Hawaii to Fiji - another Pacific escape

We never planned to take the boat to Hawaii - it was somewhat of a cyclone season escape plan from French Polynesia, even though they rarely suffer big storms there.  Our time in Hawaii was interesting, and although not really a cruiser-friendly place, we did make the most of being back in the 'first world' for a few months.  Eventually the time came for us to push ourselves to more exotic climes (also Hurricane season was starting in the North Pacific), and with very few places yet open in the Pacific our choices were limited.  Some friends had opted to go to Alaska, and sail down the west coast of the US, others had set off for California and Mexico. But our plan was always to visit the less-visited areas of the world, so our choice to travel to Fiji was an easy one.  Even though there are still very few, if any, destinations west of Fiji open, including Australia and New Zealand, we had our hearts and minds set. 

And so, on the afternoon of the 4th of June we set sail from Nawiliwili harbour in Kauai, Hawaii.  It had been a frantic last few days before departure - liaising with our agent in Fiji for arrival approval, having our Covid PCR tests done 72 hours before and checking our with the US Border and Customs.  With our arrival approval from Fiji in hand, we set sail within the hour.

We kept a daily short blog of our fast, 16 day passage, and here it is:

And……we’re off!

Fri Jun 04 2021

We waited all day for the approval from the Fiji government, based on all the documents we submitted, including negative Covid tests, and around 3pm as we sat at the small marina in Nawiliwili Kauai, the word came through from our agent Jo. We did a final water fillup, started the engines and let loose the dock lines. 18 or more days of passage lie ahead until we reach Fiji, but we are excited and raring to go! We left as a big squall came over the harbour, but it wasn’t long before the sky brightened again and the seas levelled out. The sun is getting low as I write and it will soon be time already for our first night watch schedule. It’s going to be a long time until a full nights sleep…

Day 1 is complete

Sat Jun 05 2021

It takes a while at the start of a long passage to find your sea legs and get your sailing groove back on. You have to get used to short bouts of sleep, constant watching the weather, adjusting the course and adjusting the sail plan. Last night we lazy sailed with just the Genoa in more or less downwind seas and about 20 knots of wind. This morning found us in the doldrums for a couple of hours so we tried out the new screecher. Remember the exploding code zero? It’s like that but built tougher. Now we have just completed 150 miles during the first 24 hours and we have the Genoa and main up in 15kts of wind making about 7.5kts. We expect the wind and seas to be like this for the next couple of days. Just need a fish or two now…

Day 2 - first breakage

Sun Jun 06 2021

Weather is cooperating thus far, steady winds and not-too-crazy seas saw us make 176 nautical miles on day 2. Last night on watch, about 2am I noticed a line waving in the wind at the mast, and discovered that our new topping lift, which holds the end of the boom up to the top of the mast, had chafed badly on something and separated. Not good, but not disastrous as this line becomes redundant when you sail as the sail itself carries the weight of the boom. It’s helpful when you put the sail down though, so that part will be interesting. Other than that an uneventful day, no fish….yet.

Day 3 - pizza for tea!

Mon Jun 07 2021

165 nautical miles covered today, seas have been quite friendly and a steady 15 kt wind on the beam. Almost 500 miles in total now. Sunny all day, so we mostly just lounged around, taking care of little jobs in between.
 Home made pizza from scratch is a challenge in a home kitchen, and very challenging on the boat at anchor. At sea is another level again. Luckily I had made the dough before we left so just had to take that out of the refrigerator, but then there’s the grill to get ready, all the toppings, assembly…
 It’s always worth it though.

Day 4 - getting closer

Tue Jun 08 2021

Day 4 is done and we have covered another 181 nautical miles. The passage to Fiji is in two halves, separated by the ITCZ - the zone where the northern and Southern Hemisphere weather systems collide. This place is either dead calm for days, as is common in the eastern pacific, or stormy and rainy as is most likely for us. The zone can cover a 200 mile belt so we expect unsettled weather for at least two days, probably starting early Wednesday when we reach about 7 or 8 degrees north of the equator. Once through the zone, we have the second half of the passage through the SE trades of the Southern Hemisphere. So far it has been lovely sailing, but that’s about to change…

Day 5 - close to the zone

Wed Jun 09 2021

Day 5 is at an end and we covered another 179 nautical miles. We had a healthy 16-20 knot wind off the beam and a fairly comfortable ride. We expect the wind to strengthen over the next 24 hours as we start to enter the ‘zone’ and certainly will start to see the rainstorms. Radar becomes a useful tool here as it shows the heavier storms clearly up to 12 miles or more away enabling us to make course corrections to avoid the worst weather.
 Almost 1000 miles now under our belt, and well over a third of the way to Fiji.

