Pitufa.at

After we had to interrupt our passage because of the broken track on the mast, the repair was rather quickly done, but we had missed our weather window. We need really stable weather for the 1.900 nautical miles to Fiji and it’s rare to find a weather window that actually lasts 2 weeks and goes all the way. Before Covid we could have stopped in the Cook Islands, Tonga and/or Samoa along the way, splitting the journey into shorter legs that are easier to plan, but unfortunately these countries have still not opened their borders for yachts. It seems absurd that borders are opening for tourists on planes, but remain closed for sailors who are much less at risk to bring a disease as we automatically spend several days (or weeks) in quarantine while underway to a new place.
We don’t want to risk getting trapped in an extended calm area as this would mean burning lots of diesel to motor out of it. The constant comparing of forecast models (“to leave or not to leave”‘s the daily question), keeping the boat (and provisioning lockers) in passage mode to be ready to head out spontaneously anytime is slightly getting on our nerves despite the best resolutions to be patient. We’re more than ready to sail west, into the sunset.