Category: 2022 New Zealand to Fiji

2022 New Zealand to Fiji, Passage Making, Weather

The Home Stretch … 52 NM To Go!

Well, what can I say about today? It certainly wasn’t the brochure sailing we had yesterday. Seems the weather prognosticators must have been tipping a little vino or were simply unable to accurately read the weather rock when they made their predictions for today. No. It wasn’t the worst we’ve ever seen by far but it certainly wasn’t the 1-2 meter long rolling swells and ten knot winds I’d been promised either. Nope, it was chunky and breezy making every step on Dazzler one that could potentially result in a broken bone. Believe me….I stepped very lightly and only when necessary.

But, we can’t blame it all on the simple minded weather dudes. We have a deadline to make if we want to get to Vuda and get checked into country tomorrow. You see, Customs here works on island time so they close shop at 1500. Yeah….that’s what I said. But, when you’re in Fiji you live by their rules. So anyway, in order to make it in time we had to kick Dazzler into gear a bit. When the seas are choppy and you pour on a little coal it can make it a bit more uncomfortable. It’s all a trade off….either spend 36 uncomfortable hours and get there and settled tomorrow or lollygag and not get there until Thursday.

You are probably saying to yourself, “But hey, you are retarded, I mean retired. You aren’t on a schedule, what difference would 12 hours make?” Well, I’ll tell ya Shoutie. Come Thursday this area of ocean that we are in will be overtaken by a low pressure system that will generate heavy rain and winds into the 30 knot range. Been there, done that…even got the T-shirt saying so but I don’t want to do it again if I can avoid it. So, I’m perfectly content with kicking it up a notch and dealing with some uncomfortable sailing for a day and a half.

It’s not been horrible today. I made a tasty dinner of chicken tortellini and even managed a bit of an afternoon nap. Dan and Poseidon have been at it though. He’s back to wanting to show us he’s in charge and he keeps slapping Dan with green water. Just before dinner Dan was in the cockpit and he got just doused with a huge wave that smacked the starboard side of Dazzler. I was down below looking out over the doors when I heard then saw it come crashing over the dodger. Then I hear Dan yelling, “What the f***?” Sometimes no other word suits the situation better.

As for me and Poseidon, we’ve come to an agreement. Each evening I come on watch and tell him how great he is and that I know he’s in charge out here and he rewards me with not smacking me in the face with a handful of salty sea. Tonight as I came on watch he reached up and gently kissed my cheek with a fine mist just to let me know he heard my praises.

Anyway, we got Dan cleaned up, ate dinner and I went down for my pre watch nap. It’s now midnight and I’m on my last night watch of this journey. It’s wonderful out this evening. The tradewinds are warm, the seas have mellowed out to the promised 1-2 meter long rollers and Dazzler is gently rolling side to side as she cuts a phosphorescent path of bluish green through the ocean.

As I look at the chart plotter, for the first time in a week, I see land around us. To the east is Kadavu Island, a place we hope to visit this trip. The magnificent reefs there are vibrant and alive. To the north is Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji and home to her capital city of Suva. It is on Viti Levu that Vuda Marina is located. I love the sea but it is always nice when you see the land at the end of a journey…especially one like this.

Dan will relieve me at 0430 at which time I will take one last catnap on this passage. By the time I awake I will be seeing the plush green mountains and aquamarine waters of Fiji. In less than ten hours we will enter the pass through the reef surrounding the island. Here the coral ring rises out of the sea with its jagged teeth shredding the Pacific swells that dare to crash over it thus reducing them to little more than ripples upon the inner bay. We know this pass. It’s the last pass we exited on our way to New Zealand two and a half years ago. I am literally counting the minutes until our arrival. I feel like a child on Christmas Eve…giddy with excitement and dreaming of what tomorrow will bring.

This passage has certainly been one for the books. There’s a reason they say it’s not for the faint at heart. And, honestly, as much as I’ve despised parts of this trip, I’m proud to say I’ve done it…not once but four times! It certainly is a badge of honor for any sailor but especially for a fair weather sailor like me. It’s a passage like this that tests your resolve, shows your strengths and fully exposes your weaknesses. Overcoming the challenges brings with it confidence in your abilities and those of your vessel. In the end, it builds character and leaves behind memories of a demanding but rewarding adventure.

Until next time,

Jilly

P.S. Are those Piña Coladas I see there in the distance?

2022 New Zealand to Fiji, Weather

WOW! Just Wow!

Just WOW!

Having made passages between Tonga, New Zealand and Fiji three times now I still know one thing, that it can be a long passage with some excitement thrown in to get your heart valves tapping out. The rule of thumb in this part of the world is that you could be like Jesus and walk on water even when the tempest is blasting around you and come out smelling sweet as a flower with no sea water leaks on your favorite clothes in your locker or disheveled interiors from being rolled from side to side or you could be like the rest of us and just say “Wow! Just wow!”

It is said by many who make this passage that it isn’t one to be taken lightly. If you are lucky enough to have a very fast boat you could make the 1100 or so miles in six days, maybe, I’m told. If you are like us we plan for about nine to eleven days depending on the weather. Let me reassure you there will be some weather. It is also said for yachties like us that you will have weather in one, two or three different sections or in all three during your trip. Those are the first, second or final third parts of your passage.

