Fiji

September 18, 2009

Ever since the squall yesterday it has been pouring rain, so I have all my jugs collecting water and the deck drains clogged up with rags to collect water to fill the water tanks.  We didn’t check in with Lautoka Customs yesterday with all our troubles and so we must do it first thing this morning and hope we are not in trouble with the delay.  We have to inflate the dinghy first and the engine is locked on the rail.  Mike can’t remember what he did with the key, after tearing the boat apart we find the key in his shorts pocket in his drawer.  He twisted his ankle so I did most the pumping up of the dinghy.  It took about 30 pulls before the engine would start, I wonder what else is going to happen.  We filled out the million forms in customs, they seriously have more forms than any other country and still use carbon paper.  It only cost us $20US to check in here versus the $200US to check into Vanuatu.  At customs we saw Meridian and Morning Star who we haven’t seen since Tonga.  After we filled out all the papers customs usually has us dinghy them to our boat so they can search it but today it is raining and they don’t want to get wet.  We were so glad because our boat is a wreck after yesterday!  Back at the boat we have cookies and coffee and then Mike starts working on the dreaded fuel problem and I just do general cleaning of the big mess.  The rain cleaned the salt off our boat but then the sugar mill creates black soot that got all over our boat.  While cleaning I found a huge dead cockroach!  I can’t believe it, where did it come from?  We had dinner on Charisma with Eduardo and Rick and Teri from Morning Star.  We had prayed we would catch fish this trip but we didn’t, but Alan served fish, so we got fish, we just didn’t catch it, God works in mysterious ways!

September 19, 2009

The rain finally stopped so I was able to do laundry.  I washed our sheets and they dried very quickly in the sun and wind.   Since our fuel tanks were low Mike decided to pour the rest of our fuel from our gerry cans into the fuel tank.  When we do this, the fuel goes through a baha filter, a funnel with 3 filter screens.  This funnel clogged up almost immediately.  We had never cleaned this funnel before so we clean it, only to have the same thing happen again.  We decide we must have gotten bad fuel in Port Vila, Vanuatu.  Later we met another boat who told us the word in the cruisers world is not to get fuel in Vanuatu as they have a ‘diesel bug’.  We may have that bug.  We were given some bio-gard fuel treatment, to kill the bacteria and cleaned the fuel filters.  Not sure where we go from here, but may have to polish the fuel.  We invited Alan over to have a spaghetti dinner with us.  He brought a yummy tomato cucumber salad.  Eduardo stayed in town all day.

September 20, 2009

Today is Sunday so we walked to a Methodist church in town with Alan and Eduardo.  When we arrived the people were very friendly.  One woman insisted that we sit in the second row up front.  The pastor apologized that the sermon was in Fijian but he also made several points in English.  His message was ‘we have a choice to serve the devil or God, We choose God’.  The singing was great too.  I didn’t recognize any of their songs but really enjoyed the singing.  After church we walked to a restaurant and had lunch and then bought a few groceries before returning to our boat.  On the boat Mike tried to start the genset generator but it would not pump water, so we had to use the main engine.  The good thing was that there were no fuel issues while it ran.  Dudley and Tanya came over to our boat to ask if we knew the check in costs for Vanuatu.  We invited them aboard to visit and look up the exact cost for them.  We really enjoyed their company.

September 21, 2009

Alan and Eduardo are headed for Savusavu.  We are headed to town to find a pulley or new pump for the generator.  We were directed to several places and only able to find one pulley that would work if it was machined to fit the pump.  They said it would be ready tomorrow.  It cost $30F for the pulley and $45F to machine it to fit.  We decided to go to lunch after all that walking in the hot sun.  We went to Sugar City Mall and I ordered chicken chow mein and Mike had pork chop suey.  It was way too much so we brought half of it home for dinner tomorrow.  We walked to the bakery to buy some bread and bought a pineapple pizza, Yum!

September 22, 2009

Another hot day.  We walked to town again and this time with my computer.  We stopped at the computer place first so we could get email, we are hoping our accountant emails us about our taxes, but he hasn’t.  We sent an email to notify our family and friends that we arrived safely in Lautoka and told them of our adventures.  While I did this Mike walked to the engineering business to see if our part was ready, it was.  We decided to have lunch in town again.  We went to the Hometown Café and shared beef stew.  It was different, the sauce seemed to be made with ginger and it was over rice.  Then we had ice cream cones that were way too soft so we had to eat fast.  Back at the boat Mike installed the new pulley after making a couple of adjustments.  It worked great, but then we had a fuel issue, the recently cleaned fuel filter was already filled with sediment, so Mike cleaned it again.  We were able to get the refer down to 25 degrees and hopefully tomorrow it will be better.

September 23, 2009

It is another hot morning.  I made breakfast, did dishes and made cookies.  Mike went to get dinghy fuel.  After that he took a pump and put it in each fuel tank and pumped out the bottom of the tanks trying to get the sediment and water out of the tank that is causing so much trouble.  There was about a cup of yuk in each tank.  Now we are hoping that this process minimizes the amount of junk clogging the filters in the future.  We have about 50 gallons of possible contaminated fuel on board that cost us over $5/gal in Vanuatu.  So we are hoping we can still use it.  Today we watched the cargo ships at the wharf load and unload containers, it took one ship three days to unload.  This is one busy wharf.  Argonaut called us on the VHF radio today, hopefully we will all catch up soon.  We also found out there are no hurricane holes left at Vuda Point Marina, so we need a new plan.

September 24, 2009

It’s sunny and hot again today We had breakfast and then went into Lautoka to look for a printer cartridge but we couldn’t find one.  We bought produce at the market and a few groceries at MH then took a cab back to Customs where our dinghy is.  We met Pete on Night Cap, haven’t seen him for a while. He just returned from Futuna, where you can check in and out at the same time, and sail back to Fiji to avoid paying duty on his boat in Fiji.  We ask him where he thought we could have our boat put in a hole during cyclone season.  He suggested Port Denerau.  We went back to our boat and motored to Saweni Bay, about an hour away from Lautoka and away from the soot that gets on our boat when they burn the sugar cane.  Mike worked on getting the ‘grass skirt’ and mud from the anchorage off our boat.  He must have burned lot of calories after working so hard as he ate a whole bag of chips and then wanted dinner.

September 25, 2009

Another beautiful sunny morning.  We talked to Airstream and Meridian who are in Vanuatu and Charisma in Savusavu on the SSB this morning.  Funny we could hear the boats that were 500 miles away better than Charisma who is about 100 miles away.  We decided to take showers on the boat since we had hot water and we were going to be able to get water at Vuda Pt. Marina.  At the marina we were able to get a slip near the office which is what we wanted.  It is easier to get on and off the boat and we only need 50’ lines to tie to mooring balls versus 150’ on the other side of the marina.  We had a short visit with Argonaut and then got busy.  We had to do our taxes but they were pretty easy since we only had rental house income.  Kathy emailed me all the information that had been sent to our mailbox.  We arranged for Marshall Sails to repair our head sail that ripped the Sunbrella during a storm.  Checked on cyclone holes and none are available.  We were considering flying home for a month in January so the only place to leave our boat would be in a slip in Vuda Pt. Marina.  We put up a sign to try and sell our extra dinghy and 15HP OB, we have hauled it around for over two years and not used it much at all.  And we also have two tri sails so we thought we might be able to sell one.  Mike spent time working on the genset as it wont pump water and the oil sensor is leaking big time. Mark Videen, our good buddy is sending us one from the states.  And the main engine isn’t pumping water either, what is next?  Maybe we should just sink her!  We had pizza for dinner with Bold Spirit, Argonaut and Wind Dancer.

September 26, 2009

Spent the day working on all the same stuff as yesterday.  Had dinner at the yacht club.

September 27, 2009

More laundry to do for me and Mike made a work around for the oil sensor until the part comes, Yea!  The main engine wouldn’t circulate water as we sucked something in the through hole and Mike cleared it with our dinghy foot pump.  Thank you Jesus.  We decided to go for a walk with Bold Spirit and Argonaut down the sugar cane train tracks to another resort where we had lunch.  We had burgers, they were expensive but good.  They put fried eggs on all their burgers.  On our walk back down the sugar cane tracks a train came – Yikes, there wasn’t much room on the sides of the tracks to stand.  We were fine but it was a little scary!  When we returned there was a music group singing at the yacht club so we got ice cream and went to listen.  Nice day!

September 28, 2009

We shared a taxi to town with Jeff and Kathi on Bold Spirit, we both planned to buy a Vodafone modem which should allow us to get email anywhere in Fiji they have cell towers and possibly in other countries.  It cost $260F which is about the same as the Tomi Zone internet connection but supposedly a much better. signal.  We had lunch at a great Chinese restaurant, bought 2 DVD’s, fishing lures, shoes and a dress that ended up not fitting, I just gave it to Liz.  We also found a store that carried printer cartridges, we had to sign for it at the cash register, the store manager had to sign for it and the security guard at the store signed for it.  Amazing all that signing for one $50 cartridge. Now back at the boat to do more laundry and fill the water tanks.

