Vanautu here we come....

Wednesday, July 3rd       Day One

We have officially cleared out of Fiji.  It was sad leaving Vuda Point Marina this morning - saying goodbye to all our good friends here - especially Riki and David and Suzie.  To make it more emotional, as we were leaving the employees all gathered around and sang us the Fiji farewell song.  Our taxi driver even came and joined in.  Very touching.

We spent about an hour at the customs office in Lautoka.  Everything here operates as it did in the 70's.  We even filled out forms using carbon paper for the second copy - some of you are probably way too young to even know what I'm talking about.

As I type this, Peter is loading the dinghy on the deck and then we are set to go.  The weather window looks favourable for our 4 day journey, although that can always change in a moment.

I'll check in with you tomorrow, after our first night out.  That is always the hardest one for me.  I'm just looking forward to arriving in Vanautu safe and sound.  Until tomorrow.....

We are heading back out to sea.....farewell Fiji...we will miss you!

Today is our final day in our favorite cruising spot – Fiji.  It is with mixed feelings, that we leave this wonderful country, although we are looking forward to our next adventures.  We have kept busy these past few days getting ready for our crossing to Vanautu.  We’ve provisioned the boat with six weeks’ worth of food, since there is very limited supplies in the remote country of Vanautu.

Today, we’ve done the final touches in preparation – I’ve prepared four dinners for our expected four night crossing, although we usually don’t eat much the first day or two while we get our sea legs.  I will start with the sea-sickness medication tonight and will stay on it to hopefully prevent it. There is a saying in the cruising community.  “If you get sea sick you feel like you are going to die.  As it progresses you wish you would die”.  (My girlfriend Krys who came with us on the leg from San Fran to Mexico knows this experience all too well!)

We have the life jackets at the ready and all the jack lines and tethers are on.  This is a system by which you tether on to your life jacket and the jack lines attached to the boat, to prevent you from being swept overboard in the event of bad weather.  As a safety precaution we always “clip in” during the dark – which runs from 6:00 p.m to 6:00 a.m. each day.  I still find that everything intensifies during the darkness – the wind seems to increase and the seas seem to build.

We have prepared our “ditch” bag, which consists of our important papers, flares and other safety items.  A “ditch” bag means precisely that…in the event we need to abandon ship we throw that in our life raft (which is already fitted with emergency food, water, etc.).  We also have an emergency beacon that we would set off, which would be able to pinpoint our location.  Hopefully this is all equipment that we will never need.

We will be doing 4 hour watches between Peter and I during the 12 dark hours.   I’m still a nervous “crossing” sailor, so Peter stays in the cockpit and sleeps while I’m on watch. I tend to wake him up more often than I should if something doesn’t “feel right”.  He then “cat-naps” during his watch, (while I’m on high-alert during mine) which makes me nervous, so neither of us really gets a decent sleep.  We’ll make up for it when we hit landfall. 

What is interesting about this crossing is we are leaving about 24 hours before 27 Oyster Boats are heading in the same direction on their round the world rally.  Oyster boats start at about 3 million dollars and are very fast, so most of them will beat us to Vanautu.  I feel somewhat more relaxed knowing there will be that many boats close by, if anyone should run in to any problems.  Peter still scoffs at my nervousness and all he says is “they better not get in our way”. 

As with all our crossings, I will endeavour to do a blog posting every day.  This is dependent on whether we can get a ham radio connection, so if I am unable to do so, please do not be concerned.  As we are going to the remote southern islands of Vanautu, we also won’t be in regular email or internet contact for close to three weeks, but as soon as I possibly can, I’ll update the blog with our safe arrival.

Hope you all had a wonderful Canada Day weekend.  We celebrated aboard QuickStar. 

 

Until tomorrow…….Stay safe and have fun!

A sad week for the international cruising community

QuickStar under the rainbow at Blue Lagoon (photo credit – Riki on sv Guava Jelly)

This past week was a very sad one for the international cruising community.  For us personally we came way too close to our first serious accident (this season).  We were leaving Blue Lagoon to head north up to the Yasawa island group.  Due to the fact that the Fiji charts are notoriously lacking, we were using the waypoints provided by another sailboat.  About an hour into our trip, the skies closed in with a dark storm approaching and we no longer had any visibility through this reef strewn area.  We kept going for a few more minutes until Peter decided it wasn’t safe to make the trip under these conditions so we returned to Blue Lagoon.

What a storm looks like as it is approaching

 The next morning we set off again with clear skies.  Once we left the channel we were heading directly to the next waypoint (on our GPS).  At the last second, Peter saw that our course was going to take us right on to a reef, which was now fairly visible.  He was able to veer in time to avoid hitting it.  This whole incident was very, very sobering because if we had of continued the day prior, we would have, without a doubt, hit the reef  and had a disastrous situation due to the darkness and sea conditions.

