Friday September 1st- Thursday September 7th, 2000
Denarau Island, Fiji / Viti Levu Island
Latitude 18 degrees 07 minutes 04 seconds South
Longitude: 178 degrees 25 minutes 3 seconds East
We have spent this week staying at the condo. David has been trying to get a good run in along the beautiful golf course while I walk along the beach. Then we usually go to the boat in the morning to feed Dewey and work on some boat chores. We have totally cleaned out the refrigerator, taken all the carpets out and washed them on the dock with fresh water, washed all the walls and floors with fresh water, cleaned out the V-Berth and put lots of things out to dry. Everyday there seems to be an endless list of things to do. I’ve taken all our clothes and bedding to the condo to be washed in some fresh hot water and dry them. Hopefully they will be dry and clean for a few weeks. In the afternoon we have been enjoying hanging out in the air-conditioned condo and enjoying the large swimming pool and hot tub. Of course I’ve been swimming laps in the 123-meter pool, up to 16 so far. We have been told that this is the largest pool in all the south pacific and I believe it because it is certainly the largest one I’ve ever seen. We have met so many nice people here including four people who are here from Seattle and of all things are friends with my old boss (Marv) from Sverdrup. What a small world it truly is! We’ve been learning a lot about Fiji from the locals who work here and everybody who works here has been extremely nice and friendly. Everyday I must hear at least 30- 40 BULA’s. We have had Save drive us around to run a few errands in Lautoka. We visited the craft and food market and then went to find a pharmacy to refill some prescriptions. A prescription that would have cost me 135 dollars in the U.S. was only 12 dollars here. Another health care wonder. When I mentioned it to Save we started talking about health care here in Fiji. I asked him how much to see a doctor for check up. He said if you go to the govt. doctor it is 50 cents (25 cents American), but if you go to a private doctor it is 3 dollars ($1.50 American) I asked him what the people at the hotels get paid per hour and he said that depending on the job they make between $1.20 to $ 1.80 per hour. In America that would be 60 cents to 90 cents an hour. That’s not much even for Fijian standards. Now imagine that salary getting cut in half. No wonder us Americans look so very wealthy to them. You feel very wealthy and fortunate when you see how most of these people live. Monday we had lots of things out drying on the boat, when in the middle of the afternoon it started to rain, so I hopped on my bike a raced back to the marina in the rain to save the drying items. After I got everything in I noticed another boat had pulled up to the dock named Lisa. This was intriguing, so I went over to talk to them and found out that they are from New Zealand. She asked if I was from the boat Francis, I said yes I was, well isn’t that funny she said, that is my name, well even funnier I said my name is Lisa! How weird was that! Tuesday David and I went to the Sheraton resort racket and golf club for lunch. There was no one else there. We were the only people having lunch at this beautiful club on the edge of the golf course. Then we noticed that there were only about two people playing golf! I guess now is the time to come to Fiji if you don’t like crowds. Wednesday night at the resort they had a table set up by the pool with a fruit punch and some kava for those brave enough to taste it. Kava is a traditional drink in Fiji, and you are expected to bring it as a gift when you visit some ones home or to the chief on one of the outer islands. Supposedly it will make your lips or tongue numb, but it didn’t do anything for me. It looks like muddy river water and taste terrible! But I wanted to taste it, for we will be expected to drink it when we visit the outer islands. Many Fijians drink this daily, I guess after awhile it builds up in your system and then you feel the full effects Kava. There are many kava shops around, kind of like in Seattle where there is a coffee shop on every corner; here in Fiji it is a grog shop (where they serve KAVA). We had a fun time at this little get together. We have met so many nice people here at the condo; it was a very friendly atmosphere, which I think helped us make instant friends with so many strangers. It was fun listening to everyone’s stories at night around the hot tub or swim up bar about the adventures they had that day. Everyone wanted to know what we did, and we would just say, just hung out here. They all think we are quite the novelty. One gal asked how we managed the timing of going from resort to resort. I had a good laugh at that one. I explained to her that this was a very rare thing for a cruiser to be at a resort and marina. That most times we just throw over the anchor and that’s where we stay. They couldn’t believe that we live like this. Sometimes I find it hard to believe myself. After the party at the resort a bunch of went next door to the Sheraton to observer the ancient scared art of fire walking. As the legend goes fire walking ability was first given to a warrior from Beqa Island. This warrior had spared the life of a spirit he caught in his fishing net. The freed spirit gave him the gift of immunity to fire. Today his descendents act as high priest and are believed to be the only ones with ability to walk on the hot rocks. Firewalkers are only male and they may not have sex or eat any coconut two weeks prior to the ceremony. Being that they perform this ceremony weekly at the Sheraton makes you wonder about the lifestyle these guys have! They call it fire walking but in reality they walk on warm rocks. There is a large circular pit about 4 meters across that is filled with large stones that are heated up by a wood fire. The burning wood coals are pushed to the sides revealing the hot white stones. The stones were then turned and turned as the base was prepared for the men to walk across. After the men walked across the hot stones and finished their ceremony all the skeptics in the crowd ran up to feel how hot the stones really were. I wouldn’t say they were scalding hot but they were pretty warm. It’s more of a spiritual thing then anything else.
