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Getting SMASHED in the Pacific! Our Rough Sail to Fiji
July 11, 2026 · 17 min · 139K views · South Pacific Ocean
What this video covers
The Swan 37 *Elixir* departs the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, bound for Fiji on a 1,200-mile passage — described as one of the toughest legs of a circumnavigation.1:33 On board are Max, his girlfriend Rachel (a professional sailor), and Rosie, making her first offshore passage.1:36 Day one delivers beam-reaching conditions at 12–13 knots of wind and 6.5–8 knots of boat speed.2:06 By day three, conditions deteriorate to 25–30 knots with short-period, steep 3-meter swell hitting dead on the beam, knocking the boat on its side and flooding the cockpit repeatedly.3:43 The crew runs three reefs in the main for days.11:52 A wind vane pin shears off and is jury-rigged with cable ties and bolts.9:21 Max experiences seasickness for the first time in 40,000 miles of sailing.5:50 The conditions are reinforced trade winds — prevailing easterlies accelerated by a nearby pressure gradient, spiking from a forecast 15–20 knots to sustained 35 knots with squalls.12:41 A 45-knot lightning squall hits the final night, inflating a cockpit lifejacket.13:25 After roughly a week at sea, *Elixir* enters through the pass into Fiji's main island and motors to the marina for customs.15:53 Forecasts that showed a comfortable beam-reaching window proved unreliable when the wind shifted and reinforced.12:06
Boats in this video
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