After more than a year in Christchurch under in the care of Davie Norris Boatbuilders, Surprise is on her way to LA as deck cargo. She is completely redone; everything off, everything out (batteries, fuel tanks, engine). Bright new paint and lots of upgrades. She lands Jun 8th.

We're sad to see this season and adventure come to a close, but at the same time we are looking forward to being home. Our last few weeks have been wonderful; good weather, nice anchorages, beautiful snorkeling and diving. The Yasawa Group of islands is much like the Va'vau group in Tonga, lots of nice places to go hide.

We spent a few days at Musket Cove and watched the very exciting election returns on CNN along with a few other Americans and occasional visitors. Lots of explaining the concept of "key states," but the historic nature of the outcome needed no explanation.

We've been back in Vuda Point Marina for the last few days cleaning, repairing, packing and getting Surprise ready for the new crew who will sail her to New Zealand. James and Amber (photo)sailed down from Hawaii last year on their 26 (!!) foot Contessa; the boat is the same boat sailed by Brian Caldwell, age 18, around the world. Surprise will be a big upgrade for James and Amber, if for no other reason, standing headroom.

They will deliver Surprise to Davie Norris in Christchurch where she will get a complete cosmetic spa treatment; new paint and lots of TLC. We've not made plans beyond that yet. We're glad we were able to share our adventure with all of you. We've certainly had fun documenting it and have enjoyed your comments and e-mails. We'll keep you posted if a new adventure begins.

The Admiral makes bubbles A lovely dive off the island of Waya in the Yasawa group in Fiji; calm, clear water great coral, nice fish. We're still anchored off of Octopus Resort and went with their dive boat this afternoon. We'll likely head south tomorrow stopping for a day or two at Navadra and then on to Musket Cove.

We're working our way through the last of the provisions and counting the remaining bottles of wine and beer. It's hard to believe the season has gone so fast. Our current plan is to turn the boat over to the delivery crew next week and spend a few days getting them comfortable with the systems. They, James and Amber, will sail her to Christchurch, NZ and turn her over to Davie for some badly needed cosmetic work. We fly home Nov. 11th.