Day 5: Passage from NZ to Fiji

Cora did 2 hours of watch last night, still not feeling great, but pushing herself; I’m proud of her. Winds continued to make frequent shifts. Not great sleep for anyone with the movement and noise.

Okay, this is a low point this morning…the seas and winds have now moved more forward of the beam and built. The motion is exhausting. We are half way to Fiji. Another 600nm to go. Out on the sea, there are times I just want to hide in bed, times I want to rejoice in the beauty, times I feel anxious with building seas, times we feel frustrated when the conditions do not match the forecast, times we just stare out at the waves lost in thought…it’s the full gamut out here.

We are laughing at the amount of salt spray on everything, can see it dancing in the air, even the walls inside have a sheen. Calder says we should start a business, natural sea salt gathered from the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Different flavors would be from where we gathered it: sea salt with a touch of stainless, isinglass, or canvas. Could be a best seller.

Oceans are like children; just give it an hour and things will change. The winds and waves are building, but slowly moving to a more reasonable direction. Just ten degrees in wind and wave direction can make a huge difference. We’ll take it!

Few hours later…Okay, this is SO not fun. The seas and winds have continued to build, seas short together. The boat jerks around as we slam into waves, goes up and over others. Typically ocean swell, even large, is tolerable if it is far apart. These are steep waves short together – choppy, rough seas. Into night watch, I’m happy the moon lights up the waves so I can see what is coming. A few towering waves smash the side of the boat so strongly that the water flies up and over the entire boat. Smaller waves hit the starboard bow, lit up by our green light, creating “green fireworks” of water in the night. I watch the waves with half awe and half fear. I feel almost guilty handing watch over to Calder, tying him into the cockpit (like I was as well) and going below to rest; he takes it in stride, much more mellow than I am, as he shrugs his shoulders about the waves. I settle into an uneasy sleep, no longer able to keep my eyes open.