Starblazer - 29/06/2014 – Halfway around the world.

I was correct, in that the day’s run to 1000hrs Saturday morning was slow. We covered about 115nM, an average of just under 5 knots, and that was with the help of 6 hours of motoring at 5.5 – 6.0. The engine stayed on for the

rest of Saturday though we did get a little drive from the mainsail from about 2000 onwards.



We spotted Totoya Island from nearly 40 miles away though didn’t reach our waypoint between the two islands until 2200, now we are on a course to a waypoint in the middle of the Kandavu Passage. It was lucky that we weren’t depending on the navigation light, allegedly visible for 20nm. Someone forgot to put the money in the meter, or change the light bulb or… The island was totally invisible in the dark. We should reach the next waypoint

in daylight. We are still on track to reach the marina at Vuda Point on Monday morning, hopefully in time to check in. There is little point in speeding up because the narrow pass into the lagoon at the western end of Viti Levu should only be approached in good light, we are hoping that the light at sunrise will be good enough.



Back to the title. We were robbed of a day out of our lives when we entered Tonga, not because the islands are east of 180degrees but more because they wanted to be on the same date as Fiji and New Zealand. At about 2300, on John’s watch, we crossed the 180 line of longitude which means we are halfway around the world. I know we didn’t start from the Greenwich meridian however we did travel further east in the Mediterranean so I am claiming half a circumnavigation.



My major activity yesterday was cooking. I started off by making a half litre batch of yogurt, using the wide necked thermos and a spoonful of starter left over from the last batch. Then I made some very gingery gingerbread muffins. For dinner I cooked a fish pie, with a second one waiting to go in the freezer. That used up the smoked haddock I had lurking in the bottom of the freezer. For a change I topped the pie with Potatoes Dauphinoise. It was a large tin and I couldn’t think when we would eat it otherwise! Dessert was yogurt with honey and apple puree.



Joyce