September 29, 2009

This morning we were excited to try our new Vodafone, we had to wait until today for them to process our order internally.  Well big bummer, Vodafone didn’t work and neither did Bold Spirits.  So Mike and Jeff went to town with Owen, he had a car, so that was great, the taxi is $15 each way.  Vodafone had to reconfigure both modems and when the guys returned they worked.  We called Videen’s to check out our new signal, it was good but not great.  Then I called Mom, who is in Idaho.  I woke her up, I didn’t realize there is a 6 hour time difference, but she still wanted to talk.  J Bold Spirits refer quit working so we let them put some of their stuff in our refer.  They invited us over for a steak dinner to use some of their meat up, since they have refer issues.  Nice trade, it was very good.  We took over chocolate no bake cookies for dessert. Kathy had place mats, cloth napkins, and salad plates, kind of fancy on a boat.  Fun evening!

September 30, 2009

Last day of September.  Our neighboring boat left this morning and hit our outboard engine but no damage, all is good.  With all the mooring balls, each boat stern is tied to two balls, watching out for them coming and going is difficult, not to mention boats are moored tight together.  I made banana bread to use up bananas.  Mike updated our website.  Jeff and Kathi came over for appetizers and banana cake this afternoon.  We always seem to enjoy each others company.

October 1, 2009

Kristen flies into Nadi airport so we took a taxi to meet her.  She decided to come back to Vuda Marina with us as she had an 8 hour layover.  Kristen brought back a few supplies for us – Pepcid, Aspirin, Tylenol PM, Vitamins and a special order of gummy bears just for Mike, that made his day!  She also brought a new water maker membrane we had ordered.  I made us all breakfast and then Kathi, Kristen and I all went over to First Landing to sit in the lounge chairs by the pool.  After lunch Abdul took Kristen back to the airport so she could fly to Savusavu to meet Alan. 

October 2, 2009

Sunny but too windy to leave, so Mike worked on the genset and refer.  I cleaned the boat deck and cockpit.  The dang birds constantly poop all over the deck and try to get inside our cabin.  I also re-sewed the hose in the rain-gutter on the bimini, hopefully it will work better now.  This is just another way we catch rainwater.  We watched a movie and then went to bed.

October 3, 2009

It has already been an eventful morning, we found a gecko in the galley.  Mike caught it and threw it overboard, oops, it can’t swim!  He may have come from Vanuatu as we did see a gecko in our dinghy. We found out later some cruisers like to let them stay on their boats as they eat bugs.  Too late for that now.  Now a couple of birds are building a nest in the folds of our main sail.  We destroyed that event too, sorry.  Then we checked out of the marina but out engine wasn’t circulating water again, we ended up replacing the impellor, always a fun job, ugh!  When we were finally ready to go it was low tide and after check out time, so we begged for mercy to stay long enough for the tide to come in and be deep enough for us to leave, we need at least 8’.  We arrived at Musket Cove at 4PM after motoring all the way.  Lots of boats here, especially anchored, including Momo, friends from the past we were wondering where they were.

October 4, 2009

It is Sunday, we took our last Malaria pills.  It is beautiful and sunny out today.  Mike got the dinghy ready and launched the kayak for me.  He also found sunshades for the sides of the bimini and after working hard to get all the zippers to work, he put them up, nice!  I washed, removed rust and polished more stainless, the never ending job!  We had ordered some parts and tried to check on the status but Vodafone doesn’t work well out here, bummer, hope this is not the typical.  Watched a movie and then bed.

October 5, 2009

Beautiful morning, I made pancakes and spam, Mikes favorite for breakfast.  Mike worked on fixing the 3.5HP OB engine.  I cleaned the rust off the bow stainless today.  The genset started right up, which is good, but salt water is spraying in the engine room, that is very bad.  We looked overboard and a huge fish was inspecting our water out flow from refer pump.  Today boats are swinging every which way, kind of like the La Paz waltz.  We have to keep anchor watch.  Many boats around us have small children, one boat even has twin boys that just turned one year old and a 3 year old.  What a handful and the laundry I can’t imagine!

October 6, 2009

Weather is changing, it is cooler and windy today.  Mike worked on the generator and did some programming.  I continue my rust/stainless cleaning.  Argonaut came to Musket today but no sign of Bold Spirit.  Mike ate all his chocolate no bake cookies and wants me to make more.  Watched another movie and bed.

October 7, 2009

Still windy and cooler.  Today the genset won’t run so we ran the main engine to charge the batteries and refer.  The pump we ordered wasn’t sent until yesterday so who knows just how long it will take to get here.  We went to shore and hiked around the island with Liz and Mike.  We needed some good exercise.  Liz and I collected a few shells.  We shared a burger and fries at Dick’s Place, very good.

October 8, 2009

Some sun and cloudy skies today.  Mike installed the water maker membrane today.  At 11:00 Argonaut called and said there was an earthquake near Vanuatu and a tsunami warning was issued for Fiji.  We need to go ashore and run uphill fast or take the boat out to deep water. Just 40 minutes to expected hit and that is not enough time to get out of the reefs, on the other hand the reefs could protect us and we have very little fuel.  Mike decided that we should leave the boat for higher ground.  I couldn’t even think straight, do we just get in the dinghy and motor ashore?  Or do we try to collect things.  I had on a swim suit so I grabbed some shorts and sandals.  Mike got our boat papers, passports, a flashlight, sunglasses and a hat.  He closed the hatches and I threw the things on deck into the cockpit before leaving.  We let out 280’ of chain, the same as the boat next to us, and headed ashore.  The dinghy motor kept acting like it was going to die and we were a long way from shore.  But we made it, thank you Jesus!  Mike said when we reach the dock just start running uphill and he said he would catch up.  It was a hot day and running proved to be very difficult for me.  Once we finally got uphill there were lots of resort people and the resort provided water.  I was so glad as I was dying of thirst from the run and hadn’t thought of bringing water.  As it turned out after two hours the tsunami was cancelled but in the event it happened we should have just left the boat immediately for safety.  We have a ditch bag but that was too heavy to carry and is intended to use if we had to abandoned the boat and get in the life raft.  We need a ‘to do’ list for future, since it is difficult to think clearly when facing danger.  As we went back to our boat we just kept thanking Jesus that we were all safe!  We met a lot of other cruisers while waiting for the tsunami to come.. That was the only good thing about it.   We learned that we need to keep our VHF radio on and turned to channel 16 so we can hear future warnings.  Emailed loved ones that we are safe!

October 9, 2009

It is sunny and hot early today.  Our genset parts are still in customs.  We had appetizers on Argonaut tonight but we got soaked going between our boats, rough waters.

October 10, 2009

Cold wet and rainy today.  We stayed on the boat all day.  Read and did email.  Mike is programming games and it is consuming him.  He deserves some fun after all the engine problems we have had recently.

October 11, 2009

Rainy and windy all night but our anchor held fast, thank you Jesus!  Our package is in Lautoka so we should get it Tuesday.  Mike and I cleaned all the walls in the salon with a wood cleaner.  We also swept all the boat floor (or sole) and couldn’t believe all the hair, dirt or sand.  I made a hearty potato soup since it is a yucky day outside.  It is much cooler but definitely not cold.  Ashley emailed me and wants me to join Yahoo, the group similar to FB.  I did it for her.  Now one more thing to keep up on.  The things you do for love! J  I checked online for airfare home to visit, yikes $1245 to $1500US each!  Mike is totally consumed with programming again.

October 12, 2009

It is cloudy and calm today and it’s Fiji Day.  Mike and Liz invited us to go ashore with them to see the ‘Flag raising ceremony’ where the Fijians are to sing their national anthem.  The singing was weak at first and after that their singing got a little stronger.  It was very informal but fun.  Then there were games at the pool by Dicks Place.  There were kayak races and races while riding on a huge piece of styro-foam, as well as tug o war.  There were men events and women events.  It rained a lot so we sat under cover at Dick’s and had cappuccinos and visited with Lisa an older single hander on Magia, the boat that went on the reef at the beginning of the season, the couple with the twins and the toddler, and of course Mike and Liz.  We also enjoyed lunch before heading back to the boat.

October 13, 2009

It is still raining today and it is quite windy, enough to charge our batteries with the wind generator.  It is still humid and hot and we are stuck on the boat.

October 14, 2009

It is sunny and nice today, yea!  We kayaked to shore and went for a swim at Dicks Place.  Mike and Liz showed up and we ended up having lunch again, so much for being thrifty with our budget, good thing we share these big burgers!

October 15, 2009

It is a nice day, we left Musket Cove for Vuda Point Marina at high tide.  There was no wind so we motored all the way.  Entering the marina the lowest depth was 1.3 meters.  We got fuel and then tied up.  I took a taxi to town to get a few groceries and some cash.  Abdul the taxi driver was so helpful, he bagged my groceries at the store and lugged them to the car.  Very nice guy!  Mike got our parts from Bold Spirit, they were very kind and paid the custom fee for us and then we just had to pay them back once we arrived.  As it turns out we thought we ordered a whole new pump but we only got the rebuild kit – bugger!  To make matters worse there are no instructions and we couldn’t find any instructions on the internet either.  Mike worked on rebuilding the pump until late, very frustrated because the real part we needed was not included and the pump still spray salt water in the engine room.  We were able to get the refer down to 29 degrees and then we went to bed.  What a day!  There was an upside Mark and Yvonne included candy in our package!  What great friends we are blessed with.

October 16, 2009

We were up early and as soon as we had breakfast Mike tore the pump apart again, this is the 4^th time.  Jeff came over to help us and lend moral support.  It was nice to have some inspiration from a fellow cruiser.  I did laundry, cleaned the deck and filled our water tanks and jugs.  We had Marshall Sails fix our head sail but they still haven’t brought it back, we need it before we can leave the marina.  The boat next to us is leaving for six months so he gave us his dinghy fuel, what a nice blessing.  We really have been blessed!  The generator is working although it still leaks water.  I made Mike some chocolate no bake cookies, his favorite.  I thought he deserved a treat.  We had dinner with Jeff & Kathi, and Dave & Linda on Toketie.   Afterwards our sail had arrived and the security guy helped us get it on our boat which was difficult with the high tide.  I gave him two cookies as a thank you.

