Day 5
1am local, 07:00UTC
pos 15deg05.7S, 159deg39.1W
250 NM from Suvarov (northern Cook's)
1173 NM from Totoyo Island, Fiji
Bit of groundhog day on shimmi. We sailed slowly under spinnaker from 9am until 3 pm, been motoring since. Light tail winds. Solid groundswell running from the SW, bit of confused chop on it, but generally still very comfortable. We have about 95 engine hours still available to us, having used about 50 over the past 4 days. Our watermaker is functioning fine, our tank is kept close to full.
There is a strong NNE wind predicted for later today, it should be a good wind and we are well positioned to make use of it. By noon today that low pressure should be right below us, we seem high enough above it, so far so good. We will pass relatively close to Suvarov on Monday sometime, but we are unlikely to stop there. It has a north facing reef pass which gets waves during the northern hemi swell season. So we will just keep on going. Uninhabited Totoyo Island (Eastern Fiji) apparently has a wave, that may be our first stop before checking in at either Savusavu (Northeast Fiji) or Suva (Southwest). Depending on our timing we may also stop first in Tonga, but I have not quite figured out where? Tonga has hundreds of small islets scattered amongst big coral infested lagoons with chaotically shaped fringing reefs. Quite tricky unless you know where you are going. Anybody got some info on Tonga?
Kahlil is cooking our evening meals, he is a chef of note: Seared Yellow Fin in coconut milk, Mahi-Mahi in batter, Pajella/risotto, Cottage Fishpie with white sauce... all very yum and a welcome change from our regular fare. We are all now in cruise mode, Josh and Indie are still struggling a bit in the mornings to find their groove. Indie says 3 words: Momma, Dadda and Wow!
Cheers
G