I think I’d prefer it to be the first third of the passage. Mostly because you are well rested, except for all of your hours of looking at weather predictions, and better suited to make good changes on the fly. Additionally, you probably haven’t injured yourself yet so you might even be a bit physically stronger and you are closer to your starting point if you have some kind of major boat issue that would require returning to port.

For our trip we download our weather for updates to see how things more than likely have changed. As you patiently watch the progress bar on your electronic device pony express your download, you take a nap and come back to check if it’s done. Only to find that there was some glitch or error requiring you to start all over again. A little frustrating, but we’ve got some time to kill. It sometimes reminds me of the old 24 baud rate modems I had on my first computer. You’ve got mail!

Going into this passage it was a nice enough start. I knew there would be a few days of some blustery stuff in the middle, but it was going to be a beam reach with some predicted 3.5 meter swells. Ha Ha Ha! By our third day there were some aggressive easterly winds in the mid twenties pushing some swells a bit bigger. They were more like 4-5 meters.

Our fourth day continued racing with more of the same as the day before. But, by the afternoon we were seeing some mountainous swells that were easily 6 meters. Somehow Dazzler just dealt with those massive things with a few moments of serious side to side rolling. By the end of the day Jilly looked as if see had seen more than all the terrible things from her nightmares rolled into one beast. Believe me I get the pleasure of hearing every morning what crazy thing she was involved in. Too many times it involved me and I am now an A..hole. How is that for projecting your dream angers on someone else? I guess it’s a perk of being married.

At one point Jilly stated, “We’ve never seen anything like this. I’m scared!” I’ve been in some big stuff in my sailing days, but this by far was the worst. Dazzler took great care of us. I knew she would. She is a very soundly built and maintained vessel. She’s a true bluewater cruiser and after being cooped up for two years, she is enjoying stretching out her sea legs.

Of course the list of Fiji boat projects has been growing. A few minor leaks that weren’t there before. A few lights no longer working, but nothing major.

Jilly now wants to know, “When is this going to get better?” I tell her tomorrow. She promptly downloads the weather and discovers it doesn’t look like anything will happen to better our conditions until Sunday. Well, I believe she may have only focused on the wind velocity and not so much it’s angle. The same 20 knot winds would now provide us with broad reach point of sail with some nice following seas. And yes the swells also diminished from Mount Fuji sized mountains to baseball size pitchers mounds.

As we continued sailing to Fiji the day was lovely. A few large swells in the 3-4 meter range but spaced about 10 seconds apart. No spindrift or green water to speak of. Just a pleasant day.

Then it happened

I was on watch enjoying an after dinner coffee when the instruments started doing something I’ve not seen before. I heard beeps coming from the multi function display (MFD) followed by FRED taking a break. FRED is our auto pilot. He can steer better than when a police car pulls in behind you causing you to get the sober religious death grip on the wheel. Who is FRED? Freaking Remarkable Electronic Device, FRED for short. Also known as the autopilot on Dazzler.

The displays started flashing and not working properly at all. Not good as we still have about four days to Fiji. Jilly’s proclamation was made. “I’m not hand steering to Fiji. We need to call a helicopter.” Okay dear, but I’ll be able to figure out what’s what and make the necessary repairs or fix it. It took about three and a half hours while hove to before we were back underway.

Diagnosing and finding the source of this new Dazzler unapproved glitch was a cross between an orchestrated ballet of choreographed boat Yoga and a carnival side show shell guessing game. That’s another story all to itself. As it turns out I was a lucky blind squirrel. Of course if you think all the boat Yoga and shell guessing game of moving everything out of the way was cool. Before we could get back underway, we had to do it all in reverse to put everything back in their designated places.

What passage between the islands wouldn’t be complete without a repair or two? I thank my lucky stars that this did not happen during the crazy swell fest from the day before.

Some repairs are just more involved than others. What’s next? Bring it on! We got this even if it does sometimes rattle a last nerve.

The rest of the night was perfect. The electronics were getting along nicely again. Grape Ape was taunting FRED. Jilly was getting some much needed sleep before her watch. I was wishing I was a bit younger so boat Yoga didn’t hurt so much after it’s over. But I’m not so I was looking at the starry sky thinking how fortunate we are to be able to see and witness this glorious night sky. Oh course all the while thinking, I could sure use a beer right about now.

The sea state is still off our starboard quarter along with the 18-22 knot tradewinds pulling us along mile after mile bringing us that much closer to our destination.

Onboard there is a fine line between crew and being husband and wife. Yes they coexist, but quite frankly the sea and Mother Nature do not care about who’s onboard as long as you respect the sea and all the things that get you safely from departure to destination. Sadly at the end of the day the sea doesn’t care about feelings or clean boat interiors.

If it’s happened once, it’s happened at least five times during our passage. We have left the sliding hatch open for fresh air down below. We tempted fate and fate rewarded us with a nice saltwater rinse in the galley. There is nothing to do except curse a lot, clean it up and remind yourself that if it wasn’t open the majority of the water would not enter below decks. Still trying to balance that spinning plate. We will get it all right one of these trips.

I’m trying to decide if I should end this, but I’m kind of anxious to see what will happen next….I guess we’ll both have to wait for the next installment. For now we have to figure out how we will bake dinner in a glass baking dish full of tasty enchiladas on the metal rack in the oven without making a mess. You know from all the sliding around it will be doing. I bet Jilly will pull it off Until the next exciting adventure, con provecho!

Cheers

Captain Dan