Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

The north westerlies kept it up all day and brought up lumpy seas. The day became quite demanding on the minds and bodies of Dignity’s crew. When we weren’t on shift we were each invariably asleep or lying down to minimise the effects of the constant motion. I did fish for all of about 20 minutes before deciding I really did not want to be handling stinky fish.

In the late afternoon we threaded our way through the first of a number of bands of squalls. This signalled the start of the wind shift to the south west we’d been expecting. In the earlier north westerlies we’d been heading north east. Now we could head directly for a waypoint I’ve set due south of our destination.

Can’t say a lot more as it was just one of those ‘eat, sleep & watch’ days.

Looking ahead we have fairly decent winds for the next 2-3 days before we run into the edge of a convergence zone. Within this zone we can expect a lot of rain, wild winds and thunderstorms. If we slow the boat down we’ll hopefully catch only the southerly edge of this before the zone is replaced by south easterlies which should carry us all the way to Savusavu. So once the crew are up I intend to lower the main and sail on headsail only. With the winds coming around to the south today this will make life easier on us all. We can also run the generator to make hot water for some needed showers.

Our departure time was in some doubt due to a threatened early afternoon front. To settle this I was able to listen in to the real time wind measurements around the north island as well as look at the hourly rain radar images from metservice. We were allowed to clear out in the morning even though we were possibly leaving in the afternoon. Having cleared, paid our marina fees and received our duty frees I checked the weather once more. The rain radar showed the rain fizzling out and I could get a good read on how the front was coming over in terms of the effect over time on the various stations. I made the call to leave and by 11am we were off.

We knew the first days passage would be lumpy and it was. We all ended up feeling worse for wear (still do) and only I escaped the fully consequence of sea sickness.

We made good progress despite the choppy seas and at times were sailing nicely between 7 and 8 knots. Overnight the seas have calmed and so have the winds. The new sails are working better than the old in the light winds. Given the state of the crew, I won’t order the Code Zero out unless the wind lightens considerably more.

Our course is taking us slightly east of the direct line to Savusavu. There is a possibility that easterly trades will settle in toward the end of this passage so I want to be on the same longitude as our destination if/when this happens.