August 19-Sept 2 Back in Fiji and Goodbye, Fiji!

On our flight back to Fiji we formed a bond with our Air Pacific flight attendant, Sereana. When we told her that our sailboat was berthed at Port Denarau, she mentioned her partner is Crew on a yacht named SuRi that is also berthed there. This is the mega-yacht that Frank and I had observed partying it up in Whangaroa, NZ during our holiday stint up there, the one which the locals were speculating belonged to Tom Cruise and Katy Holmes. We received confirmation from Sereana that this is not so but that if we wished to see it she would arrange an invite for us. We wished. I gave her our card and our Fiji cell # when we left the plane.
We arrived in the dark at 5:30 AM, to a happily floating and well cared for Destiny. We hauled our bags across the dirt parking lot, over the soot covered walkways and down the dock, carefully wiping off all the grunge as we lifted them into the cockpit. We were systematically stowing everything as the sun slowly began its morning wake up yawn and stretch, casting beautiful mango, strawberry and lemon colored streaks across the sky from the horizon. It was going to be a beautiful day. We stopped unpacking long enough to enjoy the sunrise over a pot of coffee and then got back to work. Before long we were on the phone to marine vendors, trying to wrap up our business with them so that we could get a move on. All the while friends stopped by to welcome us back to Fiji. It felt good to be home. Keith and Christine from s/v Achates also stopped by for a quick "hello" on their way to deliver their Aussie friend Gwyn to the airport, giving us a chance to finally thank them in person for bringing our new generator pump up with them when they sailed from NZ. The docks began bristling back to life and we joined right in the gathering momentum as life at the port came to full swing. As is usually the case, some of our work got done while we were gone, but others figured since we would be away for a while they had plenty of time to get to Destiny's needs, meaning they had not got to Destiny's needs yet. So instead of leaving as planned on Friday, we stayed at the marina until Tuesday.
We had a good time at Denarau. We shopped and dined with Keith and Christine a couple of times, took some nice long walks over to the various resorts. We got the invite from Sereana to visit SuRi, whose name is derived from the first two letters of the owner's first names. They are Americans from Seattle who had the boat refitted in NZ just recently. It looked a lot nicer and much larger than it had when we saw it in December. It is quite impressive and has not only a very large crew who see to all the comforts of home, but a huge garage full of big boy toys complete with a helicopter, a hovercraft, a beautiful classic wood boat similar to an original Chris Craft, and many other very nice touches. We felt so small being just a few slips down in the same marina. Destiny seemed dwarfed by the many large yachts around her, reminding us that there is some big money out on the water and lots of it comes to Fiji.
On Tuesday, the 24th, we finally got away to Musket Cove intending to kick back for a few days before departing for Vanuatu. Frank had wanted to get going by Friday; I was hoping we could wait until Monday because I just did not want to leave Fiji. I love it here, and for some reason she and her people have nestled into a very special corner of my heart. Musket Cove was quiet and felt a little empty in spite of the fact that several boats remained in the anchorage. Everyone we know, except for Achates had either departed for Vanuatu weeks ago or was cruising elsewhere.
We fell back into our routine of long hikes in the early mornings (with Keith and Christine), followed by a trip to the bakery, then back on board to take care of whatever chores we had on our to-do list for that day. Then after lunch we would either read books by the pool or have a swim, before meeting our friends up at the island bar and have dinner. A couple of times we deviated from routine to play a game of "Qwirkle", otherwise we just took it easy and watched the weather for our "departure window". We had just about decided to leave on Friday when we received a message from Ian and Julia on Moasi, asking us to please wait for them. They were trying to get to Musket Cove in time to sail the passage to Vanuatu along with us. We agreed. They arrived on Sat. and because they'd never been to this resort we stayed until Tuesday to give them a chance to have some fun with us all. I was thrilled to have them as a buddy boat for the passage and doubly thrilled to get to spend a little more time with Keith and Christine at Musket Cove.
Tuesday, we got to have our final hike with our friends and then sailed over to Lautoka in the late afternoon. On Wed, we went into town to handle final provisioning and to clear Customs and Immigration, and then snuck around the corner to Saweni Bay to spend the night (illegally). Thursday morning, we weighed anchor at 6:30 AM and headed west. Destination: Tanna, Vanuatu.

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July 19 – 22nd – Exciting Port Denarau, Fiji

We pulled into the marina of the smallest, busiest port in all of Fiji.  This is where tourists who have just landed at Nadi International Airport pour out of the buses and taxis to board the water shuttles that will take them to their island vacation in paradise at one of Fiji's thousands of incredibly beautiful resorts.  It is also where the shuttles return those sunburned yet very well vacationed tourists, laden with Fiji's finest "handicrafts", Bula Shirts, dresses and packets of dried Kava to the depot where they will be whisked off to the airport for their flight back to civilization and the stresses of every day living.  Since our visit to Fiji last year, Port Denarau has grown ten-fold.  The waterfront is now completely built out with restaurants, tour operators' headquarters, souvenir shops, clothing stores, ice cream shops, grocery stores, jewelry stores, and so on.  It is a bustling hub for those who want to eat good food, shop until they drop and even hit the pharmacy on the way in or out.  We loved the energy of Port Denarau.

Here also are yachts of every description and size; 20 ft all the way up to 200 ft in length.  They are anchored in the bay, Med Moored stern-to at the older dock and berthed at the newest pier.  Destiny will be left on the new dock where she will (hopefully) safely spend the next 30 or so days.  She is flanked by two HUGE motor yachts.  We feel very small, yet quite pleased with this arrangement.  We are flying home to the US on the 22^nd.  When we arrive in Los Angeles, we will each board another flight to separate destinations for a couple of weeks: I to Houston to see my daughter's new house, visit with my parents, friends and to hopefully see my sis and her family in the Dallas area; Frank will fly to Virginia to visit his mom, sis and my brother and all of their offspring.  He will then jet to Colombia, Missouri to attend the wedding celebration of his very dear friend, Lee Baumann.  We could not both do it all; therefore we had to make choices to maximize the visit home.  Besides, this will be good for us both to have a little space from one another after living within a 50-foot floating condo.

After getting hooked up and secured in our berth, we made reservations with the canvas maker to book in some repairs, order "clears" for the cockpit, and paid a visit to Baobab Marine to see about getting some pumps and an alternator reconditioned.  Then we went over to the Hard Rock Café to meet Jock and Leanne Tucker ("Just In Time"), and their daughter Kelly who is here for a nice long visit.  After a welcome beer at the HRC, we grabbed a quick pizza to fortify us for shopping because the girls had plans! Apparently the boys did as well, and that was to move from bar to bar in an effort to absorb the full flavor of Denarau's hospitality. We suspect it was to avoid being observed by us as we moved from store to store, because we implored them not to just sit and drink all day. Just like kids worrying over getting their hands caught in the cookie jar, they practiced stealthy maneuvers.  We girls loaded our bags with dresses, swimsuits ("togs" in Kiwi), t-shirts and gifts. Then we located the men at Lulu's Bar and Café where we rested for a bit before adjourning to clean up and meet back at the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner.

The Tuckers left the next day to take Kelly away for her Fiji vacation and we bid them farewell before getting into a cab for Nadi town where we had some business to take care of before leaving the country.  We will not likely see Jock and Leanne and most of our cruising friends again until Vanuatu in mid-Sept.  The remainder of our time in Denarau was utilized preparing for our trip home and getting everything settled aboard Destiny before leaving her for 4 weeks.

The 22^nd arrived all too quickly, and before we knew it we were boarding our Air Pacific flight for LAX. It is a nice 11-hour overnighter, and crossing the International Dateline we will gain a day, putting us into LA at 1:30 in the afternoon on July 22^nd. 

July 5 – 19, 2010 - Musket Cove, our favorite Home Away From Home in the South Pacific!

It did not take us long to fall right back into step at Musket cove.
There were so many activities for us to participate in that we just
jumped right in and started having fun. Each morning we took a long
hike over the hills of the little island. I got into Aqua Aerobics in
the mornings after our hikes, and playing cards with the girls several
afternoons per week at the café. I learned to play Baja Rummy and
Shanghai.

