One More Good-bye

1 and 3 - Fueling up in Port Denarau, a great combo of Newport Beach, Fashion Island, and Disneyland. Lots of tourists who think they are experiencing Fiji. We certainly are the lucky ones!  #6 and 9- Spending our last night in  beautiful , serene Seweene Bay, near Lautoka. A great way to pack up the Worm (our beloved dinghy) and mellow out with an awesome sunset. Time to get some rest before we head out the pass on our way to New Zealand. A new adventure begins!

Outta Here!

We are presently on our way,  motoring to Lautoka, after a wonderful dinner with friends who stay at Vuda Pt. Then we joined all the Kiwis at the bar, watching intently the incredible World Cup Rugby game.which they won......barely!  There was such intense spirit and we had great fun. We will check out of the country this morning, do the last of the fresh food provisioning and we may anchor near the pass, just to be ready to set sail for New Zealand tomorrow morning. Wendy and John on sv Beyond will be heading out tomorrow sometime as well and others are leaving on Wednesday. We have a net set up for communication which helps to make us all more secure on our journey. The weather window looks good and I know the weather gods will be watching over us! It should take 8-10 days to get to Opua, NZ, near the Bay of Islands. We will keep everyone posted through sailmail. Off we go on the next adventure!!!! Love to all,  Suzi and David

From Blue Lagoon to Port Denarau-Getting ready to go to New Zealand Soon

 Blue Lagoon "local boy",Semi, got a free ride to Lautoka and we had an expert guide with us! Win-win!

 After two weeks of work, it was great to hike and then dive in the waters at magical Musket Cove.

 On our way to Prt Denarau to repair the sail and pick up auto-pilot parts. Captain Stud David loving his soft sula skirt! Pretty nice day to cross and relax in the sunshine before the afternoon squalls of Denarau.

 Our wonderful new friend, Randy, we met last night through mutual friend Dusty in Salt Lake.

We look forward to some adventures with Randy here in Fiji next season, surfing, kayaking, snorkeling, and maybe even kite-boarding. Already we plan for future fun!  We certainly are the lucky travelers!  

The never-ending story of repairs continues !

After making a smooth passage from Blue Lagoon back to Vuda Point Marina, weaving through the reefs. we arrived and got reattached to land one more time. Our refer/freezer needed help big time as it was consuming a bit more energy with every passing day. It was time to tear the whole unit out and get to the bottom of this nagging issue once and for all. As with most things on Sidewinder, access is the main hurdle to jump over and my old body doesn't bend into the positions required for getting into and around the small area where the refer/freezer components are located. But as usual, after a little cussing ( little ? ) and the normal bloody knuckles, I got all the parts out (with a little help from my dear wife, Suzi :)) and gave them to our good friend "Rama" the local Handy Man for repairs. The fact is Rama doesn't do anything himself but hands the projects over to his young helpers who do all the work and who really don't know that much about what they are doing. But that doesn't stop them from diving into anything and after a couple of days they returned with our "repaired" unit. Since the reinstallation is so complicated I did that myself with them looking on but they took over when it was time to connect all the rigid copper lines and the compression type fittings. To make a long story short, ridding the system of leaks took two days but was finally completed with an air tight system that was holding it's charge. The ending of this saga arrived with a unit that runs as well as it ever has and so far ( three days later ) it's still going strong. But we have been here before so I'm still keeping my fingers and toes crossed. Please keep us in your prayers, Man needs his cold beer.
So with projects completed and life in the Marina getting old, we headed out to Musket Cove for some time in the water and some R&R before heading off to New Zealand. Why is nothing easy ? The first hour of the short 3 hours trip to Musket was spent motor sailing with light winds out of the west  just off our nose. But within 15 mins. it swung around to out of the east and built to over 20 knts. So for the next 2 hours we plowed into wind and waves and it was during this time I noticed a piece of the UV protection cloth of our headsail torn and flapping in the wind. Next project, sail repair..... aren't we having tons of fun ???? Got to love this cruising life style, never a dull moment. I still haven't figured out what I'll be when I grow up !!!   " 18 till I die "

Trip from Mamanucas through the Yasawas

Just for the record, here are some coordinates for the islands we just visited. We are leaving this morning to make our way south back to Lautoka and Vuda Point and the wind appears to be just right; it would be great fun to sail!  Love to all!  S

