PATREON EARLY ACCESS | Living Aboard During Cyclone Season in Fiji | Why No One Sails Here

Welcome back to another episode of WE|Sail. EPISODE 337

Seven years.

Over 30,000 nautical miles.

We've sailed to some incredible places, and Fiji is definitely one of them. Our days have a rhythm: sail, anchor, explore, maintain the boat, edit. The flow is pretty much the same. But somehow, every single day out here is different. This week started peacefully—sailing north through Fiji's Yasawa Islands, fishing, watching thousands of flying foxes fill the sky at sunset. Then the weather turned.

A cyclone had formed about 300 kilometers south of Fiji's main island, Viti Levu. (AND THIS ISN'T THE ONE WE JUST WENT THROUGH... YUP) WE'VE SAT THROUGH A COUPLE NOW!)

***this episode precedes the most recent one.

We weren't in its direct path, but we were experiencing the outer bands—heavy rain and wind feeding the storm south of us. The forecast had been tracking it for days, and we positioned ourselves in a protected bay, anchored for the predicted wind direction. Except we got it wrong. The wind wasn't coming from the North like predicted—it was hitting us from the west. And that put us dangerously close to shore with not enough room if our anchor dragged. For hours, the wind kept building instead of calming. The longer we stayed, the more uncomfortable we felt. We had to make the call: pull anchor and reposition in the middle of heavy weather. This episode shows both sides of cruising during cyclone season—the peaceful rhythm and the intense moments when the forecast doesn't cooperate and you have to adapt fast. This is why we're one of the few boats still out here right now. You have to be prepared, stay alert, and trust your instincts even when the models say something different. After seven years of this life, we've learned to expect the unexpected. The rhythm stays the same, but the days never do.

PATREON EARLY ACCESS | Living Aboard During Cyclone Season in Fiji | Why No One Sails Here (YouTube)