October 17, 2009

We got up early, Mike at 4:30AM.  I washed our sheets, showered, bought ice, bananas and ham, paid marina bill and left for Musket Cove.  An hour into our passage the engine over heated, our fan belt had broke.  We need to buy lots of fan belts if we go home.  We caught a fish, it looked like a Mexican Needle Nose with an alligator type mouth, scary.  We decided not to keep it, it might bite us, but Mike had to get our lure out of its mouth, yikes!  We made potato salad and then went to the yacht club to BBQ dinner with some other cruisers. Nice evening.

October 18, 2009

Sunny and hot today.  Liz came by in her kayak so I joined her on mine.  We didn’t go anywhere in particular just kayaked around the bay.  We went to the pool, then the showers and then kayaked back to the boat.  Mike stayed on our boat and put the head sail back on.  Marshall Sails didn’t do all the work that we asked them but the worst damage was fixed.

October 19, 2009

Cooler this morning but it warmed right up.  Liz and I kayaked out to the sandbar, it was quite a distance so a good workout.  Mike and Mike, and Kathi & Jeff motored out in the dinghy.  We all went snorkeling together.  The tour boat was out there too and were feeding the fish so there were lots of fish, too many for me so I got out.  It was like an aquarium, the fish were above you and below you.  Mike really liked it.  Liz and I had to kayak back and the wind had started blowing and the tide was taking us sideways, but we made in about a half an hour.  Nice day.

October 20, 2009

It is cooler today and we are going to the Funky Fish resort.  There boat picked us up at 9AM, along with Argonaut and Bold Spirit.  It was about a 15 minute ride to the resort.  We brought our snorkeling gear but it was too rough to go and a rocky beach.  We did go on a hike to a gun emplacement from World War 11.  It was about a mile long trail that went up and down hill and quite slippery in places.  It took 2 hours to get there and only one hour to get back.  You couldn’t stand still on the trail to rest or ants would get in your sandals and bite you.  There were great views from the top, lots of wild flowers, tall grass and lizards. We had fish and chips for lunch back at the resort before going to the pool.  We thought we would swim but it was just too windy.  They took us back to Musket Cove after a fun day had by all.  Mike took lots of photos and is now using them to make computer puzzles.

October 21, 2009

It was windy all night, there is a front coming and it is cloudy out now.  We will stay until this weather passes.  Mike was up this morning at 4:30, he just couldn’t sleep, even after all that exercise yesterday.  He was able to top off our Vodafone online as long as you don’t wait until the current time expires.  I found Kristi, Melissa, Cheryl and Dianne from DE, all on Facebook, which will be fun to find out what everyone is up to.  Mike made us some pancakes for breakfast, very good.

October 22, 2009

Another windy night and not sure what today holds.  Even though it was windy we went ashore to take showers, clean hair feels so good.  We bought a bag of tortilla chips $14.50 yikes.  You can’t find corn chips very many places in Fiji.  The popular chips here are Ripples, chicken flavor or Twisties kind of like Cheetos, but not nearly as good.  Mike made popcorn, the best ever.  We work on his computer game - photo puzzles together tonight while eating popcorn.

October 23, 2009

Today it is still windy, we thought about going to Lautoka to check out and go to Savusavu and meet up with Charisma.  We decided it would probably be better tomorrow.  I made a super chocolate coffee cake for breakfast, not bad.  We went to shore for dinner at the yacht club and ended up playing dice with Bold Spirit, Argonaut, and Marsha.  Marsha and Earl are new cruisers.  Mike and Earl just chatted as neither were into games.

October 24, 2009

Windy all day, blowing 25 knots!  We stayed on the boat and read, computed and watched movies and saw a beautiful sunset.

October 25, 2009

Light wind today so we are going to Lautoka, first we went to say good bye to friends.  Jeff was trying to sail his sailing kayak.  He was having trouble getting it all together and asked for ‘permission to ram’.  Too funny.  We had to go to shore to pay our bill again, took showers and on the way back stopped to give a boat headed for NZ, Des’ radio schedule.  Now it is after noon we are getting a late start.  While we started with light winds and motor sailing, we ended up with 28 knot winds and 3 – 4’ seas.  We anchored in Lautoka at 5PM.  We were happy that Vodafone works in this anchorage so we were able to get email.  Lyn sent us pictures of Greg in ROTC uniform, he is growing up and looking good too!  Ashley sent us five emails, although one was from Austin and he reminded us that it is his birthday soon!  Too cute!

October 26, 2009

We went to shore to do some final shopping at the market, we did our usual, Mike bought the fruit and I bought the vegetables.  Then to the grocery store and ended up at the Bread Kitchen to buy cheese bread and pizza before getting a taxi to head to Customs to check out.  We were on our way to Savusavu by 10:15, not too bad.  We pulled anchor and it was yucky sticky mud, making a mess of the deck that I just cleaned.  The wind picked up to 22 knots on the nose, slow going through the reefs.  We followed snail trails that we had.  The tail on the wind generator broke off today, Mike had taped it with duct tape and it lasted for quite a while but now we need a new fix.  We anchored for the night at 4:30 in Toba Na Loma, it is not in the guide books but MaxSea showed this place.  It has land or reef all around but we feel like we dropped anchor in open water.  Mike took a two hour nap and then we had a late dinner before going to bed.

October 27, 2009

We had a very calm night.  We thought it was a very remote place so we were surprised by all the lights on shore once it was dark.  And Vodafone worked great.  The weather report shows 20 – 27 knot winds through Thursday, it is only Tuesday.  We were pulling anchor at 6:30AM, thinking we might beat the high winds, it is already blowing 7 knots.  We arrived at Nanau-I-Thake at 11:30AM but since a lot of wind is expected and it is very gusty now, we will just spend the night here.  I made a huge chop salad with cabbage for lunch, very good.  I read my book and Mike computed until dinner.  We had spaghetti and cheese bread and watched 2 episodes of House.  Our email works here too.  It looks like there may be a resort here somewhere as there are lots of pangas.

October 28, 2009

We had a peaceful night sleep and this morning is sunny and breezy.  After one cup of coffee we headed to Yadua, about 30 miles away.  After getting out of the reefs into open water we raised our sails, double reefed based on the weather report.  Going through the reefs we lost our GPS signal twice, yikes!  It was cloudy out so we couldn’t see the reefs. And just to keep it interesting our computer froze and had to be re-started.  Not good when you are traveling in or near reefs, that is just an accident waiting to happen.  Thank you Jesus we are safe!  It was a beautiful sail, actually motor sailing on a beam reach at 7 knots.  We arrived at the West side of Yadua at 1:30PM, Cukuvou Harbor.  We had to find our way through the reefs to the anchorage but the sun was shining enough to see.  We had gusty wind all night but our anchor held.  There is no Vodafone here and we don’t see any people here either.  There is a reported village on the East side of the island.

October 29, 2009

Today is sunny and there are still gusty winds so we are staying here another night.  We took our kayak ashore and went for a hike on a trail we found up to a lighthouse.  We hiked a long ways on top of a bluff with great views.  It was too hot to continue on all the way to the lighthouse and we didn’t wear hiking shoes or bring water, so we hiked back.  We went through someone’s garden so we know there must be people not too far away.  We checked out the beach for shells before kayaking back to our boat. We had lunch and I worked on laundry, Mike did his usual computing.

October 30, 2009

We decided to go to Navilaca Bay about 9 miles away on the East side of the island of Yadua. We went up to the North side and across and down to the East side to avoid reefs.  It started out cloudy but was a little more clear and sunny with 25 knots of wind, after breakfast.  The entrance to the bay is very narrow but with the sun we were able to see the reefs, good thing too as the charts were off.  Once inside the bay there were lots of coral heads to watch out for too.  We anchored in 9 meters by a little island called Motubna at 11AM.  It is really beautiful here.  There is a village but it is really pretty far from the anchorage and too far to take the dinghy, especially in this wind.  We did take our dinghy and go to the closest little island, there wasn’t anything there, not even any shells.  So we dinghy around the bay but it was like a washing machine so we decided to go back to the boat.  When we got back we were soaked.  It is 90 degrees so it is not cold.  Some locals came by in their fishing boat and asked if we had any cigarettes, when we said no, they quickly left.  No Vodafone here.

October 31, 2009

Halloween!  We had a restless sleep as the wind blew all night.  At high tide the boat rolled a bit too much.  We decided to leave after breakfast.  We tried to get a weather report but due to poor propagation we couldn’t.  The weather report on the radio said 20 – 25 knot winds through midnight tonight.  We pulled anchor at 8AM.and headed to Nabouwalu about 20 miles away.  As we went through the pass the swells were 4 to 5 feet high but were much calmer once we got out of shallow water.  We arrived at 2PM and anchored in 5 meters near the wharf.  There were a few people on shore but we stayed on our boat due to the windy weather.  We wish it would have been nice since we had candy to give the kids, thanks to Mark and Yvonne.  Vodafone works here, yea!

