May 11, 2009 – Land Ho!

On Friday, May 9th we enjoyed yet another lovely day of sailing and caught a 31" Yellowtail (?). What a pleasant and luscious variation that was for our taste buds. By nightfall, the seas had laid down and the ocean was as flat and placid as a mountain lake, literally shimmering with the mirrored reflections of the moon and stars. We later mused that had we bent low over the rails we might have seen our own reflections on the water. We thought this was a night to beat all previous nights at sea until Saturday night trumped even this one.     Saturday was a game of leapfrog between us, "Mind the Gap" and "Charisma". Each of us alternately passed and then trailed one another until "Mind the Gap" refusing to use his motor fell many miles behind.   By 6 PM, while watching a magnificent sunset, the orange glow of a rising moon broke the horizon to the east. We sat slack-jawed as we witnessed a brilliant burnt orange harvest moon boldly emerge, so mesmerizing us that we felt we were witnessing a sacred birth. And we marveled at the beauty of this incredible phenomenon of moon emerging while sun setting. Both of us alternately turned our attention from the sunset to the sunrise as each cast it's dancing colors across the sky from each end of the horizon to meet in an explosion of kaleidoscopic patterns overhead. We felt humbled. We felt awed. And we felt something deeply spiritual as we sat silenced by this moment. For a while neither of us wanted to move. So we just sat and let the serenity wash over us, feeling very thankful. The ensuing night proved to be just as lovely.   Sunday morning the seas began their angry thrashing, and the winds did not seem to want to do anything to help us out. We mostly motored the day through and then shared a gourmet Ramen soup dinner last night - our final night of the crossing.   It is now 11:15 AM on Monday - Sunday in the USA; Happy Mother's Day to our Moms and all the other Moms out there on the other side of the dateline. We just entered the Navula Pass into Fiji's coastal shores (inside the surrounding barrier reef). Within a couple of hours we will be anchored at Musket Cove where we will: 1) sleep!, 2) tidy the boat, and then 3) enjoy a grilled steak dinner. Then we will sit quietly and discreetly at anchor until Wednesday when Customs will arrive to check us into the country.   www.frankandbarbgladney.com while at sea: kd0cff@winlink.org (note:the sender must include the character sequence "//WL2K" in the subject line of the message.) Skype ID: frank.barb.gladney