A day at Tavarua

 Our boat buddy Nick , it may look pretty mellow but the drop in isn't !!!

 Nick thinking about taking off with Cindy (with snorkel on) cruising the reef line.

 It wasn't a very big day so guys were just out there having fun

 I never got a good shot of anyone deep inside but there were a few barrels to be had

 The jet ski and sled were anchored not far from us with the riders out in the line up

 This is the judges platform for when they have contest there. Right now it's covered in bird shit 2 inches thick.

 Watching guys ride these waves it's easy to forget how powerfull these waves are, check out the white water behind this guy......serious explosion.

 This guy is loving life right now !!!

We hitched a ride out to Cloud Breaks with Richie on Ka Pai, which is a custom built catamaran from New Zealand. It's 48 ft. long and completely set up for single handed sailing, and very fast I might add. A few of Richie's friends came along as well, Cindy was from Holland and a avid kite boarder and Nick was from Australia and a "dumb surfer" as he put it. All three very freindly, quick with a smile and full of good stories. We coverd the 12 miles or so from Musket Cove out to Cloud Breaks in a little more than a hour and found a great place to anchor in sand at about 30 ft. of depth. We then took the dingy out to the break and tied up to one of the moorings which is just to the side of where the waves break. Sometimes it feels a little to close !!!  I didn't even bring my board as I'm still recovering from a fall on my butt that has me limping around. Don't ask how I did it....stupid is the word that comes to mind. The fact is I'm not sure I would of paddled out anyway as it's a pretty heavy wave with lots of guys out. Not my idea of a good session on both accounts. But watching the guys rip it was an awesome experience and I had to keep reminding myself I really was off the island of Tavarua at Cloud Breaks. The best part was I didn't have to pay the $4,000 a week to stay there. Sidewinder was only a couple of hours away at the most and on a calm day we can dingy out in less than a half hour. About a mile west of Tavarua is the small island of Numotu that has a break called Swimming Pools ( right hand & hollow) and on the other side is a left that is right up my alley. Not too steep, not too fast and very long. We have gone out there a number of times now and only turned away once when it was so big it was scary just to watch and Suzi and I were by ourselves so after we paddled out and got a feel for how gnarly it really was, we paddled back to the dingy with our tails between our legs and got out of there.
But this day ended perfect with a sunset cruise back to Musket Cove and a few beers at the Island Bar. Today we head out for the Mamanuca Island group with Steve and Darusha off s/v Scream whom we haven't cruised with since Tahiti and it will be good to be back on the sea again. Musket Cove has been a gas but it's time to move on...............Things to do and people to see.