A Personal Record

My longest single-handed crossing to date, French Polynesia to Fiji

Planning for the trip from French Polynesia to Fiji was like pilots planning a flight route; perhaps more complex. I had to identify alternate ports to arrive at in the event of an emergency, investigate customs and immigration procedures, and complete a number of forms to send them even though I might never arrive at those countries or those ports. All “just in case”. The route had to consider the weather, fuel consumption, areas of heavy marine traffic to avoid (fortunately few), and my personal limits above which I would divert to an alternate destination. Sailing singlehanded is a lot of work.

Sailing away from Tahaa, French Polynesia on August 1st, I was escorted out the atoll by Yann and Brigitte on SV Viking. We tracked one another for an hour while they made their way to the west side of Bora Bora, and I sailed around the back (east and north) side of that popular island to gain a more favorable wind angle to Fiji.

Departing Tahaa with SV Viking (Yann and Brigitte)

The video below is from the east side of Bora Bora.

I joined up with Fiona and Iain of SV Ruffian of Amble, who are fellow Ocean Cruising Club members from the UK and were leaving at the same time from Tahaa. Although we were not within visual range at any time except the first day, we remained in daily contact and provided one another with our current GPS coordinates, speed over ground (SOG), course over ground (COG), weather conditions, and next waypoint. Their intended destination was Samoa (also called Western Samoa or “Samoa” as the locals there like to call it; not to be confused with American Samoa). It took me 9 days to get to that waypoint, and I then started to turn a bit more to the southwest.

I passed over the north of Tonga, choosing not to stop at these beautiful islands on my journey, and carried on for the next four days to Fiji. My friends Marcus and Lily on SV Sula had already arrived at Nawi Island Marina in Savusavu, Fiji, and convinced me to change my reservation from Vuda Marina, which saved me an extra day and a half of sailing. Satellite internet from Starlink was not working in the rougher seas (sometimes 4 meters) but eventually I made contact and changed my reservation. The final 24 hours of the passage took me over the north of the remote Lau Islands of Fiji, then south of Taveuni before arriving at Vanua Levu (the island where Savusavu is located).

Arriving at the inlet to Savusavu on August 13 at 3pm, I was escorted by the marina’s welcoming tender (boat) to the quarantine dock to await customs, immigration, health, and biosecurity officials. Despite my arrival during business hours, some of the inspectors arrived after 5pm and I was obliged to pay them overtime fees to inspect the boat. That said, clearance was efficient, friendly, and painless. They did confiscate the prosciutto and honey I had aboard (due to the possibility of spores) but, who cares.

This solo passage was my longest to that date, in terms of time and distance. While it was certainly a notch on my resume of nautical skills and a minuscule step along the endless road towards mastery, it was also a milestone on many other levels. I read more books on passage, listened to an endless stream of podcasts, pored over weather forecasts more intimately than before, sang at the top of my lungs, sat alone and counted stars until I lost track, and reveled in the awesome feeling of self-reliance that had brought me this far.

On aloneness (a question that I frequently get asked): You’re never really alone. There are people near and far who love you, care about you, and wish the best for you. It takes a village to accomplish feats like this. I may be the visible part of this feat, but there are many others who prop me up and keep me going. To all of you, I feel your energy. Thank you for rooting for me.