Thursday was the day we had to check out, it was fun to be here and have this little break from the sailing life. I could have stayed a few more days, but I think David was ready to go back to the boat. I’m just grateful for the time we had and that large pool! So as my last hoora at the resort I swam 20 laps in the 123-meter pool! Then lounged around saying good bye to all our new friends until it was time to go.
Friday September 8th, 2000
The Marina at Vuda Point, Fiji / Viti Levu Island
Latitude 17 degrees 46 minutes 03 seconds South
Longitude: 177 degrees 22 minutes 8 seconds East
We are all moved back into the boat now and spent our first night back in our floating home. It is very noisy here with all the commercial boats going in and out all the time so we will leave here today and head up to the Vuda Point Marina where our friend Ed is. Save called yesterday and made a reservation for us, as they are getting full. By 9:30 am we let go of the lines holding us onto the dock and motored our way through the river channel out into the clear blue reef water again. It took us about 1 and half hours to motor our way to the Vuda Point Marina. This is a marina like we have never seen before. The marina is one large oval shape and all the boats are lined up in a circle. The bow goes in first and the stern is tied out to some mooring buoys towards the center of the circle. The stern is tied up to a tiny 3-foot long dock that sticks out from the shore. To get off and on your boat you have to pull on the line and pull yourself over to the tiny dock and jump off your bow. It’s pretty precarious. Once we got settled in we soon found our friend Ed. The three of us headed into Lautoka to get some lunch and visit the local food and craft market. We wandered the streets checking out all the local shops, again they are willing to make all kinds of deals on the products they sell, too bad they didn’t have anything we wanted. Our last stop was the food market which is a large covered building filled with different stands of fruits and vegetables. There are also fellows who sell many different kinds of spices and curries. The people and the colors in this market were phenomenal. There were tables of orange carrots, purple eggplant, green cucumbers and red tomatoes. Mixed in with this were tables with bags of different spices of curry and chili, producing colors of burnt orange, umber and reds. I must go back with my camera to get some pictures in here, of course I could never capture all the smells or personalities of the different vendors. We headed back to the marina with our purchases and then gathered at a place called First Landing next to the marina. This is a nice resort, with a large open outdoor café and bar. On certain nights they have yachtie specials, tonight was half price pizza and two-dollar beers. So I think every yachtie in the marina sooner or later ended up there for some refreshment and good company. We had a pizza, 4 beers and salad for 12 American dollars. Pretty good deal I’d say. Or maybe everything looks cheap after being in French Polynesia. If it weren’t for the yachties, this poor resort would have no business at all. We heard one of the workers say that right now they only have one guest, so they are opening up their pool to us to use for a small fee ($5.00/week). Sounds good to me! David and I were pretty tired so we retired around 9:00 PM, but we heard tales of parties going on until 2 in the morning. I didn’t hear a thing!
Saturday September 9th -Sunday September 10th, 2000
The Marina at Vuda Point, Fiji / Viti Levu Island
Latitude 17 degrees 46 minutes 03 seconds South
Longitude: 177 degrees 22 minutes 8 seconds East
Not much to report for these two days, we’ve been pretty kicked back enjoying the company of the yachts in the marina. Of course it’s been fun seeing our friend Ed again and Happy Now has also arrived. Saturday night we were all invited to a party on a big 73-foot mega yacht. It cost 4 and half million dollars when it was new. It is now 16 years old, but still looks new! The young crew of 3 is sailing it across the pacific for the owner who lives in Vietnam. What a job they have. Of course, the bigger the boat the bigger the maintenance and they have been here for a month working on repairs. Well it was a fun party and we got to meet even more people on boats. Lots of boats left the harbor today to head out to Musket Cove. There is a big regatta going on out there before the big race to Vanuatu. Nothing serious, we have heard they have lots of fun contest like the hairiest chest, the best bow figurehead, and the tiniest bikini! We also heard that they had a race where people were throwing water balloons back and forth at each other. We would like to go out, but the anchorage sounds very crowed! Maybe next year, when we can beat the crowd and get a good spot. The big excitement of the weekend was when Jason, Ed’s Crew, arrived back early from Musket Cove where he had been surfing. He arrived on Saturday afternoon with a big purple swollen eye. He was surfing and lost his board, but it found him when it popped up and hit him in the eye, cutting the skin just beneath the eye. Lucky for him a surgeon was surfing with them and stitched him up right away and then sent him back to shore to rest. It was feared he had a concussion. Of course Ed was inviting everyone on his boat to see his new freak show. David and I went into Latouka on Sunday to see the movie Gladiator for 2 American dollars; popcorn and coke were $1.50! It was a nice way to escape the heat in a nice modern Movie Theater.