Frank spent a lot of time with the boys mulling over boat repairs and
leaks. This is a very social activity for them. They diagnose, then
have a few beers. Later on or the next day they start on the actual
work and then have a few beers. Then they would plan the next repair
and have a few beers. Because Frank was enjoying his repair time so
much I didn't feel terribly guilty about spending so much time with
the girls exercising and playing cards.

The World Cup (soccer) was being televised at 6:30 AM at the resort,
so Frank would awake early on those days to join Paul and Gloria
("Scallywag"), and the rest of the soccer fans to watch the matches.
Not having grown up with soccer, hence knowing nothing of the game, I
took a pass. However, I have become a fast and furious All Blacks
fan. The Tri-Nations rugby matches were going on during our stay and
so on the evenings of those events I joined the mass of humanity that
crammed into the media room at the resort to watch. Fortunately I had
Leanne and Gloria to explain rules and plays to me during the games.
It was exciting stuff indeed.

Most of our cruiser friends came and went on a daily basis to visit
other islands and would return with the timing of sporting event
telecasts. Then there were the steady-eddies among our friends who
stayed around for general R & R like us. We enjoyed a considerable
number of dinners, games and walks with "Bold Spirit" and "Mokisha",
and met lots and lots of new friends. We partied away most nights at
the Island Bar BBQ, sharing potluck dishes with other cruisers.
Sometimes our group was so large we took over the largest tables and
occasionally several tables. We had dinner and played games on each
others' yachts and watched our $2 "first run" movies that we'd
purchased in the video store at SavuSavu. This was the most social
time we have had since leaving the USA in 2008. Neither of us wanted
it to end. But as times passed, so did friends. "Scallywag", "Just In
Time", "Avant Garde", "Mahurangi" all had visitors and so they set off
island hopping with them.

On the 19th, we hugged and cried a lot as we prepared to leave for
Port Denarau. We knew that we will not see some of our friends again,
or that if we do it will be a long time until then. Some were
planning to sail back home to the US, some back to NZ and others to
who knows where. Once again, we left a piece of our hearts behind.

July 1 – 4, Lautoka – Ashes Ashes Everywhere & Happy Independence Day!

We enjoyed a beautiful day of sailing over to Lautoka, with the barrier reef to starboard and the mainland to port – it was another of those days we wished we had professional video equipment to capture the stunning beauty of this country that we feel is touched by God's own hand.  Then all too soon we had traveled 8 hours and were entering the filthy port of Lautoka.  The original plan was to anchor at the small island just across the channel, but prevailing winds made that a no-go.  We dropped the hook just off the wharf and had a restful night in spite of the putrid smell of something burning.

Arising the next day, Frank was about to plant himself in the cockpit to enjoy his morning java, when he popped right back down, breathlessly telling me not to bother going up – the entire boat was covered in black ash, ¼ inch thick.  He tiptoed his way to the anchor washdown hose and spent the next hour cleaning Destiny's decks, cockpit, rails and dinghy.  What a mess!  As my vision sharpened I noted that a fine film of ash had filtered down through the screens of our cabin's hatches, covering our room in back dust.  I stripped the bed, cleaned up the interior, and then we finally sat down to enjoy our coffee.  Afterward we went into the Customs office to "clear in".  That done, we took a cab into town and provisioned up.  We then walked over to the salon in which he and Glen had gotten their $5 haircuts last year.  When we entered the salon, the same gal who'd cut his hair previously jumped up offered him a brilliant smile and said, "It has been a long time! Where is your friend?"  Amazing that after an entire year she had remembered Frank and Glen – of course those two are hard to forget. After we finished our business in town, we returned to the boat to find her beginning to turn black again – this we found is soot from the sugarcane factory located at the wharf area.  We decided to get the heck out of Lautoka and find a better anchorage for the night, because it was too late to make it over to Musket Cove now. 

We anchored at Saweni Bay, and decided to have dinner and a movie.  I sent Frank topside to cook some beautiful lamb racks on the grill as I prepared the rest.  He kept swatting at himself, telling me that we had better make sure we have all the screens on because he is getting covered in bugs out there.  Great! The next morning we discovered what all the flying things were that had been attacking Frank.  They were huge bits of burnt sugarcane and powdered ash residue!  We had anchored downwind of the burning fields (they burn the fields after harvest), and Destiny was absolutely covered in the disgusting filth.  This time, the ash had permeated the entire boat, seeping down through the mast, the dorads (vents), the screens, etc.  It was in all of our electronic gear as well.  We just cleared a path to the cockpit and to the bow, enough to get the anchor up and get the heck out of there before it got even worse.  Some of it blew off the boat while in transit, but the inside was just awful.  It took me days to wash everything.

So, we got over that trauma and arrived at a very bustling and full Musket Cove Resort and Marina.  We dropped the hook just beside Avant Garde and Scallywag.  Many of our other friends were there including Mokisha, Bold Spirit, Nomad and Mahurangi.  We were just in time to go to shore for cocktail hour and dinner.  It felt like home.

The next day was our American 4^th of July, so Musket Cove pulled out all the stops!  We enjoyed hamburgers, hotdogs, potato salad, baked beans and apple pie.  There were fireworks on the beach and the music was All-American.  We got a little homesick enjoying this wonderful celebration with our American, Kiwi, German, French, Australian and Fijian friends. 

June 29 – July 1 – Voli Voli Bay and Beach Resort

We left Makongai, shot over to the top of Viti Levu and into Voli Voli
by early afternoon. The day was beautiful and the trip was so
pleasant we were once again enchanted with the beauty of Fiji's
beaches and coastline. Voli Voli Beach Resort stands right on the
point, high atop the bluff, and boasts an incredibly magnificent
panorama. "Just In Time" and "IQ" had also made the trip. Just after
we set the anchor the boys all went to shore for a "re-con" and to
make reservations for dinner. They returned some time later very
cheerful and full of information about the resort. We got dressed for
dinner and arrived on shore in time to share the sunset with resort
guests, and yes (!!!), we saw the Green Flash. It was quite
impressive this time.

The resort beach is very tranquil, facing a crystal clear bay that is
protected on the windward side by mangroves. A short walk up the hill
took us to the heartbeat of the resort. Here we found the restaurant/
bar/pool/activities center. And the best part is: they love and
welcome yachties. A Kiwi family owns and runs the place. It is a
multi-tiered resort and dive center that offers accommodations from
backpacker-level to upscale bungalows, and because the place is fairly
new and is still in the early stages, they are about mid-way to
completing the swim-up pool bar and sports bar. It did not take us
long to get comfy in our new surroundings. We enjoyed a very good
dinner and then spent time getting to know the owners who had stopped
by for a chat. Frank arranged to drop off our leaking dive tank the
next morning, for servicing on our way back out to the boat.

We invited Jock, Leanne, Bill and Val over for brunch the next day,
and then after spending a good bit of our morning eating, drinking
coffee and visiting we went to the resort to spend the rest of the day
at the pool. Yes, this is what we retired for – to laze around the
pool with good friends, although we don't actually get to do as much
of that as most people think. We stayed around to watch another
sunset with the guests and were treated to another brilliant Green
Flash. Wow!!!!! Frank went to the dive center to pick up our tank,
which they were able to repair for us, and when he asked what we owe
for the work they refused to take any payment. They were just happy
to help us out. What wonderful PR! They know we will either be back
or will send others to this wonderful place. I kept thinking how much
I would love to bring Jennifer and Trace here. Maybe someday.

