12 October - The Window

Dee and I walked out of customs at the airport in Nadi to find Clay and Gail waiting for us with their rental car. We drove back to the boats which were moored in the marina at Denarau. Most of the boats in the marina are super yachts, multi-million dollar beasts up to 300 feet long. Jambalaya and Puanani are nice boats, but they are out of place in this lofty crowd.

After getting settled in on the boats, we headed up to the condo that Clay and Gail are renting nearby, and spent the day discussing weather strategy for the passage and hiding from the rain that hadn't let up since we landed.

The last time I sailed from Fiji to New Zealand, thirty nine years ago, you departed when you were ready. Accurate weather forecasts weren't available back then, so you got what you got, and boats making the passage almost always got nailed by a low pressure system somewhere along the way. We got hit by a good one back then, and I remember it as being the coldest I have ever been... ever.

We have accurate long term weather forecasts now, and if we both time our departure relative to the passing lows and are even a little bit lucky, then it should be smooth sailing all the way to New Zealand.

It is looking now like a Thursday/Friday departure from Fiji is our weather window relative to the passing lows, so we are getting underway Wednesday. We'll head up to Vuda Marina where we can clear customs and then head down to Momi Bay, which is just inside the barrier reef. We'll overnight there and get an early start for New Zealand on Thursday.