Monday September 11th – Monday September 18th, 2000
The Marina at Vuda Point, Fiji / Viti Levu Island
Latitude 17 degrees 46 minutes 03 seconds South
Longitude: 177 degrees 22 minutes 8 seconds East
We spent this week in Vuda Point Marina mostly working on boat projects and running errands in town. David finally got the new Auto Pilot installed, so now all we have to do is get to some open water to calibrate it and hopefully we will be back in business. We had many other little boat projects to work on while we were here as well. David and Dudley (from Happy Now) have been going running in the morning and I have been able to go for long mountain bike rides through the Fiji countryside. The marina is far away from any town so I get to go for a nice ride without much traffic around. I start out riding up a hill which takes me to a spectacular overlook of the bay below and the outer islands. The island we are on has high volcanic peaks in its center and is spectacular in the morning with clouds around the peak and green sloping hills coming down to meet me at the road. The main crop grown in Fiji is sugar cane, and so I ride by many sugar cane fields and get to watch the tiny train pulling the carts of sugar cane into town everyday. All sugar cane trains go to Lautoka to the giant sugar mill for processing. There is also a huge distillery next to the sugar mill where they brew up rum and other spirits. There are lots of little farms scattered in the hills along the road where cows, goats and horses are there to greet me as I ride by. There is a tiny village along my ride called First Landing; this is where the first Fijians were believed to have landed in their canoes many years ago. As I ride through this village all the children run out to the street to greet me with BULA, BULA, BULA, its hard to make it through the village with out having to say Bula 30- 40 times. Then on my ride back the whole process is repeated again. Makes for a nice way to start the day. Being that Vuda Point is a long way from the nearest town and no busses run down to the marina, we are forced to either rent a car or take the taxi every time we wish to go anywhere. The taxi is pretty reasonable so that is how we have been getting around. The funny thing is that all the taxi drivers here at Vuda Point are brothers and all are named Abdul. There is Abdul 1, Abdul 2, and Abdul 3. Abdul 4 and Abdul 5 live in Seattle. Depending on which Abdul drives you into Lautoka you may end up getting a political lecture about the current crisis of the Indian people in Fiji and get driven by the Refugee camp to be shown how horrible it is to be an Indian in a refugee camp in Fiji. We always tried to remain neutral for both sides have valid complaints and it will be a hard thing to solve here in Fiji. There are many Indians fleeing Fiji and lots of homes and businesses are for sale. Although this has not just effected the Indian population, there are many jobs that have been effected by the coup that don’t discriminate about ethnicity and whites, indigenous Fijians and Indians alike are all suffering.
After chores and errands are done for the day we usually cool off with a dip in the pool at the First Landing resort next to the marina. A few nights we partook of the wonderful yachtie specials they had on the menu, like the cheap beers and half price pizza! We were able to watch the opening of the Olympic games in Sidney on the Tiny TV in the bar. It made us all anxious to get to Australia. Saturday Shiriri showed up the marina for a few days of being hooked up to the fresh water. They managed to get everything washed in two days and were ready to leave Monday morning and head with us to Musket Cove. Sunday night a terrible storm hit this side of Fiji. High winds, pouring rain and lightening. This lasted well into Monday morning so we all stayed another day waiting for the weather to clear.
Tuesday September 19th, 2000
Musket Cove, Malolo Lailai Island, FIJI
Latitude 17 degrees 46 minutes 02 seconds South
Longitude: 177 degrees 11 minutes 3 seconds East
Despite a rainy morning, by 10:00 am the skies were clearing and we decided to leave Vuda Point and head to Musket Cove on Malolo Island, just 10.5 nautical miles away. Even though we had clear skies the wind was a strong 20-25 knots right on the bow. We had big waves crashing over the bow and spraying our freshly washed decks and dodger with salt water. Two hours after our departure we were entering the pass in the reef to Musket Cove. The markers are primarily just sticks poking out of the water a bit. We followed the sticks in until we saw the harbor and made our way in to a buoy. The wind is still very strong and there are white caps in the anchorage. Shiriri is anchored out a ways next to Moonlighter (a boat we haven’t seen since Bora Bora) we got settled in and then went in to shore with the dinghy to settle all the formalities. This place is an oasis for yachites in the South Pacific. Too bad there aren’t more places like it. We had heard it was a wonderful place and indeed it is. They have wonderful free hot showers, the best we’ve seen since California. There are several nice restaurants that are reasonably priced and a huge grocery store. There is also a resort with a swimming pool, which is free to use as well. Just off the main island a dock connects to a tinier island, which is home to the $2.50 bar and grill. This bar is a little grass hut, and all the drinks only cost $2.50. There is also a huge barbecue, which is also free to use. So the usual routine at night is for people to buy their meat in the grocery store and barbecue at the $2.50 bar. The bar actually supplies all the plates, silverware and condiments and then collects the dishes and washes them at the end of the night! This place is really a dream! David and I were sitting in the coffee café having a snack when I heard someone with a laugh like Dudley from the Boat Happy Now. Sure enough it was he and Philippa. They had gone to Mana Island and were having a great time until this front with this strong wind came through, then it was no longer a safe anchorage to be in. So in search of a safer anchorage decided to come Musket Cove. It was so good to see them. David and I hung out at the $2.50 bar for a bit until the Olympics started and then went to the yacht club to watch them. It cost $1.00 for a lifetime membership to the yacht club and then you can use all the facilities at Musket Cove. What a deal, this is a cruisers paradise. The whole concept here was actually started by someone who was cruising through the south pacific and decided to stay here and start this wonderful place. So of course he knows exactly what cruisers want… hot showers, laundry, good moorings and cheap drinks! Dudley and David have arranged to go running in the morning so we didn’t stay up too late.