Next morning we grabbed a cab into the little village of Raki Raki,
which was about a 30-minute ride inland. Our driver excitedly
informed us that this is the last day the village will be a village
because tomorrow it will become an official town. There would be
parades and celebrations all through the new town to mark this
historic and monumental event. We noticed a flurry of activity all
around as we neared the main street. Raki Raki is shockingly larger
than SavuSavu. It had the familiar dusty, dry and tired look of many
other villages yet the fresh market was incredibly large and
overflowing with a good variety of fruits, vegetables and spices. We
walked around a bit, browsed the shops and then settled on a place for
lunch. It was the only restaurant that appeared to be the least
likely candidate for the spread of some kind of God-knows-what
disease. It was an Indian restaurant. We have learned to be wary of
ordering beef, pork or lamb because what we often get is gristle and
fat. We also have learned that ordering fish at a place that is not
near the water may be risky as well, so I settled on chicken curry.
When ordering this dish it is often prudent to order boneless chicken.
So I did. The waiter looked at me oddly, so I asked him, "does your
chicken curry have bones?" He answered, "Oh, yes! We like the bones!
They are nice to eat – very crunchy!" Now I understood why unless the
menu states "boneless chicken" you will no doubt get your chicken
hacked up bones and all in the dish. Live and learn.

So we ended our day back at the resort for a final short visit, then
back to the boat for an early (boneless) dinner. We bid farewell to
our friends and promised to meet up again down the way. Frank and I
were heading to Lautoka while the others were sailing up into the
Yasawas. We hit the sack early because we had a long day of sailing
ahead of us meaning anchor up at 6 AM.

June 24 – 28, 2010 Makongai Island (Former Leper Colony), Fiji

We made another early departure to sail west to an island called Makongai.  We were cruising with "Just in Time", Scallywag" and "Northern Winds".  Everyone had fishing lines in the water and we followed suit.  The going was rough for the first hour or so until we were about ½ mile out of the pass. Just about that time I looked back to check our line as a large Mahi Mahi took flight.  We had hooked a beauty! Frank was just getting up to out of the cockpit to bring the big fish in when all of a sudden it was over – the fish and our rig were gone.  It happened so quickly, we were stunned. When the surprise wore off the realization that we just threw more big money into the sea hit us.  This fishing is costing us a small fortune.  Not much could be done about that.  So we settled in for the 8-hour sail, on a port tack. About 30 minutes afterward I told Frank that I smelled strong raw diesel fumes wafting up the companionway. We went below to check the locker that houses the fuel fill hose, and sure enough the bottom of the locker was sloshing with fuel.  Once again I cursed Island Packet for not only their poor design and installation of the fuel hoses but also for putting our refrigerator and freezer compressors in the bottom of the locker that was now swimming in diesel. I gathered old towels and handed Frank a bucket.  Without going into too much detail, the vent hose had been breached letting fuel literally flow out of the line and pour into the locker each time the boat heeled to starboard.  Frank spent the better part of the passage trying to stay the leak.  He was successful, but by the end of it all we both were suffering extreme nausea and terrible headaches from the dense fumes. Arriving at our destination we were still cleaning up when Jock dinghyed over to bring us a large tuna steak from their catch.  We thank him profusely and I quickly whipped out a large batch of Poisson Cru. By the time it was ready to eat, I could not.  I was so sick from the fumes I nibbled on a couple of crackers and watched Frank gobble down a large bowl-full. The next morning we were to go into shore to present our sevu sevu, but I got hit with a serious bout of stomach cramps and could not leave the boat, so Frank joined the others for a trip into shore. He returned late afternoon with a full report of the adventure.  Makongai Island is a former Leper colony. It is now a fishery, turtle preserve and giant clam farm.  The current inhabitants of the local village are all paid employees of the Fijian government.  The head guy gave our little group a tour of the now abandoned hospital and leper colony facilities.  They had some very impressive amenities, which I suppose were incentives for getting workers to come live at the place.  By 1965 leprosy was no longer an issue (cured maybe???), and the entire place was abandoned until 1982 when the Fijian government decided to install a clam farm and to establish a protected environment for the sea turtles.  Because it is protected the snorkeling is unbelievable – the diving even better.  The soft corals just explode with colors we've never seen anywhere else.  Even the clams are incredibly beautiful and absolutely huge.  One was at least as large as our dining table.  Because the corals are so healthy here great numbers of fish are happily swimming about, completely non-threatened by our presence. And the variety and colors of the fish are mind-boggling.  We could have stayed for weeks and not have dived the same site twice.  Had we not set ourselves a schedule to fly home we probably would have remained there for at least that long. This is certainly a stop worth making again – at least for those returning to Fiji.

June 17-23rd; Back to SavuSavu for a great week!

Although the snorkeling was fantastic at Albert Cove we were getting itchy to move along and start heading east, and besides we were out of fresh rations.  Weather reports did not look promising for the next few days, yet if we didn't go now then we would be socked in.  By the time we had our coffee, we figured we'd rather face a possible rough ride for 5 hours than just sit doing nothing in a soggy bay.  "IQ", "Scallywag" and "Just in Time" had all reached the same decision so off we went in a little caravan. Surprisingly, the sailing was very good.  We made fast tracks to the leeward side of Vanua Levu where the wind dropped completely leaving the waters flat calm for the last hour of the trip back into Viani Bay. Frank and I just spent one night at Viani opting to shoot straight to SavuSavu early in the morning.  "Ivory Quays" joined us.  This leg was surely the rougher one.  We had winds of up to 35 knots on the beam and 3-meter seas astern, making it a fast ride.  Happily we arrived in SavuSavu just at dusk. Our friends, Ian and Julia ("Moasi") had arrived from New Zealand, via Tonga so we made the best of our time with them while we could.  Many of our Kiwi friends were also in the anchorage making it a very festive week. Julia told me about a lady named Una, who does the best massages she has ever had, so of course I booked an hour for the next morning.  It was pretty darn good – and even better when Una charged me $30 (Fijian).  I scheduled another for the next day.   During my second massage, Una told me about her 1-½ hour body treatment for rejuvenating the sun abused skin cells, using lots of fresh fruits and veggies.  I was intrigued, so of course I booked one for the following Monday.  I have to describe it because it was so amazing.  She met me at her door with a large bag full of goodies fresh from the market.  As I disrobed behind the curtain I heard her shredding, crushing and grating cucumbers, pineapples, watermelon, ginger – it smelled heavenly! She started out with a sugar/ginger/coconut scrub.  After that she smeared me with crushed pineapple and cucumber.  She placed cucumbers on my eyes and then gave me a watermelon/cucumber facial.  Then she wrapped me up tightly while I fermented into a fruit cocktail.  After she rinsed all of that off, she gave me a honey/ginger/lime "polish."  Oh my!  I felt like a gooey dessert.  When I prepared to pay her she told me the cost was $35.  I told her NO WAY.  I paid her $60 and told her I would not consider giving her less.  The poor woman nearly cried!  I can't begin to imagine what this would have me in a spa.  So of course half the anchorage began booking treatments with dear Una.  She probably made her annual income in the few short weeks that is high season for cruisers in SavuSavu. We don't know where the time goes, but Frank and I spent most of the rest of ours getting on the internet making travel reservations to fly home in July.  One of his friends from the States is getting married in St. Louis and my daughter has just purchased her first home giving us at least two good reasons to go back for a visit.  So now that we have decided to fly home we have a lot of planning to do.  We spent a considerable amount of time doing that, shopping for food provisions and other necessities and getting together with cruising friends.  All too soon, a week had gone by.  We said good-by to Julia and Ian and several others, and in the 23rd departed for Makongai Island.

June 13-16, 2010; Return to Albert Cove and a 50th Birthday Party

We spent 3 days back in Albert Cove, two of them rained like the devil meant business. Our second night was spent on "Scallywag", celebrating Gloria's 50th birthday. What a party! The usual suspects were in attendance: "Northern Winds", Just in Time", "Destiny", "Ivory Quays". Paul turned up his i-Tunes, cleared away the table in "Scallywag's large cockpit and we danced and sang like teenagers until 2:30 in the morning.
The next day apparently no one was moving very fast, including Frank. He pulled out the James Patterson book he was reading and settled in for the day. I hitched a ride out to the reef with Kim and Bob ("NW") for a snorkel. This was by far one of my top 10. We couldn't believe how healthy the coral is and how brilliant the colors. There were lots of Christmas tree worms of a variety of colors none of us had seen before, nudibranchts (SP?), huge formations of brain and star coral and a vast variety of colorful fish. Kim and I could have gone nearly all day we were enjoying ourselves so much, but then after a while we noticed that Bob had gone back to the dinghy and was fast asleep so we called it a day. We wished that we'd had good enough weather to dive the outer reef but it was not to be. On the 16th, all but "Northern Winds" left for Viani Bay. The sail over was absolutely perfect. We arrived in time to set anchor and enjoy a quiet evening on board.

