Saying Good-bye to Good Friends is the Hardest Part of Cruising

From Musket Cove, Quickstar and Sidewinder went to Prt Denarau to re-supply and say farewell. We are excited to have son,Casey, join us soon and so we decided to stay in Fiji for another two months. We will then make our way over to Vanuatu. Meanwhile, Peter and Diana on Quickstar, need to leave for Vanuatu now, as we had planned to do, and eventually make their way to Australia so they can more readily sell their yacht. The hardest part of crusing the seas, for me, is saying farewell to friends, as my dear friends back home know. We do meet up with many yachties again, so, of course we never really say good-bye hoping that we will see each other "down the road". We said our farewells to Glenda and Eddie on Helena while in Blue Lagoon and we may have a chance to see them again. In Denarau, we did meet up with Visions of Johanna and Jules and had a great evening catching up after so long. They were in Ecuador while we were there and saw them last in New Zealand..

 Suzi, Jules, Bill, Zack, and Johanna, from Visions of Johanna, eating good food while catching up on life.

 Back in Musket Cove, enjoying the sunrise and quiet meditation time

 Another barbecue, eating the fresh fish David provided. Even though I cry when it's caught, I do enjoy having fresh fish for dinner.

 From left to right, Ernie, Peter, Diana, David, Don, John, and Suzi having fun ..........again!

 Glenda, from Venezuela, Diana from BC, Canada, and Suzi from Laguna Beach....the dancin girls!

 Drinking kava on Quickstar with Tiko; along with Riki.from Guava Jelly, and Eddie and Glenda, ss/v Helena

 Glenda is from Venezuela and loved speaking Spanish with Riki and myself. I tried my best!

We left Denarau to return to Musket Cove yesterday and had breakfast with Peter and Diana. When I hugged them, it was very hard not to cry. We have enjoyed walking and talking,snorkeling, interacting with the locals,dancing and just having fun being together.  I must keep in mind that in the cruising world, it is likely that we will meet up with them again, if not at sea, on land. Like our friends on Mandy, Virginia and Richard, we will make an effort to see them again sometime. Quickstar, have a safe journey to Vanuatu. We love you!

Great Sailing from Yasawa Island back to Blue Lagoon, then to Waya to say Farewell, and Back to Musket Cove once again

 The diving here off of Yasawa was beautiful and it was hard to leave the quiet!

 At the top of Waya, we returned say good-bye one more time to beautiful children.

 We hiked over the hill the night of the full moon and it was pig feeding time. What a raucous!

 On our way back to Musket Cove, Cpt David caught the biggest Waloo ever!

 We arrived with fresh fish and Quickstar ready to enjoy the barbecue at sunset.

 Really.......this is not all that we do, but it is sure special enjoying meals with good friends!

 Do we ever get tired of these awesome sunsets?  Of course not!  Would you?

A Great Yasawa Adventure !!!!!!

From Manta-Ray Resort to Blue Lagoon, Nanuya and Tavewa Islands, up to Namastaya Bay on Yasawa Island and back to Musket Cove by way of Waya and Prt Denarau, we spent some great quality time with friends and ourselves on these beautiful islands and it gave us a chance to sail and enjoy the reality of cruising here. Even though we had been in this area before, we met many new local friends and explored some great reefs. The pictures, of course, tell the story much better than my words.

 First on the agenda in Blue Lagoon was to go to the farm for fresh veggies with Peter and Diana

 Next adventure was to find Patrick's parents and deliver some goods to them from Musket Cove.

 We hiked over the hill to visit a new village and met some great people.

 Zack's house is way up on the hill, over-looking the ocean and his smile tells it all.

 As we walked the trail, we ran into a few friends we had met two years ago.

 Of  course, Bill remembered our names and gave us each a big hug!

 We were able to re-connect with Lindsay, Steve, and Lindsay's niece; it was good to see them!

 Picking our own veggies is by far the best thing ever and I certainly was ready to eat them!

 Prices are very fair and Millie and her family are great people

 What a wonderful helper.

 Walking back to our Blue Lagoon anchorage, the view was spectacular, with Sidewinder on the right.

 Two years ago, Sami helped us take Sidewinder to Lautoka from here. Here is Lai, Ani, and Peter, his family.

 Jemellie, Lindsay and Steve's yacht, at the end of the magnificent rainbow!

 In Namastaya Bay, Sidewinder sat happily all by herself, while we explored the island across the way.

 What a resourceful man Captain David is! Fresh coconut on the pristine beach. It was so peaceful here.

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