YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2011/06/22 02:06 LATITUDE: 17-27.45S LONGITUDE: 177-02.76E MARINE: NO WIND_SPEED: 6 WIND_DIR: 059T CLOUDS: 20% VISIBILITY: 25 BARO: 1013 AIR_TEMP: 32.2C COMMENT: Beach House – ANCHORED – Navadra Island. s/v Wetnose is next to us. Passed Monoriki Island today where Tom Hanks movie \”Castaway\” was filmed.
Blog
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POSITION REPORT
YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2011/06/16 06:58 LATITUDE: 17-46.21S LONGITUDE: 177-11.28E MARINE: NO WIND_SPEED: 6 WIND_DIR: 059T CLOUDS: 20% VISIBILITY: 25 BARO: 1015 AIR_TEMP: 28.7C COMMENT: Beach House – Moored – Malololailai (Musket Cove)…..boat projects tomorrow!
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Malololailai…..
June 1st – 9th, 2011
Okay, say Malololailai ten times real fast! Betcha\’ can\’t do it….:)
Dear F&F,
We picked up mooring and checked into Musket Cove. The reefs here are something to be very wary of. They\’re often just awash and you can\’t see them. Glad the electronic charts are spot on here.
Diving: We started Kate\’s diving class today. She\’s a natural and will have no worries at all. Dinghy 101: Kate thought it looks cool when a gal drives the dinghy so lessons began today. Other than my broken toe, it was all good…:)
June 2nd We hated the pool here, the visiability was worse than the ocean. So, we did confined water dives 3,4 & 5 in the ocean in a \”pool like environment\”. Much better. Kate will start her first \”Open Water Dives\” tomorrow….
June 3rd Correction, Kate got a bit too inebriated last night and will start her Open Water dives tomorrow! I went out for two nice dives with Roberta and Patrice. I went to check the haul out here. NO WAY. They want me to do everything but drive the tractor that pulls the boat out of the water. Plan B will be in order. More on that later. The saildrive isn\’t leaking that bad. It can wait.
June 4th Kate did Open Water 1&2. Absolutely no sweat.
June 6th Kate finished Open Water dives 3&4, she\’s now the newest \”PADI GIRL\”.
June 7th We did her first dive as a certified diver at \”The Pinnacle\”. Amazing. Nice swim though at 74 feet. The top of the pinnacle at 28 feet looked like an amazing aquarium. At least 5 species of clowns, lots of different types of anemones, lion fish, damsel fish, bubble coral galore. The entire 40 feet by 40 feet was covered in \”life\”. Oh this was a \”Cindy Dive\” for sure.
June 8th Surfs UP! We met Greg, an Aussie on the boat next door. He took me and Kate surfing to Wilkes Channel. Kate got a bit beat up and was \”rescued\” by the cute guys. She was taken to lunch at the island resort (Namotu), very exclusive. She came away with lots of emails and phone numbers. Oh to be young and adorable. It\’s that easy isn\’t it?….
I actually rode two waves. Nice sweet right handers about 3-4 foot face. First time in really 20 years. It was somewhat like riding a bike. My exercise program paid off so I didn\’t expire paddling the board.
June 9th Returned to Vuda Point Marina. Happy Birthday Gaye (Skye\’s Mom). Skye\’s is tomorrow!
More later, awaiting Sandrine\’s arrival on Monday from Hawaii….Kate may soon move on to her next boat ride….. KIT, Scott with Kate on computer, texting, facebooking and all that other stuff 30 year olds do…. Vuda Point Marina, Fiji
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New Zealand to Fiji….A synopsis
May 31st, 2011
\”I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends\”…. The Beatles
Dear F&F, We\’re in Vuda Point Marina just south of Lautoka where we checked in. I thought this song was appropriate as Kate is from Essex near London.
Kate was great in the watch, sailing, cooking, companion and everything else category. A great attitude and disposition.
We had a raucous ride, but a good one. I hope you enjoyed my \”Magical Mystery Tour\” along the northward trail from New Zealand to Fiji. The deep V cut like a knife. The wound will not heal. It shouldn\’t……
Checking in: We did the Customs Tango here and boy was it weird. This is the most bureaucratic nation I\’ve ever checked into. As the government here is technically in a \”marshal law\” state of affairs they want to know your underwear size. The forms were thick, the questions lengthy. All in all the folks are great however. Several trips were required to go to the various offices to get cleared in, cruising permits, etc.
Anchoring: We went to drop the hook and the windlass (thing that raises and lowers the anchor) didn\’t work. I had to use the stern one. We dragged the anchor twice and it was quite the drill to prevent \”the house\” from crashing into other boats and oh yes, the DOCK! After that was sorted, all was good.
We went to Vuda Point (pronounced VUNDA) and they fixed the windlass motor and re-mounted the water maker which flew off the wall on a big crashing wave and some other minor stuff. We\’ll see about the haul out facility at Musket Cove tomorrow.
Clean up inside and out and off to Musket Cove, Malololailai Island to do Kate\’s PADI Open Water course and have some relaxing fun.
