When Bernard Moitessier single handed round the world in the 1970s, he would catapult a canister containing film, notes and letters onto the deck of any passing ship, trusting that they would be popped in the post at the next port. He yearned for information about his fellow competitors. Weather forecasting was based on eyeballs and a barometer. And here we are in 2021- a blog at our fingertips via the Iridium satphone, and unlimited short messages via the Garmin InReach.

Our daily comms routine starts on the satphone at 0700, sending our position and weather conditions to John (who is doing our passage routing from Fiji) and downloading the morning PredictWind weather forecast. Then at 0740 we fire up the SSB radio to check in for our morning sked (Scheduled check-ins). This gives our mini fleet the chance to share any problems, as well as check in with position and condition reports. For the last few days we've been joined by Venture Lady, Fat Susan, Jubilate Mare and a very faint Enola and Perigee, and there are probably one or two lurkers listening in, too. It's good to feel connected with others out there, and useful too to compare weather conditions and passage strategies with those ahead and behind.

At 0900 we sometimes tune in to RNZ on the SSB, to get the Pacific news, but we don't have a great thirst for news beyond our immediate horizons just now. Around the same time we usually check for a reply email from John, to confirm whether there are any changes in the passage plan. He can access much more detailed and wide-ranging weather forecasts than we do. We have a separate ‘at-sea' email account for these boat-specific comms; we don't check our ‘normal' emails when at sea, as with all their attachments they are too data-heavy to process.

The middle of the day is usually quiet but on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 1715 Fiji time we tune in to Gulf Harbour Radio on the SSB. This station is aimed at sailors in the area, and gives a regional weather outlook, local news for NZ and a rundown on the boats making the crossing from Fiji or FP - ie, us! Any boat listening can chip in, so on Friday we had a chat with them updating them on conditions and our plan. They record the broadcast and publish the recordings on YouTube (search Gulf Harbour Radio).

During the day we check for messages on the Garmin which gives us short text messages, as and when, but the VHF is silent as we haven't seen a boat for days. All told, it's just as well we aren't relying on catapults and passing tankers.