SAILING 12 Days [1900 Miles] to Fiji - We SURVIVED [Pt. 3]

In the final stretch of sailing from Bora Bora to Fiji, we encountered some of the gnarliest weather we've seen in a long time. I saw like five lightning bolts strike at the same time. We had a wave crash over the cab. The elements are taking a toll on Wanderlust. The wind is going to go up, we have to be fast. And navigating Fiji's poorly charted refilled waters has us on high alert. We're pushing it to arrive before dark but mother nature has different plans. Last night was rough. It was a rough night. We had gusts to 30 knots, sustained winds 25. 30. 31. But the wind wasn't the worst. No, it wasn't a problem. We had three reefs. It was the waves. The waves were crazy. And even before that got started up, it was lightning. I saw like five lightning bolts strike at the same time in the distance. We had a wave crash over the cab. I just got hit by a wave. It was just super, super rough. We've decided always from now on to put our side clears when we're on passage. So at least it'll keep the waves out of the cockpit. Exciting news, we are officially in Fijian waters and we have just spotted land for the first time. Right now we are passing through the Lao group of islands which are atolls and small islands. Unfortunately, we can't stop here. It's not an official port of entry. It is supposed to be one of the most pristine areas in Fiji and we're really hoping to get back here. It's quite tricky navigation. Yeah, we're going through the Lakeba Passage, which is one of the passages through this group of small islands and atolls. It's very well marked on OpenCPN. Not as much faith in the navionic charts. Right. Everybody here, there's a WhatsApp group going to Fiji and also the Soggy Paws Compendium for Fiji. Everyone says you must use satellite imagery for this area because it's not well charted. So Fabio spent a fair amount of time getting our OpenCPN up and running again. David from Outchasing Stars gives a great explanation of what OpenCPN is. OpenCPN is a free, open source piece of software designed by cruisers for cruisers intended to be an alternative chart plotter and GPS navigational piece of software. So we're staying here at the nav station just keeping an eye on this until we get through the islands because they're really like close, you know, close to the route, maybe five, ten miles A few weeks ago, there was a boat that ran into a reef. We have the coordinates on NoForeignLand, which is another app that is a community app where people post things to look out for, but also things to see, do, places to shop. Now the winds have calmed down, so we've got like 13 to 15 knots of wind on the beam, which is great. Screecher in full main. Yeah, we're doing seven, eight knots. We hope to arrive, I think, late tomorrow. What's today? We're so confused about the day with like losing this day because our phones haven't updated. But the crazy thing is that we went from being at 11 o'clock on Thursday to 11 o'clock on Friday. So we skipped an entire day. And why is this? Well, it's because of the International Date Line, which is a line that runs from north to south along the 180 degree meridian. So something like that, less than 30 hours, it should be there. Yeah, tomorrow afternoon at some point. The night was a test, chop and swell, slapping the boat and us by a boat with many handholds and few sharp corners. We held fast. It was a great core workout. Each gust a reminder of the power of the ocean. Dawn finally brought peace. The waves, tamed by the surrounding atolls, became gentler. Instead of hammering the hulls, they caressed them gently. We were sailing the Fiji's Lao Islands. Calm waters reflected sunlit blue. Our muscles relaxed. Paradise ahead. Are you ready to be there? Oh, yeah. Are you ready? Me, too. Me, too. The wind is up considerably, I think. So we had like 23 knots of current. Tonight we're going to take two reefs. The wind is going to go up, so we have to be fast. Okay. Even though the conditions were rough, Fabio had to go up to the boom to see what was going on with the reef line as it wasn't coming through. The line finally came out, but Fabio realized the cover had been chafed through and we could no longer use that reef line. Okay, it's great, it's great. Do you want me to bring it up? Okay, let's try it. The wind is up to 24 knots, so we are reefed down for the night. Sun just went down. Sea is kicking up. I don't know why this always happens at night, but it does. We are both pretty tired, so we're just hoping for as peaceful a night as possible, and then we should arrive at Port Denereau late tomorrow afternoon. I don't know, between three and five, something like