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June 8 - 12 -Naqelelevu; Aftermath of a Cyclone, Lobsters, Coconut Crabs and Good Times - Part 2

We all gathered in our dinghies over by the rocky spit of coral reef, equipped with snorkel gear, cameras and spears.

We were armed for battle and ready to fetch some lobsters. The three boys, James, Bill and took us over to an area that looked like lava rock formations. We soon found that they did not need our help in the least - they got down to serious business diving under rocks and craggy coral formations with long spears, working like mad to get into the smallest crevices to hunt the elusive crustaceans and they knew their territory well. Soon they had speared 3, and then were ready to move along to the next area. We all walked along behind them pulling our dinghies and basically frolicking like children watching in awe as the boys continued to snare one lobster after another. By noon they had gathered 7. We continued to snorkel about and try to offer some assistance although everyone knew that they needed no help from us. We managed to see some beautiful marine life in the process, including several beautiful giant clams. At one point, Paul on "Scallywag" asked the boys if they ate the clams and how they prepared them. Their response was that they are lovely, just raw and so they gave us an example. Paul took his dive knife and cut one loose from a rocky outcropping. They pried the large clam's "jaws" open and sliced the flesh out of the shell, taking care to identify the white meaty portion that is edible. We each had a taste and agreed it is delicious! Then James explained to us that we must replace the mussel of the clam and return the shell to its home so that it will regenerate. They are very mindful of protecting this environment and respecting the natural order of things. By just past mid-day, we had a total of 9 lobsters of varying sizes. We took the boys back to their home and agreed to all meet back on the beach at 4 PM for a lobster and crab feast.

I prepared Cajun dirty rice, and we packed up our plates and drinks. Then we made a care package for the three boys, including large bags of sugar, flour, rice, t-shirts, caps, old shoes and some batteries. The other cruisers did the same. They boys impressed us by building a fire on the beach and rigging three thick tree branches to support a large cooking pot. They had already prepared the coconut crabs, but we needed to cook the lobsters. We managed to get three in the pot at a time, but then the last three were so large that they had to be cooked individually. We had so much food that even between the 13 of us, we could not finish 2 of the lobsters. After dinner we stargazed and visited with the boys, and then reluctantly said goodnight and set off for our respective yachts.

The next morning, part of the group went for a snorkel of a sunken Japanese fishing boat out on the outer reef. The current is very strong and can be dangerous, therefore, Frank and I opted out, spending the day just swimming in the lagoon and taking it easy.
Our final day there, we met again at the beach to hike to the lake in the middle of the little island for a swim with the turtles. One of the conservation efforts this community makes is rescuing sea turtles when they are hatchlings, and transplanting them into the lake so that they can grow large enough to be released back into the wild. We were so excited! Regrettably, the plan got aborted after we trudged our way through the fallen trees and managed to reach the lake. The tide was out causing the lake to recede so far that we would have had to wade in mud up to our thighs for several hundred feet in order to get to the water. A few of our men gave it a go and after getting shoes and other items sucked off in the mud they declared it unsafe for us to venture further. We turned back and opted for a snorkel in a nearby lagoon. The snorkeling was great fun. Afterward we walked back over to the "village" area and were met with 2 surprises.

The boys had brought back one of the juvenile turtles for us to see. He was beautiful. We got to touch him and watch him walk (scoot) along the beach and them swim around in a sheltered area of the shallows. I got a picture of Frank holding him up. He was quite heavy, measuring about 3 ½ feet in diameter. The second surprise was a lovo feast the boys had prepared for us. A lovo is an earth oven, prepared much like a luau, cooked in the ground and covered by palm and banana leaves for several hours. They had cooked roasted 7 of their chickens for us. They were absolutely some of the most succulent and delicious chickens we have ever eaten.
To end our visit to this charming island, we brought the three boys out into the anchorage - each of us taking a turn bringing them onto our boats and visiting with them for a little while, sending them along to the next yacht with a bag full of goodies and necessities. They were thrilled to get a chance to see how we live and to tour our boats. When we said goodbye to them we all had tears in our eyes. They told us that they have never before had 5 yachts in their bay at one time. In fact, last year they only saw 2 the entire season. I felt a stab of anxiety leaving them and pray that they will succeed in their efforts to rebuild their little home.
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June 8 - 12 -Naqelelevu; Aftermath of a Cyclone, Lobsters, Coconut Crabs and Good Times - Part 1

Anchors up at 6:00 AM, we started out for Naqelelevu (pronounced, Nahng-eh-leh-lehvoo). It is a little known ring of coral, 11 miles across with a tiny little island along the eastern most side of the ring. We had a long trip ahead of us, expecting to arrive in late afternoon, and of course the winds were right on the nose, but the skies were clear and we knew it would be a lovely day to negotiate in and around reef systems. All five of the yachts in our little group made the trip, and most everyone was up for a day of fishing en route.

Arriving at the reef pass we had a feeling of déjà vu. It reminded us very much of the Tuomotus, and in fact was just as lovely if not better.

Once inside the reef the waters were crystal clear aquamarine and dotted with tall coral heads. We chose the deepest passage and made the 1+ hour trek across the lagoon to the anchorage in front of the little island, setting the hook just after 3 PM. Wow! Eye candy. We could not get enough of just sitting and looking at the sandy beach, the swaying palms and the sparkling clear water.

I grabbed the binoculars and saw that there seemed to be some structures on land indicating a village of sorts, however closer inspection revealed a sad state of topsy turvy-ness to the structures. We knew this area had been hard hit in the cyclone. In the meantime, Gloria on the cat, "Scallywag" called us all to inform us that they had caught a huge mahi mahi which they wanted to share if we wanted to pop over with a small container to place it in. We had a delicious dinner of seared mahi mahi and then hit the sack. We were pooped.
The next morning we gathered on shore with bundles of kava, ready to meet the inhabitants of the island. We were in for a big surprise. There were only 3 young men - boys really - who live here at present. The story they told us was quite sad and tragic. Their family owns the atoll, and at the time of the cyclone they had a small village for the 21 inhabitants. When the storm hit, the island was submerged, they had no cave in which to hide, so they all sought shelter in the largest and strongest building. That building and all of the others were swept away. In fact everything they owned was destroyed, but fortunately no lives were lost. One of their three boats made it through the storm. They all fled to the island of Taveuni to live with extended family, but for 8 young men who are charged with remaining on Naqelelevu to guard the interest and to try to rebuild. The 8 boys rotate every few months. The 3 who are here now will remain until August. The youngest is 16 and the oldest is 22. They are all very well spoken and educated and were so excited to see us all. We could see that they had some small lean-tos and not much of anything else. We asked them if they had food and clothing, and how on earth they were getting by. They smiled and said, we eat coconut crabs and lobster and sometimes one of our chickens. God Bless them! They took us on a walking tour of the island, showing us the nesting places of some red-footed boobies and other sea birds, then they took 4 of our 10-person group who had worn decent walking shoes (not us) hunting for coconut crabs. The rest of us returned to the anchorage with the promise to meet them in the shallows the next morning at 9:00 to go lobstering.
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June 4 - 7, 2010 - Albert Cove, Rabi, Fiji

