60th B-day party

Home for Holidays !!!

We have made it back to the "Land of Plenty" and after almost a year away I can't say how good it is to be back. We have seen some beautiful places, met some great people ( both other cruisers and locals ) and had some great times playing, but stepping off that plane onto home turf was something special. I can't really pin point it other than to say it was like coming home. It didn't hurt that we arrived during a mild Santa Ana wind condition so the air was clear and warm and since it was in the afternoon of a work day there wasn't all that much traffic on the freeways either. We were met at the airport by Suzi's Sister (Jane )and her boyfriend (Bruce) and I swear it only took us an hour after we landed before we were on our way to where Jane was storing our car. And that included gathering our luggage and going through customs which can be a real hassle in it's self. It was all so easy and we have them to thank for that. Then it was off to Laguna to reunite with all our friends there. I was told we were having a dinner for a few close friends the next night to welcome us home but as I walked in the front door of the Degen's house I was greeted by "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" !!!!
Yes, I was totally surprised by this early birthday celebration and felt pretty special to say the least. I hadn't seen most of these friends for over a year and yet they still made the effort to honor my 60th Birthday. Most of these friends are older than I but I have to say that they all looked so healthy and happy with smiles that came out of their eyes and bellies that were flat and hard. Yes, it was good coming home !!! We are now in Northern Calif. visiting my family and spending Thanksgiving at the Ranch, after that we will travel to Portland, Oregon to see Casey for a week and then back to Laguna for a little R&R. WE will post some photos of our visits after we get  back. Till then, take it easy and see ya soon !!!

Photos from Fiji

David has hitched a ride with the sailmakers in Nadi, along with our sails to be repaired, and will be back in a couple of hours. Meanwhile, I am sitting on the veranda of our little hideaway at the resort, listening to the wonderful variety of birds who hang out in the incredibly beautiful jungle trees, while I send the last of our pictures for the season. I have been working non-stop, cleaning everything inside, packing away all foodstuffs into plastic bins, throwing away unnecessary items, collecting some things to bring home for good, packing a bag for New Zealand which we will leave on our bed in Sidewinder for when we return to check on her in January, spraying the hell out of cupboards and bilge so no bug could possibly want to take residence, and thankfully swimming a little every day at the resort pool. David has been working his butt off, taking all lines down, getting the last of the fuel to fill our tanks (necessary for leaving), flushing out the engine with fresh water, winterizing the watermaker and flushing it, flushing out the head with fresh water, and Lord only knows what else he has done. We both took the sails down, quite a task itself, and we will secure the dinghy on deck tomorrow for the grand finale. Phew! We have managed to enjoy a few evenings with Ross and Russ from Worrellwind and Claudia and Brian from Skylight, including dinners and taking a taxi with Mohammed into Nadi to visit a Hindu family celebrating Diwali in their humble way, and driving around to see the lights and fireworks. (We are so spoiled when it comes to fireworks! Nothing quite compares to box canyon show put on by the crazy firemen in Telluride, Colorado!)  The pictures are self-explanatory. Can't believe we will be back home with everyone in just a few days! YIPPPEEEE!!!!!  Love to all!   
                          

Last Blog of 2010? [Not]

This may be our last blog posting for a while as it's just a little more than a week and we will be loving life in good old So. Cal.  I think I would've preferred to come in at midnight as opposed to 12:00 noon though, driving back to Laguna will be crazy considering the last time I drove was on the other side of the road and on the small island nation of Nuie and there aren't many cars to worry about on Nuie. Not quite like LA on the 405 at noon !!!! Wish me luck.....  


We are working away trying to get the boat ready to leave. We are also going through and cleaning all the lockers, putting the food stuffs in plastic containers, and then spraying bug juice everywhere. The last thing we do before we lock her up will be to bomb (more bug juice) the interior with the most toxic stuff we can find and pray the little devils don't become immune to the stuff. Of course I will go around the whole exterior of the boat and close off any teeny weeny holes I may see with steel wool and Gorilla Tape. We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed that we can keep them out, but I'm not all that confident; they are so tenacious. The photos I'm sending you are of the Marina here at Vuda Point as well as some from when Suzi went to Church with some locals. Church ended up being someone's house but they fed her and you know Suzi, she had fun. Glad I missed this one!!! The shot looking out of the Marina is where they blasted a channel through the coral reef. It's about 8 ft. deep at "0 tide so at low tide we are caught in here. I pray for no tidal waves!!!! During the cyclone season they have large metal "gates" that go across the inside channel to reduce the surge of the storm. One came pretty close a few years ago and the whole concept worked great, so once again, keep those fingers crossed for us. I better get to work as every time Suzi walks by I start feeling guilty, she's doing all the work. Then again maybe I'll just keep typing away.................... -David

