17 July 2009, Musket Cove, Malolo Lailai Island, Fiji
17/07/2009 0650UTC 17 46.226S 177 11.342E Day 767 Up at 0630, 24C, Clear, Wind N 5 Knots.
[Above, a real sailboat is 'moored' in one of the swimming pools at Musket Cove.]
[Our book, Family Voyaging - Ak to nZ, is available online. To read it, go to the Family Voyaging.com website at www.familyvoyaging.com
A NEW CHAPTER HAS BEEN PUBLISHED - 'The Adventure Begins' is the bona fide beginning of our true-life sea story. The nuts and bolts of decision-making and preparation behind us, we cast off from the dock in Juneau, Alaska, and run smack dab into nasty weather. Come aboard as we make our way through the Inside Passage to Vancouver Island, BC. Thrills, chills and spills...
NEW on our website: The VIP Service (Voyage Information Planning Service). Check it out at Family Voyaging.com.]
Today was a good, solid eleven on a scale of one to ten. It dawned crystal clear, the aquamarine water reflecting a brilliant sun. A light breeze felt good on our skin.
Following the weeks in Vuda Point Marina refitting after the passage from New Zealand, and spending many days launching our book and website, we took the day off (a few minor, morning chores notwithstanding).
We jumped in the dinghy and went ashore. 2nd Mate and Cabin Girl headed straight for the swimming pool at Dick's Place in 'downtown' Musket Cove. Among the pool's attractions is a real sailboat docked at one end (above photo). The boat appears to be a salvaged vessel, one picked off a Fijian reef -- a huge crack and hole in the hull remain visible. The sailboat makes a keen addition to the pool's ambiance. Our kids played with their yachtie-kid pals while 1st Mate and I lounged poolside enjoying time together.
Around noon, we traipsed along the shoreline to investigate another resort area about half a kilometre away. En route, we had to keep an eye out for low-flying aircraft where the beach traverses the south side of the Musket Cove airfield. "Planes have had to abort landings there," someone told us, "because tourists were standing in the flight-path gaping." Though no planes were on approach when we were there, we scurried like Groucho across the area, anyway.
The cove was abuzz with activity all day: snorkelers, swimmers, hang gliders and Hobie Cat sailors. A fresh northerly wind sprang up in mid-afternoon providing a sense of relief from the 33C temperature. The wind was also keeping the DuoGen blades turning smartly and consequently our electricity generation has been respectable today. As a matter of fact, this blog was written and posted using electronic technology powered by the wind.
I know I've said this on numerous occasions diring our voyage, but life gets very little better than this.
"Crew Quarters"
[They're exhausted from another day in paradise, but they've promised to fill you in tomorrow.]
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16 July 2009, Musket Cove, Malolo Lailai Island, Fiji
16/07/2009 0937UTC 17 40.828S 177 23.159E Day 766 Up at 0635, 27C, Clear, Wind Calm.
[Above, the beach at Musket Cove.]
[Our book, Family Voyaging - Ak to nZ, is available online. To read it, go to the Family Voyaging.com website at www.familyvoyaging.com
A NEW CHAPTER HAS BEEN PUBLISHED - 'The Adventure Begins' is the bona fide beginning of our true-life sea story. The nuts and bolts of decision-making and preparation behind us, we cast off from the dock in Juneau, Alaska, and run smack dab into nasty weather. Come aboard as we make our way through the Inside Passage to Vancouver Island, BC. Thrills, chills and spills...
NEW on our website: The VIP Service (Voyage Information Planning Service). Check it out at Family Voyaging.com.]
Sunny skies and calm winds greeted us this morning, and the forecast looked good for a passage. So, we made ready for sea, fueled- and watered-up, and cleared the reef at Vuda Point Marina by 1000 hours. The breeze never rose above 4k, so we steamed the 12nm across the open water to the entrance at Malolo Lailai Island. From there, it was another 4nm through a twisting, turning coral-reef obstacle course. The good news... Wind Dancer's keel remained well above the bottom and our C-Map e-charts were dead-on accurate. That has the added benefit of giving us a safe track for the way out, too.
With the sun high in the early afternoon, it was easy to see where the reefs were lurking. The buoyage system in Fiji is of its own design, but once you figure out the marks they make a lot of sense. We tied to a mooring ball in Musket Cove at 1305. The crew jumped in the dinghy and we went ashore to get the lay of the land. They'll describe it in detail below.
There's a lot to do here, so we'll probably hang in the cove for a couple of weeks. Musket Cove is undeniably another, maybe perfect, slice of paradise.
