On Friday, May 9th we enjoyed yet another lovely day of sailing and caught a 31" Yellowtail (?). What a pleasant and luscious variation that was for our taste buds. By nightfall, the seas had laid down and the ocean was as flat and placid as a mountain lake, literally shimmering with the mirrored reflections of the moon and stars. We later mused that had we bent low over the rails we might have seen our own reflections on the water. We thought this was a night to beat all previous nights at sea until Saturday night trumped even this one.
Saturday was a game of leapfrog between us, "Mind the Gap" and "Charisma". Each of us alternately passed and then trailed one another until "Mind the Gap" refusing to use his motor fell many miles behind.
By 6 PM, while watching a magnificent sunset, the orange glow of a rising moon broke the horizon to the east. We sat slack-jawed as we witnessed a brilliant burnt orange harvest moon boldly emerge, so mesmerizing us that we felt we were witnessing a sacred birth. And we marveled at the beauty of this incredible phenomenon of moon emerging while sun setting. Both of us alternately turned our attention from the sunset to the sunrise as each cast it's dancing colors across the sky from each end of the horizon to meet in an explosion of kaleidoscopic patterns overhead. We felt humbled. We felt awed. And we felt something deeply spiritual as we sat silenced by this moment. For a while neither of us wanted to move. So we just sat and let the serenity wash over us, feeling very thankful. The ensuing night proved to be just as lovely. Sunday morning the seas began their angry thrashing, and the winds did not seem to want to do anything to help us out. We mostly motored the day through and then shared a gourmet Ramen soup dinner last night - our final night of the crossing. It is now 11:15 AM on Monday - Sunday in the USA; Happy Mother's Day to our Moms and all the other Moms out there on the other side of the dateline. We just entered the Navula Pass into Fiji's coastal shores (inside the surrounding barrier reef). Within a couple of hours we will be anchored at Musket Cove where we will: 1) sleep!, 2) tidy the boat, and then 3) enjoy a grilled steak dinner. Then we will sit quietly and discreetly at anchor until Wednesday when Customs will arrive to check us into the country.
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Monday, May 11, 2009
May 11, 2009 – Land Ho!
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009 - Fiji Bound
1-2 cups diced fresh fish (Mahi Mahi)
1-2 limes juiced
1-2 lg. radishes, sliced paper-thin
1 large tomato, diced
1 very small onion finely diced
Salt to taste
2 lg. cloves garlic, sliced paper-thin
Cracked black pepper to taste
1 stalk mild celery, diced
1 avocado diced
Toasted sesame seeds
Soy sauce &/or dash of Tabasco
Cover diced fish in limejuice and toss until well coated. Let sit 10 minutes then add next 8 ingredients and let sit for at least 20 minutes to marinate. Just before serving, dash lightly with (low sodium) soy sauce and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.
During the rally there are various competitions among the cruisers. We don't participate in all of them; in fact Frank is kind of a Grinch about these things. I love them and enjoy the camaraderie of joining in. Anyway this year they are:
Best kept cruiser log (Captain's log)
Largest fish caught on passage
Best Protest
Best Story - using all of the boat names in both rallies
Best Nautical Brag (tall tale)
Best dressed pirate - at the arrival bash
Closest ETA (we had to write our best guess and hand it in to the rally coordinator prior to departure from Opua)
So, yesterday I wrote a fairy tale/story and submitted it. We'll see how we do.
Today we have had NO WIND! In fact at times there isn't much more than a wisp. I read an entire Scott Turow book since my watch last night. We tried the gennaker but all it did was flop around so we doused it and opted for the engine. Weather reports are not promising much for the rest of our passage. Only 345 miles to go!
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Thursday, May 7, 2009
May 6, 2009 - Sailing to Figi
So far the passage has been a good one. Sunday, May 3, we awoke to crystal clear blue skies and although quite chilly the weather was grand and the day was exciting for us. We gathered at the Opua Cruising Club at 9:00 AM for the "group photo" which included all boats going to both Fiji and Tonga. We bid farewell to friends who were either leaving later on or heading in other directions. Bill and Judy (Bebe) and Glen and Sally (The Dorothy Marie) came by to help us cast off lines at 10:30 AM, then we pulled into the bay and began slowly circling the anchorage waiting for all of the other rally yachts to get into position. It felt like getting ready for a race, and our adrenaline was surging. We waited for the 10-minute signal, then the 5-minute horn, and then the countdown to start. A thrill ran through our bones as the fleet set off and for a short while stayed relatively close together until we hit open water, where the Tonga fleet sailed eastward as we set a course almost directly due north. For the first day we rolled along in the aftermath of the previous gale. Seas were pitchy and the wind was right on our back. It was too rough to raise the gennaker or the whisker pole for a comfortable wing & wing downwind run, so we turned on the engine and chugged along. For a while we remained in VHF radio contact with Baraka and Warm Rain, but after the first 24 hours we began to lose them. Each night at 19:30 (7:30 PM) the rally boats report in on a "Sked" (what we call a Net), checking in with Opua Offshore Radio's Des Renner. Des first gives a weather report for all cruising areas for both groups, and follows with a roll-call type check-in. Each yacht is called upon to give position (longitude and latitude), course/direction, sea and wind state, boat speed and general status of the crew. This is not so different from other Nets we have participated in, but this is the first professional one we have been part of, and is required of all rally participants. If anything were to happen to us, Des would know roughly where to begin the search - God forbid!
By day two I was getting sick on the diesel fumes that were pervading the entire cockpit and saloon. I developed a severe headache and nausea. Perhaps because he cannot smell this did not affect Frank in the least. In fact nothing much in the way of smells or stomach disorders affects Frank. He is made of cast iron. Nonetheless, he agreed to go off course a bit and chase the wind so that we could avoid running the engine downwind unless we were getting too far off track. Meanwhile, we snagged a beautiful small Blue Fin Tuna. So for dinner I rubbed the fillets in a little wasabi and then seared them in sesame oil, ginger and a touch of soy sauce. They were delicious.
Tuesday evening we picked up a great westerly wind right on the beam and sailed smoothly and perfectly for about 24 hours. We are playing tag with three other yachts: Charisma, Air-we-go and Mind the Gap. The moon is nearly full and lights up the skies like a spotlight at night. The atmosphere is so clean and clear out here that the stars shine with a brilliance we haven't seen since the Marquesas. I see several falling stars each night and constantly marvel at this beauty God has graced us with if we are silent and still enough to enjoy it.
It has been great beam reach sailing for the past 2 days and so nice staying in radio contact with our friends and being reminded why we are doing this. Thank goodness so far this passage has been most kind indeed. If all goes well we hope to arrive in Fiji on schedule.
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