Navadra Anchorage in the Mamanucas:  S 17 degrees 27'   E 177 02
Manta-ray Resort in Mantaray Bay, Naviti Island   S17 10  E 177 11'
Blue Lagoon, Nanuya Resort  next island up    S16  56'   E 177 22
Sawa-i-Lau,  Yasawa Island   16 50' E177 28'
Nadala Bay     S 16 49'   E 177 27'

Memories from the Mamanucas to the Yasawas

 Even on this awesome beach David has found some favorite shoes to replace ones broken

 On our way north to the caves of Sawa-i-Lau, Yasawa Island

 Anchored with friends, Grahame and Lynne on Adamite

 The rock formations are so interesting and the caves were great fun to explore. (notice the stairs :))

 Manual, the minister, welcomed us, as the children sang like angels

 The kids who greeted David as he snuck out of church. What great spirits they have!

 Lunch with the minister and his family. How gracious they are to welcome us so warmly.

From the Mamanucas to the Yasawas

We have had a great adventure through the Mamanucas with Moonshine and Scream and the Yasawas, with new Kiwi friends on Adamite, and now we are on our way back to Vuda Point for maintenance and re-provisioning before our visas expire. After leaving the  pristine beach at Navadra Anchorage,  Sidewinder took us past Waya to Mantaray Bay, where we were hoping to find the mantas, but it is pretty late in the season and they didn't show. We did see a huge morey eel swimming as we snorkeled and that was a first; he quickly hid in his hole when he saw us coming and that was just fine with us! The next morning we took off north along Naviti Island, heading for the Blue Lagoon of the next island up. Unfortunately the clouds came and it was a bit tense weaving through the reefs along the island; good thing we had lots of waypoints which had been given to us by our friends Roz and Russ on Whirlwind,  now in New Caledonia, and we made it to the Nanuya Resort in the Blue Lagoon on Matacawalevu Island without much problem. We played Vball with the locals several afternoons and that was very fun, we enjoyed a great meal at the resort with some great people we met there, we snorkeled, went diving, hiked, and re-connected with Graham and Lynn on Adamite, whom we had met at Musket Cove.  From the Blue Lagoon, we headed north with them to Sawa-i-Lau Bay, Yasawa Island, and first anchored near a little village. There we presented kava to the chief, the ceremony of sevusevu, and that afternoon we explored the reef nearby, snorkeling while drifting with the dinghies. The next morning we anchored in the aqua blue green clear water next to an amazing huge volcanic and limestone rock formation housing underwater caves. We took dinghies around the corner into a lovely shallow bay and explored along the incredibly interesting rocks and little white-sand beaches lined with a few palmtrees, and I regret that we did not take a camera. Sorry!  We snorkeled that afternoon, enjoyed cocktails on board Sidewinder, and had a chance to get to know Grahame and Lynne even more. They have been cruising forever it seems; they've been around the world twice, raised their two boys on board, and are continually having fun sailing Adamite from New Zealand, where they live on her in Gulf Harbor, to Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia, and wherever else they decide they want to explore. They are around our age and have been sailing forever; their spirit is very much alive.  We were invited to go to church and have lunch in the local village on Sunday and that certainly was a treat. Luckily on Monday, when we went to the caves, we were the first ones there, and we were able to be in the caves by ourselves with a guide. When we dove out of the second cave into the first, though, lo and behold there must have been 25 or more young tourists swimming around, waiting for their turn to go in. Grahame and Lynne had found the caves in the 80's when there was nobody; today the owner of the island charges $10 a person and is certainly making his share of money! The villagers do benefit by selling goods on the beach nearby and of course, the modern world of tourism is very active in the Yasawas; that is a key difference from the northeastern islands of Fiji. But still, this area seems to be really remote and quiet after 11 AM each day and we felt like it was very special.  We followed Adamite over to the west coast bay of Nadala yesterday and left this morning to begin our journey back   Unfortunately we have an auto-pilot that is not working and we hope to fix it before heading to New Zealand at the end of this month. We are back in Blue Lagoon and David played volleyball this afternoon; tomorrow we go back to Naviti Island and then make our way to Lautoka and Vuda Point.  It has been lots of fun and I can't believe it is already October. WOW !    Happy fall to everyone.  We love you    Suzi and David