I awoke to Frank dancing around telling me Happy Birthday! I was thinking, "is it my birthday already?" He gave me a sweet card and a beaded necklace as we had our breakfast and then we along with "Northern Winds" left for Albert cove. We had a wonderful 4-hour sail over to the island of Rabi and when we arrived at Albert Cove, Bill from "IQ" came out in his dinghy to lead us through the reef pass. After we got anchored, Frank and Bill went to shore to meet the local family and to ask permission for us to have a BBQ on their beach that night, then went around to the other boats to tell them we were having a potluck on the beach for my birthday. The group was "Scallywag", "Just In Time", "Ivory Quays" and "Northern Winds".
We went into the beach a little early to visit the local family and to take them some kava. This precious family immediately touched our hearts! There were two men, a woman and a young boy. Their smiles were as wide as the Grand Canyon. They spoke little English but were able to communicate with us quite well. They are originally from Tuvalu, another S. Pacific Island Country that is "sinking", but were relocated to Fiji when it was no longer safe to stay in their home village. They are very attractive people, dark-skinned and with lovely silky hair. They immediately invited us into their home, which is little more than a thatched roof covering an area of palm frond pallets on the floor used for sitting and sleeping, and an outdoor area of dirt that has been cleared and covered with woven palm mats. She was busily weaving baskets and filling them with limes for each of us. The men wanted to prepare kava for our guys. They told us about surviving the cyclone of this past season. They had run to a cave and hidden while the storms ravaged the island. The high winds and flooding destroyed literally everything they had; all of their crops including the kava and indigenous fruit trees such as bananas, pineapple bushes and papaya (paw-paw), their homes and cisterns were swept away or mangled beyond repair. Yet here they were sharing what little they had with us, and preparing the kava we had brought them to serve to our group. We invited them to participate in our little dinner party. As the rest of our cruiser friends arrived, they said, "We thought Barb's birthday is tomorrow". Frank said, "No it's today, June 5th". They all laughed telling Frank that today is June 4th! We both felt like idiots. Frank had been going by the date on his laptop, which is set on UTC time, and according to the World Clock it was June 5th somewhere in the world. Well we had a good laugh over that one and partied on anyway. We invited the family to join us. They built a large bonfire and contributed a huge bowl of tapioca - cassava root. They quickly built a long serving table by pounding sturdy tree limbs into the ground and then laying a big piece of corrugated metal on top, covered with palm branches. We had a great party!

The next day we conspired to take care packages to our new island family. Frank and I packed up rice, sugar, flour, hard candy, canned goods, hats and shirts. When we took our goodies in to them they were so excited they could hardly sit still. The lady excitedly weaved headbands for each of us gals as the men attempted desperately to share some kava with the guys. We politely waved off and returned to our yachts.
Jock and Leanne (JIT) came by to wish me Happy Birthday and invited everyone to have a "proper" party on their cat that night after dinner. So once again, we all donned our party smiles and went over for a night of merrymaking. Jock cranked up the i-Pod and as the evening progressed we were all singing and dancing and laughing until our guts hurt.
We had intended to leave the next morning but few in the group felt well enough to travel. Our next destination is a full day sail on the open ocean. It is times like this that I'm happy I gave up drinking, although I must say I envied the abandon with which some of this group partied last night. The day was spent being lazy. I used it to finish a Diana Gabaldon novel that Kim had loaned me which had me pretty well hooked. We had intended to snorkel, but the lazy bones got us.
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May 30, - June 4th, 2010; Viani Bay, Fiji

Protecting Viani Bay, are the reefs that boast world-class diving and snorkeling. In fact we are again cruising in waters that a sailing yacht would not attempt to enter without plenty of direct overhead sunlight so to avoid going aground on a reef or coral bombie, of which Viani Bay had plenty. The sail over from Cousteau's was more of a beat, with winds of up to 30 knots on the nose, putting us there in late afternoon. We had difficulty finding a good area of sand to set the hook, and on the third drop decided that we would have to tolerate the sound and unpleasant reverberation of our anchor chain scraping across coral. Immediately, several of our friends dinghyed over to give us the lay of the land and to tell us about Jack who seems to be the patron of the bay, and through whom all things are arranged; diving, snorkeling, trips to Taveuni, trash disposal, etc. The next day we would dive at 9:00 AM.
Jack charges $10.00 per person to dive or snorkel. He comes aboard your boat and takes you out to the reefs, chooses the spot and then picks you up after the dive. This is serious drift diving. We hauled our gear over to "Scallywag", tied our dinghies to the back and dragged them out to the reef to dive The Purple Wall. Jack anchored the big catamaran and then boarded the lead dinghy, with ours and Jock and Leanne's in tow to the drop point. After we all hit the water, he stood watch up top and then brought the dinghies to meet us at the end of the dive. This was to be a 30-meter dive so we had to drop quickly to the bottom to avoid being swept away in the current. That was the plan. When we hit the water everyone got quickly to the bottom. I let the air out of my BCD but did not have enough weight to get down. I made the mistake of wearing a new wetsuit that was thicker than normal for me, and was only carrying 12 lbs. of weights. On top of that my right ear would not clear, so I was focusing on relaxing my body for descent and trying to clear my ear when one of my fins shot off my foot and got carried away in the strong current. I fervently swam after it and by the time I had gotten it back on my foot I'd lost my depth. I frustratingly tried to get back down and saw Jock swimming toward me signaling, "did I need help?" I had already cut into the others' precious bottom time and waved him off intending to get back to the dinghy, get more weight and then rejoin them down the way. I surfaced about 30 yards from Jack, and by the time I got to him I was worn out. He helped me up into the dinghy and I decided this was not my day to dive so I aborted, and just sat visiting with Jack. We picked up the divers who raved about what a splendid dive is - so much purple. I determined to make tomorrow a better day.
The next morning we took Destiny out to the reef and dived a different area called (I think) Fish City, a 25-meter dive. This time I wore my dive skin that is a full-body lycra suit and did much better. Afterward we were all sitting around deck relaxing and having a snack when we noticed a catamaran approaching. It was our friends, Michael and Jackie on "Lady Kay". That night they joined us on Destiny for sundowners and Jackie gave us a lesson in stargazing. We just marvel at how bright and brilliantly colored the stars are out here. We have a very clear view of stars and constellations that do not appear in our northern hemisphere.
The next couple of days were overcast and rainy so we did boat projects and had a couple of potluck dinners on each other's boats. "Lady Kay", "Liberation" and "Avant Garde" left but we had promised to wait for Kim and Bob ("Northern Winds") to arrive from SavuSavu. June 2nd they popped into the bay. We all got together that night, and then on June 3rd, everyone but "N. Winds" and us left telling us to meet them at Albert Cove on Rabi (pron., Ranbi). We enjoyed a quiet day visiting with Kim and Bob, having Viani all to ourselves.

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Saturday, May 29, 2010 - A rainbow at night????

We awoke cheering because although we have enjoyed SavuSavu immensely, we had never intended to spend most of the month of May here.  By now we had envisioned being much further along in our travel plans on Fiji's eastern side.  That's all right.  We have had a chance to spend some special time with Bob and Kim (Northern Winds).  They even tried to convince us to stay a little longer and leave with them next week, but we are itching to go.  We tied up to the water dock, filled the tanks, gave Destiny a nice bath, hit the market, the bottle store and finished up every little thing we needed to before bidding adieu to this charming little town. We went all of 4 miles today, anchored just outside Cousteau's resort.  We enjoyed just sitting and having a relaxing lunch.  I spent most of the rest of the day cleaning the fruits and veggies I'd picked up at the market, shelling purple-hull peas, and watching the boats shuttle resort guests back and forth to the reef for snorkeling. Frank spent most of the day watching it all through his high-powered binoculars and giving me play-by-play descriptions of the activities at the resort.  Late in the afternoon I was downstairs in the galley and heard him laughing his head off.  I popped up the companionway to see what was up.  He told me that a resort boat had come by our bow with white people in it decked out with film gear, and some guy was filming our boat with one of those professional cameras with the big furry microphone attached.  While they were doing this, Frank was eyeing them through his binoculars.  So they were filming him watching them? It gave us a big laugh.  Who knows who or what was being filmed. This resort is apparently quite high-end.  It's still run by Jacques Cousteau's son, John Michel. It was such a pleasant night that we decided to dine in the cockpit.  It was just after 8 PM, we were chatting about the beautiful full moon and how pretty the sky looked as the stars were twinkling just so and how the big dipper is SO big here, then along came a cooling sprinkle of rain and a nice breeze.  I noticed a strange color configuration in the sky and said to Frank, "I know you will think I'm crazy, but I think I see a rainbow!"  He leaned out and sure enough we were looking at a very large gray-scale rainbow that went all the way across the bay.  Neither of us has ever seen a moon rainbow.  It was just spectacular.  We could barely see the hues of the color spectrum. How I wish we had professional camera equipment to capture this amazing sight.  We kept saying to one another how special this was and how fortunate we were to be at the right place at the right time to witness this phenomenon. What a thrill! Tomorrow we have an 8-hour trip over to Vianni Bay where we hope to meet up with Ivory Quays, Just In Time, Scallywag, Liberation and Avant Garde.

