The Kickback
A new rig, a week without steering, and twenty bull sharks with nobody on the end of the poles.
Four boats on their hooks in the Yasawas, the water doing that thing it does out here.
Vuda Marina was the end of two thousand miles of sailing alone with no autopilot. Before this trip it was one of the things I worried about most, the long nights at the helm with nobody to hand it to, and now it is simply something we have done. I got good at it. I would be happy never to have to get good at it again.
The plan for Fiji was to catch up with friends, explore a few islands and, mostly, rest. It did not go exactly to plan, nothing out here does, but by the end most of the pieces had turned up, along with a couple of wild highlights and a low point I could have done without.
