29 July, 2011

We are now anchored up in Analgewat bay on the tiny
island of Aneityum, the southernmost island in the
Vanuatu chain. We are awaiting customs clearance by
a chap who is supposed to show up in a dugout canoe.
It's Saturday here so I don't expect to see anyone
until Monday and even then it may not happen. We got
in this morning at about 0900H it was pouring with rain
and it blew a full gale from the south all night.
The anchorage is very settled, with no swell and it's 
only blowing 20 kts in here. Last night was not too
much fun to say the least and I'm going to need at
least 24 hrs to recuperate before fixing all the things 
that broke on the ride here. I'm quite tired. Hot shower,
a cup of tea and a nap is in order. Admiral is doing well,
she is a real trouper. Further installment tomorrow if I
can find some internet  

Fiji-Vanuatu Day 2

We had a much better day yesterday. The weather was
warm and clear and wind velocity lessened to a
pleasant 15kts and the sea state improved also. I
got the gen-set running again without too much
trouble the sea water pump impeller went bad
and needed to be replaced. An hour of hot and
sweaty work in the engine room and it started
up without problem. It has been slow going without
the jib and we have been mostly motor-sailing.
The Admiral beat me soundly at Scrabble (twice)!
Today looks like more of the same and we should be
in at first light tomorrow.Current position is
19 28S, 172 22.6E speed 7.0 kts Course 239M Wind
is about 15 kts ESE Sea state remains sloppy with
6 foot swells from the south. 150 miles to go. 

Fiji-Vanuatu Day 1 0600H July 28, 201

We are currently at 18 36.11S,175 03.74E. Course is
240 degrees M and we are making 7.0 kts. Yesterday
was quite rough with winds to 30 kts, fortunately 
behind us but we had some big swells and we are
rolling quite a bit. My electric jib furler failed
and the gen set won't start but we have back up
systems until I can get them both going again.
This morning the weather has cleared and the 
wind is down. We had a beautiful moonrise followed
by sunrise and I'm sure I can get the genset to
start today. We have 2 days and 311 miles to go.

Leaving Fiji

We did our check out and last minute veggie shopping and left Lautoka yesterday afternoon and anchored up in Sawena bay about 5 miles to the west and spent the evening with our friends Dave and Jacqui from Jackster. We left at 0800H and are now approaching the Navula Passage in the reef to the west on our way to Vanuatu, a journey of about 500 miles. It should take us about 3 days and Jessica will post our progress on a daily basis

Photos

Julie and Josette jumping off the back of the boat
Manta Ray Island
Admiral searching for sea shells
Driftwood, Mana Island
Yoga at Musket Cove

Port Denarau, Viti Levu, Fiji

We have bee busy in Port Denarau Marina. My watermaker parts arrived today and I fitted them without problem. No more leaks and the machine is happy. The weather has been a bit unsettled over the weekend but looks like it will stabilize again tomorrow. We plan on leaving for Vanuatu tomorrow or the next day depending on the weather. Josie and Julie left for California last Thursday. We enjoyed having them with us and we will miss them.
Some more photos are on the way

Photos

We are now back at Denarau Marina after our visit to the Yasawas. We did get to see some manta rays in the pass between naviti and Drawaqua Islands. We spent a few days in Musket Cove again and then left for Denarau to enjoy a slip with shore power. My watermaker sprung a leak while we were in the Yasawas and I am waiting for some parts to be shipped from France. Last week was Bastille Day and therefore the parts won't even be shipped until tomorrow and the earliest I will get them will be Thursday or Friday so we won't be leaving for Vanuatu until probably next Monday. Not much I can do as the watermaker is a vital piece of gear. The girls depart on the 21st and I'm sure they will enjoy the relative excitement of Port Denarau.Here are some photos of our recent travels.

Grandpa and child in Yalobi Village, Naviti Island
Yalobi was a mixture of "High Tech" and traditional. They had some solar power
Sunday afternoon at the Methodist Church in Yalobi. Dog was a welcome part of the congregation
Julie in the schoolroom
Josette on the beach, Manta Ray island

Traditional Bure, Yalobi Villagge, Naviti Island
Happy hour on Mana Island
Fijian child on the beac, Mana Island
Julie in the schoolroom Yalobi village
Julie and her new friend, Mana island
Yoga on the afterdeck at sunset, a daily occurence, Musket Cove
Josette at Manta ray island
Musket Cove
Julie and yet another friend, Mana island
Monkey face Rock on the west end of Vanua Levu before crossing Bligh Water to Viti Levu
Manta Rays
Josette feeding the fish at Musket Cove
Julie snorkelling the reef at Musket Cove
Movie night on Delos. They have a projector and showed "Captain Ron", an old favorite, on the boomed out mainsail

11 July, 2011

We left Denarau Marina on the 5th of July and sailed
to Musket Cove on Malolo Island a distance of about
20 miles. This island is perfectly protected from
swell and there are numerous resorts and a small
marina there. We met up with the Delos crew again
and celebrated July 4th again as it was July 4th
in the US on the 5th in Fiji. Much beer and red wine
and another barbie. We spent three days in Musket
Cove snorkelling and then went on to Mana Island and
then Yava Island in the Yasava group of island. We
anchored in Yalobi Bay and visited with the chief for
Sevusevu and toured the village. There was quite a bit
of swell in the anchorage so we moved on yesterday to
the next island of Naviti. We are anchored a Manta Ray
Point at the southern end of Naviti and we will go
looking for Manta rays today if the wind stays calm.
Photos to follow when we get some internet access,
which is nonexistent here. We will spend a few more
days in the  Yasawas and then back to Musket Cove
and then Denarau.

Deanarau Marina, Viti Levu, Fiji

We have had a pleasant few days in Denarau, though it has been raining quite hard over the past two days. This area can hardly be called Fiji as it appears to be a huge tourist compound and looks more like a shabby Orange County than Fiji.
Julie arrived yesterday and we had our modified July 4th bar-b-que. Nandi was quite an interesting town with a huge Hindu temple and all sorts of stores.
We are off today to Musket cove and then the Yasawa Islands.

Denarau Marina, Viti Levu, Fiji

We arrived at Denarau marina yesterday after an overnight stop in Lautoka. The boat got covered in soot from the sugar cane factories. We took a bus ride into Nadi to do some shopping and I got an overdue $3 haircut at Yusef's Barbering Emporium. He did a pretty good job too!
We have some cleaning to do and the fresh water pump is still not working correctly and I need to find and replace the rubber mounts in the watermaker low pressure pump.
Tomorrow is some kind of American holiday and we will do the Barbie thing once Julie gets here in the morning.

Special Announcement

The Admiral and I would like to let you all know that we are going to be grandma and grandpa in January. Jessica has told us that a potential new crew is due in the new year, gender to be determined in September. This may precipitate a few changes in our cruising plans and we will be in London in January to await the new arrival.