Dec 2017, End of the year

December 2017

Vuda Marina

Little by little everyone is leaving Vuda.  Some put their boats in a cyclone pit and fly off to visit friends and family for the cyclone season.  Some grab a last weather window and set sail for New Zealand.  Some have gone to Denerau, Lautoka Musket Cove or Savusavu where the docking/mooring fees are less and anchoring is free.  By the middle of the month there are only a few of us left here.  The weather is actually lovely.  Clouds , wind and frequent showers keep it cool enough that we actually need a sheet at night.  One fan keeps us cool during the day.

I started last May provisioning Rhapsody for what I thought was going to be our trip to Hawaii.  Since we never left we have all of those provisions, so I have decided no shopping until everything is used up.  Little by little the cupboards are emptying but it is still going to take some time to finish it all.  We have had some interesting and unexpected meals but by and large it looks like I did a good job with the provisioning.  Towards the end of the month I started adding a few fresh vegetables and meat.  Now that we are back in the marina we can freeze our jugs of water and keep the ice box cool if not cold. By the beginning of Jan we still had food left and our monthly expenses for food the last 2 months are about $150 US. 

None of our main projects have gotten very far and now are completely stalled for the holidays.  The water maker, generator problem remains unresolved.  It seems like we need to buy a new American generator.  I think we should wait until we get to American Samoa.  We know we can make it that far on what we can carry.  Alan wants to take care of it now to be sure that there is not something else wrong. 

The SSB radio receives but does not transmit.  We finally made email contact with the Pacific Seafarers Net and between us decided that we need to replace the wide copper strip antenna that had been damaged.  Alan installed a new KISS antenna last year and we give up on the copper strip and allowed it to fall apart but the radio no longer works so we think we need put  the old antenna back.  Rhapsody came with a long strip of copper that has been kicking around all this time so we will use it to replace the workout one.  Unfortunately, it is about 10 feet too short.  Where on earth are we going to find a strip of copper about 3” wide and 10” long in Fiji?

The third must do job is the solar panels.  We have 2 small panels that work well but just sit on the deck.  We really need to install them more permanently. Alan talked to Yacht Help about replacing the cable life lines with rigid stainless steal ones.  We should hear back in a few weeks, after the holidays. 

Our Christmas this year was very quiet. The weather continue cloudy and windy as a low trough move past.  I made a roast beef dinner for Christmas Eve and we went to the restaurant for brunch on Christmas Day.   They do not have mimosas on the menu but they do offer champagne and orange juice so I ordered a glass of each and we made our own.  The highlight of the day was a long FaceTime call home to watch the family open presents.  So glad the technology exists to allow us to see each other halfway around the world.  Seeing everyone together, so happy makes it easier to continue this far flung adventure of ours.