Sail Planet Express

Plans in the South Pacific are written in the sand at low tide, but eventually they turn to stone.

I had a few setbacks in sailing back home. Firstly, I wasn't feeling it (turns out I probably had dengue.) Second, after we left, we discovered a gooseneck problem, which has since been resolved but required us to return to the docks to enact a repair. It's better than new now, but the schedule became off track.

As a result, we were unable to visit Palmyra within the allotted time. Maybe we'd have been able to make it, and maybe we shouldn't have tried to sail to a schedule. Trying to make crew goals and a skipper/owner's goals meet is sometimes at odds. And so sadly, I sent the crew back home and took the resource I had (time) to figure out a plan. There were too many 'red lights' and I listened to the universe to wait for some green lights to appear to figure out the next steps for my escape plan from the South Pacific. Go to Australia? Sell the boat? Wait out another season?

In that research, the green lights appeared, and I hired a delivery skipper to bring Planet Express home from Fiji. They set sail yesterday on the long voyage home. It will take them at least 40 days. My flight was 12 hours.

This wasn't the bookend to the adventure I was hoping for, but it's the best possible outcome considering the circumstances. There'll be lots to share as I reconnect with everyone now that I am back home. But here are three lessons learned in trying to wrap this up.

- Figure out your escape plan early, and be open to changes. I had planned to sail to Tonga, and even French Polynesia. The weather windows never arrived, and the gang I had hoped to do that trip with had a change of plans.

- Offshore insurance is a significant hurdle to overcome. It takes a long time to bind policies when your plans change. I should have listened to the warning signs early and changed my tack.

- Living on a boat will change your mindset. I used to think sailors who waited for the best weather windows were just soft, now I know better. Sailing to a schedule, or treating your boat like a car, is the best way to ruin sailing.

I am sorry to have disappointed the crew who planned to do these last passages. For me and Planet Express, the tide came in higher than expected, and those plans were washed away.

Falaga has been gorgeous. Yesterday we went for a drift snorkel at the entrance pass which goes from a 100+ foot drop off to shallower waters in the lagoon. Unfortunately the pictures didn’t really turn out, but there were many large reef fish, colorful coral and large white tip reef sharks.

We moved the boat later in the day closer to the sandbar, and most of the boats all gathered for a sundowner later in the day. Today is Sunday and in Fiji a day reserved for church, family and rest. We were asked by the village to refrain from any sports and generally to keep a quiet low profile in this very traditional spot.