Wednesday September 20th, 2000
Musket Cove, Malolo Lailai Island, FIJI
Latitude 17 degrees 46 minutes 02 seconds South
Longitude: 177 degrees 11 minutes 3 seconds East
The wind howled all night, for the first time in months I was actually cold! We awoke this morning to more cloudy skies and stiff strong wind. Dudley came and picked up David to go running ashore, so I went in to meet the other gals on Happy Now to take a walk around the island. We had a nice time walking around seeing the sites and other resorts on the island. Later we met up with David and Dudley at the coffee shop where I could have a nice big latte, a rare treat in the south pacific. Dudley and Philippa have invited us to barbecue with them tonight to cook a big tuna they caught along the way, so David is preparing a side dish while I take a big nap! At 6:30 PM we all gathered around the $2.50 bar and grill and began to cook the massive tuna. Happy Now also invited the Shiriri’s as well, this must be one big tuna! Everyone arrived by the barbecue in their winter clothes for it was cold and blustery evening, quite a change from the last week. Bill from Shiriri even joked about his clothes smelled of mold and mildew it had been so long since he had worn them! By the time everyone brought out their goodies we had a table full of food and now we just had to wait for the tuna. Mary Helen on Happy Now is a gourmet chef and had whipped up some wonderful side dishes and sauces for the tuna. Finally the tuna is done. This giant tuna fed 9 people with plenty left over for tuna sandwiches tomorrow. Wow, what a taste treat! It sure is nice to just pile up the dirty dishes and leave them for someone else to wash. It also happened to be Jim from Moonlighter Birthday, so Anne baked him a Birthday Cake. We had a fun night of feasting and visiting with yachties from around the world. David, Dudley and I went to the yacht club to watch the Olympics, its wired to sit in a room full of people from different countries, each cheering on their own team.
Thursday September 21st, 2000
Musket Cove, Malolo Lailai Island, FIJI
Latitude 17 degrees 46 minutes 02 seconds South
Longitude: 177 degrees 11 minutes 3 seconds East
This morning Mary Helen, Jill and I had all arranged to take a free scuba lesson at the Musket Cove resort swimming pool. Unfortunately they called and cancelled the lesson due to an instructor not showing up. Ok, so we decided to go to plan B and try the snorkeling at Sunflower Reef, which had been cancelled on us yesterday due to high winds. So we loaded up all our snorkeling gear and headed in to catch the boat. Just our luck the boat left early and they were not sending another one out today. Not our day for activities. Philippa and Mary Helen went to the Plantation Resort to see if they had a snorkel trip out to the Sunflower reef. Sure enough they did, it would be leaving at 1:30 and they would come pick us up. So our spirits lifted we decided to celebrate by having breakfast together at the coffee café. By 1:00 we were all waiting at the dock with our gear, but the wind had picked up to 20-25 knots again so we weren’t sure if they were going to take us. Finally the boat came to pick us up and then we stopped by the Plantation Resort to pick up a few more people. The boat soon filled up and off we went. The wind waves were crashing over the bow and soaking everyone in the boat. It wasn’t long when the boat turned around, now what, I thought. They pulled up next to another boat and had half of us get into another boat and we headed out again. Still a wet ride, but not quite as bad with half the load. By the time we got to the Sunflower Reef there was huge wind waves with white caps! The guide threw in his anchor and said this is where we were to snorkel. I jokingly asked if this was drift snorkel, because I couldn’t imagine snorkeling in these big waves. He looked at me and said, I will pick you up down there by that big flag. Well, I guess it is a drift snorkel. We all jumped in, only to discover that most of the reef was dead, what a disappointment. We finally decided that the best coral seemed to be around the edge of the reef and that is where the most fish were. We set off trying to snorkel along but the waves were so big that they would just pick you up and carry you along. I decided to call this new kind of snorkeling body surfing snorkeling. It took a lot of energy just to try to stay in one spot and look at things. We kept swimming back against the current and the waves to try to get a better look at things. We noticed that everyone in our group except for us 5 had drifted down to the flag and were picked up and brought back for anther go at it. Dudley and I decided to swim back across the dead portion of the reef to the other side and see what was there. We finally found the good spot. Lots of live coral and big schools of parrotfish and convict tangs. We were having great time swimming around looking at all the fish. I would come up and look for Dudley, but I couldn’t seem him because of the big waves. We were snorkeling in an area where the waves were breaking big on the reef. Oh well, I’ll just look for him under the water. All of the sudden another boat came by yelling at us to make our way back to our boat. I guess they were ready to leave and Dudley and I were the only ones not on board yet. So we made our way over to the boat and climbed back in. What a wild snorkeling experience that was. Well at least we got our exercise and I did manage to see yet two more fish I hadn’t seen before, so that always makes for a good snorkeling experience. After our boat dumped off all the resort people at the Plantation Resort he asked if we would like a free ride on the big banana. He pointed over to a giant inflatable tube that was about 20 feet long and had 5 handles on it. I guess he felt bad about our snorkeling experience and wanted to give us a little something extra. So we jumped at the chance to ride this big beast. Dudley, Philippa, Jill, Mary Helen and I all jumped on the big tube and began to get pulled behind a large motor boat. The driver began to go faster and faster and then began to go in smaller