After a somewhat longer than expected stop in Fiji, Guppy and I are back at sea. Back home I studied the weather charts and they showed a five days window stretch with good conditions for my crossing to Vanuatu, and so I wanted to set sail as soon as possible. The forecast is for strong winds blowing directly from behind, and then calm winds again … And I need exactly five days for the crossing to Vanuatu… And then naturally for me, it looked like the clearing out procedures would never end but half a day and many rubber stamps later everything was done and I was ready to go. It is rainy with cloudy skies, but more importantly there is a good wind blowing… As we rounded an island on our way, Guppy asked for a reef in her mainsail as she bravely heaved close to the wind, meaning I had to ease off some sheet. A fishing boat that was sailing behind me has turned back, obviously heading for safe harbour. Of course Guppy now sails more under than on top of the water so I was baptized many times and everything is becoming salty again… Since the wind is blowing at an angle from behind and the sea is rough, reading or sitting outside in the cockpit is not possible. Instead I am trying to catch up on some of the sleep I missed during my exhausting past days and nights. But then ‘Gup’ and I are quite happy with the strong winds…

Laura