May 28, 2010

The past week has been strange. Our wifi has not been working, so we called the guy who owns the service. He came out to the boat, fiddled around with our external antenna, disconnected our router, looked thorough our bag of cables and parts, took some things including two spare routers that we had, said he would trade us these for an external antenna for my laptop which he would sell me for $289 but that he didn't have in stock just now, then told Frank that his laptop needed to be serviced to make it work more efficiently and left the boat with all this equipment saying he had another appointment. After the smoke cleared, we realized he not only had some expensive equipment but Frank's computer as well and we didn't really know what had just happened. My head was spinning because I couldn't believe how smooth this guy was. We got Frank's laptop back the next afternoon but have no idea what he did to it because it seems to be working the way it was before. Meanwhile I researched the antenna that the guy wants to sell me, and found it on Amazon for $39.00. I do not think I will be buying his! I have left it up to Frank to deal with what we are going to do about that guy taking our "stuff". I'm too angry to deal with it.
Digicel is one of Fiji's cell phone operators and has just come out with their broadband stick. We can purchase one for $99.00 and pay 04/mb of usage, via "top-up". Several of our friends who had gotten fed up with the wifi guy, had bought them and were very pleased. Frank and I decided to follow suit. We went down to the Digicel shop and bought one. It would not work on either of our laptops (his Dell, my Mac), even after several yachties tried to assist. We took it & Frank's Dell to Digicel to see if they could get it to work. After 4 more hours of their fooling around, it would not work, so they took it and told us they would get us a new one. They were out of stock but more are coming in on Wed. That was on Monday. They now have our $ and our stick.
Then we heard that we could get a sim card for our Vodafone stick. There is no longer a Vodafone dealer in SavuSavu, so we ordered one to be delivered from the Vodafone representative who comes once per week. He arrived on Tuesday but with the wrong type of sim card. He assured us that one would be delivered to us by 8:00 AM Wednesday morning. It did arrive, and Frank and I spent the better part of the morning trying to get it to work on either his Dell or my Mac - Is this Déjà vu or what!?!? Fortunately Bob and Kim from Northern Winds had arrived from Opua the previous day so Bob helped Frank get his installed. It will not work on my Mac, although the materials state that it will. Apparently these things are so new to Fiji that they aren't configured.
Tuesday, we received a message that our CV joint/shaft had been shipped and were given a tracking # from DHL. YAY!
Wednesday arrived. Digicel said our stick didn't. DHL said our shipment would be here in the afternoon. Frank's Dell went haywire - we got the big bad loud alarm and a scary blue screen with white writing that said some intimidating things. We shut it off. We took both laptops into the wifi guy's shop to try to download security updates on his and for me to check our emails on mine. Our friends on Mahurangi have not been heard from for over a week and they supposedly departed Opua on May 17. They are not responding to emails (Sailmail) or radio calls. I was hoping to hear from them. I did get an email from them saying they were securely anchored at Minerva reef and had a story to tell us when we see them in Fiji. Thank God they are safe. The internet was so slow it took me over an hour and a half to download his security update. Then we got the blue screen again. We packed it up and walked it down to SavuSavu computers, which is run by an American guy named Erik. He said he would need to keep it to run some diagnostics. OK. Fine.
Wednesday afternoon arrived. DHL said the part did not. It will be here Thursday AM. Digicel said come back at 8:00 AM, Thursday.
Thursday arrived - no shipment and no Digicel stick. Most of our friends have now left and have gone cruising and diving. Thursday evening we are sitting at the yacht club waiting for Kim and Bob to go to dinner. Cell phone rings. It's DHL. The part just came in on the plane - they are driving it over to us at the yacht club. Hip, hip, hooray! Frank stowed it on the boat and we went out to a lovely dinner. We made plans for Friday to install the part, go to Customs to get checked-out to leave here, hit the market, pick up Frank's laptop and hopefully get our Digicel stick.
Friday morning we got up early and installed the new CV joint and shaft. It was a two-person effort and we merrily made it our first priority. We then got a call from Digicel. The stick is here! I trotted on over with Frank's new Sony laptop because his Dell is still in the hospital. Frank headed over to see wifi guy about our stuff he took the other day.
After many failed attempts the Digicel ladies got it to install, and then said all we have to do is buy the "top-up" so we can get online. I told them we had already bought the top-up and that they should apply that. Uh Oh. That top-up went with the other modem/stick. I said, OK, just give us another one. They called the main office. Can't be done. It went away with the other stick. I said OK, give us a credit for the amount and we will apply a new top up. It doesn't work that way. They said come back tomorrow. I said "No". They said come back after lunchtime. Meanwhile a horn honks, someone yells my name. I turn around to see Frank driving away with wifi guy and yelling, "be back soon". I gathered up our stuff and walked back to the marina, plopped down with a book and ordered something to eat. It is 10:45 AM. Frank shows up at noon. (be back soon???). We return to the Digicel place where I leave him and go to pick up our Dell from the hospital. The Dell is fine. There seems to be something we are plugging into it that is causing these problems - perhaps the Iridium Sat phone - that is making it unhappy. I took a few minutes to get online and check emails and send a couple. A friend sees me online and mentions how sad it is about the loss of (a mutual friend whom I will not name). I didn't know, so I asked. Turns out my friend checked into a hotel and committed suicide. I'm crushed. I packed up everything and went back to find Frank. He is still at Digicel. He still hasn't gotten to Customs to turn in our paperwork. So off he goes and I stand there wondering what is going on. It seems there is some difficulty getting the top up loaded. Frank returns an hour later - it is now 4:00. The Digicel people have blown out the stick and now it doesn't work. They have no more sticks. We got our money back and left. I felt so sorry for those girls at the counter.
So, we are back on board Destiny. It's 5 PM. We are going to get cleaned up and go for a nice dinner with Kim and Bob. We're checked out of SavuSavu. Tomorrow morning we'll hit the market and take care of a few last minute chores that didn't happen today and be off. We are heading to Viani Bay to do some world-class scuba diving and some snorkeling.

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May 20, 2010 - Taking care of business

The internet signal has been down and this time not intermittently, but completely down.  We heard that it is out on the entire island for who knows why and for how long. Yesterday we went separate directions; Frank in pursuit of propane gas and for a fitting that broke off our tank when he disconnected it; me for other things.  Primarily, I'm trying to find some kind of rubber mat that is large enough to lay on top of the freezer and fridge in order to keep help keep the cold in.  With this heat, our freezer compressor never shuts off and is working itself to death.  We found that if we pile folded beach towels on top of the counter, large enough to cover the door seams it helps but because I need use of the counter space towels are not a good long-term solution.  In fact, neither are mats but they are easier to deal with in the meantime.  I went into nearly every hardware and miscellany shop in town before finding something suitable.  They are bright purple!  Who cares at this point? Then I trotted over to the video store to see what I could find for sale.  These video stores are not altogether legal.  They sell & rent copied and pirated movies.  I do have principles and refuse to buy the pirated DVD's, but have no problem laying down my $2.00 per for decent copied ones.  I made sure to ask if these were authentic copies (there's an oxymoron), or are they the ones that someone sat in a movie theater with a video camera to film.  I managed to buy 16 DVD's for the princely sum of $32.00, Fijian. By now the sun was getting high in the sky and the heat is just about unbearable.  I went into the market for some fresh veggies and was so overcome with profuse sweating that I forgot what I needed.  I settled for a couple of salad items and then left to meet Frank at the yacht club.  After lunch I had to beg and plead with him to walk across the street to the grocery store so that I could pick up the few things I still needed.  All he wanted to do was return to the boat, turn on the A/C and take a nap. Me too! We chatted with neighbors, Ivory Quays and Just in Time, and found that no one else had the energy to do anything. Cop Out, Lady Kay and Shilling have all left to go sailing.  We of course are still awaiting the CV joint to arrive from the States, so we are going nowhere soon. For dinner we agreed on fresh fruit and yogurt smoothies and a movie.  So we settled in to watch "Invictus".

