.: We're back in Fiji for the 2013 sailing season.

Welcome back to our sailing blog. When we left in late November, I had intended on doing a “final blog”, but time and lots of excuses prevented me from doing so.

We left our boat at Vuda Point Marina in Fiji and not more than 3 weeks after we returned to Silver Star, B.C, Canada for the winter ski season, Fiji sustained a direct hit from a Category 4 cyclone named Evan. All we could do was watch the unfolding of the worst cyclone to hit Fiji in 20 years, via the internet and with sporadic contact with the company looking after our boat (Baobab Marina) and some good friends on Red Sky who were on their boat and living through the cyclone.I am including some photos courtesy of John Hembrow of Red Sky which he took while on the scene.

How low can the barometee go?

This is one of the boats in the hurricane holes - even it was leaning over!

The mast crashed down on the roof of the Sunset Bar

Messy decks everywhere.

Lots of damage to solar panels and other things that owners failed to take off for the cyclone season

This wind-indicator lying on the pavement is from the top of a mast!

Note the wind in the coconut trees in the background

The good news is that QuickStar managed somehow to avoid any serious damage. So far it appears that she just needs a bit of spit and polish, similar to any other season. This was partly due to the diligence that Peter took to ensure that our boat was stripped down completely and also to our good luck of being on the far side of the marina. Red Sky was across the marina from us, where the brunt of the damage was caused due to boats tearing free and crashing in to one another, huge trees falling down and just a lot of thrashing and bashing. Unfortunately, Red Sky sustained about $80,000 worth of damage (all covered by insurance though, hooray) and is now on the hard being repaired. Other friends of ours had their boat in a “hole” and they didn’t have any damage to speak of either (other than lots of debris and a deck that looked like a bomb went off).

On a really positive note though it is amazing how “undamaged” Fiji appears to be. We expected to see lots of devastation, but on the contrary, only 5 months after being hit, the island is almost “business as usual”. On Musket Cove the Island Bar was wiped out, but it reopened last night. Some of the island resorts that were hit directly have closed, but they are using this opportunity to renovate and then reopen being better than ever. This is quite a testimony to how resilient the Fijians are and a great advertisement to “come to magical Fiji”.

After the 28 hours of commuting from Canada we arrived safe and sound. One of my favorite things about traveling is seeing all the different cultures, and you can even experience this just transiting through Los Angeles airport as we do. We had arranged for our taxi driver to pick us up in Fiji and we felt like we were, indeed, coming home when Abdul was at Nadi airport to meet us.

It will take almost a week to set QuickStar up again, but we are enjoying this time. It feels like spring cleaning and gives us a chance to acclimatize (it is lovely and over 30 degrees here) before we set sail. It’s been great to catch up with old friends and we are looking forward to meeting David and Suzi from Sidewinder on Tuesday where we will head off together to Kadavu for some great diving, if all goes well.

As in real life, the sailing life is not all rosy. After keeping the boat secure for the season – even though we run a dehumidifier, the boat does attract flying cockroaches. (I can just picture you Lesly saying “oh my God”) While we were asleep over the past two nights that we have been here, we got quite a few bites, but they don’t hurt, it just makes you look like you have the measles. Now that we have the boat opened up, this problem will disappear quickly.

Shot of a dead flying cockroach

Also, last season, I didn’t feel well and we returned to Canada early. I spent most of the winter undergoing tests and dealing with severe pain. The good news is I don’t have M.S. (which was suspected). I have severe osteo-arthritis and osteoporosis (in addition to my other 3 auto-immune diseases, just to keep me humble). Acupunture was a big help over the winter, and I am hopeful that I can manage the pain while we are cruising this season. (It certainly is less painful to be sipping a cool gin and tonic while gazing out to sea than being in the real world). I am currently unable to stand for more than about 5 minutes, so I’m looking forward to getting out to the outer anchorages where I can swim. If this situation persists, I’ll be sure to enjoy all the things that I can do….watching magnificent sunrises and sunsets, playing 2-handed bridge with Peter in the cockpit, reading lots of books, snorkeling (and hopefully diving, but not too sure about that) and socializing with our great friends down here.

Here is one of the magnificent Fiji sunrises that we experienced on our first night here at the Sunset Bar. This photo is courtesy of John Hembrow (P.S. They are going to be running a charter business for a couple or maximum 3 people aboard their luxury 55 foot Moody sailboat here in Fiji. They are a wonderful Aussie couple that will be fantastic hosts. If you are interested check out their website www.sailinginfiji.com )

As always I will do a blog post each Friday. I hope you will come along for the ride and check in from time to time.