I'd put it off for over three years!!
03 January 2012 | Vuda Point Marina, Fiji
92 degrees with a heat index of 109!!
Let's get caught up again on the last few days. OK, todays is Wednesday here while the rest of you are still enjoying Tuesday. On Sunday, I fired up the old(well sort of new) oven and made more of my Cranberry/Walnut Bread. I even braided it as I have done before and it came out great. Helps to have enough butane in the tanks so it doesn't go out in mid bake as happened when I made my last two loaves of bread a few days ago. So, now for breakfast, we have Cranberry/Walnut toast with butter(yes, real butter)and some cinnamon sugar on top. Our breakfasts out here, while they used to be cereal, are now either oatmeal(me) or Creme of Wheat(Tracy), or some rolls we pick up in town, or some of the different breads I have baked. We stopped having cereal as 1--Can't find one I would enjoy eating and 2--the price is so far up there that I might as well eat dollar bills instead of the cereal.
Monday, something happened that I have been avoiding for the last 3 1/2 years. Once Tracy was out of bed, she started digging under the forward berth and handed me bottles of liquids for hair permanents!! The day was finally here!! Now, let's set the stage for all of this. Before we left Denver, Brenda Hass set us up with all the equipment(thanks Brenda) we would need to not only give each other hair cuts, but also the things we would need so I could give Tracy a permanent. Well, I've been avoiding it ever since we left on Zephyr 3 1/2 years ago. I could just see(at least in my mind), all of Tracy's hair falling out once I did the job. There are lots of chemicals involved in giving a permenent(I have to wear gloves!). Now, let it be known that I will never cut Tracys hair as I prefer it longer rather than shorter but being out here where it can get nasty(let alone hot and humid) she prefers it shorter. OK, it's her hair. Last week, Tracy went into town with a friend and joined her as she(the friend)was getting her hair cut(not Tracy). Tracy asked about getting a permanent and from what I hear, the woman just stared at Tracy not understanding what she was saying. With a few hand gesturers and and more talking, Tracy got her to understand what she wanted done. Tracy even told her she would bring in all the equipment and solutions to do the job. No problem. She would do the job. Tracy took a look at her equipment and saw that her comb looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years. Once Tracy was back at Zephyr, she thought about it and decided that she just didn't trust the girl to do her hair. When I was in town on Saturday, I cancelled the appointment.
Well, Monday was the day. I'd put it off for as long as I could. Tracy had managed to get a permanent done before she left the states may months ago, but it just isn't done out here(in Fiji). Most of the women out here have naturally curly hair and if any thing, would need it straightened. Out came all the bottles and rollers and papers and things I had no idea what they were for. On came the computer and we got on You Tube and watched a video or two about how to do a permanent. Amazing what you can learn for the internet. We put one of our chairs(actually our only chair) at the table in the salon and off we went. Combs, papers, rollers and long white pins and we had what we needed for the job. It took a while just to get the rollers on but I managed. I've watched and given hair cuts to men but I've never seen a woman get a permanent. It's a long and involved job and I won't bore you more than I have already with the details(lots of mixing, squirting and messaging of the hair), but about 3+ hours later, it was done. I had given my first permanent and her hair has stayed attached(YEA!). She's not bald as I feared plus she has some curl and body in her hair.
Yesterday, the freighter(Southern Fleur) arrived at Lautoka with our anchor aboard. I'd fired up our navigation computer and watched the ship come in our our AIS program. She docked shortly after 0730. I grabbed our paperwork and headed out for the 1100 bus for town. Down to the docks I went and watched as container after container were off loaded onto trucks for distribution and unloading. I got all excited and tingly knowing that my new anchor was in one of those containers. I headed for Customs as I had no idea where the company was that was the transfer agents for our anchor. Now I'm not totally familiar with all of Lautoka and many of the smaller streets have no signs so the agents in Customs had to go by where stores are in town. It ended up being right around the corner from one of my favorite curry restaurants as well as the biggest liquor store in town. No problem. I knew exactly where to go(it's near the liquor store). I got there about 1230 and when I asked about my shipment(producing all the paperwork that I had), I was informed that while the ship(and my anchor)were here, the container was on it's way to Suva(capital of Fiji) and would be off loaded there. Say what??? Yes, that't right. I could wave at it as it left the harbor and headed out for Suva arriving there in a day or so. From there, it will be off loaded and unpacked, sorted, labeled and then re packed, re loaded and shipped by truck back to Lautoka for me to pick up. That makes sense doesn't it? Why bring it here even though the paperwork says it's for here. They had no clue as to why it was going to Suva, but it was. I have a feeling that this company doesn't get anything off the ships here in Lautoka, it only gets things sent to Lautoka by truck. As to when it will be here, they have no clue. But they did assure me that it will get here eventually. Meanwhile, they told me I needed to start on the import paperwork to get it officially into Fiji. They don't do that. They sent me to a company called Carpenter's. Now Carpenter's is a huge company(even an auto dealer and hardware store)that has many facets. Importing is just one of them. It's now 1250 and most of the companies shut down from 1300 to 1400 for lunch so I had to get there fast. Luckily, no place in Lautoka(second largest town in Fiji) is too far away and I got there at 1257. Just in time for the people behind the counter to tell me the guy I needed to talk to(Phillip) was out of the office. Instead, another young lady came to the counter and helped me out. She made some phone calls and verified that my anchor was on it's way to Suva. At least, while it was on it's way, they could handle all the paperwork needed to get it legally into the country. I handed over my Bill of Lading as well as a copy of the invoice. Since we have no phone(who would I call out here that I can't call on Skype?), they will have to email me with any questions they might have. Today, I got an email telling me to fill in a form and send it back to them. Now why they didn't give me the form yesterday(close to Lunch time and they wanted to leave the office?) while I was in their office, I have again, no clue. Since it needs to be signed, I figure I will be heading back to Lautoka tomorrow to give them the signed form. So, out there, some where is our new anchor. It should be in Suva by tomorrow. It's not that far(120 kilometers by road, several hundred by boat). As to when it will finally show up here, we have no clue. Since we still have a perfectly good anchor sitting on the bow, we plan on heading back to the islands on Saturday. Of course, I still have to go to Immigrations and get our clearance papers to go the whole 15 miles to the islands.
Today, I took everything out of the navigation station. Ever since we bought Zephyr, she has had a leak right over the nav station getting water on many of the thing that we store in there. Well, today, I cleared out everything. Lots of papers were soaked and many had lots of black mold all over them. We pitched a good bit since many things were just not salvageable. Oh well. Since I will be in Lautoka tomorrow, I'm going to give the station a day to dry out as I washed the entire insides with bleach water to kill the mold that was still hanging around inside. While I'm in Lautoka, I'll purchase a tube of caulk to seal up the back edge which is where the water appears to be coming in. With enough caulk, I hope to put an end to all the water coming inside. Sure hope so. It was a mess inside there.
So that's the way it's going here in Fiji. It's currently 92 degrees with a heat index of 109!!! Sure am glad we have the air conditioner. I took a shower a few minutes ago and was soaked with sweat by the time I did the short walk back to Zephyr. Still, it beats shoveling snow.
I'll let you know how Lautoka is tomorrow.