Yeah - the Aussie "shrug" ("she'll be right mate")perhaps is NOT part of the culture in Customs. Funny, isn't it? - the capital C Customs and the small c customs - like mateship! - !! Well, remember the Australian Immigration deported an Australian citizen once. You can't believe it, because it's not what you'd like to believe is part of the Aussie character. Maybe it's the dark side, maybe the bit that remains of our convict past; read The Fatal Shore, if you can stomach it!

Anyhow ... let me give you a feel for what's happening right here, and now, in a moonlit night, hove to off the Viti Levu coast in a strong wind with seas of 3 to 4 metres. It has been blowing a near gale all afternoon, and we were pissing along under reefed genoa and staysail, doing 7 knots, and the autopilot could not cope. It became obvious we were not going to make the pass in the reef by dark, so took the decision to stay out tonight and go in at first light - so I prepared us to heave to (something I had never tried before, in this boat) with the wind at 25 - 27 knots and the seas coming at us, making it hang-on-tight- mate!!

The staysail is old and beginning to tear, I took it down and put up in its place a storm staysail, smaller and tougher and apparently brand-new, never used. Curves like sheet metal. This is a great little sail, one I would be proud to be seen wearing on any dark and stormy night. Bear in mind this is done crawling on all fours, as the sun went down, on a spray-stung pitching foredeck. You can appreciate that it took longer to do than it takes to write about! The boat then took up a position heading into the wind and waves, about 50 - 70 degrees off the wind, and moving slowly forwards at around 0.8 knots in a NNE direction - towards the coast, 10 miles away. This is called heaving to. Luckily I never get seasick, so there is none of the other sort.

I have a kitchen timer and I go on deck every 15 minutes. There are many ships around tonight, it being so close to Suva harbour, but either my AIS is not working or they have theirs turned off, for nothing shows on the computer chart. I see them out there and on the radar. I have called them up several times tonight, but have got no response. All ship's captains speak English in my experience (remember I spent a year by the Panama canal, overhearing their ESL conversations. "I have 900 tons of fuel, sir, in No. 4, please turn off your valve, sir"... They may not want to answer because it's a hassle to have to log the transmission, or maybe there is no-one on the bridge awake!

There are lights on the shore and the moon is out. It is the same moon you can see tonight, in the same stage of tumescence. It makes the night seem friendly.