Day 1: Wednesday, October 2nd
Departed Fiji at about 11:00am after a smooth clearing out process.
First Mate sea sick, Captain takes a long night watch.
Winds strong 17 to 25 knots steady from SSE.
Swells: 1.5 to 2 meters and at times confused.
Sails: Genoa only.
Weather: Mostly sunny.
Day 2: Thursday, October 3rd
First Mate recovers as wind and seas settle out.
Shifts and routines return to normal.
Movie - The Paperboy; a somewhat raunchy but interesting film starring Nicole Kidman.
Book - Jens continues with the Tom Clancy epic 'Executive Orders'; I start Michael Connelly's 'The Drop'.
Winds: Calmer at 14-17 knots dropping through the night to 10-13 knots from ESE.
Swells: Dropped to 1 to 2 meters.
Sails: Genoa only.
Weather: Cloudy. But with a gorgeous sunset...see picture below!!!
Distance covered in last 24 hours: 160 miles.
Day 3: Friday, October 4th
Captain acts as Barista and delivers a flat white and a double black to the cockpit.
Fishing lines are out for the first time this trip. Fishing lines in - nothing caught.
Movie - The Corporation; a very interesting documentary on the impact of corporations.
Book - Jens continues with his epic, I start Faye Kellerman's Moon Music
Winds: Dropping and staying at ESE blowing on our port aft quarter.
Swells: Less than 1 meter, no whitecaps.
Sails: Switched to main sail with preventer. Rolled in Genoa (too much flapping). Set the stay sail.
Weather: Mixed sun and cloud.
Distance covered in last 24 hours: 155 miles.
Day 4: Saturday, October 5th
Nothing seen, nothing heard. Quiet days at sea.
Fishing lines are back out. . . . BREAKING NEWS . . . Catch of the day - 2 beautiful MahiMahi...see pictures below!!!
Winds: Dropped overnight to less than 6 knots coming from NNE.
Swells: Pretty much flat water.
Sails: All sails in. Motoring at 6.0 knots.
Weather: Sunny with scattered clouds.
Distance covered in last 24 hours: 141 miles.
Day 5: Sunday, October 6th
Despite it being Sunday, we didn't have our usual pancake breakfast. The sea was a bit rough. Pancakes will have to wait for tomorrow. But we did have some fresh fish for lunch and a pineapple coconut cake for dessert.
Book - 'Then Again' by Diane Keaton (biography). And yes, Jens is still reading Tom Clancy.
Winds: Picked up at nightfall rising to 17 knots and settled at around 13 knots coming from SSW.
Swells: Slowly increased together with the wind.
Sails: After sailing most of the night with all sails up, the bolt on the genoa broke and we had to take the sails in, dismantle the genoa and secure the mast. We will now motor the rest of the way.
Weather: Mostly sunny.
Distance covered in last 24 hours: 117 miles.
Day 6: Monday, October 7th
We arrived to the South East corner at daybreak, the sun shining on New Cal. It will take the better part of the day to get around the island to Noumea where we can clear in.
A day late but not a dollar short - Coconut Pancakes served for breakfast.
Books - Jens finished Executive Orders and I finished Diane Keaton's memoirs. A very good read.
Movie - After reading her memoir, it felt like a good idea to watch 'The Family Stone' again. One of the four movies I have on my iPad.
Winds: Slowly dropped during the night and now we are in lee of the island, wind is light at 5 knots.
Swells: Also calmed down over night and now inside the island reef the water is calm.
Weather: Sunny
Distance covered in last 24 hours: 122 miles
We arrived to Noumea, New Caledonia at 11:00am on Monday, October 7th.
WE MADE IT!!!
Hi guys
ReplyDeleteWe are the family from dinner at the marina in Savusavu, with 2 girls
Great to see your progress - that last passage to new cal looks idyllic!
Hope you continue having fair winds.
Mark