It has been a busy month of getting ready for our passage to Fiji, watching the weather, and spending time with friends.

Painting Tieton’s Bottom

Antifouling paint helps keep the critters off the boat’s bottom, which increases operating performance and reduces the spread of non-native species to other locations. We moved Tieton to the Riverside Marina Boatyard, hauled her out, and spent twelve days “on the hard”. Herman sanded the bottom to create a smooth surface for the new paint, then we applied two coats of paint. Although it is a nasty chore, we enjoyed the company of the marina occupants and treated ourselves to coffee out each morning.

The marina residents were a social bunch and we were welcomed to 4 PM Friday beverages and the Sunday potluck. One Friday, we inflated a life raft that had expired and explored its contents.

While Herman was working on the boat, I helped as I was able, then ran errands and provisioned for our upcoming season in Fiji and Vanuatu. Since the boat was elevated, this meant many trips up and down the ladder. To be a little safer, we put our purchases in a bucket, which we then hauled up when we got into the boat.

Waiting for Weather Window

With the boat back in the water, we began what turned out to be a long… wait for weather. Many cruisers needed to leave in early May due to visa expiry and they experienced somewhat rough passages. Some of the newly arrived cruisers in Fiji decided that if they assigned a music genre to a passage, that their passage would be heavy metal/Nirvana. We want mellow rock or jazz.

Our coaches from Sailing Totem posted this explanation about the Pacific Ocean being angry.

We saw multiple weather predictions that for one reason or another fell apart. Reasons ranged from too much wind, squall/lightening activity, waves too big and coming from multiple directions … you get the picture. Once we made yet another decision to not depart, we’d cancel our appointment with customs, then go out for coffee to make a plan for keeping busy the next few days.

The good news is that the dinghy chaps are done! I also made a screen enclosure for the cockpit, which will be handy to keep the tropical bugs at bay. In case you’re wondering, sewing a 15 foot (5 meter) by 6 foot (2 meter) is very challenging in a small space.

What’s Next

We finally got an acceptable weather opportunity and we’re now two days into a six day passage to Minerva. Thus far, the passage has been uneventful which is what we like!