When a weather window opened up yesterday, we jumped on it. Along with perhaps fifty other eager crews, SCOOTS left the dock, motored out of Whangarei Harbour, put up her sails, and headed north to warmer climes. After we reached the sea, it was fun to look back and see boat after boat after boat popping out of Whangarei Harbour, a parade of white sails, each boat carrying some of our friends.

Today, we're enjoying mostly sunny skies with some clouds here and there, that visit us with showers from time to time, but usually reward us with a rainbow (I've seen four already this morning). The wind is still cold; no shorts yet...we're bundled up in extra layers.

Eric and I were surprised to experience some queasiness for the first few hours yesterday. This is very unusual for us; we attributed it to the rolly sea conditions and having spent the previous six months in port. Dinner was chicken soup and toast; the Indian food I'd thawed was shelved for another night We're feeling better now.

With all those boats in the neighborhood, we kept a close watch on our radar and AIS throughout the night, to make sure we kept track of any boats sailing nearby. We're not used to having company when we're sailing on passage, but it's fun to know that a bunch of our friends are not that far away.

At the moment, we're sailing a course that will take us slightly southeast of Fiji, toward tiny Minerva Reef. This should keep us in the best wind for the trip, and it will also allow us to anchor at Minerva for a day or two, should we encounter weather that would make a direct trip to Fiji unpleasant. If we do sail directly to Fiji, the trip should take about 8 days.

The numbers: Days on passage: 1 Distance traveled: 165 nm Distance to Fiji (as the albatross flies): about 930 nm Fastest speed logged: 9 knots Slowest speed logged: 2.5 knots Average speed: 6.88 knots