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Fiji Temperature 89 degrees and sunny.

It is great to be back out sailing again. We cast the lines this morning in a lovely 18 knots of wind and sailed across to Musket Cove in three hours at a speed of about 7 knots with just the geneker flying. Ideal conditions. We are now tucked in on a mooring ball with the breeze keeping us comfortably cool as I type this. This past week has been spent getting the boat organized again and provisioned, since we completely strip QuickStar when we left her last year during the cyclone season. The mooring system is what is called “Med-tied”, which basically means you moor bow first and there are no docks. Makes it a bit tricky to get on and off the boat, but is an efficient use of space. Was a bit of a challenge loading on all the groceries (and beer) at high tide. Getting put in the sling to be moved from the hard back in to the water

Going in....

Getting launched into the marina

During this week, we have witnessed three different “rescues”. The first was a sailboat that left Vuda point and then came limping back in being towed since their engine died on them. It’s just a really good thing that the motor didn’t give out as they were exiting the narrow opening in the reef. This is real danger zone and what keeps so many boat repair yards busy. The next day, Peter was setting up the outboard engine in the dinghy when a marina worker starts hollering at him to save his powerboat that had broken free of dock lines and was being swept out. I missed all the excitement as I was belowdecks, but Peter got a kick out of his first “rescue”. Being towed back in to Vuda Point Marina

This afternoon as we were returning from our visit onshore, a boat was trying to moor here at Musket Cove. In a blink of an eye it was almost upon the reef. Luckily the dive boat rushed out to assist it, so the drama was averted. Last year a large boat was dragged out almost to the reef, so we will sleep better knowing we are on a mooring ball. All the same, Peter has hooked up a safety line, in case the mooring lines breaks. ooops....another rescue in progress

We have come to Musket Cove for the annual regatta week. It is basically a fun week full of nonsense, tall tales and lots of laughs. We miss not having Don and Martha on board this year. Drunken air guitar late at night will probably not happen this year! I will, perhaps try to defend my #1 championship from last year - which is for women only - telling a humorous story as to “Why I hate sailing”. Not sure I’ll enter the wet t-shirt contest again (not kidding, I really did this). I might if Peter isn’t judging again since I only lost by one vote (in the mature category or something like that) and that lost vote was Peter voting for someone else as he claims he didn’t want to appear biased, ha,ha.As you can imagine lots of wobbly pops were consumed to make me go in this one! We will be defending Don and Peter’s 2nd place finish in the Merlin Match Race. I am not at all comfortable in this – as it is a little dinghy boat – and Peter says “no reefing”. The things we do for love. Later, in the week it shouldn’t be hard to beat our 3rd from last finish in the around the island race. I forget all the excuses for that poor showing, but I think the fact that 18 inches were sheared off our rudder by the reef we hit factored in to the justifications. We might need to start working on new excuses now. Entrance to Musket Cove

Needless to say, it is just a fun week, meeting fellow cruisers from all over the world. Tonight it kicks off with a free cocktail party and dinner with each country signing their national album. We will miss not having Martha to sign the French half. We hope to fit in a couple of dives if time allows. The beach at Musket Cove

We got some great news this week from home. Our son Danny and our daughter-in-law Ashley found out the gender of their second child and they were thrilled to share with us that little Addison is going to be a big sister to a baby brother in mid-January. Peter is grinning ear to ear and already talking about when his grandson plays hockey and how he might be able to coach, etc., etc. Captain Peter shopping in the local market

On a sad note, one of our dear friends has a brother who has been missing since August 31st in Quebec. We send all of our love and prayers that he will be found safe and sound. Be sure to hug someone you love today! Until next week…"The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler P.S. Here is Peter's definition of putting on Sunscreen...enough said!