David wishes he could speak for me, but, after all of this concentrated time on Sidewinder, I am still here! So, I must share my first Sunday experience in Fiji with you. Clara, the smiling worker who takes care of all the cruisers' needs at the laundry and restroom facility, told me her husband was a pastor at the little community church and, in response to my question about going to church to hear sweet music here in the area, she invited me to go with her husband, Lute, who would pick me up at 9:00 AM. Delightedly, I waited for him that morning and met him walking down the road with two kids. We proceeded to walk back up the road a fair distance of 2 km and were finally picked up by a man in a small truck. We proceeded to pick up more villagers on the way up to the top of the hill and ended up parking at a primary Muslim school, surrounded by mango trees, green grass, and scattered tiny houses, all with a fabulous view of the ocean below. 


The official pastor of the missionary church was Charlie, one of the first people we picked up, along with his lovely wife, Luisa and their three children. Charlie and I spent an hour walking among the mango trees while he described the history of his ministry. As a young Fijian pastor in a new Christian church, he found the established institution way too removed from the real people and their needs, so he and his family decided to give away much of what they had, and moved to live with the poor here in Fiji. He has done much work in the city of Lautoka with the youth gangs and has brought the church to this liitle community on the hill to help the people become self-sufficient and motivated to do their best. He is hoping to bring some technical training to them so they can improve their homes. Lute was one of the men on the street in Lautoka who became friends with Charlie, and now he assists him in the community.  


I did not find the incredible music I was anticipating that morning, but a found a houseful of wonderful, warm, friendly people who embraced the essence of who I am. They shared tattered books of hymns written in Fijian so that I could sing along, and they welcomed me to share with them my story as part of their Sunday morning celebration.They were amazed that I would make the effort to come be with them, and I truly felt blessed. The taxi truck brought us back down the hill, and Clara's husband, Lute, and children invited me to share a meal with them. Emily, the oldest child, taught me how to say my numbers in Fijian, and we sat on the floor eating fresh fruit and fish with our fingers. They all accompanied me back to Sidewinder in the afternoon, and they were delighted to meet Captain David whom they had prayed for wholeheartedly during the service, and lo, and behold, there he was, feeling quite chipper after all of these days of feeling sick. My new friends hope we will return this next Sunday so that we can share a bit more of their lives with them. If not this Sunday, I will see them when I return after hurricane season. I would love to help them in some way.   
WOW! [Home in] 11 Days!!!  YIPPEE!  - Suzi                      

There is so much to be done here; my visit just made me so much more aware of the reality. Life is hard, even in paradise!

Safe in Port

We had a fabulous sail to the Vuda Marina on Wednesday afternoon and night, enjoying easy-going wind, following seas, and a beautiful moon beam pushing us toward our destination with twinkling stars all around. As the light filled the sky with colors, we saw hills of green, welcoming us to the dry side of Viti Levi, with vibrant blue flat seas welcoming us into the inside reef serenity. We sailed until we literally stopped, due to lack of wind, very near the marina, making the most of our last day of peaceful, comfortable cruising; it was a wonderful way to end the season, helping us to immediately forget the wet, sloppy, uncomfortable passage. YEAH!  


The Vuda Marina is tiny and we are squished tightly between two yachts, with our bow tied to the circular wharf on the outside and our stern toward the center; this is how the boats are tied for hurricane season. We are temporarily here to get everything ready for the haul-out and placement in the ground on the hard. I will send pictures that show the details. The people are great, and we do have restrooms,warm showers, laundry facilities, a little store, cafe, restaurant and bar, and drinkable water. What more could a cruiser need? 


