Our hopes to quickly regain use of our stbd motor is history – it seems that my aged human body has actually repaired itself (cracked ribs) well before we could bring in the spare parts and get the motor operational. The list of issues to overcome in our quest to get the parts we need have almost become comical (or is it that we laugh to keep from crying). The good news is that we have state-side support helping us work through each new hurdle – and I know that someday (hopefully sooner rather than later) we will actually get the stbd motor working again and be able to see more of Fiji than just Savusavu (or Soggysoggy as we have been calling it after a week of continuous rain). For now, Savusavu is our home and we have enjoyed meeting all the cruisers that come and go, as well as many of the locals. And yes, there are others here that, like us, are awaiting parts to fix their boats.
With the recent rains, we have been even more challenged to find things to do each day. The Olympic coverage has provided a welcome alternative activity, and we really had fun watching Fiji win their Gold Medal in the Men’s Rugby Sevens. Besides napping (which for some reason Cindy feels it necessary to document in photos on Facebook), I have been spending time reading. While I have always done a lot of reading, most of it was more work related, or research associated with the boat, cruising locations, etc. Only recently have I really spent any time reading for pure entertainment. I thought I would share a few of the titles I have enjoyed reading.
Non-Fiction. I have tried to spend time reading both Fiction and Non-Fiction. I’ll be honest though, I tend to lose interest if the non-fiction books are too long, so I go for the shorter summary type works. With that said, I have enjoyed:
1) “50 things you want to know about world issues … but were afraid to ask”, by Keith Suter. One of the things I appreciated in this book was the perspective of an Australian (vs American) author. The information is relatively timely (2005) and provides great background on a wide variety of “world issues” in a concise manner.
2) “Nikola Tesla - Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century”, by Sean Patrick. I have always enjoyed reading about imagination and creativity. This book has some great thoughts on the topic plus an interesting account of the genius of Nikola Tesla.
Fiction. While I have enjoyed a number of the spy/covert ops suspense thriller series by various authors, the one that I am really enjoying currently is The Sigma Force by James Rollins. The author does a great job incorporating historical facts and science/technology facts into a current day, fictional story. I especially like the way he lays out the facts and fiction within the story at the conclusion of the book. With that background, the two most recent ones I have read are:
1) “The Devil Colony”, which brings together history from the period of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson and the Native American Indians, with nanotechnology.
2) “Map of Bones”, which brings together Christian history with superconductivity.
I’ll hopefully be posting a successful conclusion to our wait here in Savusavu before too much longer. Until then we will continue to enjoy our time – including lots of recreational reading.