and smaller circles until at last he dumped us over into the water. What a riot that was. We all climbed back on for our last ride on the big banana and then were gently released towards shore. It was now time to get back in the other boat and head back to the anchorage, but wait….. We stopped along the way to rescue a tipped over hobbie cat. What a wild couple of hours we had. After some warm showers we all headed back to our boats to get ready for the big Pig on the Spit dinner at the resort with entertainment to follow. Back on shore we were all having a good laugh at the wardrobe we arrived in. We all looked like we were headed to an event in the Pacific Northwest in our warm clothes and foul weather gear. Well, in the blustery wind we headed to the resort for the big feast. There was a fairly large pig roasting on the spit. They then moved him to a table for cooling and cutting. He still had everything attached, legs, feet, head and even tail. I couldn’t stand to look, so I went to the table and waited until the pig was carved up. They started us off with dalh soup and then we were allowed to go to the buffet and feast on all kinds of Fijian delights. There were many things I tried which I have know idea what they were and hopefully will never come across again, but there were many recognizable things that were delicious including the poor miss piggy. After the feast we were treated to a delightful show of singing and dancing of native Fijian songs and dances preformed in native costume. That was a lot of fun. After the show the waitress came around and informed us that there was still apple pie and ice cream coming! Back on with all the foul weather gear for the trip back to the boat in the dinghy. What a night we had, we didn’t end up getting back to the boat until 11:30 PM, that is a late night for us. But what an adventurous and fun day we all had despite the rough start.
Friday September 22nd, 2000
Musket Cove, Malolo Lailai Island, FIJI
Latitude 17 degrees 46 minutes 02 seconds South
Longitude: 177 degrees 11 minutes 3 seconds East
This morning we awoke to 20 knot winds in the anchorage and still 100 percent cloudy and overcast skies. This weather has basically sucked for doing any of the things that Fiji is famous for. Shiriri decided that they have had enough and are going to start heading to New Caledonia. Moonlighter is going to Lautoka for supplies and Happy Now is going back to Vuda Point. David and I decided to weather it here for a few more days in hopes of better weather. By 11:00 am everyone had gone and David and I decided to go into the island for lunch and a hike. We had a nice lunch at the café and then went for a walk around the island. I was able to collect a few new shells I hadn’t seen before. By late afternoon it had begun to rain, spoiling any chance of the barbecue tonight. We went back to the boat watched a movie and called it an early night.
Saturday September 23rd, 2000
Musket Cove, Malolo Lailai Island, FIJI
Latitude 17 degrees 46 minutes 02 seconds South
Longitude: 177 degrees 11 minutes 3 seconds East
This morning I was woken up by the pouring rain around 5:00am, we had all the hatches shut, because it was raining when we went to bed, but just not this hard. I listened to the wind howl and rain hit the decks for a good hour before I drifted back to sleep. Hard to believe we are in Fiji in the good season! I had signed up to try the scuba lesson again today, so at 9:00 am I headed into the resort to see if they were going to still have the lesson. Sure enough there was one brave soul besides me who wanted to try scuba on this rainy, blustery morning. We watched a safety and instructional video for the first hour and then learned a few underwater hand signals. Then it was on with wet suits and onward to the pool. The instructor showed up with all our equipment. First he gave me a weight belt to put on. This is funny I thought, I would have thought that my own weight would make me sink, but I guess in salt water maybe not. Next we put on the buoyancy vest with attached air tank and regulator and all kinds of other gadgets. The instructor then went over the things he was going to be teaching us in this introduction to scuba class. First we were to just sit and breathe with the regulator in our mouths underwater. This really freaked me out at first; I came to the surface several times. Its hard to trust a tube to breathe through, but eventually I got the hang of it and felt comfortable enough to stay below for the rest of the lesson. Next we had to take the regulator out of our mouths and blow bubbles, recover the regulator, put it back in my mouth, clear it and start breathing again. Next it was the clearing the mask lesson, we had to let water in our mask and then practice clearing it out while under water. The last little lesson was to give the hand signal for air problem, the instructor would come over grab my arm, then I would take my regulator out and put his spare one in my mouth, clear it and continue to breathe. Then I had to recover mine, take his out, put mine back in, clear it and begin to breath again. That concluded our little lesson. Wow, I was glad that was over. Something about breathing under water like that just doesn’t seem right to me and I was glad to be on the surface where I belong. He told us we had 15-20 minutes to practice in the pool. He wanted us to practice all that we had learned plus practice getting our buoyancy down by letting air in and out of the vest. I swam around for 15 minutes practicing all the techniques. He said that we both passed the lesson with flying colors. We would be able to go on the dive in the ocean this afternoon if we wanted. I think I will have to think about this. As it turns out, it started pouring rain and the wind came up again, so the dive was cancelled. I guess I got out of that one! I think I would like to try it someday after more time in the pool when I feel more comfortable. After the lesson David and went back to the boat and relaxed while the weather outside continued to be gloomy. All the rest of the day it poured rain and howled, so we watched a couple of movies and took it easy.
