Musket Cove Movin' and Groovin' Regatta Fun!

Yes, we did finally make it to the Musket Cove Regatta and it is finally over. PHEW !  Who in their right minds can party intensely for an entire week?! (Besides my good friend, Catfish?!)  Eveyone!!!! It has been amazing and really fun for us to experience this highly organized chain of events with prizes galore.  After spending about four days in Port Denarau, David successfully fixing the leak and Suzi shopping for provisions til she dropped, we finished our last day in pouring rain, testing the results of David's labor, filling the tanks with fresh water, doing the laundry, and saying farewell to our good friends from Spirit( a wonderful Dutch couple we met in Puerto Lucia Ecuador); the next morning,we took off for Musket Cove to secure a mooring before the gala affair began. We did have a nice sail most of the way and found ourselves here, safe and sound, with good weather on the horizon. On Saturday the events began with a golf tournament David entered and he swears he could have won it if he hadn't choked on the last two holes (don't they all say that?); I jumped at the chance to do some yoga and go on a fun hike that morning and then we raced in the Hobie Cat regatta. We were quickly eliminated, mostly due to a flawed mainsheet block and rudder that wouldn't allow us to sail effectly (good excuse, eh?!) but we did fix it for the rest of the contestants, so that was good. There were special barbecues, lots of hilarious contests, and wonderful crazy dancing every night, and the beat went on and on throughout the week. We won the volleyball tournament for the US, mostly due to the fact that David and I are the only Americans who entered so we were fortunate enough to pick up other players from the Fiji team after they were beaten in the first round. We had great fun and followed the tournament with three great games with the Fijians who really do know how to play good beach v-ball. Rachel and Ashley Wacholder would have been very proud of us all! The party out on the sand-spit was a family affair with a wet T-shirt contest included. Even I was motivated to join in the fun with the light spirit of it all, just to get a T-shirt.:)  On Wednesday, David and I joined Chris and his crew on Moonshine, another Fast Passage 39, on the Around Malolo Race, and even though we came in dead last, it was very fun sailing another sister ship just like Sidewinder. I was honored to be on the helm for most all of the race, and I hope it wasn't just my fault we ended up dead last! OH Well......There was great wind and everyone had a super time and Moonshine was the only boat to sail the whole race in the 4 hrs allotted.......we thought that was pretty cool and we definitely deserved a prize for that!  In between all of the festive events, we managed to finally re-bed the chainplate covers, and after water-testing them, they were dry as a bone. YIPPEE ! No more leaks!!  We also managed to go out to Numotu, one of the fine surf spots near Tavarua we have been to before, and were humbled by the intensity of the huge waves. Yesterday, I went diving with two super women I have met, and it was outstanding, and last evening was the regatta farewell elegant dinner at the restaurant with the fabulous Fijian band from Suva who played beautifully every type of music possible long into the moonlit night. What a great week it has been!! Today the party is finally over and many boats are leaving, some on their way to Australia by way of Vanuatu and some just movin' on. We will keep in touch with the special friends we have made here and do hope to see them again somewhere along the line. Our friends, Steve and Darusha on Scream are arriving here tomorrow so we will stay a few more days and then decide what we are doing for the next week of adventure. Life is certainly very special for us and we finally have blue skies and sunshine. YAHOO!    Much love to all!