Futuna and back, Oct 25, 2015

Futuna and back


Finally, the weather is good and all of our paperwork is in order   We are off to Futuna, a small island country about 200 miles north of Fiji, that is a French Protectorate  The sole purpose of the trip is to renew the visa for Rhapsody so that she can be in Fiji another 18 months.  Everyone who stays in Fiji more than one season does this trip and there are several boats going this week.  The traditional wisdom is to leave in the afternoon, sail up the Koro sea all night and arrive at the pass in the morning, at the ebb tide which should sweep you through.  During the last week, we have talked to the other sailors and collected waypoints which are input into our navigation program so it should be a fairly smooth passage.  The really  narrow part is only about 10 miles long.

As soon as we cleared the bay, we knew that this was not going to be an easy ride.  We were facing choppy seas, swells, a headwind and a strong current  It seemed impossible to make any headway, no matter what tack we tried, even with the motor on.   And I immediately got seasick.  After several hours, I finally put on one of the patches which gets rid of the nausea but makes me very sleepy.  In these conditions Alan would have done the driving anyway, but the face that I was seasick meant that he was not going to get hardly any breaks.  It was a long night but by daybreak we were finally in sight of the pass and I was feeling better.  
 
Luckily, the tide was with us and we cruised through Somosomo Pass with no problems and into a lovely bay between islands.  All day we sailed through reefs and past island, following the waypoints we had been given.   By the end of the day we were mostly out of the trick parts.  Now it was a straight sail of a day and a half to Futuna.  The weather programs had predicted  an easy south east wind, and it was.  What we had not counted on was choppy, confused seas and swells coming at us sideways, so that we constantly rolled back and forth and water crashed over the bow.    It was not dangerous, just very uncomfortable.  We finally put the lea cloth on the settee so that we could sleep without falling onto the floor.  We settled on a watch schedule of 2 hours on and 2 hours off.  Not much sleep but better than nothing.  And it is only for a day or two.

As the sun came up, we could see the island in front of us, not very big, and the entrance to the harbor.  As we had been warned, the harbor is very small and surrounded by reefs.  It looks to be big enough for 2-3 boats at the most.   It is not a very well protected harbor and we have heard horror stories of how uncomfortable, not to say downright dangerous it can be in bad weather.  Luckily there was  no one else there so we had our choice of anchorage spots and the sea was calm with few swells and a light breeze.  We dropped anchor and turned in to get some sleep until the customs office was up and running. 

Although they spoke only French, the Customs officers were very friendly and efficient.  When we finished with Customs we walked up the road to the Gendarmerie where the process was repeated on behalf of immigration.  Paperwork was filled out and we were stamped into the country and out again for tomorrow.  So we have the rest of the day to explore Futuna.  It reminds me a lot of the Marquesas.  The houses are much more substantial and European looking than they are in Fiji.  There is one main road that runs along the coast and steep green cliff rise just behind.  Everyone seems to drive a new Toyota pickup truck.  There is not much of a town here.  Eventually we came to a hotel that advertised a restaurant.  Knowing that Futuna in French, we had been looking forward to some good french food, or at least bread so we went in and ordered a petit dejeuner .  It consisted of a small cup of coffee and several pieces of very good bread, with butter and jam for $20 US.  Next stop was the market, just up the street.  While they would take credit cards but the minimum was $5000.  Unfortunately no one could tell us what the exchange rate was, but after browsing for a while we decided that it was probably 100-1, same as French Polynesia.  We found out later that we could have used out FP francs.  Unfortunately, other than a few jars of pate and cornichons, there was nothing that we really wanted.  So reluctantly we headed back to the boat and left for Fiji the next morning.

Next morning, time to leave, ready to go and the engine won’t start.  We have been having problems on  and off with the starter battery.  One more thing that will have to be sorted out when we get settled for the hurricane season.  Meanwhile, Alan started the ever faithful Honda generator and used it to charge the engine starter battery.  An hour later, the engine started right up and we were on our way back. 

The sail back was as different as night and day from the sail up.  The seas were calm.  the swells were running with us.  the wind was perfect.  We put up the yellow Genoa and raced along at 6+knots.  I was feeling great and Alan actually got a good nights sleep. 

We were back among the reef of Fiji by the next afternoon.  The moon is just past the full, which mens that it will come up about 10pm.  We typically average 4.5 knots which would have put us entering Somosome straight just at moonrise.  I am not wild about going through in the dark but with a moon it should be OK.  Unfortunately, we made such good time that we are here early.  Not only that, but the wind should die when we get in among the island and it was not dying, in fact, we are gong faster than ever, 7.3 knots at one point. I think we must have a current.  i finally insisted that we take down the main sail.  I don’t like the thought of a sudden blast of wind knocking us off course in a narrow channel.  So here we are.  It is pitch black  The moon won’t be up for several hours. There is a strong wind blowing and we are in the narrow pass. Alan says not to worry, we will just follow the waypoints back.  they worked perfectly on the way up so it should be fine . And then the navigation program starts acting wonky.  We have two iPads and neither one of them are working right.  They show the position, but not the direction that we are going.  We can’t figure out what the problem is.  Luckily I had noted the compass heading just before all this started and it is pretty much a straight shot through.   Turned out that we were exactly on the 180 meridian and all of the navigation/weather programs go crazy there.  After about 20 minutes we were on the other side of it and everything started working again but it was pretty hairy for a while. 

After all the drama, we actually made it through rather neatly, as Alan had promised.  But when we hit the other side it was a different story.  It should have been an east wind to take us quickly back to Somosome Bay.  Instead we found ourselves battling what must have been a 3 knot currant.  The tide had changed after carrying us through so nicely.  Even with the engine going full blast, we made no headway for hours.  Alan turned the tiller over to me and I immediately did a 360.  The eddies spun us all over the place.  It was impossible to keep a course.  After several hours, we finally got clear of the island shadow and picked up some wind.  The current eased off and Alan could take a break while I drove.  It still was not easy sailing.  Once again the swells were coming sideways making the boat rock from side to side .  By 8:00 in the morning we were entering Somosomo Bay.