Sunday September 24th, 2000
Musket Cove, Malolo Lailai Island, FIJI
Latitude 17 degrees 46 minutes 02 seconds South
Longitude: 177 degrees 11 minutes 3 seconds East
This morning it was still pretty gloomy out so we decided to go back to Vuda Point and prepare the boat for departure to New Caledonia. We got checked out of Musket Cove, took one last walk around the island and then released our hold on the buoy and headed out of the reef. Once out of the reef surrounding Malolo Lailai the wind waves had built up to 2 –3 feet and were hitting us right on the nose again! Big waves were crashing up over the bow and I hadn’t taken any seasick medication. Thank god it’s only a 3-hour trip. As we neared Vunda Point the wind and the seas calmed down a bit and we had clear sky to make it in the entrance to Vuda Point. This time they directed us to a slip right next to our friend Ed and Happy Now. Once in we began cleaning the boat off all the salt crystals and tying everything down in preparation of leaving Fiji tomorrow. This took the rest of the afternoon and there was just enough time at the end of the day for me to have swim at the pool.
Monday September 25th, 2000
The Marina at Vuda Point, Fiji / Viti Levu Island
Latitude 17 degrees 46 minutes 03 seconds South
Longitude: 177 degrees 22 minutes 8 seconds East
Today we were up early to head into Lautoka to clear all the customs, immigration and visit the market one last time. We had Abdul One drive us into customs. The customs office took a little over an hour to clear and then we had to visit immigration to get our passports stamped with departure date. We then wandered the streets of Lautoka one last time. I found a pharmacy to get my seasick medication refilled. Another healthcare wonder, only 5 Fijian (2.50 American) dollars to get it refilled. We then went to the Vegetarian Indian restaurant for one last samosa’s and roti. We made a last trip through the public market to purchase some tea masala and meat masala. These are spices that are combined together to make some of the most wonderful smells you can imagine. The tea masala is used for making a wonderful spice tea with milk (like chi tea) and the meat masala is used for cooking chicken to give it a wonderful curry taste. I took a few pictures today in the market of the colorful fruits and vegetables along with the colorful personalities of the people selling us the goods. Soon it was time to meet Abdul for our ride back to the marina. On the ride back to the marina I had Abdul stop at the road check points so I could take pictures of the armed military at these check points. I think these guys were pretty used to having their pictures taken for they did a wonderful pose for me with their machine guns. Hopefully next time we visit Fiji there wont be a need to have these guards around anymore. By the time we arrived back at the marina it was too late to leave today so we will wait until tomorrow. We spent the rest of the day preparing for departure, getting fuel, stowing everything away and tying everything down. We have been talking to Shiriri every night on the radio and it still sounds pretty rough out there. We spent our last evening in the marina with the folk’s form Happy Now and Voyager having half price pizza at the resort. Lee from Voyager and her husband Tom made this trip 15 years ago and are now making the trip again with their 6 year old daughter. We had a lot of interesting talks about how much everything has changed, and apparently not for the better. They are very saddened by the destruction of the environment that they have noticed. Lee said they used to see dolphins at every island, which is how they knew they were getting close. She said this year they have not seen a dolphin since they left Mexico. Also they commented on all the dead coral reefs and lack of reef fish. I too had noticed this along with other cruisers, but didn’t know that it used to be so much better. Happy Now has been several places in Fiji snorkeling and diving and said everywhere they had been the coral was dead or dying and that there wasn’t very many reef fish. If Fiji doesn’t address these environmental issues, the coup will be the least of their worries. They depend on tourism for survival and if the environment is destroyed who will want to come look at dead brown coral? The thing I find interesting is that there is a Green Peace Office and an Earth Watch Office in Suva, so who is watching out for these things?