This morning I caught a ride with Milika, the manager in charge of the yachts, to Lautoka, checked in with customs at the port, made my way to the doctor's office she recommended, and Dr. Seeto asked for David to come see her. He is still not feeling well, even though we started anti-biotics yesterday, so I was able to contact him at the marina and he did make his way downtown. He does have a severe case of tonsilitus (there is a more technical name of course [Myron] ) and I am glad she did see him; now we are taking an additional medication to help get him back to health. This captain has not been a happy camper and I can't wait for him to feel better! 


While I waited for him, I browsed the municipal market that is awesome. Wish I had my camera with me; it has been a very long time since I have seen so many fresh vegetables and fruits! It will be great re-provisioning for our next season. The influence of the Indian population offers so many tantalizing tasty vegetarian treats, and it was great fun trying them. The Indian New Year's celebration of Diwali is happening this next week, and I look forward to venturing back to the city for fun. Lots of great shopping here with many stores blasting festive chants along with offering good prices, interesting little restaurants, and welcoming citizens. "Bula!" is the Fijian welcome word and it comes with a smile from everyone. I met a local Fijian woman selling tangerine juice at the market who said her choir made a trip to LA, Santa Ana, and San Diego, singing gospel music and she invited me to come hear the singing on Sunday at the Methodist church. Of course I will love that, as well as a visit to the Hindu temples in town with chanting and festivities. Looks like I am already having a great time exploring this new culture.  Pictures will help describe it all. Love to all as we ready ourselves to come home for the holidays.                          

Suva, Fiji

We are motor-sailing out of the harbor on our way to Vuda Point, which will take about 24 hours to reach from here. It was raining a bit as we left, but it seems to now be clearing, as there are wonderful patches of blue up ahead; very little wind is blowing right now, but hopefully it will freshen up and we will cruise to our next destination. (one must always dream :))  We had a wonderful restful night and I think the good night sleep was great for David. 


This morning, we took a taxi into town and hit the ATM, paid the health department, and checked out of customs, meeting warm, friendly people all along the way, in spite of the big city atmosphere; we actually look forward to coming back to Suva to shop, eat, and get to know a bit more about it. One definitely would not swim in this harbor, though! The Royal Suva Yacht Club manager, Romina, welcomed us warmly and aided in our adventure into the city; she also orchestrated the officials coming out to the boat yesterday afternoon, and our check in to the country was surprisingly smooth. All three of the officials were very cool and they made the process very easy in spite of all the horror stories we had heard about the Suva check-in. There will be internet access at the marina so the next time you will hear from us will be after we settle in tomorrow afternoon, maybe in the form of gmail.  Location: S 18 12' W 178 18'  Wind is now 15kts and we are flying! YAHOO!!

Change of Plans

Hi there. We have made a detour, set the sails for Suva and will arrive in about 3 or 4 hours to check in. Early this morning as we made our way to the next waypoint, not too far from Suva, we heard two other yachts close-by talk about the 50 kt winds they were encountering. We called Serendipity, one of the boats, and Harka told us he thought it was part of the front approaching Fiji from New Caledonia with high wind warnings. After further checking a weather source on SSB which gave us high wind warnings, and since we were so close to Suva, we made a decision to go to the "big city" instead of taking another day to work our way into the waters leading to Lautoku. Even though the check-in process is supposed to be more complicated and costly in Suva, thoughts of heading along the coral coast at night with possibilities of 50 kt winds make our pleasant sail to Suva seem like the smart response. 


Of course, now that we are heading there, the wind has subsided a bit, the skies are clearing, and perhaps it was just a random wind that came up this morning, and David just said he will feel like a "dumb shit" if Skylight and Whorrelwind, both quite far behind us, have no problems making their way to Lautoku. But I think it is important on a gut level to be as cautious as we can be; it will be fine to check out the capital city of Fiji anyway, and perhaps we can check into all of the islands in one shot this way. We just received a sailmail from Milika at Vuda Marina asking for a confirmation date of arrival and that is a great relief; we do have a guaranteed spot saved for us! YIPPEE! I will write you again tonight or tomorrow morning with an update. Our night was a grueling, squally, squishy wet one and we are so thankful to have a bit of sunshine right now. Ah, the life of a sailor!!!!