Week 5, Fiji

November 9-25, Vuda Point, Fiji   week 5,6

Muscat Cove to Vuda

Finally sailing!  Musket Cove to Vuda with a nice wind and clear skies   It has been a long time since we just sailed.  We are always trying to get somewhere before dark or worried about coral reefs or the wind is blowing the wrong direction.  This was just a lovely sail.  We left around noon and it is only 10 miles back so there was no pressure.

Back in the marina, we are settling in and becoming part of the community.  My garden survived my absence fine.  The staff is becoming very interested in what I  am doing, although the kitchen staff does not seem to be using any of the herbs.  My main problem is the constant search for a hose.  For some reason in Fiji, hoses do not fit onto the spigots.  They require a two part adaptor.  I can understand why our US hose might not fit, much like the different electric outlets that every country has.  But you would think that a hose bought in Fiji would fit onto a spigot in Fiji, wouldn’t you?  Anyway, there is a dirth of hoses here in the marina and whenever I want to water I need to search high and low for a hose.  Half the time when I do find it, there is no adaptor or the adaptor does not fit the spigot.  And even if I get it all hooked up and working it is guaranteed to be gone the next day.  If I ask the staff for help they promise to get me one, disappear and never return.  Much of the time I just use a bucket to water.

Alan’s plan was to come back, change the oil and buy food and then take off again.  We have a limited time to sail before the cyclone season makes it too dangerous to go very far and we want to explore the Yasawa group of islands.  They lie in a long line curving north and east from here.  It looks like it would only take a day to get to them but the water is full of reefs and the route wanders and winds around so that it is actually a trip of several days with overnight stops to get to the top.  Anyway, what with one thing and another, we did not take off again immediately.  First of all there was a period of bad weather.  Then there was 1/2 price pizza night.  A few small jobs got done, interspersed with visits to the pool at the hotel next door.  The weather is really hot and it is hard to be very energetic

Alan never did change the out but instead he got involved designing a instrument box for the cockpit.  During our passage from Bora Bora to Tonga we took several waves over the stern.  They washed over the side and drained out through the cockpit with little problem, except that several gages, the starter switch and the exhaust fan for the engine room are below the waterline in the cockpit.  It became clear that this was a poor design and he want to move them to a console mounted higher on the deck.  Of course the box must fit with the classic look of our Herrishoff and not destroy either the classic lines of the boat or the sight lines of the skipper and should include a place to put a coffee cup.  Days and days passed while he cut up pieces of cardboard and taped them together in various configurations to find a design that pleased both of us.  He has learned by not not to ask my opinion unless he is willing to hear all of the problems.  On the other hand, if he does not ask, he will have to deal with those problems after the fact.

Meanwhile, I went shopping, cooked meals, cleaned up and cleaned out the boat, did laundry, scraped laundry and generally became frustrated with the fact that we were not sailing.  One whole day was spent running around in a taxi trying to find the lumber that he needs.  Eventually I convinced hime that is we are going to do any sailing this season we need to do it now.  Thanksgiving Day we finally headed back to Musket Cove to join their Thanksgiving potluck and then head to at least the first of the Yasawas.