that. So, fingers crossed for as peaceful a night as possible. If you're enjoying this video, give it a thumbs up, leave us a comment down below, and be sure to subscribe to the channel. It really helps us out. Good morning, guys. This is day 12 of our passage, and I'm not going to say anything about it being our last day because you never know what will happen, but we have just seen the first two boats we have seen in like 12 days since we left French Polynesia, and we've got the main island of Biti Levu on our starboard, and on port we have another island. I need to find the name of it, but it's the Astrolabe Reef is there, and I believe that's the fourth largest reef in the world. We're really looking forward to coming back and diving that reef. I'm getting really excited. We still have like 100 miles to go. We were hoping to arrive today around five before dark, but the winds were lighter than forecast overnight, which we're happy that the seas weren't as rough as we expected, but we went slower than we thought, and right now the wind is behind us, so we're making like seven knots, but we probably have like 12 hours to go at this speed, so we'll arrive around 9 p.m. I hope that's okay with customs and immigration. They're pretty strict here, so I've been emailing all of the authorities, customs, immigration, the marina, biosecurity of our arrival, and so we'll get instructions from them on what to do, but for now it looks like it's going to be a beautiful day on the water, even though it was forecast to have gusts to like 30 knots, so we'll see. Oftentimes on passage, conditions don't allow for us to enjoy much time up front, and by the end, everything is encrusted in salt, but on days like this, I can't pass up the opportunity to lounge on deck, gazing at the open ocean and mentally noting how grateful I am to live this lifestyle. So far we've had a very nice, comfortable, yet a little bit slow downwind sail around Viti Levu. We just kind of turned the corner around Benga Island, which is a small island encircled by a reef, and so there's also a small patch of reef and then another island, and we've been told to stay 10 miles offshore, so we're kind of navigating this tricky little pass, and the wind is dead behind us, so we furled the headsail. We still have the main up, and we're going to motor through this pass here, and then once we're on the other side, we'll pull out the headsail again. It's definitely tricky navigating because I saw this patch of coral on Navionics, and then when I looked on OpenCVN, it wasn't showing up on Google Maps, so we looked at these other charts that we have, and it was there, so definitely need multiple options for navigation. The sun dips low, and we're almost there. The light is gold over the end of the longest passage for the two of us. It was 1,900 miles. Some, it was our own grit. Some, it was wanderlust carrying us through, forgiving our mistakes, changing us. Confidence, more in ourselves, more in this boat that's become part of the team. The steering system now solid and trustworthy, her speed through the water a joy. Fatigue and weather tested us, first broke us down, then shaped us new. We work shoulder to shoulder, each mile a lesson, each wave a mentor. I feel we are better sailors, forged by salt and struggle. Another horizon fades. Whatever lies beyond, finds us more prepared. A huge thank you to our patrons. We are so grateful for your support. If you'd like additional content and real-time updates, consider joining the Harbor's Unknown community on Patreon. Well, the sun has set, and we are still sailing, and we're going to arrive, of course, at dark. Something that we don't like to do, arrive at a new place at dark, but John, the weather router we've been working with, said the path that we have to go through to get to the marina is very well lit and totally doable in the dark, so we're gonna go for it. We don't really have any other option unless we wanted to have two, which we don't, so we have to go through what looks like kind of a narrow pass in the reef, and then we'll anchor outside the marina. We'll see how it goes. We're approaching the Navula Passage. We can see the red and green lights and what we think the light for the pilot is, so we're gonna call the pilot in just a bit and then make our way through this pass. It's a little unnerving to make it dark through the reef, but I think it'll be fine. All right, we made it through the pass, and now we have about 12 miles to get to the anchorage just outside of the marina. Almost there. The anchor is officially down in Fiji. 12 days, 1920 miles, just the two of us and Yoda, and the queue flag is going up. It's like, I think, one in the morning.