Bruce and I have just completed the 1200 mile passage from Fiji to Tarawa. During the passage we celebrated my birthday at sea. The first time I had a birthday at sea was in 1978 in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It was my first offshore passage so , like most 'firsts', I remember it well.

On this trip we crossed the equator for the second time. The first time was going north to south on our way to the Marquesas in April 2013. This time we are traveling south to north to escape the cyclone season in the southern hemisphere. I'm looking forward to seeing the Big Dipper and the North Star again.

We left Fiji with intentions to sail to Tuvalu - an estimated 3 1/2 day passage. We began the trip with brisk winds and moderate seas and our nice clean boat was quickly covered with salt spray, as was the crew. Time to serve up the canned soup, peanut butter and crackers and stay out of the galley! Then it began to rain as we moved through the squally 'squash zone' where a weather system from the north collides with a weather system from the south. We were constantly wet but at least we were warm. Most of our cruising friends are heading to New Zealand for the cyclone season and sailing into the cold. I much prefer wet and warm in a t-shirt and shorts to wet and cold in long-johns, full foulies, boots, hat and gloves.

If the beginning of our trip was uncomfortable, at least it would be short. Then the wind shifted and we had to adjust our course. Instead of sailing one more day to reach Tuvalu, we would sail seven more days and go to Tarawa. Our biggest concern was the wind dying at the equator and whether or not we would have enough fuel.

The skies cleared, the wind dropped, and the seas become calm and intensely blue. At night we were escorted by dolphins under a waxing moon. We set the spinnaker pole and reached with our asymmetrical chute. When the wind shifted again we doused the spinnaker, took down our 90% working jib, and hoisted the sail that came with the boat and was designed for light air, Southern California sailing. The sail has "US 101" embossed on it and we felt the presence of previous owners, Richard and Victoria Mobley, who had lovingly cared for PACIFIC HWY for 22 years. We crossed the equator and gave Neptune his shot of rum. We washed our salty clothes and hung them on the lifelines to dry. We read Troost's "Sex Lives of Cannibals" and Michener's "Tales of the South Pacific". We kept a close eye on the wind indicator and only motor-sailed when winds fell below 7 knots.

Usually on a passage I am eager to make landfall. But with languid days and balmy, moonlit nights I knew that this passage was better than anything Tarawa would have to offer. Perhaps we should have kept going. Another four days would get us to the Marshall Islands where we plan to spend the cyclone season. But we'd read so much about Kiribati and Tarawa that we never considered NOT stopping. And our first day ashore did not disappoint - Tarawa takes tropical squalor in a stunning setting to a whole new level! But that deserves it's own blog entry. More later...

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