November 1, 2009

It’s already November and it is cloudy and rainy today.  We decided to head out anyway, so after breakfast we pulled anchor and are under way by 8AM.  It is slow going with a double reefed main, 22 knots of wind, in a reef channel with current and sea swells 5 feet or so, only making 2.5 knots, at this pace it will take over 10 hours! Hopefully it gets better soon!  Due to the weather and wanting to be anchored before dark we went to the entrance of Nasonisoni Bay that is protected from the swell by the reefs.  We had to re-anchor as we were dragging in coral not fun in the rain.  After we anchored we went inside and turned on the radio.  In the news they noted that the people we complaining that the police were saying “Praise God”, the people were told that the police could say anything they want.  We were able to get a Vodafone signal too.  Mike made us popcorn, he has gotten very good at it!

November 2, 2009

At 3AM the wind picked up, Mike was on anchor watch.  He came back to bed around 5:30AM.  We got up early and had breakfast and pulled anchor by 8AM.  We had 20 knots of wind on our nose, this makes it very slow going.  We have 22 miles to go to Savusavu.  Once we were out of the anchorage we were in a washing machine only making around 2 knots.  Lots of waves close together and lots of wind making a rough ride.  Everything is wet from the rain, cant wait to get there.  We motor sailed and arrived in Savusavu at 12:30.  We were able to pick up a mooring ball at Copra Shed Marina near Charisma.  We went to shore and had lunch with Kristen, then walked to Customs to check in.  We had appetizers on Charisma, gave them the money we owed them, popcorn we bought them and books.  It was nice to catch up with them again.

November 3, 2009

While in the protected water of Nakama Creek, even though it was peaceful we didn’t sleep all that well. It is raining this morning and due to various leaks the boat is wet.  Mike put up our enclosure, it is sure nice and it will help keep the cockpit dry. This afternoon we went with Charisma to Planters where there was a fundraiser promoting the Melbourne Cup and there was a nice lunch.  We met Glenis and Kathy and Jerry on Po Oina Roa, same make boat as Liberty.  We left the party before claiming our prize, we didn’t realize we won, it was only $2, but hey, its money!  We were wet going back to our boat.  We heard it rains a lot here, hope they are wrong!

November 4, 2009

It’s raining again today.  Mike decides to work on the anchor windlass.  Every time we try to pull the anchor up he has to fiddle with it to make it work.  The connections are corroded so it is a greasy rusty dirty frustrating problem!  I went shopping with Kristen at the market.  These people seem much happier than most, smiling and ready to serve.  When Mike finished his windlass project he met us at the yacht club.

November 5, 2009

Mike hired a local guy named Seim (Sam) to clean and wax our hull for $300F.  Not sure what a fair price is, we have never had it done before.  It cost us another $100 in wax and polish.  Seim only worked a couple of hours the first day and he needed our dinghy to do the work.  Mike pumped up our other dinghy so we had a way to get around, although we didn’t want to leave him at our boat unattended, since we don’t know him well.  Sam put the Grunt hull cleaner on and left it over night.  Mike got the windlass re-installed after fixing it and giving it a new coat of paint.  We went to “curry night for cruisers’ at Seaview Café.  We had curry mutton, curry chicken and curry fish.  The fish was the best and we had an excellent dessert of ice cream with strawberry sauce and papaya. Yum!  To top it off we had a pretty view of the bay and boats and a beautiful sunset.

November 6, 2009

Mike picked Sam up at 8AM, we were out of Grunt, the hull cleaner and the chandlery was out as well. Sam had cleaned Imagine and knew they had some left so he went and ask to borrow it.  There was only a small amount so we had to order some more at $50 a pop.  This morning Sam washed the Grunt off with fresh water.  Today I cleaned the forward cabin, salt clung to the walls.  Mike made breakfast and lunch for all of us and did the dishes.  I went to shore and got my hair cut by a he/she named Reggie.  Mike thinks it looks good but it sticks out all over, oh well, it will grow back.

November 7, 2009

Today is sunny and a little windy.  We are discussing whether or not to stay here for cyclone season.  Mike went to shore to pick up Sam at around 8AM.  We constantly have to watch for him and take him to shore after he works only a short while.  We have been feeding him lunch and snacks at the boat just to keep him working so we can get this project done.  I made a big lunch and then Sam said he was hungry after only two hours.  We made popcorn for a snack, I don’t think Sam had ever had it before.  We took him to shore at 5:30 and then we went out for Chinese food with Charisma.  Our meal was only $15 total, pretty inexpensive!

November 8, 2009

Today is Sunday.  We are going to church and there is a potluck afterwards so I am making a salad to share.  We had a wonderful day at church, the song service had many songs from our past in English, and we loved it!  The people were very friendly.  Lunch was at the pastor’s house behind the church.  The pastor was out of town but his wife Suzanna was there.  My favorite was taro leaves cooked in coconut milk, onions, tomatoes, and topped with corn beef.  Taro leaves are similar to spinach but must be boiled much longer to be tender.  The root of the taro is like a potato a staple for these people.  We handed out candy (lollys) and balloons to the kids and some adults who thought they were kids.  It was a big treat to them and we made instant friends, although we couldn’t communicate with half of them, they don’t learn to speak English until they go to school.  This morning Mike met a man at the showers who had rescued a family from their sinking boat, very sad. We can not believe the number of boats that have sunk in the South Pacific since we have been cruising.

November 9, 2009

It is Monday and the weather is fairly nice although we had a rain squall first thing, we weren’t sure if Sam could work in the rain.  We really just want this job finished, Sam is dragging it out by coming and going to town on his own errands.  Mike has paid him most of the money up front as he keeps asking for the money in advance.  Finally we had to say no more until the job is complete.  When Sam went to lunch Mike put Grunt on the windvane stainless, just so we could hurry the project along.  I went shopping to the market, grocery and bakery.  I bought some yummy rolls with cream that we had with minestrone soup for lunch.  We mailed post cards to the grandkids and Bud today.  Kristen and Alan joined us for appetizers as we discussed where to cruise next.  We think the islands of Koro, Levuka, Gau and Suva, all weather dependent.

November 10, 1009

Mike ordered fuel and we took our boat to the Copra Shed water and fuel dock.  We filled the water tanks and couldn’t figure out where they were with the fuel.  Finally Mike went and checked and they were waiting at the wharf.  Kristen and Alan helped us take our boat over there.  Even at high tide our boat was so low it was difficult to get the hose to reach to the Starboard side.  We had to really watch our solar panels.  They brought the fuel in a 50 gallon barrel in the back of a pickup truck.  It was good we had lots of help.  Afterwards we moved to a different mooring that would give us more swinging room.  The one we are on would swing close to Stella Rosa a 60 ton ketch, that could do some damage to us!  Mike checked us out at Customs to leave tomorrow morning for a cruise south.  We went to dinner at Seaview Café with Charisma and Po Oina Roa.  It was a steak dinner but it may as well be rubber, not good.  For $12F we got a steak, sausage, egg, potato, salad and dessert.  The ice cream was the best part, it was a lot of food for the price, but would have rather had less better food..

November 11, 2009

We are heading to Koro Island and dropped our mooring at 8:30AM.  Now that we are out of the bay the direction of the wind would have us motor to Koro so we decided to go to Save A Tack passage to Namenalala about 20 miles away.  There is a note in the guidebook that says they don’t allow cruisers ashore.  So we anchored away from the resort in clear beautiful water with lots of coral.  The island is a reserve for booby birds and marine life with great diving.  We went to shore but stayed on the beach and then went to Charisma’s for dinner and movie.  It was so dark going back to our boat if we didn’t have a mast light on we wouldn’t find our way.  Alan caught 3 Maui Maui and we caught nothing.  He let us borrow two lures for tomorrow.

November 12, 2009

We didn’t sleep well last night, my hips hurt and Mike had sinus issues and a heart episode.  We were under way by 7:30 heading to Ovalau, island of Levuka with light winds.  We caught a Dorado, looked about 3 or 4 feet long.  It took both of us to pull it in and then when it was right up to the boat he got away.  I was trying to get the gaff hook, what a bummer.  I got a line cut, much like a paper cut, doesn’t look like much but hurts.  We arrived at Levuka at 2:30 and checked in at Customs.  We walked around town, there were lots of friendly people, steep green hills and lots of trash both on the ground and on the beach.  Funny thing was there was a sign that said there was a $100 fine for littering, but obviously they don’t care.  Back at the boat we watched House and ate dinner.

November 13, 2009

After breakfast I made pumpkin stew and Mike went up the mast to retrieve the radar reflector before it just fell all on it own.  The line chaffed so bad we have to redo it, or Mike does, I can’t as going up the mast is scary stuff!  We went to shore and hiked up 180 steps on the side of a cliff with a great view.  We chatted with a couple of local people and listened to a children’s choir.  We met up with Kristen and Alan and had lunch at the White Tail Café, they are noted for their fish n chips in the Lonely Planet guide book as the best in the south pacific.  And it was very good!  We walked to a monument for independence before checking out of Levuka and going back to our boat.

November 14, 2009

Mike hoisted the main at 7:30AM and we were headed for Suva, the capital of Fiji and main port for ships.  It is sunny and partly cloudy and Mike is singing, he’s happy!  When we were 3 miles from the island of Toberua pulled in our fishing line only to discover that the lure was gone and the swivel clip was also half gone, something big must have bit it and we didn’t even notice.  Going in the bay the reefs were a little nerve wracking, at one point the most shallow spot was 1.6 meters.  The chart shows rocks all over but we couldn’t see any, there was no sun and the water was dark.  We dropped anchor at 1PM in 5 meters near a beautiful little resort.  All afternoon we struggled trying to get the refer to work, first no water pumping through the refer motor, then the genset water pump and the main engine seemed too hot so we shut it off.  Had lunch and watched episodes of House.