Australian friends of our John and LeAnne from RedSky were badly damaged during the cyclone in December, to the tune of over $80,000 (they were in the same marina we were in, and they were onboard their boat during this Cat. 5 cyclone named Evan) While John was overseeing the team repairing their boat, LeAnne went to a Yoga instructors retreat in Bali for 6 week.  She just returned about 3 weeks ago, with what she thought was a Bali belly (most of her classmates contracted the same stomach ailments).  This was also confirmed by a nurse on one of the out islands.  

Anyway, to make a long story short when the pain became even more severe they rushed back from the Yasawa’s and called their doctor in Australia.  She insisted that Leanne get an ultrasound to make sure she didn’t have a blood clot and then to catch the first flight home.  Once she arrived, she was immediately admitted and operated on for a ruptured appendix.  The doctor said she has never seen such a severe case including infection.  (On a side note, many cruisers opt to have their appendix removed before they set out, since a ruptured appendix on a crossing could have fatal results).

As of yesterday, Leanne has still not been released from hospital, and once she does the doctor insists she cannot return to Fiji for at least 2 – 3 weeks after she is fully recovered.  John is batching it once again here in Fiji and he misses his first mate very much. 

Then to top off their streak of bad luck, he was robbed the night before last while anchored just outside of Port Denereau.  (where we currently are). He had locked up his boat to go out for the evening and when he returned, he noticed  that one of his hatches had been pried open and discovered all his computers, camera’s, electronics were gone.  The thieves couldn’t figure out how to turn on the lights so they used matches and left behind umpteen burned matches that they just dropped throughout the boat.  Very lucky they didn’t start a fire.   They did leave behind a souvenir – a machete that they must have forgotten when they left.  Needless to say, had John been onboard, they may have put the machete to use.  

In another incident, a blind sailor accompanied by a sighted crewman left Japan last week to sail to California to raise awareness for tsunami victims.  When they were 800 miles out from Japan they hit what is believed to be a large piece of flotsam.  The boat sank.  Luckily they were able to activate their EPIRB (an emergency device that sets off their exact location). Both sailors made it into their life raft and were rescued by the Japanese air force.

Another sailing story may not end as well.  The classic schooner Nina set off from New Zealand to Australia at the end of May.  There are seven persons aboard, including the owners and their 17 year old son who was completing this voyage and doing a documentary before he headed off for college this fall. One of the crew members lives in Fiji with her husband (who is active in the morning radio network) aboard their boat in Savu Savu.  She is also the aunt of our friend Riki's (sv Guava Jelly) girlfriend.  Riki’s girlfriend is coming out in a month to cruise with Riki and also visit her aunt. All of us here in Fiji have been following this very closely and hope each morning to hear that Nina is safe and sound.

Sadly, the authorities now believe the worst has happened.  For the past two days the navy has been searching and there is simply no trace of Nina who should have arrived June 4.  They did have a lifeboat and an EPIRB, but that was never set off.  The search has now been called off and the consensus is that they must have met with a catastrophic failure and are believed to be sunk with no survivors.  Very, very sad.

These situations remind all of us that the sea is stronger than any of us. We can only remain respectful and keep safety a number one priority, but ultimately we are not in control. In some ways, this is a very freeing concept.   With this in mind, we are planning on crossing over the sea later this week from Fiji to Vanuatu.  The trip is expected to take 4 nights.  We are almost ready and will simply wait for a favourable weather window.  Once we are out at sea, we will not have internet access, but if we are able to get ham radio reception I will post to the blog each day with our progress.  If you would like to follow a crossing in real time, you can check in on the blog on Monday when I will confirm our actual departure date.  Keep in mind that communication is not always possible, so if I’m unable to post, this is not cause for alarm.  

Due to the length of this post, I’ll just include a few photos from last week.

View of QuickStar and Guava Jelly on Yasawa Island. (photo by Riki from atop the peak)

 

Sunset at Musket Cove

 Pink Ocean

 

Our last barbeque at Musket with David and Suzie from Sidewinder

 Now for my rant about how cell phones are replacing the art of socializing and communication.  This group were seated next to us at the Island Bar.  For the ENTIRE time – through dinner and drinks, this gal was using her phone.  No words were exchanged with or by her.  Still can’t believe anyone would come to this paradise and not be “present” with her surroundings and friends. Okay..rant over.

 P.S.  On a very positive note, I would like to congratulate our daughter Kylie who completed a very challenging first year of teaching in a native reservation in Northern Alberta.  She is now safely back with her husband in their first home in Ashcroft, B.C.  So proud of  both of them for making the sacrifices necessary to achieve this goal and also thrilled that they will be so much closer when we return to Silver Star this winter. xoxox 

Happy Canada Day Weekend to our friends and family back home.

 

Until next week…..Live boldly.  Live on the wild side.  Appreciate each amazing day!

 

Heading out snorkeling.  No shark is going to get me in my Austin Powers suit. (photo by David on Sidewinder)

Sailing through the Yasawa Islands

Happy Summer to everyone.  Tomorrow is supposed to be a “super-moon” which means that it will be the closest to the horizon and 5 times as big as other times throughout the year.  We’ll have to see if that happens.

