Another long haul

Position: 12.77s, 153.49w

Hi everyone,

We are about 1060 miles to the east of Samoa, and about 1760 from Fiji. It is quite a long haul across this bit, but it the last of these long legs that we have to do. Our plan was to head straight for Fiji, but we have had very little wind, and the bit we do get is not really from an ideal direction. We are now aiming for American Samoa to be able to refuel and then head off for the last 700 miles to Fiji. We had tried to avoid this as all we have heard about American Samoa is that it is dirty and overpowered by the smell coming from the tuna processing plants. It is cheap apparently, so if we go there we will just stop for a couple of hours and grab some supplies - Fiji sounds like a much nicer place to be!

The past couple of nights have brought lightning storms which have contained our only wind to speak of. From dead calm to 35 knots and back down again in 10 minutes. We can't carry enough fuel to be able to motor all the way to Samoa (like our previous trip from Panama to Marquesas), so will need to find wind somehow to sail at least another 400 miles without motor. From this then, we still don't know when we will get there, but are thinking that it will probably be about Tuesday 10th March. Whatever we plan, we have to add a day, as just before Fiji we cross the international dateline, and join you guys in Australia on the same day. At the moment, we are about 3 hours in front of you (12pm in Sydney is 3pm here), but we are a day behind, now just starting our Thursday.....yes, it is confusing...try thinking about what time it is if you stand on the south pole - it could be any time you want it to be as you would be in every time zone at the same time!

Anyway, just a quick update to let you know that we are still going well, if slowly! Thanks for all your comments that get passed on to us - it is nice to hear from you all. And for those that missed it last time, we DO get the messages, just can't reply from out here through the satellite phone.

We will update you again soon - hopefully from Fiji. Hope everyone is well and happy, and for those that questioned how long this trip would take, we are still planning on being home by the end of March, so 3 months does not seem like a bad guess!

1000 miles to go to Samoa, 1700 to Fiji.

Peter and Geoff