Day 6 - the zone

Thu Jun 10 2021

Day 6 saw another 200 miles in the bag. As expected last night we entered the zone and encountered a few small squalls and generally unsettled weather. Today, it kicked our butt. We thought we had got away with it, then around midday a darkness enveloped the horizon as far as one could see left to right ahead. Yep, this was the one, 15ft seas and 35kt winds and driving rain for three hours. We are like soaked rats, and worse the wind turned south. So, motors on to make some uncomfortable headway southwards until the wind turns east again later tonight or early tomorrow. Oh - and we set a pacific record for speed at 17.5 kts, surfing down a wave in the huge following seas and high winds   (all time record for us is 23.4kts in similar conditions off the coast of Colombia)

Day 7 - the twilight zone and the time zone

Fri Jun 11 2021

Day 7 was a little slower, only 146 miles, due to our working our way through the ITCZ twilight zone. If you have been watching our position coordinates you will see we are gradually moving westwards towards the International Date Line at 180 degrees W. This is the imaginary line from pole to pole where, if you cross it from east to west you immediately gain 24 hours and it becomes tomorrow, and if you cross west to east you lose 24 hours and it becomes yesterday. Clear? The line isn’t straight as it has to kink around certain island chains here and there rather than cutting right through them. On our course we will cross it at 2 degrees south of the equator where it runs horizontally for a while to include Samoa and Tonga in ‘tomorrow land’. That should be sometime late this Sunday. Monday for us will not exist, we’ll skip right to Tuesday. Perfect, as the Boomtown Rats once said - ‘I don’t like Mondays….’

Day 8 - halfway there

Sat Jun 12 2021

Day 8 made 183 miles, helped by good wind overnight as we threaded our way through multiple squalls just north of the equator. There were a couple of sizeable ones, and we had two drenchings but nothing terrible. Right now it is a new moon so it is completely black at night and hard to read the ocean surface and waves, making it a little more challenging to keep the boat balanced as one changes course in the higher winds of the squall, trying to avoid the central areas of rain, while mitigating the high winds on the sails. Well, we are getting plenty of experience I suppose. Once the sun came up the day started with a few small squalls, which cleared to leave a settled sky. Tomorrow I’ll tell you about our watch schedules and daily routine.

Day 9 - crossing the equator, again…

Sun Jun 13 2021

Day 9 and we are another 168 miles closer. Tonight around 10pm we should cross the equator for the third time on india. In customary fashion we will raise a (small) glass of grog to toast King Neptune and bring us good fortune on the seas.
 In case you wonder what we do all day and how we manage 24 hour driving of the boat: A lot of the day we don’t even see each other. During the daytime I will rest at the helm, often napping, reading or playing games. I love to be up here since it is a great view of the boat and the ocean and the most comfortable ride in case of big seas. Dara hates the direct sun so will nap, read and play games in either one of the main aft cabins, depending on which is cooler, quieter and darker. Late afternoon we have our main meal of the day, and believe me we eat well. We use all our appliances as needed and can cook steak, chops, burgers, rissotto, chilli, pasta, veggies, sandwiches - the gourmet feast doesn’t stop at sea! After that we will put some music on the boat stereo and blast out the neighbours, of which there are few, mostly fish. We will often have a cup of tea and biccies or brownies to round the meal off. After that sunset is usually around 6:30pm and we switch on navigation lights and radar and prepare the boat for nighttime. Around 7pm I’ll go to bed and Dara takes watch until 11:30 when we swap. Dara will sleep until 4am while I take watch, then at 4am we swap again and I will sleep until 8am when I make coffee and we sit and talk about the day - typically the weather and our course. We have a light breakfast, oatmeal, smoothie, maybe an omelette or bacon sandwich and then Dara disappears down below and we start another day. In between the napping, reading and games, there is a constant round of checking the boat, bilges, rigging, lines and so on, and also clean up from the constant sea salt assault. Little things need fixing and tweaking, and there’s always meals to prepare, so it’s not all fun and games

Day 10 - in the Deep South

Mon Jun 14 2021

Day 10 saw some fast speeds due to strong winds and we made 203 miles. As expected we crossed the equator at 9:15pm yesterday and are now in the South Pacific. It’s winter now, where it was summer yesterday, people talk funny and the toilet water spout circles the opposite way.
 My post yesterday may have made it sound like this passage making is a stroll in the park, with virgin cocktails on the poop deck and sunbathing every day. I’m here to tell you that is not quite the case. It is physically and emotionally exhausting. From the minute the boat leaves the dock it never stops, a relentless assault on the senses. The wind howls all around you day and night, the sea deafens you with its rolling and crashing, and everything is moving, constantly. It’s almost impossible to relax, always listening to the sounds around you, checking the many potential points of failure, and using weather predictions to manage the course. Sleeping comes in bite size chunks of maybe two hours, here and there as watch and work schedules allow. It’s wearing, and now after 10 days we are starting to long for the arrival. Only another 7 days…

Day 11 - many lands

Tue Jun 15 2021

Day 11 is now done, 204 more miles covered - a new passage record. After 2000 miles of open ocean with no land or ships in sight for days, we are now entering the area of Polynesia - Greek for ‘many lands’. Here there are thousands of islands, aside from the well known ones - Tahiti, Samoa, most too small to be inhabited, with exotic group names like the Phoenix Islands, the Tokelau Islands, Wallis and Futuna. In a non-covid world we would have planned to stop at some of these islands on route, since there is almost no other way to see them and that was one of the purposes of our larger ‘voyage’ - to visit the less visited places. But for now we have to be content to pass within a few miles of some of them as we head for Fiji. Hopefully we’ll catch a glimpse of a palm tree on the horizon, for these are all tiny coral atolls no more than a few metres above sea level - the quintessential desert island.