Locals going to work for the day

We spent two more days in beautiful Manta Ray Bay. Here we are looking out for the daily visit of the giant Manta Ray’s.  (I posted the video a few days ago below this posting).  What an incredible experience. 

 

The beach at Manta Bay Resort

 We all went over for Happy Hour at the resort

 

Following Happy Hour  we were guests of Eddy and Glenda on s/v Helena to share Eddy’s homemade beer.

A fun evening of dancing and laughing was had by all. After this Eddy and Glenda headed south.

 

 

  

For our final Manta Ray evening, Riki had us over on sv Guava Jelly. 

He made the mistake of pulling out his Jim Bean.  After just a  few shots  Peter was already singing “it’s time to switch to whiskey…I’ve been drinking beer all night”  Notice in the picture (below)  how close QuickStar is to Guava Jelly.  Not surprising to any of our SunDance friends, who have witnessed Peter and whiskey in action, is that David and Suzie had to escort Peter & I home in our dinghy (after he fell into it and lost his sunglasses).   We all had a wild and crazy time and Peter has sworn off whiskey...until the next time.

In the beginning…

A few hours later….

 The following morning at Manta Ray Bay was spent doing the blog from the resort (Peter providing technical assistance)

. 

Cute Turtle statue made out of a tree

Final sunset at Manta Ray Bay.  Peter doesn’t like to be in the water at this time which he calls “big fish time” I LOVE it!

 

  

 Arriving in to Blue Lagoon – breathtakingly beautiful

 

We went grocery shopping here, which involved a 20 minute dinghy ride across to an island and then a 10 minute motor through a mangrove forest to get to the farm.

 

The farm is run by Milly and Teanco (and their adorable 3 year old Lea).  Lea was like my shadow for the whole visit, and I loved it!

It doesn’t get any fresher than this

Mom & Lea choosing our vegetables

 

 Lea collecting them and putting them in Peter’s bag

Laying them out on the table (only $12.00 worth – which is equivalent to about $7.00 Canadian for all this fresh produce)

  David and Suze with their produce

Cuddling with Lea and her little puppy (missing my grandmunchkins even more!)

That evening we decided to host an impromptu Happy Hour on our boat.  Peter brought out the Crown Royal (to ensure Riki left in the same shape from QuickStar that Peter did from Guava Jelly, ha,ha).  This was the original bottle that our son Danny brought on the departure from Vancouver in 2007 and he’ll be happy to hear that it is finally gone. (P.S. Peter didn't partake)

 

The next morning we had an incredible rainbow

We pulled up anchor and headed off further north to the isolated Sawa-i-lau Island, home of the famous caves.  There are two large caves that you have to climb up stairs to get in to.  It is a popular tourist activity, but because we are considered “locals”, we were able to go in after all the crowds had left so that we had the place to ourselves, along with Riki.  The caves are kind of eerie, since it is quite dark when you jump in with your snorkel gear.  After swimming in the first larger cave you then have to swim under water and in to a second cave.  This is a bit freaky since it is pitch dark and even the lights from the guides are hard to see. Once in the 2^nd cave, it is completely black and much  narrower. Kylie did this on her visit to Fiji and said there were lots of dead spiders, but luckily we didn’t encounter any of these.

The caves are located within this little mountain

 The anchorage is just gorgeous with a wonderful little lagoon right behind us.

Heading in to the village

 We presented our Sevu Sevu to the Chief.  I don’t have a picture of performing this ceremony in this village but Riki sent me one of us doing it in Waya.  This gives you an idea of the protocol once you enter a village. 

  

Once accepted, you are free to walk throughout the village and are considered part of the community.

Our first stop was at the primary school, which has 50 students.  This is quite amazing, since the entire village including teenagers and adults is only about 100.

 School library

They have a wonderful system  where the students all spend one hour a day doing “chores”.  Each responsibility is rotated each week, so that by the end of the school year each child has a chance to contribute including cleaning washrooms, cleaning blackboards, ringing the bell, gardening, cutting the lawn, etc. etc.  You can read some of the chores on the blackboard below, with the principal.  The school looks great and the kids all have a sense of  responsibility.  When we were there it was during this hour of “chores” and we were totally impressed with how hard each child was working.  Would be a great system back home!

 

Next stop:  the church with our tour guide Lesli

 

Village walk with Riki

The following morning, we woke to a dead-calm ocean.  We have never seen it this calm before. 

  Great morning sunrise

 Later that afternoon we were going to go for a kayak trip, but the weather looked pretty iffy, so we just took our dinghy and went exploring the lagoon.  The unique rock formations were also a first for us.

 

We had a treat for dinner.  One of the locals came over to our boat and was selling fresh lobster.   We bought one for $25 (Appr.$15.00 Canadian).  

We will stay here for another day, and then will most likely start heading back south to get ready for our departure from Fiji to Vanuatu.  

Hope you all enjoy the first few days of summer and make plans to relax and play during this magical time of year.

P.S.  here are a couple of shots that Riki took of our dolphin encounters.

 

 Until next Friday…..