Voyage to Vava'u - Day 7
10 October 2017 | Pacific
Jill
We've been sailing wing on wing for 32 hours now and are easily ticking off the nautical miles. It's absolute champagne style with a 20 knot easterly as our girl glides effortlessly through the water but more spumante when the wind drops under 15 knots as we start to develop an uncomfortable swaying motion. We've covered over 200 NM since changing to this sail plan and are on track to arrive in Vava'u on Thursday.
The only wildlife we've encountered are a few flying fish and a hitchhiking Brown Boobie who found a comfortable roost on our hardtop. We slid by Nuie (pronounced New-ay) today - known as "The Rock of Polynesia" it's the smallest self-governing state in the world with a land mass of 259 square kilometres and a population of less than 2000 residents. It is actually one of the largest upthrust makutea (coral atoll) on the planet but with fringing reef surrounding the island and no lagoon, it is an exposed roadstead anchorage and therefore infrequently visited by passing yachts. It's home to one of the best Sailmail stations I have ever used with connectivity both easy and transmission service very quick for a system using HF radiowaves.
We've been enjoying our papaya and coconut bounty and catching up on valuable sleep after the deprivations of Saturday and Sunday. We've also been researching anchorages in the Vava'u group of islands which are reported to offer some of the best cruising grounds in the South Pacific. We're definitely looking forward to making landfall, getting checked in and obtaining our inter island cruising permit.
All well onboard.