November 15, 2009

We had a pretty good nights sleep but Mike was up early anyway.  After a big breakfast we were under way and using the main engine to charge the refer.  There was sun and a light breeze and we were fishing.  We arrived at Suva at 2PM fishless.  We went ashore to see the Royal Suva Yacht Club where you have to pay $8 just to use the dinghy dock, makes you think it must be a really nice place but it was rather ordinary.  We went to town in a taxi and had a nice Chinese dinner for only $20.

November 16, 2009

This morning Mike went to shore with Alan to see if we could buy a new water pump for our genset.  And I had to dinghy ashore by myself to meet Kristen.  We were anchored a long way out so I was praying the dinghy engine would get me there without conking out.  I met Kristen and Judy on Ursa Minor and we were going shopping at the famous Cost U Less.  It was great, I got most everything on my list and then some and I spent $734F.  The help at Cost U Less remembered my issue with the missing coffee back from Vuda Point and Musket Cove and gave me my missing coffee, excellent!  We took a taxi there and back to the yacht club.  We had lunch and then had to load the dinghy and take our wares to the boat.  We barely fit both Mike and I and the groceries in the dinghy, but we did.  Mike did not have a successful time with the pump.  We had dinner and stayed up until 1AM watching movies, this is so unlike us.

November 17, 2009

This morning Ursa Minor left early, Kristen and Alan went to the local museum and Mike and I walked our legs off looking for water pump parts with no luck but a couple of possibilities.  We may be able to change from a Johnson to a Jabco pump, we will see.  We did find an aluminum welder to make a new bracket for the wind generator.  We also had him weld the old one for a spare part.  We walked a couple of miles down town and had lunch at KFC, not as good as at home and expensive.  Then we went to the market, it was big and nice.  Then we walked back to the yacht club.  We definitely got in our exercise today.

November 18, 2009

Charisma left for Kadavu and the Great Astrolabe Reef, we are staying to try and figure out this pump issue.  We walked back through town to the governors house guarded a marching guard.  He wore a white sulu and red suit coat with white gloves and he carried a gun.  We watched him for about a half an hour, he was very serious about his duty.  We walked through some gardens in a park and then back to town for lunch.  On the way back we stopped at a number of stores and bought some popcorn for Charisma and cheese bread for us.  Also found a black printer cartridge for our printer.  Stopped and picked up our wind generator parts, good job!  Now if we could hear back from Joe on our pump parts.  Relaxed over an ice cold coke, my feet hurt.  Dinner and a movie.

November 19, 2009

It is sunny and windy today and the wind generator is crankin!  We read in the bible today, if you ask Him with no doubt you shall receive.  And if you have a mustard seed of faith you can move mountains.  That makes me feel like a mustard see of faith is a lot!  But we believe God will make a way where there seems to be no way!  I made pancakes and added two overripe bananas to use them up, good stuff!  It is interesting to note that in the bay there are many groups of fishing boats anchored together in groups of 3 to 6.  It is a busy port with ships coming and going.  As we were going to shore to check out we noticed fishing boat was dragging toward our boat but there was a man working on getting it fixed.  We walked to town to Customs and checked out.  On our way back it was so hot we ask a local where we could get ice cream, he walked us 3 blocks to an ice cream place, how nice!  We noticed that in Suva people either tend to completely ignore you or go out of their way to help you.  When looking for a pump many business owners would make phone calls in our behalf even when we had nothing to gain.  We ended up ordering a pump online and shipping it to Mark and he will ship it to us.  Mike made tortillas and I used them to make enchiladas and we ate them while watching Shrek!

November 20, 2009

It was a beautiful sunny morning and very eventful!  We were up at 5AM made coffee and breakfast, then we pulled anchor only it was a little difficult.  Turns out our anchor was stuck in a ships anchor chain that had been discarded on the sea floor.  We thought we were going to have to get a diver to get it off our anchor, but after praying it miraculously came off, thank you Jesus.  Our anchor swivel was stuck in the up position, I thought if I just kept bringing it up it would fall back in place, bad plan.  The anchor flipped out of the track and swung and gouged several deep marks in the gel coat.  Bugger!  Mike got the anchor back in place and we were finally off to the Astrolabe Reef 42 miles to meet up with Charisma.  At 7:44 the main engine died, Argh!  Mike was able to make a work around, he thinks the fuel filter may be clogged.  We had light winds this morning but they picked up this afternoon.  We caught a Dorado 40+ inches long, thank you Jesus!  Mike was able to gaff the fish, he was too long for the fish cutting board.  We found 3 markers at the pass so it was easy to get through to Ono where Charisma is anchored.  Mike enjoyed eating gummy bears after a hard day on the boat!  Kristen made us spaghetti and fish for dinner, what a blessing.

November 21, 2009

It is sunny and windy today.  Mike is working on getting the fuel filter off the fuel pump.  He thinks that may be clogged.  I am praying for wisdom, .I believe all things are possible to him that believes!  This is a beautiful spot with friendly village people.  After much struggling Mike got the fuel pump out and painted and replaced the filter and it is running great!  We went to shore and went on a hike over the ridge, I should have known this meant ‘steep’.  Our guide, Steven, took us through and area that had recently caught on fire and everything was black.  This forest fire had lasted 3 days.  On the hike it was slippery and I fell, so I now have black soot on my white shorts and no washing machine in sight.  I am sweating like a pig and feel like I have been through a war.  Of course the other hikers are fine!  Having reached the other side it is a beautiful bay with lots of shells.  This is where the locals fish.  Now I have to slip and slide my way back to the other side where we came from.  After we got back Rochelle, the chief’s wife served us lemonade, very refreshing.  We are invited to church and lunch, a fundraiser, tomorrow.  We made dinner for Charisma, fish enchiladas.  Yummy and Jell-o and Oreo’s for dessert.

November 22, 2009

It was a very windy night last night and with the wind generator our batteries are charged 100%!  We had breakfast and got ready for church.  We went to church at 9:30AM, it was high tide but was still difficult to get through the coral.  Mike and Alan helped a local man fix a power issue in his home so he could have light.  Church starts at 10AM but people didn’t show up until 10:30.  The pastor spoke in Fijian about God’s love and used very few English words.  The music was good.  We gave the children balloons and chocolate.  Rochelle had asked for any empty containers we had, so we brought her what we had.  Lunch was fish, lobster, taro cooked three different ways, pineapple, cucumber and lemonade.  It was spread out on a table cloth, over a floor mat.  It was a pretty setting but there were lots of ants, on the food and on us.  The women ate after everyone else did and then they did the dishes.  The money they raised from us was for fuel to bring the kids home from school.  Then we were taken on a hike, by the chief’s son and a local girl, to the garden, interesting how they all do their gardens different in the South Pacific.  Then we went to the spring where they get their water and finally to a hot spring, but there were so many mosquitoes that we didn’t stay long.  Tonight we invited some locals to watch a movie and have popcorn on our boats.  Three guys went to Charisma and 2 women came to ours.  We picked them up at low tide, not fun.  They wanted to watch ‘Around the World in 80 days’ it was an interesting time.  It was so dark out when we took them home, if it wasn’t for them I don’t know if we would have found the way.

November 23, 2009

We decided to leave at 9AM, there was light wind, a little sun and partly cloudy.  We had a great sail. Alan caught a Wahoo and gave us ¾ of a 4’ fish.  Thank you Jesus and Alan and Kristen.  We went to the beautiful island of Yaukudelevu with a great beach.  We swam, collected shells, wandered through a resort that was in the making and met a local that gave us lots of papaya.  We are blessed.  Then we sailed to Dravuni Island another beautiful island.  Kristen and Alan went ashore and gave the Wahoo fish head to the chief.  They had been here before and the chief had told them not to throw away fish heads, they were the best eating part of the fish.  I cooked us fish for dinner, it was so good.  We went to bed early as we are to get up at o dark hour to sail 65 miles tomorrow, hopefully in daylight.

November 24, 2009

Mike couldn’t sleep so he got up at 3AM and took a shower and then got back in bed.  At 5AM we both got up, Mike kept hearing a weird noise, later we found out that two screws had corroded off the bracket that held the rudder.  Not good!  We pulled anchor at 5:30AM and by 7AM we had made good progress toward Gau, pronounced Now.   We had 12 to 15 knots of wind but the big swells slowed our progress.  Alan had 4 bites and landed 3 big fish, so he gave us another Wahoo.  The wind picked up and we were making 8 knots.  We got to Gau at 3PM and going through the pass we got a bite, it took our lure, bugger!  The guide book says when dropping your anchor to use a trip line as there is a lot of coral, so this could help retrieve your anchor if you get stuck.  The buoy on the trip line went under water.  So we had to get in the dinghy and Mike had to dive and tie a longer line to fix it.  What a guy!  Then we went to Charisma and picked up the fish they gave us, it will be abouy 7 meals, wow!  We discussed our plans and thought we may stay here for three days.

