LTY UPDATE: Day#26 –Friday, June 17, 2011 - Majuro to Fiji
LTY UPDATE: Day#26 –Friday, June 17, 2011 - Majuro to Fiji
Day#26 –Friday, June 17, 2011 LTY time: 16:50 (UTC +12) = 04:50 UTC
Location: about 160 nm SSE of Rotuma Island, Fiji
Position: 14 52.118 S, 177 30.377 E (cut & past this into Google Earth to see on map)
SOG: (Speed Over Ground) 4.0 knots
COG: (Course Over Ground) 167
Wind: 8-14 knots E Apparent
Seas/Swell: 2m/6ft @ 6 seconds out of ESE
Air temp: 92.8F 32.6 C
Sea temp: 85.5 F 29.7 C
Humidity: 62%
Barometer: 1015mm
Distance to Savusavu, Fiji: 98 nm
Distance last 24 hours: 123nm DAY #26: FINALLY in FIJI!!
A few hours ago we came through the northern Great Sea Reef and entered Fiji waters through Round Island Passage. We had another great 24 hours of sailing since the last update. Went through a series of storm cells last night between about 11pm to midnight that caused the wind to turn full circle around us and two of them gave us a good fresh water rinse and then it was back to clear skies and sailing. About noon time the wind had dropped below 10 knots and I wanted to be sure we went through the unmarked Round Island passage and the next 20 nautical miles inside with the sun well above us as there are lots of more shallow areas and I wanted to see how accurate our electronic charts were, so I fired up the main engine and we motor sailed the rest of the afternoon and came through the reef about 3pm. Wind continued to die off and so we had almost flat seas and next to no wind for a perfectly serene entrance to Fiji. We are now at the bottom of a large U turn we are making around some inner reefs as we sailed SW past Round Island and then continued to turn to where we are now about to head straight East towards the east coast of the big island of Vanua Levu. We’ll then sail around the SW corner of Vanua Levu threading our way carefully through lots of coral and small islands around the coast as it turns north east and takes us over to Savusavu which is about half way along the south side of Vanua Levu. The charts seem to be very accurate so we will sail through the night in these nice calm conditions and likely arrive in Savusavu tomorrow (Sat) night or Sunday morning. I’m thinking we may look for a spot before we get to Savusavu to anchor for a night or so and enjoy some of the more remote bays and beaches along the south coast as we can’t check in at Savusavu until Monday, at least not without paying overtime fees. Mid-afternoon as we were motor sailing our way to the outer reef, I fired up the Barbie and cooked up some delicious turkey burgers I’d mixed up while Linda made us oven roasted potato and Kasava root. Kasava (Cassava in Spanish countries) is a tuberous root vegetable similar to yucca and manioc and used much like potato is in cooking and dishes as a carbohydrate. In fact you might be interested to know that Kasava is the third largest source of carbohydrates for human food in the world and flour made with this root is called tapioca. Our Kasava were very special as they were given to us by a lovely lady we met while walking on Rotuma island a few days ago. She had been out picking some from her large garden (they are all large gardens in Rotuma!) and insisted that we take four or five of her large long Kasava, each about 10 inches long and about the diameter of a good sized potato. Linda baked them in some olive oil, garlic and herbs and they went with our turkey burgers as good as or better than French fries. Mmmmmmmmmm Linda has the helm and has just turned us due east towards Yadua island where we will go through Yadua passage to the coastline of the big island Vanua Levu and start following its coastline around to the south and then turn north east to Savusavu. We’ll just play it by ear as to whether we keep going to Savusavu and spend the weekend there, or stop in one of the bays along the way. We’ll let you know all about that in tomorrow’s update. Good night to you all for now. Admiral Linda, Captain Wayne & Commodore Ruby (aka the Wonderdog)
Aboard the Good Ship Learnativity
Exploring the world one nautical smile at a time.
Day#26 –Friday, June 17, 2011 LTY time: 16:50 (UTC +12) = 04:50 UTC
Location: about 160 nm SSE of Rotuma Island, Fiji
Position: 14 52.118 S, 177 30.377 E (cut & past this into Google Earth to see on map)
SOG: (Speed Over Ground) 4.0 knots
COG: (Course Over Ground) 167
Wind: 8-14 knots E Apparent
Seas/Swell: 2m/6ft @ 6 seconds out of ESE
Air temp: 92.8F 32.6 C
Sea temp: 85.5 F 29.7 C
Humidity: 62%
Barometer: 1015mm
Distance to Savusavu, Fiji: 98 nm
Distance last 24 hours: 123nm DAY #26: FINALLY in FIJI!!
A few hours ago we came through the northern Great Sea Reef and entered Fiji waters through Round Island Passage. We had another great 24 hours of sailing since the last update. Went through a series of storm cells last night between about 11pm to midnight that caused the wind to turn full circle around us and two of them gave us a good fresh water rinse and then it was back to clear skies and sailing. About noon time the wind had dropped below 10 knots and I wanted to be sure we went through the unmarked Round Island passage and the next 20 nautical miles inside with the sun well above us as there are lots of more shallow areas and I wanted to see how accurate our electronic charts were, so I fired up the main engine and we motor sailed the rest of the afternoon and came through the reef about 3pm. Wind continued to die off and so we had almost flat seas and next to no wind for a perfectly serene entrance to Fiji. We are now at the bottom of a large U turn we are making around some inner reefs as we sailed SW past Round Island and then continued to turn to where we are now about to head straight East towards the east coast of the big island of Vanua Levu. We’ll then sail around the SW corner of Vanua Levu threading our way carefully through lots of coral and small islands around the coast as it turns north east and takes us over to Savusavu which is about half way along the south side of Vanua Levu. The charts seem to be very accurate so we will sail through the night in these nice calm conditions and likely arrive in Savusavu tomorrow (Sat) night or Sunday morning. I’m thinking we may look for a spot before we get to Savusavu to anchor for a night or so and enjoy some of the more remote bays and beaches along the south coast as we can’t check in at Savusavu until Monday, at least not without paying overtime fees. Mid-afternoon as we were motor sailing our way to the outer reef, I fired up the Barbie and cooked up some delicious turkey burgers I’d mixed up while Linda made us oven roasted potato and Kasava root. Kasava (Cassava in Spanish countries) is a tuberous root vegetable similar to yucca and manioc and used much like potato is in cooking and dishes as a carbohydrate. In fact you might be interested to know that Kasava is the third largest source of carbohydrates for human food in the world and flour made with this root is called tapioca. Our Kasava were very special as they were given to us by a lovely lady we met while walking on Rotuma island a few days ago. She had been out picking some from her large garden (they are all large gardens in Rotuma!) and insisted that we take four or five of her large long Kasava, each about 10 inches long and about the diameter of a good sized potato. Linda baked them in some olive oil, garlic and herbs and they went with our turkey burgers as good as or better than French fries. Mmmmmmmmmm Linda has the helm and has just turned us due east towards Yadua island where we will go through Yadua passage to the coastline of the big island Vanua Levu and start following its coastline around to the south and then turn north east to Savusavu. We’ll just play it by ear as to whether we keep going to Savusavu and spend the weekend there, or stop in one of the bays along the way. We’ll let you know all about that in tomorrow’s update. Good night to you all for now. Admiral Linda, Captain Wayne & Commodore Ruby (aka the Wonderdog)
Aboard the Good Ship Learnativity
Exploring the world one nautical smile at a time.
