It’s picture-perfect postcard sailing conditions in the South Pacific Ocean. After another dawn start, we finished making our way around the top of Fiji (more headwinds) and finally made our way out just below Malakati Reef and then through the Makogai Channel. We’ve got a ten day extension on the cruising permit, which means we still have to get out of Fiji and sail to Futuna and back, but we have some breathing space and no longer need to be gone tomorrow. Approaching Makogai Island we contemplated stopping; at 4:30pm it was the perfect time for sundowners, and seemed to have a nice looking anchorage which other cruisers have told us they’ve enjoyed. But it was also the best breeze we’ve had for the whole trip; a gentle 10 knots, flat seas, a reasonable angle and twenty miles of ocean with nothing to hit. A huge thirteen mile gap between Namena Barrier Reef and Koro Island, a ninety degree turn to port and then another twenty miles with nothing to hit. The breeze is only meant to last for this afternoon, so we’ve opted to make the most of it and sail on. The motors are off for the first time in two days and we’re relishing the peace. We won’t make it to Savusavu before sunset and we’d rather not arrive in the dark so we’re just going to sail slowly overnight, letting the boat slow down as the wind dies and swings forward. If needed we can motor sail on low speed, and hopefully judge the timing well enough to arrive at dawn.
Coming around Makogai Island, the birdlife was hard at work herding schools of flying fish, enjoying a feeding frenzy. We were trawling two lines and there was literally a washing machine of fish jumping out of the water at the stern, but Richard’s lures must all be too ugly to be appetising; we could not hook a single one. So it’s pumpkin soup again tonight, but to make up for it Captain Cupcakes has been hard at work in his new galley and the results more than make up for the lack of fish. Maybe we should use them as lures!
I spoke to soon; as I type the wind has dropped already, no longer providing enough forward motion for the autopilot to steer by. So the jib is rolled, and we’re slowly motor sailing under main towards Koro Island. It’s hardly a challenging test sail; but on the other hand, we now have a much better idea of how much fuel the motors consume, we’re getting more familiar with navigating around the reefs of Fiji and this will be our first overnight at sea on Bright Sea. I’m sure we will feel differently after our first really challenging conditions, but for the moment it all feels deliciously ‘normal’ (although the word ‘boring’ may have been used by someone other than myself this afternoon, in a good sense rather than a critical one). It helps that Bright Sea stays balanced on both hulls, making it seem very much like a house on water that moves a little bit, rather than the sliding, sloping deck of a racing yacht like Children of Phoenix. But it’s not really about the type of boat. It’s more about the lifestyle, and our transition into it. When I started this blog, the tagline was all about making tomorrow’s dreams the reality of our new today. Well, tomorrow is now today; our dreams are now our reality. We are living what we’ve been planning for and working towards for three years (or dreaming about for much longer). There was always a question; would we enjoy it when we got there? What would it feel like? As it turns out, it just feels ‘normal’. In a good way. A really good way.
