Its been a busy 10 days one way or another. We sailed over to Denerau to collect the spinnaker pole last week and to top-up on produce - just one night and a lot of running but we managed to grab everything we need and head back to Musket Cove (and, writing this I realise we have no photos of Nadi or the market but I guess when living in Rome do as the Romans do and lets face it we live at a tourist resort). Paul had spent the morning washing the boat down and as we headed off the coast the wind picked up and up and up off the beam. By the time we arrived at Musket it was gusting to 30 knots, Paul sat drenched at the helm, the boat was covered in seawater and spray and all the cockpit cushions blottered with salt. We spent the rest of the afternoon washing the boat and ourselves down again.
The rest of the week we focused on completing boat jobs and we are almost there now in terms of catching-up. The jobs never end but now its just pottering.
Peter and our Sistership Seeker arrived a few days ago after a boisterous sail from NZ with a very capable crew, Beth, who is good company and very robust. We are taking her contact details in case we think it would be nice to have another crew when we head to French Polynesia in a year or so.
The highlight for the week was yesterday with John and Leanne on Songlines which is a good-sized catamaran. 10 of us with plenty of room to spare headed out to watch the final of the Fiji Pro surfing competition at Cloudbreak . The winds were meant to be light but had picked up and it was a bumpy ride to the surf break with our dinghy, which was being towed behind, jumping all over the place. The wind lifted the surf though and we watched as Australia's Owen Wright surfed his perfect score to win the comp.
Next stop was Cloud9 but first Adrian wanted to be dropped off to do some kite surfing and he would follow us over after that (about 14 kms). Organising the kite from a boat is a bit more complicated than from a beach. First, all the lines were laid along the decks to ensure there was no tangle. The parachute was taken from its bag and also spread out. But before he could go further we had a slight problem. While none of us were watching (when we should have been) our painter managed to slip under one of the rudders and wrap itself around the prop. Given its a ski line which floats we were surprised but the wind chop must have lifted the hull while the dinghy was in a rut. The long and short of it was that Paul had to drop over the side and tug and pull to release the line which he eventually managed. With the dinghy under control it was back to Adrian who jumped into the sea holding the parachute lines. John kept Songlines faced to the wind and Leanne held the kite at the back of the cat. She let go and the parachute flew up until the lines to Adrian were taut. Next, was the surfboard. Brett tossed it over the side and Adrian made his way to it using the parachute to take his weight. In no time he was up and flying off to the surf. He disappeared to a dot of red and blue until later when he surfed in to Cloud9.
We continued on to Cloud9 which is a floating bar and pizza restaurant moored near the fringe reef. It lives there year round and so far has weathered the strong winds from Cyclone Pam passing to the west. On still days it sits in a calm sea of aqua. Yesterday the wind chop danced around it in the 15-20 knot breeze.
Once aboard, though, its comfortable and there is a sheltered area for those who want to swim. We had a lovely couple of hours there before deciding it was time to get back to Musket Cove. We swam or dinghied back to Songlines and readied to lift the anchor. No go, the anchor had wedged under a coral head. No matter which direction John tried it was stuck fast. Paul to the rescue again. He dived over and tried to direct Songlines to release the anchor but in the end he had to dive down 25ft to physically pull it out of the hole in which it had wedged. Soon we were underway with the sun low in the sky now. Just a fabulous day but not quite over yet. Heidi, slipped on the trampoline and pulled a hamstring - badly - so our poor Southern Bell had to suffer the indignity of being manhandled off Songlines and onto Huck. And as we were saying our goodbyes later that night we discovered that Adrian's dinghy had decided to go walkabout. A perfect end to a perfect day - almost.