We upped the anchor yesterday and headed out for Fiji. Our weather router(Bob McDavitt) had finally given us the go ahead for the trip though he did warn us of some higher winds for the first two days or so. So a 1015, we said goodbye to Paul and Karen on Gigi and headed out. We motored through the pass till we were safe to roll out the genoa sail at the bow and let it take over. We were moving right along at over 5 knots with just the one sail out. Once clear of the island, we turned off the engine and just kep on going. I'd plotted in a course so we knew where we needed to be to avoid any reefs that might come our way. Our one encounter with a reef clear back in Nanaimo, BC had taught us to avoid them at all costs.

So here it is, 24 hours later and we made 136 miles in our first day out here. That's too fast. Leaving on Tuesday, we don't want to arrive at Fiji till Monday. The trip should be a bit over 600 miles and with that speed, we will be there on Saturday or Sunday. Coming into Fiji on a weekend can really rack up some hefty fines as they don't like it and make you pay dearly if you do. So we are taking advantage of the winds we have now--14-16 knots and making time. We will slow down later once past all the reefs that are along the way. One thing that will slow us down, is that as always, the wind direction is such that we have to do boomerangs for a course. We can't just go straight there. Instead, we go north of the course for a while and then change direction and go south of a while intersecting the route. It's slower but does get us where we need to be. We have plenty of time till we arrive at landfall in Lautoka on the west side of the island. Lautoka is just north of Vuta Point Marina where we expect to be spending cyclone season. Lautoka is the second largest city in Fiji so many things that were not available in Tonga should be. Plus there are busses to Suva, the capital.

We changed our sail configuration late yesterday afternoon. Knowing that storms can come up here unexpectedly, we changed out our forstaysail sail for a storm jib. Now if a big blow comes up, we will be ready for it. We currently have the main up with one reef and the storm sail up and are still moving along at over 6 knows. Zephyr can move well given the right winds. James(our Hydrovane) is steering Zephyr on a nice even course and taking all the abuse so we don't have to. As the wind shifts, James corrects and we still head where we want to go. We had a quick shower earlier this morning. Tracy was catching a few Zs making up for what she lost the previous night, so I tightened down the hatches and closed up the side of the cockpit. It started raining about 45 minutes later. Not a lot, but we were nice and dry in the cockpit.

For those that are interested, we're currently at 19 02.353S 176 34,806W. During this trip, we will officially cross the 180th parallel and be east instead of west for the first time in our longitude. Another mile stone for us and Zephyr. It's like crossing the Equator all over again.

So, the kids are adjusting to being out again with Blue spending most of her time with Tracy and Snowshoe hold up in the stern cabin meowing feeling he is being ignored. During the passage, Tracy normally sleeps in the main cabin on one of the settees while I still bunk out in the stern.

We have a few more reefs to find our way through, but most of those will be tomorrow in the morning. After that, it's quite a while before we see any again during this voyage.

One thing we did before leaving Tonga was email the Fiji Immigration our arrival plans so we should have little problems when we arrive. There are still a few more forms that need to be filled in plus a bond paid for the cats but all will be revealed in good time upon our arrival. I'm sure they will go through our storage cabinets or want to know what we have on board that might be confiscated. Just about every nation has a list of what is allowed and what is not allowed to enter their country. It' s all part of the life of cruising out here from country to country. Always the adventure.