Too bad we got sick! Covid like symtoms. Probably got infected in the bus from Nadi town a few days ago when visiting customs for a “facilitation letter” for my brother Michael who comes soon to sail with us to New Zealand. The infection disabled Stella for a week and Stefan for more than 14 days….
Therefore all our preparations for the journey to New Zealand got delayed and we where clearly not ready to go when Stefan’s brother Michael arrived on October 9 after a 38 hour journey from The Netherlands. Unfortunately Stefan was still sick when Michael landed in Nadi and that is definitely not the best arrival situation for someone who just had just come from the other side of the world.
October 10 is Fiji day!
Great, they fill up ALL your gaz bottles here at Vuda Point!
a Starlink mini was installed which took a few days instead of just one
Then 3 days paperwork to anounce our arrival in New Zealand and one day paperwork to prepare the checkout process out of Fiji.
A few days later Stefan was able to top up the tank, put the just emptied diesel jugs into the dinghy and got them refilled them at nearby Vuda marina. On return the captains energy level was low again and Michael and Stella had to help hoisting the 250 liters of diesel in jugs on board.
then on to Lautoka to provision for the journey resulting in a heavily overloaded return
Biosecurity in New Zealand is reputed to be very strict so we were a bit stressed how to prepare the kitchen, clean the hull, dinghy, bicyle tires and all shoes. Also you must recently have scrubbed the hull and have underwater pictures to prove it.
Luckily checking out in Fiji was very efficient in Denarau.
That day more than 20 boats checked out, all ready to go after waiting many days for a suitable weather window to sail to New Zealand.
we are officially cleared out so time to lower the Fiji flag
At the last minute Stefan cleaned and scrubbed the hull just before going through the pass in the barrier reef.
6 to 7 close reach to beam, sometimes reef one in genoa
There are some waves and a bit more heeling than is comfy but grand. The odd wave splashes on our sofa and by the time it’s dry it happens again. We leave just after a tropical depression has passed under Fiji so the first day the wave height is a bit high as we sail close reach in the direction of Australia. The following days sailing becomes more comfortable and during the 8 day passage the wind slowly turns to a beam and then directly behind us.
Beautiful fast sailing, a 160nm per 24 hours average.
