Yasawa Adventures With Friends

 Sidewinder is so happy to be cruising again, especially when she finds such magical places!

 David and Riki disappeared one afternoon and came back with the first catch of the season. YUM!

 Snorkeling along this reef was splendid with so many species of coral and colorful fish.

                    Riki's camera was able to help capture the fun we had for two days.

                      Capt Dave feels right at home at last!

     Sidewinder was leading the way through the reefs as Guava followed close behing

      Nalauwaki Bay is a hidden paradise at the north end of Waya. How beautiful is this?!!!

 Our hike with Tiko up to the top of the spire was so invigorating.....for Suzi. David is wondering......

        What an amazing view and such a fabulous time spent with good friends!

 Glenda, from s/v Helena, Tiko, our fearless guide, and dear friends Peter and Diana from Quickstar

        What an amazing spot for relaxation and reflection

        So good to share these moments with Peter and Riki

           Hard to believe the wind was howling outside. What a great retreat!

 Villagers here are quite wealthy and the pigs seem happy as long is a feast time is not near.

 Marianne showed us how to jump in the pools and shower up. What a treat to have fresh water close by.

From Vuda to Musket to the Yasawas Enjoying the Sidewinder Life

Two days ago, I swam with an incredible, graceful, huge manta ray and what a rush that was!!!!Three weeks after leaving Vuda Pt, we are now back in Korovou Bay on Naviti Island in the Yasawas,  hanging out with Guava and Quickstar and will continue to work our way up the chain of the Yasawas. With a new chain and new prescription drugs, a few more jars of peanut butter, pickles and Best Foods Mayonnaise from Cost U Less, and fresh veggies, we escaped one more time from Vuda Pt and headed out for Musket Cove with Riki on Guava Jelly, close behind. We took advantage of the calm seas to go out to Cloudbreaks and watch some of the Volcum Surf Contest and were delighted to be greeted by dolphins and good waves, although the surf had dropped. Friends, Christi and Greg from Seattle hitched a ride with Guava and joined us in the festivities.We had more barbeques at the Sunset Bar and touched base with wonderful friends we will miss, but it was very much time to finally get away.  We headed out on our last Mamanuca/Yasawa adventure in Fiji with Guava and Helena, a little over a week ago, with the intention of hooking up with Quickstar. After a pretty rocky first night off of Yanuya Island, with strong wind, we had a great sail up to the beautiful bay of Nalauwaki, on the north shore of the first Yasawa Island, and found a stunning place to hide! We looked up at magnificent rock spires with green hills all around; the village was neatly nestled at one end of the bay and a fresh water stream emptied not too far away. Our next four days included sevusevu with warm, smiling villagers, an incredible hike to the top of one of the spires with Tiko, wonderful fresh water baths, two days of fabulous snorkeling, Capt David catching the first fish of the season, drinking kava on Quickstar with Tiko and his girlfriend, and, of course, just sharing good times with our friends. Tomorrow we will head up to Blue Lagoon and deliver some items for a local friend whose family lives up there, and then we will make our way back down to ready ourselves for leaving Fiji and heading to Vanuatu. It is so great to be back in the warm water again and the time spent with the manta has been the highlight so far. Riki took a video of our swim with the manta, but we need to figure out how to send some still pictures from that. The photos will help show our venture so far and at least give you a sense of living the life. Love to all. and Happy Fathers Day to all of you dads.

Finally the new chain appeared and David quickly got it read to load up on Sidewinder

While in Musket, we discovered the main wenches needed to be re-built.

Those who surf Cloudbreaks are some of the best surfers in the world. It was a mellow day.

