August 26, 2024
The start to the passage would be exposed to the tradewinds and seas. In an attempt to be as comfortable as possible we got underway just after 5am, which was before before sunrise. It worked as planned and it was a comfortable start with the full main and jib coming out after sunrise and off when the engine. While the…
August 23, 2024
For some reason the morning hours seemed to slip away and just before eight o’clock Carl was ready to lift the anchor. Heck, I had not even had breakfast yet! SV Seeka had anchored close to our anchor and we found out just how close as we raised it up, coming within 5 meters of them and needing to motor…
August 19, 2024
With a sixty plus mile day ahead of us the plan was to have the anchor up at 5am. All was going smoothly, everyone was ready, in position, and the chain was nicely falling into the locker. With about 20 meters to go there was a clunk, clunk, and the chain stopped. We were snagged on something. I should mention…
August 16, 2024
Time to move further north, we released the mooring lines and motored our way out of the bay. We needed water, so the start of the passage continued under motor and a few hours later off when the motors and we began to enjoy a pleasant sail. The wind angle wasn’t ideal but we kept from gybing and once around…
August 10, 2024
The plan was to move up to Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu, today because there was a blow coming that we wanted to stay ahead of. I had a work meeting at 10:00am, so once that was done we got moving. Some coffee, some breakfast, and a dinghy ride to explore the shoreline was in order. Carl and I…
August 8, 2024
After settling a bit around 1:15am the seas kicked up and made for a rough few hours. Coming on watch at 5am Roxy filled me in on the lower winds but ongoing wave action. A low-key morning all around with acceptance that we truly would be arriving much sooner than we expected. Always good news, well it would be if…
August 7, 2024
Waking up for my watch, Roxy pointed out that SV Beluga (a boat we met just before checking out and also headed for Port Resolution, Vanautu) was down to 15nm miles in front of us. Exciting to see them on AIS, even if not visually yet. The wind speed was variable from highs in the twenties down to fifteen+ knots.…
August 6, 2024
It has been a bash to start the passage. Lots of loud, violent bangs as waves slap into the bridgedeck underneath my bunk. The vibration wakes me from sleep and the ongoing noise lengthens the time it takes to get back to sleep. On my watches in the saloon there is less movement (it is in the middle of the…
August 5, 2024
Roxy and I started the day with a forty-five minute cab ride to the GCC currency exchange in Nadi. There is always some challenge, today it was finding the shop. Google was no help, their Facebook page no help, hell even their website was no help. Luckily, I dialed the phone and someone answered who could give the driver directions.…
August 4, 2024
One night’s slip is included with the checkout fees at Vuda Marina. Wanting to make the most of it, we moved onto a slip as soon as we could. Then it was go time, cleaning the boat, storing the paddle boards and dinghy, along with blue water preparing the boat. Oh plus a pain in the butt job of tightening…
August 3, 2024
The weather gods smiled on us, instead of the normal SE trades (the direction we were headed), we had a north wind. With provisioning to get done it was still a motorsail giving us a very nice 7.5 knot average. The anchor was no more than set before Roxy and I headed to the dinghy dock to grab a cab…
August 2, 2024
Friday was the Yasawa group rugby playoffs, with our local village (Yasawairara) playing at 8am – it was much too early for us, but Carl and I made the paddleboard/two mile hike into a nearby village. The tournament was a fun format with 10 minute halves for the teams of 7. Being close to the action it was unexpected how…