It was time to leave Vuda Point and make way for Vanuatu. Past time perhaps but we had spent it well, investigating mechanical maintenance issues and getting repairs lined up. Our genset is disabled until we get the new water pump and heat exchanger (with shipping this will be around $1,000 US). Not what you like to find in a 2,000 hour 3 year old genset. That said it should be in top condition when we get the new parts installed. We hope to get the parts sent to Gizo in the Solomon Islands but we have not been able to get a hold of the yacht club there so we don't have a place to ship to yet.

We have a long list of minor projects but the only thing that is possibly significant over the short run is the minor oil leak in the port sail drive. We'll be keeping a close eye on that and favoring the starboard engine for locomotion.

Hideko and Margaret did last minute laundry at the dock (no genset means no washer/dryer on board). We filled the starboard tank with dock water which seems to be of pretty high quality (I might drink it in a pinch). We grabbed a final late and blueberry muffin from the wonderful little cafe and said goodbye to all of the nice folks we've met here. To wrap up I went around and paid all of our tabs and said goodbye to the Baobob Marine folks. Brian there runs a great shop. He and Kent from Just Catamarans in Ft. Lauderdale are two of the very few folks I would trust working on my boat unsupervised. They're both South African and so is the boat, maybe there's a connection?

We had a hand on the dock and one in a dinghy to head out. Getting out is almost as tricky as getting in. We dropped all the lines except the windward stern line and the windward bow line. Once set to go I had the girls bring in the bow and the stern at the same time with the guys from the marina helping on the other end. I gave it a burst of forward to get steerage way and to drive out of the port-ways slide the wind was dishing out. Then back to neutral as we drifted over the moorings (and rather close to the bow lines of the boat we were sliding down on). Once clear of the circle of bow moorings it is a simple task to drive on out. We waved goodbye to everyone again as we motored out of the narrow reef cut that leads to the over sized Fijian lagoon.

Once out in the deeper water (70 feet) we put up the main and pulled out the jib. We promptly passed another sail boat who had left a bit before us and headed for Muscat Cove. The rhumb line takes you directly over two little sandy islands that are below water at high tide. Keeping to port as we left them to starboard we homed in on the south point of Muskat Cove. It is easy to follow the markers in but nice to have a good chart and some way points your first time because there are reefs everywhere.

The Cove is the loveliest place we've been in Fiji. There are sandy beaches and coral around the perimeter and a couple resorts on the island with restaurants, pools, water sports and scuba shops. The anchorage is triple protected by the outer Fiji barrier reef, the island barrier reef and the inner reefs in the anchorage. Needless to say it is flat. The depths are 50 feet plus but the Muskat Cove Yacht Club has moorings everywhere for $15 Fiji a night ($8 US). The yacht club also has a nice little stern to dock with power and water. If you are on a mooring or the dock you can use all of the Yacht Club and Resort facilities including the pool. It would be a wonderful place to spend a week.

Once tied up I hooked up a scuba rig and quickly checked the port sail drive. I was hoping for clear water but the water here is a little murky with lots of clumps of algae floating by. Vis was about 30/40 feet max. The sail drive leg looked secure. I was hoping to be able to tighten the bolts underwater to see if additional pressure on the three O rings in the sandwich would sort things out. Unfortunately Yanmar provides a template for the drive leg hole that is rectangular and the drive leg has a circular ring that it attaches with. So you can not really reach most of the bolts from below nor can you drop the leg down through the bottom, it must come out the top. I am going to email Yanmar and find out what the reason for this is. A small one inch crescent at the mid point, coming to a point three inches from the one inch center, cut from each side of the hull (maybe 8 square inches of total material) would allow you to get to the bolts and drop the leg down. Everything was very secure and I left it at that.

We saw Enki as we came in and chatted with Christoff on the VHF. We have been running into Enki on the route since Panama. Christoff is going to NZ but then West to Patagonia! The mooring collector came by and we bummed a ride from him to the shore so that we wouldn't have to drop the dinghy down. He was a nice guy and everyone at the resort was very friendly. There's a cute little bar out on the point and they fire up a BBQ nightly. Cruisers can buy chicken, salad and a potato at the shop and BBQ their own food while taking advantage of the bar (very cost affective). This was a popular option. We decided to hit the resort proper though so that we could get back to the boat before dark. We did, after all, have to swim or bum another ride.

The resort is a nice collection of individual bungalows back in the palms. We made our way down the beach to the pool which has a small sail boat wrecked in it. Nice touch for a Resort and Yacht Club. The main restaurant wan not open at 4:30 but we got a great cheese burger from the snack menu and finagled some chocolate cake and ice cream out of them as well.

Back on the dock we met up with Spectacle, a yacht with folks Margaret met in sailing school. She also line handled for them going through the canal. The bar was lively and packed with folks from the anchorage. We had a nice time mingling as the sun set.

It was no problem catching a ride home with all of the friendly cruisers about. A young couple from Hawaii, Amber and James on Mai Miti Vavau, dropped us back at Swingin' on a Star. They were delivering another yacht to NZ and then coming back to spend the season in Fiji.

Back at the boat we brought Roq forward and spread out on the trampolines to watch the clear starry night revolve overhead.