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Why Sailors Avoid Fiji During Cyclone Season | Life on a Boat in Fiji
22 April 2026 · 22 min · 21K views · Fiji
What this video covers
Erica and Warren, aboard their catamaran in Fiji, are anchored in a bay when a squall hits with no warning — flat calm to 40-plus knots in under five minutes.▶ 8:40 A solar panel blows off the bimini within the first 90 seconds.▶ 9:21 That squall is a precursor to a Category 2 cyclone that has formed roughly 300–400 kilometers south of Fiji's main island, Viti Levu; though not in the direct path, they are sitting in the storm's outer bands, taking repeated gusts, heavy rain, and lightning close enough to rattle the hull.▶ 13:36 They store electronics in the oven as a Faraday cage against a potential electromagnetic pulse.▶ 14:21 The anchor begins dragging slowly toward shore in gusts exceeding 50 knots, with the wind shifting from the forecast northerly to a westerly — pushing them toward the beach instead of away from it.▶ 16:17 In the middle of the blow, they motor to a new position closer to the center of the bay, paying out nearly 200 feet of chain at 40-foot depth.▶ 18:00 A switch panel also fails during the maneuver.▶ 19:56 The repositioned anchor holds.▶ 21:06 A camera mounted on the stern proved useful for monitoring the boat's heading relative to the anchor during the chaotic re-anchoring. When a forecast wind direction is wrong and you're backed against shore, dragging slowly in 50 knots is worse than moving the boat mid-blow.
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