November 25, 2009

We had a peaceful night but Mike still got up early.  So I was up early to having coffee with him.  It was partly sunny and cloudy about 80 degrees, so I did washing and hung it out to dry.  Mike worked on tying fishing knots, a difficult project.  Later I read Ecclesiastes, confusing, “Do not be over righteous, neither be over wise, or over wicked.  Avoid all extremes, wisdom makes one wise man more powerful than 10 rulers in a city.  Today we plan to go a village by Herald Bay at high tide.  We were met at the seawall by lots of young children, too young for school.  An older man took us to the chief’s house.  When we arrived the chief had been sleeping and just woke up.  We were invited in to sit on the mat on the floor.  Then his son conducted the sevusevu with the kava we brought and he prayed over the kava in Fijian.  Then the men chatted about politics and their government with us.  We were told the government built their sea wall.  The village has a difficult time getting supplies from Suva so they are now working on getting a ferry on a regular basis to the village.  The son showed us around the village, we met a man with a parrot, a women making a mat and saw a 100 year old church.  Back at the boat I made lunch while Mike worked on making fishing lures using our wind shredded American flag.  Charisma moved on to the next anchorage around the corner while we stayed and relaxed reading on this rainy afternoon.

November 26, 2009

Today is Thanksgiving which of course is not celebrated here, and tomorrow it will be celebrated in the US.  We have no family around but our good friends on Charisma will celebrate with us.  We invited them to dinner, we are having chicken as we do not see turkey in the South Pacific.  It is rainy out today and we need to move our boat one mile to the next anchorage where Charisma is anchored.  We used a trip line in this anchorage too but had to add even more line as it is deeper here.  We were dragging and when we pulled up the anchor the chain and trip line were all tangled up.  Mike fixed it and dropped the anchor again, all is well.  Alan and Kristen came over and wanted some fuel to go to a resort around the corner, they had already met the people.  They invited us to go with them.  It was quite a distance over there.  We met Bonny, Mike and their boys Jack and Sam, very nice people.  They gave us a tour of the resort which is still being built, nice.  Then we were invited up to their home for a coke.  A fun part of our day.  When we got back to the boat there were a couple a men waiting to sell us papaya for $3 each, that was a little pricey and we already had 3 so we passed.  For dinner I made chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, Jell-O, pea salad, cuke salad, pumpkin soufflé, chocolate pudding with whip cream, chocolate cookies and wine.  We had a wonder time and shared with each other what we are thankful for.  And Mike ended the day with a trumpet song, I loved it!  God has truly blessed us all!

November 27, 2009

Partly sunny and cloudy with a light breeze.  We planned to move on this morning.  At 6:30AM we had coffee and banana cake for breakfast and then did a hand off of ice to Charisma.  They caught a Wahoo early this morning, and needed ice to keep it cold.  Our anchor came up very easy, thank you Jesus.  I don’t think we needed a trip line but the guide book recommended it, if we hadn’t put one on we probably would be stuck.  We are headed for Koro Island and have put out 2 fishing lines which were hand made lures by Michael.  We caught a 30” Barracuda with one of these gems!  We had a rain squall and survived and the rest of the sail was pretty uneventful.  We anchored in 10 meters near a woman that was fishing.  Mike asked her how the fishing was going and she said not good, only small ones.  Mike blessed her with the Barracuda and she was really happy.  It feels good to bless someone.  Later Mike blessed me with more trumpet playing!  I love it.  We had dinner and went to bed early.

November 28, 2009

It is cloudy and light winds are predicted.  We said a prayer that our anchor would not be stuck in coral and thank you Jesus it came right up!  We are headed to Savusavu today.  We worked on repairing fishing lures and Mike put line on his rod and reel that we haven’t used since Tahiti.  We are sailing in 10 -15 knots of wind on a close reach, not bad at all.  We made it back safe and sound and are tied up to our mooring.  It feels so good to be home, that is our home away from home!  We had a great time, didn’t catch much fish, even though we prayed we would stock up our freezer.  Alan caught lots and shared with us, God works in mysterious ways!  Mike played his trumpet and I finished reading Ecclesiastics.

November 29, 2009

Today is Sunday and we are going to church even though it is rainy.  I made a pasta dish for the potluck afterwards.  The music was in full swing by the time we arrived.  Great old songs sung with lots of enthusiasm.  The pastor preached one of my favorites Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future!” I love it.  We enjoyed the potluck, Alan had donated a fish and they had cooked it for the potluck.  We walked home from church and it was hot and sunny, but now it is cloudy and rainy but still hot!

November 30, 2009

It is the last day of November, how time flies!  It rained all night so we couldn’t open our windows so it is hot!  Mike seems to have heart episodes when he gets hot so we turned on our fan to cool him off, this morning our batteries were drained.  We have a lot of over ripe bananas and papaya so now we have lots of nats.  I used the fruit up and then cleaned everything with bleach and sprayed bug spray, hope the bugs are gone.  I took my laundry to shore and had a woman wash it.  I told her how I wanted things done and she kept smiling and shaking her head, come to find out she didn’t speak English.  So all my instructions were useless!  I warmed up left over fish for dinner.  We went to shore and took showers but not long after we were sweating, yes, like pigs again.

December 1, 2009

It was raining all last night so again we had to keep our windows closed and it was so hot.  To top it off we had a couple of flies on the boat.  You would think I would have killed them with the bug spray so I got out the fly swatter!  I decided to take more laundry ashore as my arms are killing me from wringing our wet clothes all the time.  When I went to shore I took our left over pancakes and was going to feed a skinny dog, if I saw one, I didn’t so I fed the fish, they seem to enjoy them.  Mike is working on fishing lures again.  He also checked us back into Customs.  I was surprised to see that on the door of the office, they had hung up the daily bible verse.  Now that is something you would not see in America.  This afternoon I played Baja Rummy with Kathy and Kristen at Decked Out, they have a fan!  Cool and fun time!  Mike played his trumpet for awhile and researched boat parts on line, very frustrating as the internet is painfully slow.  We kept opening and closing the windows all evening with the rain coming and going.  It is 95 degrees this evening.

December 2, 2009

It is hot again today but maybe a little cooler than yesterday.  Not much planned for today.  The good news is we received a refund into our bank account for the part we cancelled since they couldn’t send it until January 2010.  We went to the market today and bought papaya and pineapple to make salsa for the fish we are having for dinner, it was very good!  Mike dived on our mooring today and is a little concerned about whether it would hold in a hurricane.  Dolly is going to have it checked.  We checked on airline tickets again, no change in price.  No flies today! Yea!

December 3, 2009

Another beautiful day in paradise, a sunny and breezy 85 degrees!  I made French toast for breakfast, Mike wants to know if it’s French if it’s made in Fiji?  He plans to clean the engine room today, yucky job!  We are donating a chicken for a youth group function at the church for 100 kids, so I need to go buy one.  Kristen and I both went shopping.  Later we had dinner at the Seaview Café curry night for cruisers.  We went with Christy & Jeff, Kristen & Alan, and Eretta & Steve, who are former cruisers that are now living in Fiji.  Nice evening but the food wasn’t that great.  Kristen spent the night on our boat as Alan was getting up early to take some locals fishing.

December 4, 2009

After breakfast Kristen and I took a taxi to church to take our chicken and rice for the youth group.  We stayed all morning and helped peel potatoes and onions, and other women chopped garlic and cilantro, to make a curry dish.  Matilda cut up the chicken, it was a fun time but the women tended to talk Fijian so we didn’t know what they were saying.  Susan an Indian women invited us to her house to show us how to make roti.  That was really nice of her to take the time.  She doesn’t even want us to bring any supplies.  I walked back to town and had lunch at Captain’s Café while waiting for the travel agency to open to see what he might find us for tickets to fly home.  Mike had stayed on the boat and played his trumpet and also looked on line for a new trumpet case, his is falling apart.

December 5, 2009

It rained a lot last night but we were not able to catch much rain water as the hose on the bimini rain gutter came off.  It was a pretty nice day but it rained off and on.  We didn’t do much today, in the afternoon we had Chinese food with Charisma and then Mike and I walked to church for music practice.  Mike really enjoyed it and so did I.  The church went over their rules to abide by to participate on the worship team.  They are pretty strict.  Afterwards Matilda and Wes walked us to our boat.  They had to catch a taxi in town to get home.

December 6, 2009

It is Sunday and we pretty much spent the day at church, there was communion, a baptism, Christmas program and a potluck.  Mike played his trumpet in the orchestra until his lips hurt but he enjoyed it.  The men sang together after lunch, they are very good.  Lunch had much fish and crabs.  The people really eat a lot.  Almost everyone was involved in the Christmas program.  We forgot the candy today and all the kids kept asking for it.  It was a good day and good service.  Mike and I had pizza at Decked Out on our way home, yum!

December 7, 2009

It is a nice morning, Alan and Kristen picked me up and we walked to Susan’s house for our roti lesson.  She was so glad we came.  She showed us her house, it was very nice compared to most and then she served us juice and donuts.  Then we watched her make roti.  She rolled the first couple out with a rolling pin, they were perfectly round.  Then we tried, I could not make a round one at all and neither could Kristen.  Susan said it takes practice!  She insisted we take the roti’s home for lunch for Mike and Alan.  She said she really wanted to bless us and that she is always blessed by God.  Mike picked us up in the dinghy and we were all dripping wet, it had started to rain.  Mike cleaned the bilge while I was gone and he was dripping sweat.  We had hot curry soup and roti’s for dinner while we watched Shrek 2 and 3.

