October 19, 2007

We’re AwayKaren and I went in to clear customs and immigration at about noon yesterday. We then stopped by the veggie market to turn the last of our Fiji money into stores for the passage, and said goodbye to a couple of favorite vendors there. It took about an hour to get the dinghies tied down on the deck and the anchors up. The bottom of the harbor is all coral heads, and the chain and anchor were wrapped, so I had to dive to unhook us. But by 3:00 PM we were approaching the reef entrance. The rain showers continued, with two while we got the anchors up, and two more as we sailed up the bay, but there wasn't any dramatic wind with the rain, and visibility remained reasonable. The breeze was from the west, indicating that the low pressure to our southwest was finally moving a bit. It gave us a slow but very easy run along the coast through the night, and with a bit of planning and finagling the sails to regulate speed, we were 4 miles from Somosomo Strait at dawn. The wind by then had accommodatingly gone into the south, so we're still on a downwind run as we sail north past Taviuni Island. Sure is more pleasant than when we came this way 6 weeks ago. We expect a light north wind as we exit Rambi Channel, early this afternoon. But we'll have hours of light left, and room to tack, so with luck we'll be clear of the reefs by dark. Then we can use the whole ocean to maneuver as we wait for the SE trade winds, which are expected to fill back in late tomorrow. We'll send a position report tomorrow morning. Ted