"Crew Quarters"
1st Mate: Wow and double wow. I know that sounds pretty silly but this place is gorgeous. We all woke up about 0600 and decided the weather looked great and we should head to Musket Cove. The kids got right on cleaning up their toys and games. We filled water tanks, checked out of the marina, grabbed a loaf of bread and a dozen eggs, and then after giving some locals two bags of outgrown kid clothes we fueled up. The fuel dock was simple and quick.
Our ride over was on a flat sea with very little breeze. The motor is so quiet now I forget it's on. We tried for some fish but no luck. The reefs are very nasty all over Fiji so I stood on the bow the last mile into the anchorage and watched the sea color. Reefs will show in light green/blue water. It is well marked and our C-Map chart was just updated and everything was right on. We made our way through the fleet of the boats anchored in here and grabbed the #9 mooring ball. The area is mostly made up of several resorts. These are the true Fijian resorts that are spread out and offer beach fronts and bure rooms. No big Hilton or Sheraton buildings.
We took the dingy to the yacht club to check in. For a few dollars you are offered a yacht club card, laminated and all. It will give us discounts on ferry trips and use of the facilities including showers, laundry, pools, beaches and bars. Also the office has you sign up to use your credit card as a charge-all for the stores and such on the island. I know from experience on cruise ships and in hotels, that this can be dangerous. You just say charge it to my room or in this case our boat and when we leave they give us the total and after we awake from fainting we pay the bill.
Tonight, we plan to go to the Ratu Nemani Island Bar where we can bring in our own meat and use their wood-fired barbecues. I have some burger defrosting, and will make a salad. This stop will be great; we all plan to swim, snorkel and hike for the next ten days. Break out the sunscreen. The breeze is nice and no bugs!
2nd Mate: Wildlife seen today: little blue heron, squaretail mullet, convict fish, sergeant major, crowned urchin, tern (SU)*, smalltail wrasse*.
Woke up around 0600. I played around a bit with my Legos and read. After breakfast, Grace and I did a few chores as we needed to get ready for the day passage we did today. First, we cleaned out the game cupboard, a small cupboard we set aside for small, compact games we can play on passage or in the harbor. We took everything out and reorganized it to fit more efficiently than it has. Then, we emptied out our card drawer, a drawer that keeps all of our decks of cards, pens, pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners, and other various items. After that, we cleaned up our rooms and relaxed.
We got the engine started and drove to Musket Cove. We'd been in Vuda Point for about a month, and we needed to get out. So, we went to one of the best cruising places nearby. We checked in to the marina (we're on a mooring ball) and walked around the nearby resort that can be used by cruisers. One very nice feature is a large pool near a great café. It has a fountain, rocks, and an old derelict sailboat near the center. You can climb aboard the boat and go on deck, but I'm not sure if you can go down below or not. We plan to go swimming there tomorrow. We walked down the beach some and came back. We're now resting and getting ready to barbecue out on the beach at the resort's free firepits. We plan to watch a short tonight as our family movie if we have time after dinner.
Tonight's Fijian Word: lovo = Fijian feast cooked in a pit oven.
Cabin Girl: The weather today: clear, light wind, the high was 29C, the barometer is 1010 and falling, the moon is waning towards new.
Last night, it got a little cold, so I had to snuggle up in the sheets. Today, I woke up around 0530, but I couldn't get back to sleep. Then, Grant and I had to organize our game cupboard and card drawer. Afterwards, we got to play some games we haven't played in awhile.
Then, we went to Musket Cove. After we checked in, we checked out the resort. We went to a cafe called Dick's Place. It had two pools that had salt instead of chlorine. Tonight, we are going to go to shore to barbecue dinner and maybe see a Fijian show. When we got back, I read some of my book, 'Island of the Blue Dolphins.' Then, I played a game with my two cat stuffies. It was about them trapped on an island for ten years. They built a big house out of a cave.
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15 July 2009, Vuda Point, Fiji
15/07/2009 0644UTC 17 40.828S 177 23.159E Day 765 Up at 0600, 24C, Clear, Wind Calm.
[Our book, Family Voyaging - Ak to nZ, is available online. To read it, go to the Family Voyaging.com website at www.familyvoyaging.com
NEW: The VIP Service (Voyage Information Planning Service) has been launched at Family Voyaging.com.]
Something we'd hoped to accomplish in the course of the Voyage of Discovery was to share the accumulated knowledge we gained from our experiences. The book and blog, of course, achieve a lot of that goal. But we also want to supply information in a more individualized form to other families planning similar adventures.
The initiation of our new VIP Service on the website helps to more clearly define the assistance we're offering. With this tool, potential voyaging families may obtain personalized information summaries in response to their queries; in essence letting them benefit from our successes and learn from our failures. Check it out when you get a chance.
