July 27th

Arrived in Lautoka Fiji

After a very rough and tiring couple of days Dick and Peggy made landfall in Lautoka, Fiji. Here they cleared in with customs and immigrations. All is well on board and I think there are a couple of very happy folks on Katmai to finally have made it to Fiji. My hat off to them for having sailed down the middle of the Pacific Ocean from Seward, Alaska to Fiji for a total of over 5500 nautical miles in 30 days of sailing. Incredible!! Now it truly is time to slow-up and enjoy the sun, palms, turquoise tropical lagoons and fascinating culture of Fiji. We are all relieved, Dick and Peggy, that you have made this very long passage in safety!

 

July 25th

POS is 17° 33'S, 177° 36'E

A high pressure has moved to the south of Fiji reinforcing the Trade Winds, now blowing a steady 35 knots with rough seas. Conditions are not likely to improve soon. Dick and Peggy are taking Katmai southwest to try and get some reprieve in the lee of the Yasawa group of islands. There they hope to hide out until daylight before entering the reef strewn coast of Viti Levu and making landfall at Lautoka. They sounded tired and ready to have a quite meal at some tropical restaurant. Weather permitting they should make landfall late tomorrow and a hard earned break. Let's all wish them a safe landfall.

 

July 24th

POS is 14° 14'S, 178° 09'E

Wind blowing 25 knots this night, boat speed 8 knots with a stays'l and two reefs in the main. Ride is a bit rough with spray flying that makes being in the cockpit uncomfortable. Distance to the entrance to Bligh Sound is 145nm. They should arrive in the protected waters of the sound sometime tomorrow early evening.

 

July 23rd

POS is 11° 41'S, 178° 16'E

Last night was a rough and sleepless night for the crew of Katmai. Thunder, lightning and heavy rain squalls kept them up all night. The winds have picked-up to about 25 knots and they are close-reaching under double reefed main and staysail at 7.5 knots. Tonight is clear and the sailing is good, Dick says that Katmai is loving these conditions. There is a high pressure on the move to the southwest of Fiji with the possibility of causing reinforced Trade Winds. Katmai is in a bit of a race to beat the high to Fiji with hope of avoiding the strong reinforced Trade Winds. But first there is a trough and a front that they will have to contend with. These will bring more squalls and wind shifts as they pass over Katmai and crew in the next day or two.

 

July 22nd

POS is 09° 17'S, 178° 10'E

 

July 21st

POS is 06° 51'S, 178° 24'E

Hi Everyone,

Richard (being of not so sound mind) officiates over the Equatorial Crossing Ceremonies. Dressed for the occasion he offers up our meager, but most treasured gifts to King Neptune. A shot of Dicks Southern Comfort and our prized chocolate chip cookies. I know it looks like Dick has had some of that Southern Comfort, but I can assure you that this is his sober state at this time. Now as we stare into our next squall line we hope that our gifts were much appreciated.

Peg and Dick Aboard SV Katmai

 

Going was tough today, little wind and big seas made keeping the sails drawing steady hard work. The wind is back up at 13 knots and they are sailing along at 8 knots towards Fiji. The island of Funafuti is about 110 miles to the southeast of Katmai's midnight location and a tempting short stop. Still no fish-on!

 

July 20th

POS is 04° 40'S, 178° 20'E

 

July 19th

POS is 02° 15'S, 177° 30'E

Katmai and crew crossed the equator from the northern to the southern hemisphere at 02:20 a.m. local time. Rumor has it that King Neptune did come by for a visit, while Dick and Peggy had a smorgasbord of Southern Comfort and certain sweets ready for him. Not entirely sure what initiation rites occurred that night onboard Katmai, but I bet her crew will have great tales to tell.

Sailing is good in 10-12 knots of breeze from the ESE, making good 7.5 to 8 knots of boat speed. Crystal clear star filled nights and warms days under blue skies wich are studded with pure white 'popcorn' clouds, a sign so typical of fair weather in the tropics. Dick and Peggy maybe world class sailors, but I am not sure about their fishing prowess. They now have been dragging that poor fishing lure for well over 4000 miles and have not had a bite! It's time for all of us who sail vicariously with them to offer some advice. Any takers on how to catch that tuna?

 

July 18th

POS is 00° 14'N, 176° 42'E

Today was again a very light wind day. Mostly in the 0-5 knot range. At mid-night the wind was up to 9 knots, sailing with the big #2 Genoa and making 7.5-8 knots in calm seas. All is well on board, though the lack of wind can be very trying. It's a fight for every mile made good. In a couple of hours Katmai and crew will be crossing the equator to the southern hemisphere. Our two gallant crew will then gain the title of 'Golden Shellbacks'! I'm certain King Neptune will pay an appropriate indoctrination visit....

