The sea state got pretty intense last night. When lying down inside, I could feel the vibration as the waves pummeled the boat, punching up against the bridgedeck. It’s amazing how much force water can exert. Things calmed down after sunrise, but there are 11ft waves and 30kn winds in tomorrow’s forecast… 

Ray shook out a reef, and we enjoyed the mellow sea state and a boost in speed while we had our coffee. 

We are less than 300 miles out from our destination, so I’m beginning to think about entry logistics. When I first moved aboard Sabado, I went with Ray to check into a marina. While filling out the form at the front desk, he asked me what the date was; I said the 21st, then watched him write the wrong month AND year on either side. I’ve been in charge of our paperwork ever since. This afternoon, I spent some time reading up on the fees and forms I need to prepare to enter Tonga. It sounds pretty straightforward. I will submit an Advanced Notice of Arrival tomorrow morning, and the rest of the process will be done in person. There is no bank in Niuatoputapu, and because we are making landfall there, we won’t have any local currency yet. I read that, surprisingly, they accept US currency for the customs & immigration fees. The ATMs in Bora Bora wouldn’t dispense USD, but we were lucky enough to have a couple of our subscribers vacationing there bring some to us a few days before we left (thank you, Joe and Melissa!). Hopefully, all will go smoothly upon our arrival.

We ate lunch together, and as far as canned food goes, these cheesy potatoes are great if you can find them. I add garlic powder, lots of pepper, and extra cheese before baking. Since we’re conserving power and my oven is electric, I reheated them on the propane stovetop today, and they were still yummy! 

Typically, I enjoy spending time in the galley, but I like to have shortcuts up my sleeve when we’re underway. With limited space in our fridge/freezer, it’s an added bonus if it’s something shelf-stable. 

The wind began to creep up in the afternoon, so we double-reefed the main sail again. Our speed took a hit (8kn to 6.5kn), but that’s a consequence we accept as conservative sailors; we reef early and often. We haven’t seen a single other boat out here, so there’s no one around to race anyway. 😉 

We hung out the rest of the afternoon, and I did some meal prep in case tomorrow is brutally bouncy. I took the helm again at 6pm and watched as the tops of the clouds began to resemble cotton candy. I got lucky on this passage with the sunset and sunrise watch shifts!

We have some bright moonlight tonight, which is nice because the waves are building and rocking us on our beam— being able to see makes it much more tolerable. I’m definitely looking forward to a quiet night on anchor after this! See ya tomorrow.