May 18, 2010 – Leaks and more leaks

Sunday night I was awakened from my slumber 3 times to the sound of the bilge pump working away.  Of course Frank does not awaken so easily.  The third time occurred at 3:00 AM, and it went on for quite a while as I heard water gushing out of the thru-hull at the stern.  I got up, grabbed a flashlight and began looking in bilges.  I saw an obvious stream of water running down the side of the main bilge and then a bubbling trickle in the engine compartment.  I woke Frank up to tell him, but his response was a groggy; "What do you want me to do about it now?  The boat isn't going to sink before morning."   This gave me no comfort but I returned to bed and slept fitfully until 7:00 AM. Frank got up, and after we had our coffee and some breakfast ("brekkie" in these parts), began looking for the source of the leaks.  I heard a lot of "Oh, no's", and "Shoot's", and some other expletives. We have sprung two separate leaks, which I'm sure he will explain on his blog.  He spent most of the morning trying to sort it out.  Because he had taken away the companionway stairs and opened the generator compartment, I was stranded in the cockpit with my book.  I couldn't get down no matter how hard I tried so I sweated and read. Finally at around noon he emerged and announced that he had to make a quick trip to shore…"Be right back!"  It was not quick, and he was not right back.  He was literally gone for hours.  Two or three times I happened to look out to see him racing to and fro in the dinghy, but to where I could not discern.  What on Earth?  He returned after 3:00 with a hose and mumbled something intelligible that I understood to be an attempt at jury-rigging something.  Of all the spare parts and pieces we carry, never are they the ones we need. My god it is hot here!  When a breeze comes we just lay our heads back and enjoy the precious moment of relief.  But my poor husband did not have that luxury – he worked and sweated in that swelteringly hot compartment for hours.  I kept pleading for him to let me help him, but he said that there wasn't anything I could do and that there just wasn't room for us both even if I could, so I returned to the cockpit and began shelling black-eyed peas for dinner.  I have been informed by other yachties that there are blue jobs and pink jobs. This was apparently a very blue job. When he stuck his head up again it was 4:30.  He said, "I'm going for a beer, wanna go to the yacht club?"  I declined because by now I was involved in my own pink project.  He needed a few hours with the blokes at the bar.  It is therapeutic and sometimes educational.  As a matter of fact when he returned he was feeling a little bit enlightened and better about our problems after hearing the other guys share their woes.  We are not alone when it comes to yacht maintenance and feeling helpless.  Frank's biggest concern is that even simple parts are not easily attainable in Fiji, nor are they affordable.  Tuesday's project will be spent searching for parts.

May 17, 2010 – Hanging around SavuSavu, Fiji – and congrats to my daughter!

Saturday, after hitting the market fairly early we and a few other cruisers decided to get of here and spend a couple of days anchored outside of the city harbor so that we could swim and make water.  The harbor is definitely NOT a swimming hole, nor a safe place to make water. Ivory Quays, Liberation, Just In Time and Lady Kay shot directly over to the chosen spot; a pretty anchorage over by Cousteau's Resort. We had a lovely sail out in the large bay, and decided to enjoy the winds a little longer before going directly to the anchorage.  Suddenly, the winds blew a squall our way just as we turned to head toward the other boats.  We couldn't see 10 yards in front of us.  The winds whipped up so suddenly that we reefed in the sails and slowed down until we could make our approach safely.  The surrounding area is littered with fishing buoys and floating nets, so we had to have a visual to pass through the gauntlet.  Eventually the rain let up allowing us to get settled.  I thawed out a corned beef brisket for dinner and then we settled down to watch the rainsqualls come and go for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening.  It certainly cooled things down for us.  The next day was sunny and pretty.  Frank and I were sitting in the cockpit contemplating a swim as we watched Michael and Jackie (Lady Kay) dive in and swim by.  Jackie was seemingly enjoying a leisurely breaststroke, when she quickly turned and headed back to her boat.  I called out asking, "How's the water?" She yelled back that it was fine except for the little stingy things that were attacking them.  They both scrambled back aboard Lady Kay. That put a big damper on my desire for a nice swim.  I pulled out my book.  Frank did the same. Michael and Jackie invited everyone over for sundowners at 5:30. We thought perhaps we'd go snorkeling over by the reef but then the winds switched direction turning our comfy lee shore into a bucking bronco.  Waves were whipping all around us and tossing us to the point that we were getting un-cozy real quick. After chatting up our neighbors, one of them told us that he had checked the grib files and noted that we would be in for a rough night if we stayed here, so reluctantly we all decided to hightail it back into SavuSavu.  We were the last boat in the group to weigh anchor, and as Frank was using the boat hook to guide ours in, the darn thing flew out of his hand and away it went into the washing machine (that's what the waves had become).  It is a floating boathook, so we felt confident that we could retrieve it.  I was tempted to dive in after it but I was manning the helm and could not.  We both tried to keep our eyes on it as Frank unlatched the dinghy from the davit and got it deployed.  The chop was getting worse and the winds fierce as I was fighting the to keep the helm into the wind so that he could deploy the dinghy.  I wanted to tell him to forget about the boat hook, but we really need the darn thing to get back onto our mooring.  What a mess.  The dinghy was bucking violently as Frank tried to board it. Oh my god.  I lost sight of the hook.  He did too, and poor baby drove all around searching for it in vain.  After about 15 minutes he threw in the towel and then we stared the dance all over again trying to get him back on board Destiny.  He looked so defeated.  By now it was too rough to get the dinghy back up onto the davit, so he bridled it and we towed it behind.  We raised the sails, and enjoyed a fantastic broad reach back to the channel leading into SavuSavu.  Once in the mooring field, a couple friends in their dinghies came to help us get the mooring secured.  We freshened up, I whipped up a baked brie stuffed with toasted pine nuts, drizzled some apricot preserves, grabbed some crackers and off we went to meet up with everyone for a fun evening aboard the Lady Kay.   Later in the evening, with the help of our new external wifi antenna, I got online to check email, hoping to hear from my daughter.  Yes!  She did it!  She bought her very own first house, and closed on it this very day (actually yesterday).  I am sooooooo proud of her.  Go Jen!

