Sailing the South Pacific | An Inspiring First Experience

My name is A. Perez Voyages and the word voyages comes with many different definitions. Travel via sea, air, or land. I’ve traveled by plane since I was a baby. By car in many different ways. Over the rails in Europe, Canada, and across the US of A. Ferries in Greece, Tonga, and Croatia. Hitchhiking from the Big Island of Hawai’i to Kosovo in the Balkans and explored New Zealand on a motorcycle. But the last remaining way for me to travel was by boat. Preferably traveling the sea via sailboat. For me, I feel like this is the true definition of a voyage, the oldest form of travel…of adventure. To seek new land on the open sea. Leaving New Zealand for the Pacific Islands only made this dream more seemingly realistic. The question was, how would I do it, from where to where, and with who.

 

My travels would begin in Tongatapu from Auckland, hitchhiking both on Tongatapu and Eua, a ferry up to Ha’apai islands, and a flight up to Vava’u. I have always read Vava’u as the beautiful stopping point for boats sailing from the east to west, French Polynesia and Cooks to Fiji or Aussie/NZ. This is where I would find myself getting all the info and knowledge I can to get myself connected with a captain. Fortunately for me, I was staying with a family in a small village who’s wife worked in a sail rental joint at the sail docks. Mango’s Cafe was the prime hub for yachts to come use unlimited wifi and have a nice meal on land after days maybe weeks at sea. I was instructed to talk to the manager of the cafe who then told me to come 8:30 next morning, the time he hops on the VHF radio and helps broadcast news out to the harbour.

 

So I did just that! Woke up bright and early, got dropped off at the cafe, sat next to the manager, and got in my request send out for boats in need of crew. Oddly enough, my actual broadcast didn’t make it out as I didn’t hold the button on the radio. However, the manager’s generic broadcast did which was thankfully, good enough! “Wow, that was fast, usually people wait weeks”, was the managers response to that morning as a Swedish captain of a yacht responded to the request and connected with me to meet that morning. Long story short, I met with him, we connected, saw the boat the next day, helped out a bit, and found myself a ride to Fiji five days after that initial broadcast. I said goodbye to my friends on Vava’u, hopped on the boat, checked out with immigration, and after assisting with the steer out of the long bay from Neiafu, we set course for sail to Fiji.

 

 

I joined as crew without any prior knowledge of sailing and that was well communicated very early with my travel companion. But in a matter of days, I started to learn some essentials and basics of life on a sailboat. 19 days I would be on this boat. 19 whole days! While we had plans to travel together for much longer than that, captains plans had changed and had to go home at some point. Our sail from Tonga to Fiji was absolutely pleasant and easy. Weather was good, no squalls, and no boats on the horizon. Just the captain and I out on the open sea with really good wind and lots of time to do….absolutely…nothing. I learned the calculation and use of knots, nautical miles, and calculating time and distance from boat to destination. Setting waypoint with coordinates and understanding how to read charts. Helping set sail and learning basic rope knots. Doing my best to not just sit around for a free ride although I split costs in the end that of which was diesel and food.

Once adapting to the beauty of being on a boat and watching land disappear on the horizon, I soon realized, sailing really forces you to enjoy the bare minimums in life. While I was able to charge my phone via an onboard port, there is no signal to connect to the outer world, so phone use is redundant. I have some games on my phone but that was usually left to enjoy before bed. My phone was only utilized most to enjoy music at night. Otherwise in the end, there is a lot…I mean A LOT of free time outside of everyday boat maintenance and cooking. I have had enough time to write in my journal a few times including a postcard from Vava’u. Captain had a number of English books onboard which pushed me to read at least part of one book because I got so board. If the sun wasn’t so strong, sitting out back and looking out at the endless waves rock us was something out of a dream.

But as far as work goes, I wasn’t given much work to do since I wasn’t experienced at all. But along the way I was given a few tasks with helping the captain setting the correct sail and reeling in the sail. Helping steer while he managed things across the boat. Popping in coordinates for our sail to helping him set direction. I found the hardest and most difficult task was being night watch looking out for squalls and other boats. Which to be honest, horrified me at first at the though. Yea, sleeping was impossible that first night. Sleeping overall was just plain out impossible. Sleeping quarters for me was tight and the rocking made it really difficult to catch zzzs. I had to pad my sides appropriately so I didn’t rock into the walls over and over.

We arrived in Suva, cleared in with authorities in a two day time span and waited for weather to clear up to continue on. Despite the many places I recommended across the Fijian islands, his plans changed limiting us to a number of places before parting ways. Regardless, exploring Fiji via sail was not something I expected to do and was extremely grateful for the opportunity. We sailed to Beta island anchoring in the western bay for two nights. Sailed across the Coral Coast and into the reef for the Mamanucas Islands. Anchored at a small islet for a refreshing swim before a two night anchorage in Malololailai island. Very Resorty but was still nice to stretch out on land and have a decent swim. For our final bit, we motored passing Mana island and over and around Monu and Monuriki Island, the filming location for Tom Hanks Castaway. WILSONIAN!!!!

 

The final touch to our journey together was on Yanuya island. We had failed to buy kava in Suva. So in Malololailai, we bough half a kilo of kava powder for sevesevu before we parted ways. Sevusevu is a gift to a chief of a village in order to be welcomed into the village and surrounding area. When we walked into the village, we provided our kava to the elders, and received our welcome with a blessing and some kava drinking. Had I not been on the boat, I think captain would have sailed by and missed the experience. And the experience, he felt was amazing. In the end, we checked back in with immigration, I proved my onward travel and he checked out to set sail for Vanuatu.

 

Overall, my dream come true voyaging in a new defining way was one of the most incredible highlights of my travels thus far. It was hard for sure. Not so much finding stability standing or using the toilet from the constant motion. Or the rolling around in bed at night to sleep. But sleeping period as taking turns at night to lookout for boats and squats made it really hard to maintenance proper sleep. But once you get used to it, the rewards are endless. We caught a massive Wahoo fish that fed us the entire trip. The sunsets were absolutely beautiful. The boat serves as a kitchen, accommodation, and mode of transport all in one. And lastly, the freedom you have to visit and see whatever you want at your own pace is by far the most rewarding. I am now in Funafuti, Tuvalu, what would have been one of our many stops had his plans not changed. Here enjoying the island on food and at my own pace but just imagining how it would have been via sail. Despite the changes, I will forever be grateful for that first opportunity to travel the open seas so freely. With that being said, that first time will not be my last.