Our consultations with our sponsor Meteo Consult have revealed that the natural phenomenon La Niña is probably to blame for this strange reversal of the normal currents (which flow towards Australia). We were concerned about this as early as the 30th of March, as evidenced by an article in our archive. Meteo Consult has indicated that the situation is very unlikely to improve over the coming weeks. There's no way Ralph can row in these conditions, and even if he did manage it in dribs and drabs, he'd still end up off the coast of Australia much later on, in the middle of the hurricane season, which could be potentially lethal.

Following consultation with the base camp in Holland Ralph has set course for the Fiji islands. His wife Winnie and daughter Isis are already packing their bags, as they'll naturally be welcoming Ralph on Fiji. The idea is that they'll spend a short holiday there first before returning to Holland.

Things are suddenly moving very fast now, as Ralph's got some pretty heavy weather ahead of him, though the wind in his back means it's not inconceivable that he might arrive in the general area of Fiji around Monday. The map below shows the mooring options we've discussed with him up to now.

This means of course that the base camp is currently a hive of activity. Incipit Expedition Management in particular are very busy ringing round half the world to establish contact with various people, such as the local Dutch consul, the coast guard, the marinas on Fiji and the towboat services.

Naturally we'll be keeping you informed of the latest developments via this website.

(The small picture was found on the website of the NOAA: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.)