Day 12 - ever closer

Wed Jun 16 2021

Day 12 over and another 187 miles eaten. We have been very lucky with the weather, aside from the storms in the ITCZ which are unavoidable. We had good consistent winds in the first half down to the zone, and now we are enjoying more consistent winds all the way to Fiji. The seas are a little flatter now which makes for a more comfortable ride with less rolling. Skies are mostly clear with some light cloud and very few showers. The air is noticeably warmer and we can start to imagine that cocktail on the finish line.
 The seafloor topography is fascinating here, we are entering an area where there are many shallow banks. When one looks at the contours on the chart it can be seen that these are literally pinnacles of rock rising from 16,000 ft to maybe 200 ft below the surface, in just a half mile or so, with almost vertical sides. If it was above sea level it would an incredible sight.
 Special shout out to Aunt Susie, who has been following along and providing internet content on the local islands.

Day 13 - just when you thought it was all over

Thu Jun 17 2021

Day 13 saw another 178 miles notched on the bedpost. Today dawned with us feeling very smug about the great progress made thus far on this passage. But the sea has a way of knocking that complacency right out of you. And so not long after I took my watch this morning the skies darkened and the squalls started. We had been dodging small squalls all night with nothing too bad, but this morning they were monsters and just kept coming, one after the other. We didn’t get caught in the middle of any of them, but all around these heavy squalls the sea state becomes confused and the wind does whatever it wants. We had winds from 5 to 25 knots, coming from all different directions, in a lumpy confused sea. It was just hard going, trying to sail and make progress at the same time as keeping dry. In the end, after 5 hours of this, we dropped the sails, turned on both engines and got the hell out of dodge. After another hour we hit the settled weather - winds consistent in speed and direction and blue skies. Time for a rest, all hard work so far today!

Day 14 - almost there

Fri Jun 18 2021

Day 14 is done, and 180 miles clocked. The wind died just after lunch today, so we turned on one engine and will motor through until it picks up again. Our wind prediction service indicates a good 13 kt wind all the way in to Fiji now, so we’re hoping this is just a temporary lull. Regardless, we have two full tanks of diesel, having only needed to motor for a few hours back in the zone, so we’re ok whatever happens. This is just like any long trip - when you are close to your destination everything seems to go soooo slowly. We are good and ready for, in no particular order, a stationary shower, a glass of wine/beer, a full nights sleep together, some internet, the ground to stop moving. Unfortunately the first thing we will get when we arrive is a navy escort to a quarantine anchorage and another PCR covid test. Great.

Day 15 - oink, oink

Sat Jun 19 2021

Day 15 and another 184 mile day. Shortly after I posted yesterday, the wind came back at 15kts and off we flew, after only motoring for a couple of hours.
 On arrival in Fiji, there are some customs requirements around types of food and produce being brought in. An odd combination, but honey and pork are prohibited. That’s all pork products, so bacon, salami, sausage etc. Unfortunately we only received this news after we had done a fair bit of provisioning, so we find ourselves eating pork almost every day in order to use it up before we arrive. Not a problem, we love pork, so we have had bacon sandwiches, bacon in salads, ham sandwiches, sausage rolls, grilled bratwurst and of course several grilled bone-in pork chop meals. We are starting to sound like pigs now - oink, oink!

Day 16 - last full day at sea

Sun Jun 20 2021

Day 16 covered 183 miles. The wind has gradually died to a sedate 11 knots today and as we are now on the Fiji bank, in about 3,000 ft of water instead of the usual 16,000 ft, the swells have subsided considerably. The sky is blue, the water calm, no noise from the wind or seas, so we dropped the main sail, made a temporary topping lift from the main halyard and hoisted the new screecher. This will pull us along at around 5-6 kts in these light winds, and if they die any more we will just turn on the engines. Only 100 miles or so to run now! The end is in sight…

Day 17 - We made it!

Mon Jun 21 2021

Day 17 started with a dying wind, and by evening we were motoring in a light breeze. We motored overnight the last 80 miles or so as the wind died completely. The sea was like glass, no air movement and the boat felt as if it was standing still. At 11am this morning after 16 and 1/2 days at sea we were led by the Fiji navy (who were expecting us and had been monitoring our progress on AIS) to the quarantine anchorage where we would be swabbed and hopefully receive a negative Covid test result. Everyone here is soooo friendly, from the marina employees to the navy guys and the health team nurses. It already has a good feel about it.
Thank you to all of you who followed us on here, and for the emails of encouragement. It was a super fast and fun ride, but we’re glad the ride is over.

Storms behind us..

Stunning Pacific sunrises

And sunsets...every day

Another...

Also lots of rainbows because of the frequent storms around the equator

We made sausage rolls, with HP sauce, to keep our spirits up

A frigate bird, hundreds of miles from anywhere..

Land Ho! Our first glimpse of Fiji

Our last night at sea, with the moon showing the way into Savusavu harbour