The dolphins kept us company as we watched these athletes perform for Volcum

From Musket to Denarau and Back to Vuda Pt

We certainly have had an interesting adventure in the last few weeks. It began with bringing in the new birthday year for Suzi, with a new Fiji dress and cocktail party hosted by David on Sidewinder, followed by a special dinner at Dick's Restaurant. The following week included playing tennis, surfing and snorkeling, opening the new Island Bar with our friends, along with the wonderful gift of testing out our dive gear with Dels, who guided us out Wilks Pass with a large, friendly turtle, a huge ray, two eels, and lots of very colorful fish and coral. Unfortunately, the effects of a fall I took a week earlier, along with an unidentifiable infection with fever, left me flat so we headed for Prt Denarau where we could find a doctor. We were greeted by the HARD Rock Cafe's rendition of the song "YMCA" and, since they dance to it every 2-3 hours, it will live in our memories forever.:)) We were able  to do lots of shopping for specialty items, visit  a wonderful doctor who diagnosed me with a UTI  (urinary tract infection) and put me on a strong anti-biotic, we enjoyed, again, some special time with friends, and finally escaped last Thursday. Sailing back to Vuda Pt  was a real treat and our dear friends Peter and Diana on Quickstar, Ricki on Guava Jelly,  and the marina locals greeted us with open arms. We were hoping to find our new chain here, but, unfortunately it has not arrived yet. We had a fabulous "thirsty thursday" afternoon/evening with Diana and Peter and they have since left for Musket Cove. We had hoped to get back out there by Saturday, but hopefully our chain will arrive sometime today and we will not have to come back for a while. Meanwhile, we have been enjoying our time with Ricki and some other friends from Seattle, as well as watching the launching of the new viewing/restaurant/bar Cloud9 platform which will be placed out inside the reef at Cloudbreaks, an internationally known surf break here near Tavarua. Wow! It is beautiful and an inspiration to all the Fijians who worked on it. Tony, the son of the Vuda Pt marina owner, had the vision and helped to make it happen. What will it do to the ambience of the surf break? Who knows. Saturday all the bigtime surfers will be out there competing in the huge waves (which are coming up in the next few days). Meanwhile, we hope to go back out and join Quickstar in Musket and perhaps do some real venturing for a few more weeks. It is raining right now, so the weather will direct us from now on, and we do hope our chain arrives today..  Hope the summer is bringing the sun, blue skies, and warm water to all. We love you,  Suzi and David

               David and Dels get all of our gear ready for our test dive out at Namotu and Wilks Pass.

       A wonderful dive included a special turtle, huge ray, two eels, colorful fish and coral, and great fun! The small island of Namotu is in the background with it's small resort catering to surfers.

                                             Del's first time on a sailboat.......very special!

         Opening the Island Bar, which was destroyed by the cyclone, was a festive event shared by all.

         Steve( USA ), John ( Brazil ), and Julian ( New Zealand ) are great, funny, spirited surfer sailors who know how to play hard and party harder.

 Even in Prt Denarau, the sunsets can be stunning. We enjoyed our time here with friends, Ernie, Geoff, Sue and Andrew.

 Marginal pictures still portray the warm energy of our reunion with Canadian friends, Peter and Diana

                                           Sidewinder comes "home" to Vuda Point for a visit.

                                This is the floating platform that will be moored just inside Cloudbreaks.

                Suzi may be the first sexy young girl to belly up to the bar, even if it's only for a morning coffee !!

The wood work on the platform was all done by a local shipbuilder and take it from this old carpenter, it's all   first rate.

During its launch, they used logs wrapped in a protective cloth to roll it out into the arms of the waiting tide.

                                          This shot was taken the afternoon before its  launch.

                             Floated off the sand by the full moon tide, it was pulled out to sea by the research ship
" Ice " and soon will find it's way out to it's new home in the protected area inside the reef off Tavarua.

Loving Life at Musket Cove

This morning, after stretching and doing my JT exercises, I sat down to meditate and looked out over the beautiful blue water with warm gentle tradewinds blowing, keeping me cool, thinking about just how marvelous our life happens to be.  It is already May 9 and here we are, still in Musket Cove!!!  There are moments of wanting to get on with it and do some sailing, but we have so enjoyed being here, meeting lots of new friends, attempting to surf, snorkeling, hiking, meditating, golfing, and getting lots of necessary Sidewinder projects completed, realizing that being on the warm, clear water is quite amazing. We will leave here for a short excursion to a few islands before heading back to Vuda Point, but not sure exactly when. Meanwhile, the life out here is special and appreciating that is so very important. Love to all!

 David and Brazilain friend, John, with Don driving his little boat, on our first day out to the waves of Namotu. We tried Swimming Pools and then Lefts.  It was great just being out there!

 Lots of snorkeling to be had around Namotu as well. Great diving at Wilks pass on the left (right side)

 Feeling refreshed after being in the water, but it was hard work trying to catch waves with the current so strong. Waves have come up since this photo, and we are in awe of those who can surf these monsters!

 David has managed to make a new fish table, new ores for the dinghy, re-build the head, and now, fix the steering wheel pedestal.which is cracked. His skills with fiber-glass are being perfected.

 Capt Dave is such an amazing worker; he solves Sidewinder problems with such tenacity!

I am managing to have great fun while doing what needs to be done. Sometimes my jobs seem to be less productive, but they are definitely important!

Great times With Family and Friends Before Leaving

January and February were months of gettting work done on the hood house and visiting doctors, but we both managed to enjoy more time with good friends. We spent our last weeks in NCalif and Tahoe lucky enough to see more family and dear friends we had not seen for a while.

            Snowtime with Billy, Doug, and Jon L left us exhausted and exhaulted!

 Lots of hikes celebrating our time together I cherish the most.  I will miss my dear Laguna friends!










 Meeting up with Catfish and Larry in Tahoe made our trip even more meaningful.

               
                  What fun to share the ranch with Jayme, Craig and Allison and Courtney!