 

July 17th

POS is 2° 03'N, 176° 00'E

Hi Everyone,

Marshalls to the equator. We left Majuro in a squall [on July 14th]. As we entered the channel to exit the atoll we looked back at the anchorage and watched the squall swallow up the boats that were there. The first few hours out were a little tough and we ended up motoring as we neared the end of the island just to miss the reef that was there. Once out of danger of the reef we began sailing with a nice breeze and continued through out the night.

The next morning we were becalmed. We made a decision to motor sail with the very light breeze to the south and while doing a whopping big 2 knots we were able to get lots of rest and do some reading. By the next morning we were back in the pink with 10 to 15 knots and have been sailing along at an easy pace of 7.5 to 8.5 ever since. We expect to cross the equator sometime tomorrow late and I think Dick is planning something.

Peg and Dick

SV Katmai

[Also see their last note regarding Majuro, on the Seward to Marshall Islands log page]

 

Crossing the Equator (a tradition)

The ceremony of crossing the line is an initiation rite which commemorates a sailor's first crossing of the equator.  Originally the tradition was created as a test for seasoned sailors to ensure their new shipmates were capable of handling long rough times at sea. Sailors who have already crossed the equator are nicknamed (Trusty) Shellbacks, often referred to as Sons of Neptune; those who have not are nicknamed (Slimy) Pollywogs.

"King Neptune and his court" (usually including his first assistant Davy Jones and her Highness Amphitrite and often various dignitaries, who are all represented by the highest ranking seamen) officiate at the ceremony, during which the Pollywogs undergo a number of increasingly disgusting ordeals (wearing clothing inside out and backwards; crawling on hands and knees on nonskid-coated decks; being swatted with short lengths of fire hose; being locked in stocks and pillories and pelted with mushy fruit; crawling through chutes and large tubs of rotting garbage; kissing the Royal Baby's belly coated with axle grease, hair chopping, etc), largely for the entertainment of the Shellbacks.

Once the ceremony is complete, a Pollywog receives a certificate declaring his new status. Another common status is the Golden shellback, a person who has crossed the equator at the 180th meridian (International Date Line).

July 16th

POS is 4° 16'N, 174° 30'E

Today Katmai became one of histories many sailing boats to drift aimlessly in the Doldrums with her crew, Dick and Peggy, scanning the horizon for any hint of a breeze. There was none! The ocean as glassy as a mountain lake on as windless morning. The air temperature soaring to 100F in the shade and the ocean not much cooler. As night fell the sky became illuminated with a trillion stars, in Dick's words "such stars a person on land has never seen".  In the end they were lucky as a night time zephyr of a breeze grew to 10 knots. At mid-night local time they were reaching along on a still smooth ocean, with the only accompanying sound being the faint gurgling from of the ocean water along Katmai's hull. Her sails drawing and making a steady course towards Fiji. Time will tell if King Neptune has only provided Dick and Peggy a Doldrums sample to day and there is more to come, or has he allowed them to pass through with minimal time spent in his equatorial parking lot.

 

July 15th

POS is 5° 24'N, 173° 28'E

Been sailing most of the day closed hauled to the wind at about 8 knots. Winds 10 knots from the east. Very nice sailing. All is well on board, may even have email working again!

 

July 14th

Departed from the Marshall's  and bound for Fiji. Dick and Peggy re-provisioned Katmai with food and fuel, had a few good dinners ashore and met some helpful cruisers. Fuelling in the Marshalls is done by buying a barrel of diesel and filling your tank from that barrel - there is no easy fuel dock to pull up to. There were some minor repairs to be made and a trip to the DHL office to pick up a spare autopilot hydraulic drive unit and other odds and ends. 

Now the big question is: what is the best way across the Doldrums? King Neptune is the 'Meter Maid' for this area and is not afraid to hand out stiff parking tickets to yachts that drift too long in these windless expanses covering the world's equator.  The strategy Dick and Peggy worked out to avoid a run in with King Neptune is to head due east (if the wind allows it), back to about 175E to 180 longitude. There they will turn south towards Fiji. That will add about 200 miles to the direct route. The driver for adding these extra miles is to take advantage of the Equatorial Counter Current and minimizing sailing hard into the wind once they reach the southeast trade winds in the southern hemisphere (it is much more pleasant to beat into 10 knot winds at the equator than further south in 20 - 25 knot winds of the southern trade wind belt. Unfortunately Fiji is to windward of the Marshall islands. The graph on the left is called a Stream Line chart and shows wind directions. The red hashed line in the top center of the graph is the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and is where the southern and northern trade winds converge and form the Doldrums. This is the zone where the warm and moist tropical trade winds rise from sea level to the upper atmosphere (and is where King Neptune's Parking Authority rules). It is an area with lots of squalls, heavy tropical rains and plenty of thunder and lightning, AND often very little wind. Dick and Peggy are just left of the western end of this ITCZ belt as it is today. The ITCZ moves, however, by many hundreds of miles each day and is tough to predict. Fiji is just to the northwest of the 'A' at the bottom of the graph. So if they can sail due east to the 180 longitude line then they will have a nice reach all the way to Fiji.  - Eric