We've been here in the marina long enough. Everything is repaired, so tomorrow the crew's efforts turn to prepping for a short passage to the island of Malolo Lai Lai and the anchorage at Musket Cove. From what other yachties have told us, it is a cruisers' paradise with crystal waters, snorkeling, barbecues on the beach and superb shore-side facilities. The plan is to make ready for sea tomorrow and cast off on Friday morning's tide. We are definitely ready for a change of venue and to get sailing again.
"Crew Quarters"
1st Mate: I can't believe we have already been here in Fiji for a month! Time does fly when you're having fun. We still have five more months of this 'torture.' We are planning to move out of this marina and head to Musket Cove where many other yachties are or have been.
Today we have spent most of the day aboard playing Monopoly and watching Looney Tunes. Cabin Girl has a few open sores on her leg and I don't want her in the pool until they heal. Staph infections are very easy to acquire in this climate. A mosquito bite gets scratched and then the public pool has bacteria and keeps the wound moist and soon it gets red and infected. It didn't help that Cabin Girl fell in the dirty harbor water yesterday. Read it all below.
I caught up on laundry and helped the crew of s/v Tin Solider find provisions before they headed out. 2nd Mate had a ball hanging with his pal Jaryd and even spent the night on his boat allowing the rest of our crew to sleep in, as he is always up at 0600. We really like the neighborhood here but I'm anxious to explore something new. Also the breeze is better and the bugs less away from land.
Yesterday we said goodbye to our new Kiwi friends from Christchurch. They were fascinated by our way of life. The family really gained an understanding of the camaraderie among yachties. We swap stories and best buys; we borrow and we loan; we share meals, cocktails and even kids. Everyone is patient and friendly. Why shouldn't we be? We have lots of time and don't have to be in a hurry.
It has been great hearing from those who are enjoying our book. I too have been reading much of it for the first time. I now can look back and see how far we have come. I feel so blessed to have had this experience with my family and we have so much more yet to see. I look at the photos of the kids and don't recognize them; they have grown up so much. Captain and I are so much thinner and browner and happier these days. It seems looking back that the real joy comes after you've had time to relive it as everything happens so fast and it is all so new that it's a blur. So, thank God we have this blog (and now book) to reflect upon, not just for the readers but for ourselves.
2nd Mate: Wildlife seen in the last few days: sergeant major, Polynesian halfbeak, crowned urchin, convict fish, squaretail mullet, little blue heron, frigate bird, rock crab.
We've been having a lot of fun in the last few days. I've been hanging out with Jaryd most of the time since he's been here. Because there's shore power here, we didn't make the Lego movie we were going to make. Instead, we set up some Lego sets, and played on his PS2 (Playstation 2). We played a racing game called 'Burnout Revenge,' but mostly, we played 'Star Wars: Battlefront.' It was a really fun game. First, you pick an era to play; either the Galactic Civil War (Episodes IV-VI) or the Clone Wars (Episodes I-III). Then, you choose a planet to fight on. Then, you work either together or against each other on the fight on that planet that was in the movies. We had a great time together. The other night, we had a sleepover on his boat. We basically just played Star Wars and talked. Also, last night, we had Jaryd over to Wind Dancer to watch my movie pick, 'The Perfect Storm,' which he hadn't seen.
Today, I woke up around 0600. Unfortunately, the internet was once again down. So, I played some solitaire and read. After breakfast, Grace and I started a game of Monopoly. About halfway through, Jaryd came by and we played for awhile. We hung out around the yacht club mostly. They left today. We said good-bye, but we're going to meet up with them in a few days in Musket Cove. I came back and finished the game with Grace. We just started a new one and are now resting. We plan to watch 'Dial M for Murder' tonight as our family movie.
Today's Fijian word: vilavilairevo = fire walking (literally "jumping into the oven").
Cabin Girl: The weather today: partly cloudy, light wind, the high was 31C, the barometer is 1011 and rising, the moon is third quarter.
A couple of days ago, s/v Meridian left to Musket Cove, but luckily we'll see them there soon. That night, Grant spent the night at Jaryd's boat, and Mom, Dad, and I watched 'Atlantis: The Lost Empire.' The next morning, I slept in until 0725. It was Tessa's last day in Fiji, so we went to the pool and went kayaking. When we came back to change, I slipped off the dock and fell into the harbor! Luckily, it was high tide and Noel, Tessa's dad, was able to pull me out. I didn't get hurt, but it the water was gross.
Tessa and I bought lunch by ourselves at First Landing Restaurant. We ordered a pizza and sodas. While we waited, we played ping pong. Then, we played soccer and volleyball with Grant and Jaryd.
Today, I woke up and had chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast while playing Monopoly and watching Looney Tunes. That's multitasking. I went and had an ice cream and played with the kids on s/v The Red Thread. We came back and started another game.
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