December 8, 2009

Wes came to visit today, he leads the worship team at church.  I served papaya salsa with chips and also cookies I had made from Suzanna’s grated coconut she gave me on Sunday.  She usually throws it away after she squeezes the coconut milk out of it.  It was pretty tasteless after that so I probably won’t use it again.  Wes borrowed some of our Christian CD’s.  Mike and Wes visited until I got back from playing cards with the girls this afternoon.  Christy played cards with us today, we had a good time and I won again.  After cards we walked through town and did some shopping on our way back.  I stopped at immigration to check on extending our visa.  We have to pay $93F each to extend our visa for two months.  The next extension is $467 each for 6 months.  The bummer is that we only need to extend for a few weeks, not 6 months but there is no other option, except to leave the country.  If we go home by January 18^th we would avoid these fees. But we would spend $2000 each to go home so that is not the way to look at it.

December 9, 2009

Mike is working on a cover to go over the hatches so we can keep them open when it rains and not get wet.  That will be so great, since it rains so much these days.   I am working on getting rust and mildew out of some laundry, it is not going well.  The song ‘You can never out give the Lord” keeps going through my mind.  Lyn is interviewing for a job today, our prayers are with her. 

December 10, 2009

It is cloudy, sprinkling and warm.  I am working on laundry and Mike is checking on boat parts.  Mike is also helping Alan do some epoxy work on his boat.  Read Song of Solomon’s.  I don’t understand this book, it is a love story but very different.  We decided not to go home in January unless we feel led to.  Since we are going to be home in 9 months it doesn’t make sense to spend the money!  I made more chocolate no bake cookies.  We broke down and went to shore and had pizza for dinner at the yacht club.  Then I finished a book and went to bed.

December 11, 2009

It didn’t rain much this morning but it is making up for it now.  Today we read Songs of Solomon in the message bible.  The introduction says it  is a love song for a bride and groom, or a relationship between you and Christ.  It makes a little more sense now.  Since it is raining so much we plugged the drains on the deck and open the water tank on the starboard side.  Then we went to shore to a Christmas fair at Deck Out where we listened to Christmas music by a church’s youth group and had lunch.  Charisma was there too.  Then we went to the market for spinach so I could make a special recipe.  I bought a new skirt and Mike bought a Fiji flag, ours had shredded.  It is still raining but Praise God our water tanks are full!

December 12, 2009

We went to town in the rain to look for guitar strings, it is amazing they had them.  We hear everyone plays a guitar in Fiji and there doesn’t seem to be any other instruments.  Back at the boat Mike fixed his guitar and then sang Christmas songs.  I painted my finger nails and toe nails to match my new skirt.  We are going to a fundraiser dinner held at Island Breeze by two AOG churches, ours and 3”C’s.  It was $10 per person donation that will go to help the local hospital for pillows or mattresses.  The dinner was a potluck put on by the ladies club, then there was entertainment by one of the churches.  Then dessert of pineapple pie, very good.  Pam and Graham, KIWI missionaries gave us a ride there and back.  Mike came with Wes after music practice in a taxi.

December 13, 2009

It is still raining and I have filled our water tanks and every jug and bucket I could find.  Mike went to church early along with Alan.  Kristen is picking me up.  Last night we were given a flower necklace that smelled so good but this morning it doesn’t look so good or I was going to wear it to church.  Pastor Ronny, the assistant pastor preached on ‘remember we are in the midst of a trial for a reason, so learn what it is.’  After church pastor Clark picked us up and drove us to our dinghy since it was raining.  Alan called on the VHF to let us know there was a cyclone warning with wind speed of 70 kilometers per hour.  All of Fiji is on alert for the next 48 hours.  So we battened everything down.  We noticed how Sharazod wrapped a line around the boom to help hold his sail, good idea so Mike did that too.  Right now there are just gale force winds but you never know when things will change.

December 14, 2009

Last night winds reach 25 knots so Mike tied down the wind generator.  The wind did pick up to 30 knots and we couldn’t sleep, we were up at 5AM.  Wind speed is only 20 knots this morning.  The weather report says the storm has made a slight change which means the system is farther away, which is good as the storm has intensified.  We are just hanging around, stuck on the boat but thank you Jesus we are safe.  The weather reports are so old that we don’t really know what is happening.  At 2PM the eye of the cyclone is over Lautoka and there has been much damage in the Yasawa’s.  We have fellow cruisers on their boats at Vuda Point Marina, near Lautoka.  Winds picked up here to 25 knots again but didn’t last.  Now they average only10 knot and lots of rain.  We were doing the LaPaz waltz with Sharazod.  I called them to make sure they knew, they turned their wheel and now we are keeping our distance.  We backed away from them be we just floated together again.  Our boat has a few leaks today, two spots above our bed .and one in the salon.

December 15, 2009

Only 10 days until Christmas!  We had a decent night sleep and the weather is much better today.  And we see the sun!  Mike has been busy this morning untying the dinghy and dumping the water out of it and putting the cockpit back together, all while I made breakfast.  I have used a lot of the rainwater cleaning up and washing our sheets.  Mike hung the clothes line back up so the sheets could dry.  No cards today, we changed the play day to Thursdays and then the guys could join us afterwards for dinner at Decked Out.  Videen’s are mailing our stuff to us, so we should have boat parts soon!  Christy and Jeff from Sharazod came over for popcorn, it was nice to get to know them.

December 16, 2009

I forgot to write in my journal for a few days so I am trying to remember what has transpired.  The thing I remember most is that it rain, and I am tired of it raining and tired of writing ‘it rained today’.  I went to the store with Kristen.  I bought Napi San which Christy swears by for stains.  You have to dissolve it in boiling water and then soak your clothes in it overnight.  We had dinner with Kristen and Alan, nice evening.

December 17, 2009

Wes came over today, Wednesdays are his visiting day.  He spent most the day on our boat.  I made popcorn no bake cookies as an experiment, it didn’t go well, the balls didn’t stick together, they didn’t taste bad.  Mike and Wes hung our Christmas lights up on deck in the shape of a Christmas tree, we got lots of compliments but they take way too much power to keep on.  I played cards with Kristen and Kathy and the guys joined us later for pizza.  We are trying to decide on Christmas gifts for pastor & Suzanne, and for Charisma.  What to do?

December 18, 2009

Today is sunny, cloudy and windy but overall night.  We received an email today that Moonduster sank in the cyclone over at Octopus resort.  We just talked to Wayne and questioned him sailing to the Yasawa’s in cyclone season.  They were able to abandon ship and we are waiting to hear more information.  We also heard Scarlett O’Hara and Bold Spirit suffered through 70kt sustained winds for 8 hours but survived and no damage! Thank you Jesus!  I cleaned the forward head today, the walls, ceiling and floor and of course the toilet, lots of rust and mildew, but now it is sparkling clean.  Mike used the new disposable razor we bought here, it was bad, he pitched it and used his old one, and he said that was better.  Mike is researching LED options, anything to conserve power.  Kristen is teaching the pastors twin boys to swim and today is their first lesson.  We let them use our kick boards and they loved it.

December 19, 2009

The charging system on the main engine doesn’t seem to be working today.  It may be the regulator, Mike took the regulator off the genset and put it on the main engine and that worked.  Kristen and Alan had dinner with us.  I made fish curry and a salad with the feta I bought at Cost U Less.  Very good.  Mike went to worship team rehearsal at the church tonight.  When he came home, Wes came with him to see the Christmas lights.

December 20, 2010

Beautiful sunny day.  Mike went to church early, so I went later with Charisma.  I made my own version of the dalo leaves only I used spinach.  It really isn’t as good as Suzanna’s.  The dalo leaves must be boiled three times before us white folks eat them or they cause our throat to itch.  We also have to wear gloves while preparing the leaves and the root, so that is why I went the spinach way.  Pastor’s sermon was “God is in control, it is Gods plan”.  With all the boat issues we have to know He is in control.  The potluck lunch was great which was followed by lemon tea.  Suzanna just picked leaves off the lemon tree and put it in with the tea, it was so good!  I helped do dishes and was surprised to find there was running water but no hot water and no soap.  These are poor people but they never hesitate to have us stay for lunch.

December 21, 2009

We got together with Charisma and took pastor’s family out to split rock for a picnic and more swimming lessons for the boys.  The oldest boy wouldn’t swim and it was a hot day, it would have been a nice way to cool off.  Kristen and I snorkeled and then I swam all the way back to the boat.  Once everyone else came back we had lunch.  I made egg salad sandwiches, they hadn’t had them before so Suzanna wanted to know how to make them.  Kristen made tuna sandwiches and Suzanna made fried eggs and dalo chips.  Then we enjoyed cookies and watermelon before heading home.  We had a beautiful sail both ways, a very enjoyable day except Mike got sunburned, if I don’t put sunscreen on him, he doesn’t put it on himself!

December 22, 2009

It is sunny and windy out today.  I made a big breakfast an omelet with avocados, pancakes and watermelon, brain food so Mike can work on our charging problem.  I went shopping to get food for the holiday dishes I plan to prepare.  When I returned to the boat Wes and Lai were helping Mike with the battery issue.  They discovered that the meters Mike was using to test with may not be correct.  He had borrowed Alan’s meter and compared them all and they all read something different except Alan’s read the same as our boat gauge read.  I had hung out laundry before I went shopping and went I went to bring it in, my shorts were missing, I found them on the back step, lucky me! I am thinking about writing a Christmas email to all our friends and family.

