It's still not tropical or warm, and I don't regret buying a fleece hoodie in Tonga. I actually wish I had bought a woolly hat as well. What's saving me at the moment is a pretty classy move - Crocs 'n' socks.
There was a moment of horror yesterday as Fiji was fading into the distance. I turned the Starlink on and it took forever to come online. When it finally did, there was a message saying, "You seem to be in an unusual location – check your subscription." I looked out of the window. We were completely surrounded by water and definitely at sea on a boat, and I thought, this isn't unusual I'm always at sea on a boat. It would be unusual if I was in a desert.
It turned out I was right. It wasn't unusual, and Starlink started working, which was a double-sided result as now we can get weather and communicate, but I still have to think of things for the blog.
Plus, our deadline for arriving in Mackay is zooming closer, and that is also Starlink-related. The Starlink plan we are currently using is being scrapped for our convenience and replaced by another plan that is three times the price.
It's important to remember that the reason for the plan restructure is to make things easier for the consumer, and definitely not profit-related.
I think the change comes into effect on the 27th of September, so there is another reason to make sure we don't take too long getting in.
It took a few hours for the wind to fill in as we left Fiji behind. It's a lot of land and creates a large wind shadow. We finally picked up around 18 knots off the port quarter and started flying along towards Port Vila.
We averaged almost 7 knots from midday to midnight and then the wind eased slightly and we started to slow down a little. We are, however, making great time, and our goal is to leave Vanuatu on Saturday at the latest. Its now 379nm to Port Vila.
The long-term forecast is looking clear all the way and we will be happy to make some more miles.
We haven’t seen any traffic at all, of any description. Not even a flying fish on deck, which is becoming more usual.
I did, however, almost get attacked by some stupid bird last night. It apparently decided that the helm seat was an excellent place to land and launched itself directly at where I was sitting. It must have seen me at the very last second and suddenly realised that the thing occupying its chosen landing spot was actually a person. It then went “SQUAAAWK!” directly into my ear, causing me to leave the helm seat at a speed I would normally associate with being chased by something considerably more dangerous than a stupid bird.
I was extremely impressed with my vertical leap from a sitting position. Less impressed with the bird.