Tuesday September 26th, 2000
The Marina at Vuda Point, Fiji / Viti Levu Island
Latitude 17 degrees 46 minutes 03 seconds South
Longitude: 177 degrees 22 minutes 8 seconds East
BULA, BULA, BULA, today will be the last time we here that greeting for awhile. Up early to finish up the last details before we depart for New Caledonia. One last look at the new weather fax, there seems to be a wonderful big high with big isobars so it appears the weather couldn’t be better. We paid up our fees said our good byes and started up the engine. Soon the dinghy boy was out to release our stern lines from the center buoys and we were on our way by 9:30 am. Once out into the lagoon the water was as glassy as could be and the sky was a beautiful clear blue, so we decided to take a few minutes and calibrate our new autopilot. That was over in about 15 minutes and now we have two working autopilots for the first time in 6 and half months! We had some discussion about going to musket cove for another day and waiting for wind for it was dead calm and we were afraid that we would have to motor until we found wind. I was ready to go and a day of motoring certainly doesn’t bother me while I get used to being on the rolling ocean again. So now we head toward the Navula Pass in the reef to exit the Fiji waters. By 12:30 we near the pass and the wind had picked up, the sky had turned to about 90% cloud cover, the air temperature was 79 degrees and the water temperature was 85.1 degrees. We decided that there was now enough wind to put up the main sail and this gave us our final blow out of the pass at 12:55 PM. The wind had certainly picked up and the seas were building. We were speculating that the wind and the seas were curling around Fiji giving us this temporary conditions, but by 4:00 it was still pretty ugly so we decided to put up the storm stays’l and reef the main down to the second reef. The rest of the day was spent in very large lumpy seas, with lots of wind, no moon and a few stars peaking through the clouds. Hard to believe we were going to wait at musket cove for better wind! Looks to be a long night!
Wednesday September 27th, 2000
End of DAY ONE
Latitude 18 degrees 37 minutes 7 seconds South
Longitude: 174 degrees 53 minutes 8 seconds East
170 Nautical miles traveled
We are traveling along at great speeds; the winds have been 25 to 30 knots since we left. The seas have not let up and have been spilling over into the cockpit all night leaving a lovely coating of salt on everything! David and I have been taking 3 hours turns on watch and trying to sleep on our off time, it has been way to rough to try to cook anything so we had dry granola for breakfast today with some juice. For lunch it was crackers, peanuts and chips. I didn’t feel good at all and poor Dewey is seasick as well. We tried to give him another cat tranquilizer, but he couldn’t even keep that down. So he went to his top step and went into his catatonic state for the day.
Thursday September 28th, 2000
End of DAY TWO
Latitude 20 degrees 07 minutes 6 seconds South
Longitude: 172 degrees 21 minutes 5 seconds East
169 Nautical miles traveled
Pretty much the same conditions except now we have giant squalls and rain as well, it just keeps getting better! We talked to Shiriri tonight on the radio and they are closing in on Havana pass of New Caledonia. Sounds pretty exciting, I wish we were there! At 4:00 am while I was on watch a giant wave came in the cockpit soaking me and everything in the cockpit, as well as below, for the companionway hatch was open so I could keep an eye on the instruments. Dewey and the rugs got a good dowsing as well. There was a good inch of water waiting to drain through the drains in the cockpit and phosphorescent dinoflagilates swilled around my feet as they went down into the drain. What a site. Now I was wet and cold! I went below to change into some warm dry clothes and let David take over for while. By morning the sun was trying to break through the clouds, but it continued to be rainy and lumpy! Wow this is one of the roughest trips we have so far. I tired to get some sleep but the seas were pounding the boat so hard it was hard to sleep, even as tired as I was.
Friday September 29th, 2000
End of DAY THREE
Latitude 21 degrees 34 minutes 09 seconds South
Longitude: 169 degrees 56 minutes East
172 Nautical miles traveled – 511 total trip miles
The conditions aren’t getting any better. We still have 25 to 30 knots of wind; it’s been pretty cold. We are now wearing long pants and sweaters and foul weather gear! We are further south now than we have been since we left the states, which could account for the cooler temperatures. We have had 100 percent cloud cover, still lots of rain and squalls and still very lumpy seas! This morning David asked how I was feeling because for the first time on our whole trip he is feeling a bit sick himself, wow I thought, I guess that’s a new one and no wonder I don’t feel so hot. I was finally starving from not eating much for the past couple of days. I kept dreaming about potatoes and knew we had a few in the storage, so I cut them up with some carrots and onions, added some water, a few spices and let it start to boil for some vegetable soup. A little later I decided it still needed a little something so I added some chicken broth and that made it taste a little better. I had a few bowls of hot soup and that really hit the spot. Later on when David woke up he decide it still needed a little more so he added a can of corn and some barley. Now we have a real stew. We had the pot sitting on the stove tied down with bungie cords so it wouldn’t bounce away in the lumpy sea. This was a great stew and we had this to eat for the next day until it was almost gone and we were sick of stew. This afternoon the wind switched on us and is now coming from the northeast instead of the southeast, this was not good as we were in position to go around Durand Reef and the wind forced to tack and try to go around the other side. We turned the engine on around 5:30 to help give us the boost we needed to make sure that we would make it around the reef ok. I watched the GPS carefully for a good hour and around 8:00 PM we had cleared the reef and could turn south again. We talked to Shiriri tonight on the radio and they made it in Havana Pass of New Caledonia and are now anchored safely in a beautiful bay getting some much-needed rest. They passed along the information of the tides and outflow of the pass and informed us that if we didn’t make it by 9:30 am we would have to wait until 4:30 in the afternoon to come in. Apparently the pass can have a pretty strong current when it’s ebbing making it quite dangerous to enter. David left me on watch for the next few hours, but it was hard for him to get any sleep in the uncomfortable seas.
