Location: Departing Denarau, Fiji
And so it begins! The journey from Fiji to Southport is officially underway. I arrived in Fiji yesterday and had a fantastic handover from Karl, the boat's owner. It was a proper, detailed session, which is always a treat and makes the whole process so much smoother. It's rare to get a handover at all so that level of thoroughness was a huge help and saved a lot of time, and I'm very grateful for it—it makes a huge difference to a delivery skipper.
This morning was all about final preparations. We filled the tanks with a massive 15,000 litres of duty-free fuel. By midday, customs and immigration were on board to complete the paperwork, and with their stamp of approval, we were good to go.
The moment you first take the helm of a new boat is always a mix of excitement and a little bit of nerves. No matter how much you've been briefed, you're never quite sure how she'll handle. Will she respond to the helm? How will she behave in tight quarters? I'm happy to report that the Nordhavn 76 is an absolute dream to operate. We exited the marina and navigated the pass into the great South Pacific with zero stress. She's a beautifully responsive boat.
It's surprisingly chilly out here, especially considering we're in the tropics. The long-range forecast is looking pretty good. The plan is to head south of New Caledonia before making our final turn west towards Australia. It looks like we might have a day or so of headwinds tomorrow which may slow us down a little, but nothing this solid vessel can't handle. And after that the weather is looking pretty stable for the rest of the passage. Which is a great change as its been very unstable through the Coral Sea for months.
Today has been spent getting used to the boats unique sounds and motion which will all be filed away in the back of my head in the 'things to monitor' department.
More updates to come tomorrow.