I left French Polynesia from Bora Bora and headed west towards Tonga into unsettled weather. This became one of the more demanding passages of the Pacific stage.

Engine trouble

After two days the main engine developed a fuel-related problem. It could still be run to charge the batteries, but it would not reliably drive Malua ahead. That changed the nature of the passage: sailing was no longer simply the preferred means of propulsion but the only dependable way west.

Across to Tonga

The crossing demanded the self-reliance expected of a long-distance cruising yacht. Weather, sail plan, battery charging and the engine problem all had to be managed while I continued west. The experience also drew on lessons from earlier ocean sailing, including the approach to heavy-weather downwind sailing that I associated with Bernard Moitessier.

Fiji and New Caledonia

From Tonga I continued through Fiji and on towards New Caledonia. Fiji was familiar territory from earlier Pacific cruising, but this time it formed part of the final homeward chain of islands.

By late October Malua was in Noumea. The Mediterranean, Atlantic, Caribbean, United States, Panama and almost all of the Pacific now lay astern. Australia was one passage away. I waited for the weather window, completed clearance formalities, filled the tanks with duty-free diesel and prepared for the final six- or seven-day passage to Coffs Harbour.