19 June 2010
Once more the group has become a little fragmented not through anybody's fault, just from circumstances beyond any control. Chessie we last saw in Bora Bora when they took the trouble to fly there from Papeete for the rally get together in the Yacht Club there. They were awaiting a new sail. At long last J'Sea has returned to the fold. He was delayed in Panama and now six months later has caught up with us sailing in a few days ago. Brown Eyed Girl also delayed back in Bora Bora but are here now also. They have had more than their fair share of bad luck. First on their passage from Niue to here the autopilot failed, then while at the customs dock he had a small fire on board due to a faulty circuit breaker which caused the generator to fail. To add insult to injury whilst moored there overnight, his laptop computer and a very expensive underwater camera was stolen. Of all places I would not have thought for the world that this would have happened in Tonga but then it can happen. We were once told that most thefts from boats were from other cruisers, not the locals but who knows. The autopilot and generator are now fixed and hopefully that is an end to their woes....
Strictly legal!
Our intention had been to take on fuel at the pre arranged time of 2pm on Thursday, clear customs who insist on coming aboard the boat, and then head around the corner to anchor overnight in a bay on one of the offshore islands, prior to an early morning departure. Dick told David that he thought he was just going to head straight for Fiji that afternoon. "What a good Idea", I said. "Why did we not think of that"? First and foremost it meant that we would not be leaving on a Friday which David knows I really dislike to do. Second, although the forecast was for 20 to 25knots winds with moderate to rough seas, it was nothing we nor Voyageur could not cope with and with the winds due to drop to 10 knots on Saturday it would give us two days of a good winds to get us well on our way. Lastly and perhaps most importantly, although the authorities seem to turn a blind eye to it these days, we would be not be flouting customs regulations by not departing until the following day. So with Tucanon leading the way the two boats headed out into the Pacific once more setting a westerly course for Fiji. As soon as we cleared the islands, they were enveloped in a thick grey cloud of mist and rain. We were hurtling along just under reefed genoa and mizzen and while the seas were what was forecast, moderate to rough, I had prepared in advance and popped a Stugeron knowing that the galley to might be a challenge when it came to preparing the evening meal. The wind blew all night and into the next day, the cloud base heavy, low and unfriendly. Into our second night at sea, we could just make out a hazy half moon above scudding clouds but by the early hours, a mass of twinkling stars showed themselves in all their glory and I knew that at last we were through the weather system which had been the subject of much discussion on the local cruising net all week. Tomorrow we could be certain to see the sun again.
Tucanon favoured the middle Lakeba passage en route to Suva at the south end of Viti Levu. Dick's Navionic charts are much more accurate than our Max Sea so we took the safe option and headed south to round the bottom of the Lau group of Islands. If it were possible to stop at any one of these islands we would most certainly have done so for they are very beautiful and virtually untouched by tourism. But it is forbidden to visit without special permission from the government and we have heard that they have watchers who are only to willing to report a yacht found doing so. We do not feel it worth the risk. So we had no choice but to sail on past in glorious sunshine and flat seas, the 400mile long chain of islands that make up the group giving some degree of protection from the large ocean swells. We continued on across the Koro Sea with an expected ETA at The Royal Suva Yacht Club of late afternoon on Sunday.
Susan Mackay