Dear Friends,

As some of you have commented, the Wetnose Blog has not been updated since 2010, which of course is shameful! We'll try to do a bit better. Much has happened since our last carefree entry was posted upon our return to New Zealand from Tonga--not all of it good. But in this space and time we shall focus on the happy times that it has been our good fortune to share aboard this magnificent cruising vessel. We hope to fill in more fascinating details in future posts, but here's the quick Who, What and Where. In June we made our passage from New Zealand to Fiji, arriving with our distinguished crew JW, DE and HH on June 17th, a Friday, just in time to clear in before the weekend. On Monday morning we were joined by DE's lovely wife RRE and young niece KG for a week of cruising in the Mamanuca and Yasawa Islands of western Fiji. Somewhere in the midst of this we reluctantly allowed HH to hop on a passing ferry to return to w*&% in Los Angeles. June 23rd found us back in Port Denarau on a rainy day for a nearly complete crew change. DE, RRE and KG moved ashore for a final Fiji day in a fancy (?) hotel, while I (Jim) was joined by my own lovely wife Pat and our son Jim, wife Julie and our most amazing grandchildren Amanda and Matt. The best news for you, dear readers, is that Jim kept a journal that he will be sharing with you on these pages in the near future! Again we cruised the Mamanucas and Yasawas (which we never tire of), enjoying the snorkeling all the more through young eyes who had never seen a coral reef before! We all had a great time. There was even some unexpected excitement on the day they had to leave...there was an earthquake in the ocean north of New Zealand and a tsunami warning was issued. We decided to head immediately for higher ground, moving up our planned visit to Raymond Burr's former estate, which is now a wonderful orchid garden covering several acres. The tsunami warning was cancelled, we returned to Wetnose (now in Vuda Point Marina, for those of you who know the area), and finished packing the kids off to Los Angeles. Two days later our current adventure began, with the arrival of friends Rick and Judith Turrell, former Los Angelinos, world cruisers (aboard Dreamweaver) and currently farmers living south of Auckland, NZ. We decided to head immediately for Vanuatu, and as of this writing have completed our first 24 hours at sea. The sun is shining, we have a light following breeze, the spinnaker is up, and all is well aboard the Wetnose.

Until next time, Jim, Pat, Rick, Judith SY Wetnose