I used to laugh at a friend whose blog would go for many months without an update. Then, one fine day would see a flurry of updates from him. I am afraid that I am now following his example. Indeed, if not for a treasured friend (whom I had not seen nor heard from since the mid-1970s) leaving me a cheerful hello on the blog this morning, I might still be with, shall we say, writer’s block. Yeah that’s it. Writer’s block! Thank you Wendy for the note and getting me going on this again.
It is now March 14, and Elisabeth and I, Your rock and Roll Argonauts, are back in Fiji after having spent three months in California. Our past cruising season rounded out with us having our friends Walter and Silvia come stay with us for three weeks, most of it spent in Blue Lagoon snorkeling, paddling, etc. Finally, it was some great time at Musket Cove followed with putting the boat in one of the cyclone holes at Vuda Point Marina. This is where Vuda has dug some holes for the keel of the boat. They lift the boat with the Travel Lift and set the boat into the hole and the hull gently rests on a bed of old car tires. It is supremely stable and is the best option in the event of a cyclone (known as a hurricane in the northern hemisphere.)
We had a super three months in California. Along with all of the house projects, teeth cleaning and such, I started flying again. It had been a long time since I flew, and I wasn’t sure whether I remembered how. It was no worries mates. After 4.5 hours of dual instruction, I was current again and Elisabeth and I had fun flying around our local area. While in California, we also bought a GoPro camera and filmed a little music video. It is now on YouTube, but really, it is just a fun jolly. We had fun doing it though and some people even said that they liked it. We thought it looked great with sort of an edgy Berlin sort of look to it. Our taste in music is quite different than most, so if you go look for it, just know that it moves slowly and is well, psychedelic. I know, I know, passé, but we still like it! The link if you like punishment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9ombgCN6k4
What are we going to do now? I wish we knew. We are considering that a radical change of pace might be in order. We are thinking that we might like to take the boat back to the States and cruise the Pacific Northwest. We might buy a plane and tour the US low and slow by air. We have a complication in that I have had knee surgery, and I am on light duty. As such, the knee would not tolerate a strenuous upwind passage to Seattle – at least for a month or two. We have the charts for Indonesia and this time last year, that was our plan. It could still be fun. Now you can see why the blog has gone untended.
Right now, we are waiting for all of the cyclone activity to be done with before we even take the boat out of the hole, much less set off across the sea. Cyclone Pam is pounding poor Vanuatu as I type this. This is the big thing on our mind right now. We have friends in Port Vila who we know have survived. They spent the night terrified, huddled with backs against a concrete wall in their hallway and a mattress over their heads. Their windows were blown out and the roof partially missing. These people live in one of the most solid, first world quality homes on the island. It is now the people in the villages that we worry about. Having spent multiple cruising seasons there, we have a number dear friends on our minds right now.
Thank you for being here with us. If you are reading this, I salute your patience. We will let you know what we do once we reach a decision. Best wishes to the world.
Rod and Elisabeth, Your Rock and Roll Argonauts