We left New Zealand on Sunday, May 3rd headed for Fiji. Always an exciting time when we leave port for a distant land we have never been to before. The next 8 days were pretty uneventful. Everything on the boat performed as designed and there were no mechanical problems that I had to deal with. For most of the trip we were within a few miles of several boats which made for a comforting trip knowing someone is close by makes a fun journey. I think more than that our weather was really outstanding the whole way. In fact if we were drawing a perfect picture for a perfect passage we could have used a little more wind. Other than that we had a full Captains Log May 19, 2009
moon and clear skies all the way. The Sailing Gods were kind to us and we appreciated their good favor.
We arrived one hour later than our posted ETA which we had to declare (best estimate) before we left New Zealand. The boats we left with all guessed at their ETA's with the winner getting a prize so we won. We are now on a mooring in Musket Cove on the island of Malolo Lailai. The island is located about 15 miles off the SW coast of the Main island of Fiji, Viti Levu. The resort of Musket Cove could not be more accommodating. Everything we need is right here and all the people in the resort make it a point to call you by name whenever they see you. If that isn't enough it takes $2.20 Fiji dollars to equal one US dollar. We just might never leave.
Lest we forget the risk and reward of what we do and how we get from one place to another one of our fellow cruiser's boat sank. We don't know all the details yet but it seems that he had a problem with his steering which turned into them taking on water, not sure how all that was related but that was what was reported. They could not find the source of the leak and within 2 hours the boat was 6,000 ft on the bottom. Steve and Wendy were both able to have time to board another boat that was close by so good news here is that only a boat was lost. This is the 3rd boat in 8 months, that we have been associated with, that has sunk. Very humbling and brings to the forefront the need to take care of the boat, don't cut corners and always be on the lookout for possible problems. Sorry to report a sad detail of what we do.
There is currently a coup going on in Fiji but you would never know it. Most of the islanders could care less. We went over to Nadi on the main island yesterday and it was business as usual. When we asked the cab driver about the political unrest he just said he wasn't interested in that sort of thing and didn't like to dwell on those negative issues. Life goes on.
As you can probably tell we are very happy here and it could almost be defined as a true paradise. Still not sure what our plans are but at the moment we are happy to sit at anchor and we have no plans to leave in the foreseeable future. This is Destiny clear returning to 1 6.
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