May 13, 2010 – Another Lazy Day in Savu Savu

We declared today a reading day – and this time intended to make it happen.  Frank propped himself up in the cockpit with his book and a cup of coffee and said to me, "Barb, let's don't make any plans today; no going out, nothing social.  Let's just stay on the boat and eat in tonight."  I agreed and removed some chicken breasts from the freezer to thaw in the sink.  I worked on a few little projects and then shortly after lunch, Val from Ivory Quays and Leanne from Just In Time invited me to go into town shopping with them. I happily accepted, and off I went with them. We worked our way through the shops looking for lightweight dresses and skirts because we are finding that those are cooler to wear than even shorts and a tank top.  Most of the shops were dusty, dank, dark and looked like their inventory came from my grandmother's garage sale.  We did manage to hit paydirt in two of them, however. One was a "souvie" shop that had clothing in the back.  Half of the ladies wear were beautiful saris and the other half was pareos and sundresses.  I didn't buy anything there, although Leanne picked up two wrap skirts.  The other "hit" was actually a grocery store.  Off to one side were racks and stacks of clothing.  So there we were among the 10-kilo bags of flour browsing through the dresses.  We of course are laughing the entire time and wondering how the things were sized.  Val, who is very petite, asked if there was a fitting room available.  Leanne and I tried to stifle our laughter as the clerk led her through the stacks of flour to a little room that was probably no larger than a broom closet.  We heard Val knocking elbows against the wall as she struggled out of her blouse and into the sundress.  A few minutes later there came a loud and urgent banging noise from the little room.  The clerk lunged for the door and heaved it open as Val tumbled out nearly fainting.  She had gotten locked in there and was overcome by the heat.  As she stumbled out she declared, "Bloody Hell!  I nearly blacked out in there! The floor is piled with rubbish!"  Leanne and I tried very hard to look sympathetic as we were doubled over laughing.  We decided to forego trying on our dresses.  After all they only cost between $7.50 - $13.00 (US).  If they didn't fit we'd give them to a poor islander. I picked up a t-shirt for Frank on the way out that I will give him for Father's Day. We went to the market for some fresh veggies and fruit.  Sadly, the two cyclones that hit Fiji a few months back all but wiped out the crops here, but there are a few small pieces of this and that to be found.  So sad for these poor folks. They are scraping by as well as they can and doing it with a big smile on their faces.  There is such gratitude to be found here. After our big shopping spree we found the boys firmly planted at the yacht club bar.  The girls and I ordered our new favorite thirst quencher – lemon, lime & bitters.  As I reminded Frank that we were not supposed to be socializing, and asked him if he had thought to put the chicken breasts into the fridge.  The look said it all.  Thank goodness they are shrink-wrapped.  Apparently after dropping us off to go shopping, Jock and Dave had come straight to the bar.  Frank followed not long after. He never gave that chicken a second thought.  Apparently everyone else had declared this a "eat on the boat night", but as we sat there we realized cooking on the boat sure would heat up the galley.  Hmmm. What to do?  Leanne piped up, "Let's do Chinese!"  What a brilliant idea!  We all returned to our yachts to stow purchases and change for dinner and went back to our favorite (and the only) Chinese restaurant in town.  We feasted again for $15.00 (Fijian) per person.  Our bank accounts love Fiji.

May 12, 2010 – SavuSavu – taking care of business

I had 4 projects on my plate today: finish transferring the seasonal clothing, tidy up the galley from breakfast, walk up to the hospital with Frank to pay the health inspector our fees for coming into their country "disease-free", and to read my new Jonathan Kellerman book.  My plans, however, got changed.  While Frank had been "repairing" the dinghy motor yesterday, he had a little accident spewing oil all over the dinghy.  He had used up the bottle of dishwashing soap to clean it up.  When I went into the floor locker where I store spare kitchen supplies and cookery, I felt something wet.  It tasted salty. Uh-oh.  That is not good.  It is never good.  I began removing its contents.  There was a 2-inch puddle in the bottom of the locker.  Everything had to be cleaned and dried.  The water was sopped up out of the locker, but before I replaced the contents I wanted to know where the water came from.  Frank thinks it happened when he replaced the paddle wheel on our knot speed indicator, so we'll let it go at that and hope for the best.  After we got it all put back together I returned to my list of TTD's.  In the meantime Frank has declared this a reading day and sat down with a non-fiction book called, "Inside Delta Force".  He is having trouble putting it down.  By noon I was finished tidying and stowing so we gathered ourselves together for our trek to the hospital.  It is a 30-minute uphill walk.  Frank wanted to take a cab, but we NEED the exercise after being at sea for over a week.  We stopped to grab a quick lunch at the Captain's Table, and ran into people, turning lunch into a 2 ½ -hour social visit.  At 2:30 we headed to the hospital.  The walk wasn't so bad.  Although the heat is stifling, we found spots of shade along the way and caught a nice breeze every now and again.  We eventually arrived at the hospital, which looked very third world.  While we paid our fees we ran into Dennis and Janet from s/v Shilling.  They were on the same mission, and so during our walk back down to town, the boys decided a beer at the yacht club was in order.  Of course as we sat at the club, other cruisers would trickle by and pull up a chair.  We had gathered quite a large group and were having a gay old time when Janet smacked her head with her palm and said, "Oh crikey! We are supposed to be on Cop Out at 5:30!"  Ken and Wendy had caught a huge, 2.5 meter mahi mahi on the way up and had invited us all over for a pot luck tonight.  We all began mumbling about what we were going to prepare for the side dishes as we made a mad scramble for the dinghies.  We enjoyed a feast on Cop Out, with 4 other couples.  Finally after stuffing ourselves and sharing lots of boat stories we fell into our dinghy exhausted.

May 11, 2010 – SavuSavu & The Copra Shed Marina

We spent much of the morning struggling with internet.  We had purchased our Wifi access the previous day and were reminded we are back in the land of …"if you want Wifi you gotta pay – dearly".  We purchased the maximum 30 hours for the ungodly price of $150.00.  Now we have GOT to remember to logout whenever we finish being online or it will be an expensive "oops!".  And although the salesperson told us, "Yes, yes of course you can pick it up on your yacht, No problem. We have very good signal.  Good antenna."  No we can-not.  Because I had to find something to complain about that is it.  We just stuff our laptops into the dry bag and tote them to shore in our dingy. We were spoiled in New Zealand being able to get the signal just about anywhere through our Vodafone "stick". I had intended to go through our clothing and sort out the summer stuff from the winter stuff and to put away anything that has more than a short sleeve.  But we got distracted.  It is hotter than blue blazes here.  Everyone is commenting that the heat seems to have intensified.  Five minutes out of the shower and the profuse sweating begins.  Your clothes stick to you as you are putting them on.  I guess I grew up in this kind of heat but don't remember it being so intense because we were always in air-conditioning.  Here you just have to live with it.  We will acclimate eventually. After all we left NZ wearing double layers of sweats, so it will just take a bit of time to adjust. We are moored just about 100 yards from the dinghy dock at The Copra Shed Marina, run by a wonderful young lady named Dolly.  Her husband, Robin is chef at the café in the same building.  The set up here is quite convenient.  Within one building are a small chandlery, a boutique, a Wifi office, a yacht club (with bar and restaurant), a café, a real estate office, and a tour-booking office.  Dolly is arranging for our parts to be shipped to us here.  She will also arrange for our laundry to be picked up and washed, dried, folded and delivered back to us for $9 per load.  We can rent cars, mopeds, bicycles and watercraft.  There is a large grocery store across the street, and "downtown" is but a few steps away.  The town is only 3 blocks long, yet it has several stores (clothing, food, hardware, gifts, crafts), and a modest fresh market.  There are a variety of restaurants as well.  All in all we have found ourselves stuck in a good place.  So for 3 – 4 weeks, this is home. Cop Out (Ken and Wendy) arrived yesterday, along with a couple of other boats.  The yachts we know here are: Ivory Quays, Cop Out, Liberation, & Lady Kay.  The majority of our cruising buddies who are heading here are either still stuck at Minerva Reef or in New Zealand all awaiting a good weather window for departure.  Quite by accident we made some new friends yesterday, a German couple named Carmen and Ralph aboard a catamaran named "Relax".  We were leaving the yacht club when Bill from IQ asked for a tow.  Apparently their dinghy motor had quit on them.  So off we go to tow them, then our motor quit. We had gotten only half way to their boat and were adrift when along came another couple in their dinghy asking if we needed a tow.  So we tossed him a painter and started a little conga line of dinghies back to the boats.  It was one of those times we laughed until our abs cramped but you would have had to have been there to appreciate the comedy.  Anyway, we visited with Ralph and Carmen for a while learning that he is a retired fighter pilot with the German air force and more recently retired from Lufthansa Airlines where Carmen still works as a flight attendant.  What's more is they are friends with our buddies Glen and Sally from "TDM", and Dave and Nathalie from "O'Vive!"  Small, small world keeps turning around us. Frank set to work on the dinghy motor and after a little over an hour later, he quietly came into the cockpit.  I ask him if it is fixed.  He said, "Yes".  I asked him what was wrong.  He said, "I'm not telling you".  Of course I pressed him.  He knows better than to tell me something like that.  He said, "I am too embarrassed to tell you!" Eventually he sheepishly confessed that when he had hooked the motor back onto the dinghy after our passage, the fuel hose got attached backward.   He asked me not to tell anyone.  I didn't. However, at happy hour later on, lubricated by several .5 liter Fiji Bitters (beer), he made a voluntary full confession to the gang gathered around the table.  They found it uproariously funny as did Frank.  Such are Man Rules.