December 23, 2009

It was a very nice morning.  We took a bus along with Kristen and Alan to go to Wes & Matilda, where they planned a lovo, Fijian feast cooked in the ground, along with Lai & Ida.  First they built a huge fire, then they topped it with lots of rocks and while it was getting hot they prepared taro.  Taro is a plant where the root is like a large potato and the leaf is like spinach only much larger.  The leaves are called Dalo, they washed the leaves and then placed chopped onion and coconut milk in the center and then fold the leaf together so the milk could not leak out.  The guys husk and grated 25 coconuts to get enough coconut milk to make this special dish.  Once the coconut is grated it is squeezed to extract the milk.  Then they wrapped each Dalo leaf in a banana leaf.  Then they were wrapped again in a bread fruit leaf.  This was my favorite dish.  Then they used the coconut shell and put fish, onion, tomato and coconut milk together.  Then they wrapped 5 chickens in palm leaves that were woven together kind of like a basket around each chicken.  All this food was placed on the rocks in order of how long it took to cook.  Then they covered the food with tons of leaves from the breadfruit tree, the banana, the coconut palm branches and then they put gunny sacks on top of the leaves and then lots of dirt until the smoke stopped coming out.  They let this cook for one hour.  While we were waiting for the food to cook, Ida took us on a hike down to the beach.  She showed us where her and Matilda fish everyday.  Emily, Matilda’s sister and Mitchell their nephew were also there, and the landlord Ratu.  When the food was done they had to carefully remove the dirt and then everything went into a wheel barrel and brought to the table.  Alan contributed fish and I had made salad.  We ate dinner, it was delicious.  Then we sang songs and then got a taxi back to town.  It was a wonderful day.

December 24, 2009

Today is a beautiful sunny and windy day, it is charging our batteries.  Kristen and I went to town.  We are having a progressive dinner tonight with several boats.  Dinner started at 3PM, with appetizers on Imagine with Berit & Haakon from Norway, they made curry prawn soup.  Then Christy & Jeff on Sharazod brought smoked fish and cream cheese and veggies.  Salads were on Airwego and I made pea salad, corn salad, cabbage salad and Jell-O salad.  Then we went to Charisma, with Kristen and Alan who made beef and fish curry, and an Italian couple Alex & Salina brought vegetable curry.  They had two boys, one toddler and one baby.  Then we were off to Po Oina Roa with Jerry & Kathi who made dessert of Christmas cookies and pumpkin squares. And she had a movie for the toddler to watch, he fell asleep.  Brian a single handler came in last night and Useri from the marina, they were invited as well.  Then we all sang Christmas carols until we could handle no more and back at our bed fell fast asleep.

December 25, 2009

We were so amazed at how well our boats could handle so many people at our progressive dinner, it was really fun.  It rained last night after our party.  This morning we had coconut rolls, watermelon and pineapple for breakfast.  This morning it is cloudy but not raining, thank you Jesus.  We made chocolate cheese cake and a salad to take to pastor’s house, they invited Charisma and us to Christmas dinner.  We took a taxi and when we arrived pastor Ronny and Nalow were there too along with two other guys.  They were waiting for us to eat, the table was all set very pretty and with tons of food.  They had also made a lovo, and we know just how much work that was.  They even had a Christmas tree with lights.  Kristen and I put together a Christmas gift for the pastor’s family, we didn’t know that others would be there.  We gave the boys each a shirt and DVDs, Pastor a couple of books and Suzanna some personal things along with new sheets and pillow cases.  And some popcorn, a cake mix and some oil.  Suzanna seemed a little over whelmed.  Pastor gave Mike a red Bula shirt that he was wearing one day and Mike admired it, he gave Alan one too, Suzanna had said pastor’s tummy was peaking out so he wanted to give them to the guys!  Suzanna gave Kristen and I 3 plantains each, her gesture was appreciated.  We had tea with dessert and then tea again before we left.  It was a wonderful day.  Kristen and Alan stopped by our boat for a small gift we had for them before they headed home.

December 26, 2009

Today is Christmas at home and our only plan was to make calls home to family and loved ones.  But the website is down and the people that run it are out of town for a week! Bugger!  Mike cut his hair and we composed a Christmas email to friends and family.  I finished reading the book of Lamentations and then read the “Saga of Cimba” a sailing tale, to Mike.  Mike only reads technical manuals or computer magazines!  We went to shore and showered, had a pizza and then walked to the church for worship team practice.

December 27, 2009

It is Sunday today.  I made oatmeal with custard for breakfast.  Then Mike left with Alan to go to church.  I made chocolate no bake cookies for the potluck today.  Kristen picked me up and we took a taxi to church.  It was a great service and we really felt his presence in the worship.  We had lunch with pastor and family and another visitor named Freddie.  My cookies were a hit.  When we got back to the boat our batteries were charged to 101.4, thank you Jesus.  I decided to run the refer for 20 minutes.  The wind was turning the wind generator too so that was a help.  Alan came, or Santa came, he made eggplant banana hot sauce, very good.  I added it to my guacamole for some pep.  We also got some cello sponges, the good kind, these can only be found at Cost U Less in the South Pacific and mine were all bad, so this was a good thing! And party napkins, yea!  Long day, to bed early!

December 28, 2009

It was so windy last night Mike tied the wind generator down.  This morning is nice and sunny and light winds.  We went to shore in search of ice.  For $3.50 we got 3 small blocks of ice.  The chicken is thawed so I had to cook it.  Today is a holiday so no water pump parts in the mail.  Mike took the Christmas tree down and is cleaning the engine room.  I am doing laundry.  We got email that says parts are in Fiji – thank you Jesus!

December 29, 2009

It is windy and sunny today.  The refer is 41 degrees and the batteries are at a low of 87 degrees, not good.  Mike and I took our dinghy to shore and ran out of fuel.  But we rowed the rest of the way and were able to get our internet connection squared away.  The owners turned off the service since they were out of town, we can’t believe it! Very frustrating.  Mike took the dinghy to get fuel and I went to get ice.  I got a huge bag of crushed ice for $3.  Mike went to help Alan and I went to swimming lessons with Kristen.  We swam in the spot where the hot spring comes down to the bay.  It was very hot on the beach and we had to stay in the water so our feet didn’t burn.  After the lessons we took showers and then joined Kathi to play cards.  I made cookies tonight, Wes is coming tomorrow.

December 30, 2009

Today Wes, Matilda, Emily and Mitchell came for lunch.  I invited Kristen too.  I made teriyaki fish, rotis’ like tortillas, fried bananas, corn salad and a vegetable plate and of course chocolate cookies.  Before we ate the Copra Shed called and said our package arrived, so Mike and Wes went to the post office to pick it up just before they closed.  Mike bought more crushed ice too.  We had a nice lunch.  When we opened our package we were disappointed to see the water pump was not the direct replacement that it was supposed to be, it had been redesigned over time and would require a lot of work to make fit.  Good thing we got ice today.  We also received Starbucks coffee from Rita, thank you!  And a very fitting t-shirt from jack and Phyllis “Take the Boat Out Matthew 14:22.  He obviously thought boating to be critical to the spiritual moral and mental well being of every person.  Try to remember His words when the engine has conked out, the food is all gone, the radar is broken, the pump stopped working, the charts went overboard and you just hit a rock… Videen’s sent it all with our parts!  Thank you good friends!  Now time to go to music practice.

December 31, 2009

The last day of the year!  Mike is working on making the water pump work.  The pump doesn’t fit at all, they altered the main parts size!  Now What!  I have done laundry, dishes and prayed.  May God grant lots of wisdom and hope.  Our hope is in Him.  Mike had discussed using an electric pump with a couple of other cruisers.  I guess that is what we will try and believe it or not we have one.  At 11AM our batteries are charged and we are running the refer, thank you Jesus.  On Saturday we invited Lai and Ida for dinner and on Sunday Malo and Deanna, this way we can visit with locals and use up our fish.  We ate lunch and then called Videen’s to say Happy New year and many thanks!  We are to go to church for a new years service and are running late, we don’t want pastor to worry that Mike wont be there playing his trumpet.  We didn’t plan on eating dinner but they wouldn’t hear of it, so Mike ate after the service.  The church invited 5 other churches approximately 100 people to a new years service.  Mike wore the shirt that pastor gave him for Christmas, pastor was impressed.  There was a lot of music but it didn’t turn out as good as at practice, it was too loud, but the Fijians really get into there music and didn’t seem to mind.  They dished everyone’s plate for them, no choosing what you want.  Most the people ate with their fingers and when I asked for a fork they said "just use your fingers, it’s the Fijian way” but then someone brought me a fork.  Matilda and Emily were the fly patrol, they always swat at the flies, it is a big deal here.  There were 5 preaches and they all preached 15 minutes each, so a long service.  People started leaving before it was over.  They had a lot of action songs where the youth performed.  And several testimonies but mostly given in Fijian so I have no idea what they said.  There was tea to bring the New Year in but only about 20 people were left.  Wes and Lai got guitars and we had a sing along.  Then at midnight they have this thing where they ‘wet you’.  Basically they pour water on you but if they do they have to pre plan it and bring you a dry shirt but you get to keep the shirt.  Anyway they wet Mike.  Then they went around the table with baby powder and sprinkled it on everyone’s head.  Seems like a silly custom but they are really into it. And since the powder is white and there skin is not…They suggested charcoal for Mike and me but thank goodness they didn’t do that.  Dan drove us home, they didn’t want us out in the dark tonight, they said it wasn’t safe.  After he dropped us at the marina, we found the gates were locked.  Mike climbed over a tall fence but I couldn’t. So I walked about a block to another dock where he took our dinghy to pick me up.  Great New Years!