There goes my 100% record!

As soon as we got through the Momi Pass, leaving Fijian waters & out into the big blue I was hit by seasickness. We were both quietly concentrating & trying to get our bodies into the seas rhythm. Had I spent too long on land or were the seas much rougher than we had experienced in the past? Somehow I doubted it, the trip from Bora Bora to Palmerston was much worse than this.

Things didn't improve so we split a anti seasickness patch, kinda like a nicotine patch but you stick it behind your ear. Unfortunately it didn't work quick enough for me & for the first time ever I was leaning across the lifelines sharing my lunch with the Pacific sea. Not as easy as it sounds !With the boat hurtling down & spinning out of waves, water crashing over the port side & the boat heeling so far over to starboard that the deck was in the sea, Bobby telling me to lay low & stay clipped in. Thoughts going through my mind were; do I lean over the port side which is higher meaning I'm less likely to get washed off the boat but I am likely to get a face full of water & with the wind coming from the south I was likely to be wearing my lunch! Or do I go for the starboard side, lie really low with my face between the lifelines, less likely to get wet or covered in vomit, but a little too close to the sea for comfort. Next frustration was trying to get close to the side of the boat whilst clipped in with lines that prevent you from getting anywhere near the edge. It was all becoming a little too much for me so after a comedy sketch of Bobby holding onto my ankles we seriously discussed turning around & heading back to Fiji. It was very tempting but I knew if I went back I would never leave for a second time. We choice to stick it out & get through it together. Bobby reasoned that it wasn't unsafe it was just very uncomfortable.

I have been racking my mind trying to portray to you non sailors what it is really like out here in these conditions. Bobby best described it as a simulator that goes non stop for 4 days & nights. You can't hit the emergency button for it to stop & you still have to eat, sleep, prepare meals & use the bathroom. Washing went out the window & we had a “who smells worse & who has the greasiest hair” competition.

Every 30 minutes or so the big blue throws an enormous wave our way engulfing the cockpit & crashing cold salty water over whoever happens to be on watch. I don't even bat an eye lid any more when it happens, I just await the next one. I am living in my foul weather gear (Jon, your Elalto products have done you proud), am clipped onto the boat with my harness & am reading my book through a freezer/ziplock bag so it doesn't get soaked by the boarding waves. I do get a little freaked watching the waves that come running after us from the stern & tower as high as the bimini. All you can do is hope that it crashes before it reaches the boat & totally soaks you.
I've tried to remain positive & tell myself that this is part of the adventure but now & again (normally after I've been sick) I want it all to stop, I have a few tears before pulling myself together, refocusing & telling myself I'm earning my adventures in these far flung islands.
For now I'm watching the land on the horizon get closer, looking forward to a calm anchorage, raising the courtesy Vanuatu flag & washing my very smelly body & greasy hair.

Vanuatu, you had better be worth this nightmare trip!