Day 165: Tonga to Fiji – 20/06/10

We continue our merry romp through the sea at a pretty steady 5 to 6 knots through the night and the wind doesn’t mess around but keeps us on course.  I take the midnight to 4 am watch and Mike doesn’t wake me in the morning but lets me wake by myself at 8.30 am and then brings me tea in bed.  What a sweetie.

Mike and I do the usual ‘ships that pass in the night’ business – he goes to bed when I get up and vice versa.  We do get to spend a little time together now and then, but after lunch I find myself alone again in the cockpit, staring out at blue and white stuff – blue sea with white caps and blue sky with white clouds.  It’s incredible how many hours I spend sitting looking at nothing.  Every now and then I think I see things in the water but it’s my eyes playing tricks on me, desperate for something else to look at.

Trying to find the correct place to actually lie down in the cockpit is difficult.  It’s too hot to lie on the side that is in the sun, but if you lie in the shade, the breeze makes it cold enough to require a t-shirt.  Well, it does for Mike.  I stubbornly refuse and get goosebumps.

By the afternoon the wind has picked up to a steady 20 to 25 knots and the seas are heavier, the waves higher but well spaced so we have that lovely, smooth, roller-coaster type ride that I love.  It becomes obvious that at this rate we will not only make up the time we lost at the beginning, but also arrive at Suva in darkness, something we don’t want to do.  We may continue to the next port of entry instead to avoid this.

 

Our position is:  18 deg 29 min S, 178 deg 39 min W

Distance so far:  8445 nautical miles