Saturday September 30th, 2000
End of DAY FOUR And LANDFALL
Latitude 22 degrees 16 minutes 06 seconds South
Longitude: 166 degrees 26 minutes 03 seconds East
208 Nautical miles traveled – 719 total trip miles
By 4:00 am we had passed by the Loyalty Islands and were closing in on New Caledonia. A few stars were coming out and the dinoflagilates were out as well. The dinoflagilates in this part of the ocean were the largest we have seen so far; causing the whole top of the wave to glow as it broke. What a site with the stars above and the stars in the ocean. The wind has now died down to about 12 knots, just when we needed it to keep up so we could make it there on time. So as a result we decided to leave the engine on to give the boost we need to make it there by 9:30 am. We were really worried that we weren’t going to make it for the GPS kept giving us an estimated time of 9:28 to 9:50 am for the arrival at our way point which was still a few miles from the pass. Well we decided to just keep pressing away. David got out some graph paper and made a graph showing the low and high tides based on the information that Shiriri had given us. It looked to us that we would have until 10:oo am before the ebb would hit us hard. By 9:30 am at the end of our day 4 we were 1 mile away from Havana Pass. We thought it was so strange that we left Vuda Point at 9:30 am and now here we are arriving at the pass of New Caledonia at 9:30 am! For the last few hours we had felt the effects of a strong southerly current coming down the east side of New Caledonia and so we were expending a bit of energy fighting it to make it to the pass. But it looks like we will be able to make it in. The knot meter and the GPS were reading the same speed so we knew we didn’t have a current against us. So in we went. It was a beautiful clear day, the sun was shining and wind was blowing in the right direction. Once inside the reef we headed for the Wooden Channel, which would spit us out towards Noumea. We would have loved to stop and rest somewhere, but you are suppose to check into the county and clear customs before stopping anywhere, so Noumea bound we were. By this time we are well within the reef and it appears that we actually have a 2-3 knot current with us. The GPS is showing us going 8-9 knots while the knot meter is ticking away at 6 knots. Wow, we couldn’t have timed it better. This is by far one of the most beautiful islands we have visited so far. New Caledonia is made up of one very large long mountainous island that runs northwest to southeast with many other little islands just off its shores that we have to weave our way though on the way to Noumea. New Caledonia is the first island that we have visited that is not an extinct volcanic island. 140 million years ago when New Zealand was part of the larger prehistoric continent of Gondwanaland plate tectonic spreading took place and it moved to become its own continent. 80 million years ago New Caledonia was once part of New Zealand, then as plate tectonic spreading continued to take place it moved to the northwest. Around 40 million years ago the Indo- Australian plate sunk under the Pacific Plate creating the Vanuatu Trench. This caused the island New Caledonia to begin to sink leaving behind the large barrier reef and large lagoons that it has today. This island is very rich in minerals of chrome, nickel and platinum ore from the ancient bedrock. This should be some interesting geology for me to explore. We continued to motor sail by many beautiful bays and deeply incised hillsides. The hills and mountains are a beautiful orange red color with hundreds of cook pines and coconut trees lining the shores. What a wonderland we were sailing through. Finally we come to the end of the Channel and are in an open bay with a few scattered islands and reefs to maneuver around. We went by many hotel-lined beaches where windsurfers, parachute surfers and hobbie cats zipped all around us as we sailed by. Finally at around 3:30 we enter the bay that holds the town and capital of Noumea. There are several large harbors and marinas here but we have to head Port Moselle for customs and immigration clearance. So up went the Q flag and we entered the marina at Port Moselle. They had a slip waiting for us and we slipped right in nicely and tied up. Boy was it good to be tied up again. David went to the office with the ship papers while I started cleaning things up and getting out the hose to get fresh water again. He came back and said it was great place, but there is no room at the inn, as soon as we clear customs we must leave. They only have 50 slips and there are 140 some boats on the waiting list to stay. We will get to stay the night though, which is good news. So we began to wash down everything on the boat with fresh water again. We actually had salt crystals dripping from the lifelines and I also found 3 dead dried up squid in the dinghy…ick! We were finally visited by the gal from immigration and then the quarantine guy came and took away all our fresh fruits and vegetables. He actually made me dig the peals out of the garbage from potatoes and pineapple. He said he would have to send a special quarantine officer down to check out Dewey so we will have to wait for him and he should come yet today. By 7:00 pm customs or the cat guy still had not visited us, so being that we were tired and hungry we left to go get something to eat. We found many old friends along the dock and met up with a guy we had met in Tahiti for dinner and sailing stories. Well we are once again in a French country where I cant tell what anything on the menu is and so we had interesting time trying to order something for dinner, but it came and there weren’t to many surprises. Then it was to bed, I couldn’t remember the last time I was this exhausted!