KIT, Scott with wide awake Kate….Facebooking like a fiend!…:)
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POSITION REPORT
YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2011/06/09 06:40 LATITUDE: 17-40.82S LONGITUDE: 177-23.19E MARINE: NO WIND_SPEED: 6 WIND_DIR: 059T CLOUDS: 20% VISIBILITY: 15 BARO: 1011 AIR_TEMP: 26.7C COMMENT: Beach House – Med Moored – Vuda Point Marina….Sandrine, we\’re waiting for you!….Kate\’s Facebooking the \”boys\”….:)
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POSITION REPORT
YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2011/06/01 10:11 LATITUDE: 17-46.24S LONGITUDE: 177-11.39E MARINE: NO WIND_SPEED: 6 WIND_DIR: 059T CLOUDS: 90% VISIBILITY: 5 BARO: 1014.6 AIR_TEMP: 24.5C COMMENT: Beach House – MOORED – Malololailai Island (Musket Cove). Kate starts diving tomorrow! (Say Malololailai ten times real fast!…:)
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POSITION REPORT
YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2011/05/27 02:25 LATITUDE: 17-35.96S LONGITUDE: 177-26.50E MARINE: NO WIND_SPEED: 6 WIND_DIR: 059T CLOUDS: 20% VISIBILITY: 25 BARO: 1013 AIR_TEMP: 32.8C COMMENT: Beach House – Med Moored – Vuda Point Marina. Windlass and Sail drive repairs. BIG clean up to do as well….
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POSITION REPORT
YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2011/05/26 03:35 LATITUDE: 17-35.97S LONGITUDE: 177-26.49E MARINE: NO WIND_SPEED: 12 WIND_DIR: 043T CLOUDS: 30% VISIBILITY: 25 BARO: 1010.6 AIR_TEMP: 30.6C COMMENT: Beach House – ANCHORED – Lautoka, Fiji (7 days 20 hours). All checked in, moving to Vuda Point Marina tomorrow for check out of sail drive and a few other \”delightful projects\”. We\’ll be there at least two days getting cleaned up (sorted as Kate would say). The most bureaucratic check in ever, easy enough.
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POSITION REPORT
YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2011/05/26 03:35 LATITUDE: 17-35.97S LONGITUDE: 177-26.49E MARINE: NO WIND_SPEED: 12 WIND_DIR: 043T CLOUDS: 30% VISIBILITY: 25 BARO: 1010.6 AIR_TEMP: 30.6C COMMENT: Beach House – ANCHORED – Lautoka, Fiji (7 days 20 hours). All checked in, moving to Vuda Point Marina tomorrow for check out of saildrive and a few other \”delightful projects\”. We\’ll be there at least two days getting cleaned up (sorted as Kate would say). The most bureaucratic check in ever, easy enough.
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Yesterday…..
May 25th, (Eastern Hemisphere), 2011 – 8:30 p.m. Our Last Night at Sea….
Conditions: 18 degrees 45 minutes SOUTH 177 degrees 20 minutes EAST Wind: East, 30 knots (It\’s still blowing!) Swell: East, 2 – 2.5 meters (We\’re getting some reef protection) Heading: 340 True Speed: 5.5 knots 3 reefs in the main, no head sail (We\’re trying to go slow for a daylight entry) Barometer: 1013.8 and rising 55 miles to \”Navalu Pass\”, the reef entrance to Lautoka 75 miles to Lautoka, Fiji (Fiji\’s second largest commercial port near Nadi (pronounced Nandi))
\”Yesterday\”…..The Beatles
Dear F&F, As this is our last night \”at sea\” and the left side of my \”Deep V\” into and out of New Zealand. I thought it was important to reflect on \”Yesterday\”. I listen to lots of music out here and this song which we\’ve all heard 1000 times had me feel today why it was a timeless melody. It will be the end of tonight\’s post.
We\’re approaching Viti Levu, the main Island of Fiji. Fiji literally has 100\’s of islands, but Viti Levu and Vanua Levu (where we will go to Savusavu \”someday\”…:)) are the two largest. This is considered the most complicated navigational area in perhaps the entire world. There are still lists of \”uncharted\” reefs, possible underwater volcanos, etc. that are not published and not on navigational charts. As such, it\’s a place to be especially careful of at night. When approaching a place like this, one doesn\’t do so without a great deal of caution. Night entries are not advised! That\’s why we will wait till morning light before going into the reef system. It\’s pitch black out here tonight, no stars or moon with 100% cloud covered sky\’s. Other vessels are around too. On the radio tonight, we heard two other boats waiting to enter the pass in the morning. There could be several more we didn\’t hear too.
We\’re finally getting some protection to the east by Kandavu Island, the Great Astrolabe Reef and Beqa (pronounced Benga) Lagoon\’s reef system. These are what\’s knocked down the \”fetch\” distance reducing the swell from the full oceanic 3.5 meters to a much more comfortable 2 meters.
Most beginners to boating think it\’s the long distances of passages that are the greatest danger. In truth, it\’s actually being near land. Hitting \”land\” (reefs) is much more hazardous to our health than banging into waves. We must be more vigilant in our watch keeping close to shore and maintain the best possible night vision. There are navigational aids (lights in particular) here, but we must still approach with caution as these sometimes don\’t work in the third world or a change that hasn\’t been published shows us an aid that is mis-marked. Such is the life of the ocean going sailor, amateur, professional and everyone in between.
So on this note, I will leave you with my day\’s catharsis and tomorrow give a synopsis of our passage and plans over the next few weeks.
\”Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away, now it looks as though their here to stay, oh I believe in yesterday. Why she had to go, I don\’t know, she wouldn\’t say? Something\’s wrong, now I long for yesterday.\” I guess it says it all. I have no choice but to move forward. I\’m still shocked and confused, I long for \”Yesterday\”…..
Nighty night, don\’t let the bed bugs bite…..I hope you\’ve all enjoyed my musical tour, sailing from Auckland, New Zealand to Lautoka, Fiji. It\’s been for the most part, a \”downwind joyride\”….. Scott with resting Kate