Westward ho once again
Kokamo's Pacifc Meanderings
Tom and Rachel
Thu 15 Jul 2010 19:50
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Kokamo is at 17:38.7S
177:23.5E
We made it to the West side of Fiji a
few days ago, and after a busy time taking advantage of the city of Lautoka's
market and supermarkets to do a big reprovision, we're ready to head on to
Vanuatu.
The majestic procession of low
pressures north of New Zealand which has been giving us some fickle winds here
(and some grim winter storms in NZ) has let up, and there are a couple of gentle
highs slowing tracking to the south of us over the next 5 days. This means
the Trade Winds are back - exactly what we need. So to Customs this
morning with all forms completed in quintuplicate, and off we go.
It will be our first ocean passage
with just the two of us, so cranking up the challenge a tad. With another
person on board - as we've had for the other big legs - you get twice
as much sleep, not to mention some added humour! But we feel we know the
boat really well now, and are generally up for taking it on ourselves. The
leg is 470 miles, which should take us around 4 days if the winds are
favourable. Our planned destination is the island of Tanna, where I
have so many good friends from filming Meet the Natives - the
prospect of sailing there under our own steam is very exciting. So
wish us luck!
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