FIJI

PASSAGE REPORT: SAMOA TO WALLIS ISLAND

SV VIVA SHARES PASSAGE REPORT:

SAMOA TO WALLIS ISLAND

SVย VIVA sailed across the Pacific Ocean earlier in 2024, cruised through French Polynesia, and are continuing west to Fiji before Cyclone season begins in November.ย  While they are getting closer to their destination, the journey to their destination most recently includes visiting Samoa and sailing onward to Wallis Island.
Pierre and Marie raise the Samoan courtesy flag.
Beach bungalows are called Fale in Samoa.ย  Fale is the Samoan word for house of any size. Traditionally, a Samoan fale is an oval or circular shape, has a domed, thatched roof held up with wooden poles and has no permanent walls. Roll-down blinds, called pola, surrounded the structure.
Family in Fare on the beach selling coconut products
The Samoan beaches are beautiful.
Marie with local Parish leader
Here SV VIVA shares about their time in Samoa:
Samoa, what a Gem!
Arrived Apia Tue 1 Oct, By 11am we were checked-in!
Samoa, (known until 1997 as Western Samoa), is a country with a population of 207,000 consisting of two main islands Upolu and Savaii.
We spent 6 days driving around on the left side of the road and experiencing Samoaโ€™s rich culture. We crossed to Savaii island (quite the ferry ride) where we spent a night in a beach fale and met cool Australians.ย  Back on Upolu, we experienced a fire dance show, snorkeled with giant clams, swam at the sea trench, hiked at O Le Pupu National park. Enjoyed seeing Samoa preparing for a major upcoming Commonwealth event (CHOGM) (King Charles is coming!)
On Sunday we decided to experience a Samoan church service, and were invited to their parish afternoon celebration. The experience and people we met were memorable: singing, dancing, eating and our first Kava ceremony! We felt like their special guests for the day.
Unique facts we want to remember about Samoa:
-For cruisers, not much anchorage hopping to be done but lots to see and experience on land.
- Communities are clean, well maintained and well decorated.
- Communities are alive with people, children, animals- dogs, pigs, cows.
- People are friendly, look happy, generous and proud of their environment.
- Schools everywhere, mostly primary
- Churches everywhere, primarily catholic but yet several denominations
- Religion plays a big part in their lives
- Witnessed a traditional Funeral mourning ceremony (thanks Douglas for welcoming us!)
- Witnessed People working on houses, roads, fales - painting, fixing, cleaning- not much sitting around waiting for time to pass
- People do lots with not much - painting rocks and coconut mounds, sculpting painted tree trunk, decorating tires, putting up flags
- No appearance of any danger, crime or corruption, no homeless nor begging
- Did not observe a culture of music playing (vs other Polynesian islands)
- Food tasted good but really fattening- lots of fried stuff, chicken, pork, sausage, curries, chow meinโ€ฆ
Next port - Wallis and Futuna 260 nm away.
SV VIVA just sailed 60 hours from Samoa to the remote island of Wallis Island.
Upon their arrival into the lagoon of Wallis Island SVย VIVA shares their passage report from Samoa to Wallis Island:
Weโ€™re glad this passage is almost over, 270 nautical miles from Samoa to Wallis island, we had great wind 18-24 kts for 48 hrs so no motoring! But rough sea, 3-4m swells 9sec period which meant we were pinned down to our seats. Difficult to standup, move or do anythingโ€ฆ basically pulling gโ€™s for 2 days!
One last hurdle before setting the anchor is going through this small pass to get inside Wallis, we timed it right with the tide slack butโ€ฆwe canโ€™t get in!!! There is a very strong squall hitting us right now and we canโ€™t see ahead of us more than 100 yards, so letโ€™s do the safe thing and waitโ€ฆ
Wallis is a very small island and a French protectorateโ€ฆ.weโ€™re already dreaming of baguettes!!ย  Two weeks to go before we haul out and store Viva in Fiji for the cyclone season.
Marie enjoys a warm beverage on their overnight passage.
At the entrance to the lagoon another screen shows the chart view split with a satellite view of the entrance. Entering the lagoon at slack tide is the safest way in. VIva timed their entrance for slack but had no way to hold off the storm. Instead, they just circled slowly for 30 minutes waiting for squall to pass, in front of Wallis pass.
Redundancy in charts and electronics is important on SV VIVA. Shown here is a split screen with Navionics charts and their radar. Ideally the two display the same contours!
After a rather rocky passage, Pierre is happy to be in the remote and calm lagoon.

by EDITOR

SOUTH PACIFIC TROPICAL CYCLONE SEASON OUTLOOK

SOUTH PACIFIC TROPICAL CYCLONE SEASON

NOVEMBER 1-APRIL 30

NEW OUTLOOK RELEASED

Tropical cyclones, like hurricanes, are known for their powerful winds, heavy rains, and potential to cause significant destruction.ย  Tropical cyclones frequently affect the southern Pacific and can pose serious threats to both public health and infrastructure.ย  All vessels are advised to have a plan of action for the cyclone season.

Tropical cyclone risk for the 2024-25 season

According to New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and Metservice, the South Pacific may see either fewer or a normal number of tropical cyclones this season.ย  The cyclone season in the South Pacific starts November 1 and runs until the April 30, with the typical 'peak' of the season being January - March.ย  ย The outlook that has recently been released, "Southwest Pacific Tropical Cyclone Outlook - October 2024" describes a slower start to the Cyclone season, potentially less cyclone risk overall in the eastern region while potentially elevated risk in the western region.ย  According to the NIWA Outlook, "As of early October 2024, sea surface temperatures across the eastern and central equatorial Pacific Ocean are below average and close to La Niรฑa thresholds."ย  Forecasters are observing more La Niรฑa-like characteristics that tend to reduce risk in the east and elevate risk in the west where warmer water may 'stack up' later in the season.ย  As with many weather outlooks of late there continues to be caution that while there may be less risk in the frequency of tropical storms this season, there is still a risk that those that come may intensify more rapidly or simply be very intense.

Number of predicted named tropical cyclones interacting with an island group for the 2024-25 season

For cruisers in French Polynesia South Pacific Posse member Scott on Tartaruga shares:

What is critical to following storms in FP is the location of the MJO. Madden Julien Oscillation. You can research that but when that is over French Poly that is when the highest probability of big storms occur. Per some local Tahiti sailors they almost never have any cyclonic storms outside of MJO events. This last season Fiji announced the MJO forecast and when it would be over FP and boom the storms came. Also note that Fiji is the official metrological organization for these storms. Another important data point is they name their storms very early, mean the wind scale starts at a much lower number....NOAA tracks (the MJO) closely as well. I would educate yourself on how to read the graph. It is a bit strange.

Fiji Meteorological Service Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre Nadi-Tropical Cyclone Centre also just released a forecast on the upcoming tropical Cyclone season.ย  Their predictions are similar.

Total number of TCs forecasted for the RSMC Nadi-TCC AoR.

Stay alert on great weather sites including:

by EDITOR

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