Battle

It’s now the fourth day at sea since leaving Tonga, we’re heading towards the southern tip of New Caledonia, about four hundred miles into the 1100 mile passage. Apart from a short spell at the start where the wind was a bit lighter, and from astern, we’ve had three reefs in the main all the time. Until today, rain squalls were pulsing through almost non-stop, with gusty wind and no sight of the sun.

The second morning I thought dawn was never going to come. I had my coffee, munched breakfast, dealt with the squalls, and still it was dark. Low, wet, heavy clouds continued to empty themselves all around us – raining large noisy drops as it only can in the tropics. Throughout the day we had similar conditions. Rain, cloud, lots of wind.

Then last night was a bit of a mission. I took the evening watch as I was already in the cockpit in full wet weather gear, soaked through. We were approaching the Lau ridge; an area of shallow water south of Fiji, with a few reefs and “unmarked shoals”. I really wanted to get through this area before dark, and before any significant waves built up. Shallow water and big waves are not a great combination. Fortunately we had a lot of wind astern for the last couple of hours of daylight, so we powered along at 7 knots trying to get as far as we could before darkness fell. The depth sounder kept showing random shallow numbers which gave me an uneasy feeling. It has always done that from time to time, probably picking up some change in water temperature, or an upwelling of some sort. But in the dark, charging along at 7 knots, with shoal areas and an active volcanic area directly underneath, it was unsettling. By 10pm we were through. Over the ridge and into deeper water. Wind picked up, and I spent the rest of my watch juggling the genoa in and out as the squalls came through, trying to stay dry under the spray hood. I took over the watch again at 7am to the joyous sight of blue sky ahead. The cloud front moving over us to the east made a dramatic sight; a stark contrast between the dark menacing storm of the night and a promise of clear weather ahead.

Today, it’s a clear blue sky but still a howling wind. The waves are starting to build. The wind is coming from the south west at about 30 knots, pretty much exactly where we want to be going. We’re gently cruising along at about 3 knots, heading due west, climbing over each wave and falling into the trough beyond. Because we’re not moving too fast, mostly we just slide down the back of the waves. Every now and then, one’s a bit steeper and we slam into it with a crash, water spraying everywhere. It’s more comfortable than it sounds, especially now that we’ve furled the genoa and put the storm jib up instead. Apart from the crunch and slam when we hit a wave. Boat holding up well though.

Let’s see what tonight brings.