beam. We pulled the boat into the wind, raised the sails, turned off the motor, got out Hydie 1's little chubby sister Hydie 2, and got her set up. Hydie is our hydrovane wind steering system. She is wind sensitive and drives her own rudder to keep us on course. Hydie 1 is tall and slender. She was always bumping her head on our bimini (sunshade) last season. Headbanging didn't affect her performance, but the constant banging on the bimini and chaffing on Hydie's wing was annoying. Hydie's little sister is shorter and broader, same wing area. Short and stout is doing the job just fine, and Hydie 1 is resting.
Hydie 2 is hard at work as I write this update, and Russ is sound asleep as I have first watch from 8:00 p.m. to 1:00. With a nice constant wind of 15 knots and waves on our beam, we are rocking and rolling as we are moving between 5.5 and 6.5 knots. It's a bit uncomfortable and I started off feeling a bit queezy, but am feeling better after eating some dinner. The galley when it's rolly is a bad place to be. Russ tied some water jugs outside the galley window on the deck, blocking my view of the horizon, not good. We'll have to change that tomorrow. With a port tack, I used my trusty sink harness to keep me from being thrown against the starboard side and the horizon line keeps me from getting dizzy. I couldn't get out of the galley fast enough, and it has taken a few hours to recover, but all is well now.
Sure glad all I had to do was heat up the spaghetti. I bought these spiffy little plates with lids. Good thing, too. We had some leftovers and put the lids back on just in time as a roller came barreling underneath us and knocked one of the plates upside down on the floor....nice save!
The moon seems to be lazy coming up tonight. It's quite black, but there are millions of stars overhead. Some of the brighter ones twinkle on the waves.
All is well with the 2 Sail R's on Worrall Wind.
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