At least we hope so. We have spent the last few day dousing everything in a vinegar and water solution in hopes of warding off mold and mildew while we are gone the next 4 months. We are wiping down every surface inside Orcinius - ceilings, walls, bunks, bilges and drawers - and every cushion - inside & out - and everything in between that we can find. Then we need enough sun and breeze to dry everything out before packing it all inside.

Letting everything dry before repacking it inside.

It's a lot of work, and still only about half way done, but I'd much rather be doing this than making the passage down to New Zealand.

The boats that left a week ago haven't had it too bad, but then, it hasn't exactly been a walk in the park. They are being chased right now by a low that wants to come down on top of them, and yet another one trying to squeeze them out of NZ before they can get there. While they've all been making good mileage this trip, it hasn't always been in the direction they want to go. It sure makes for a frustrating passage with lots of emotional ups and downs. I'm very glad to be watching this one from the side-lines.

So back to progress on Orcinius. The dodger covering the fly bridge is off (and watered and vinegared) and packed away in the new dodger bag I sewed this week. It looks so bare up top now - it looks very odd.

View of the bare fly bridge, and the new yellow dodger bag I sewed.


Malo continues to polish away! Orcinius is looking mighty shiny these days!

I also sewed a new sailbag for the jib. John installed bilge alarms in both hulls, so if we start filling with water for some odd reason, hopefully someone on the dock will hear the alarm and check out whats going on. He also received a delivery of wood this morning and is building a box that will cover our solar panels in case of a cyclone. He and Alferedi also finished the cradle for the mast earlier in the week.

I've also been figuring out what and how to pack everything we want to take home. We have lots of carvings we would like to take back, but need to watch our baggage weight limits on our flights. Plus we are bringing back a stack of heavy clothing that we don't envision needing for the next few years now that we don't plan on going back to New Zealand. So just over one week before we fly out to Hawaii. It's been nice spending extra time in Denarau and not feeling a time crunch to get everything done. We will definitely be ready for some cooler temps though, as sleeping at night has been a challenge with the heat and little breeze, and we drip with sweat during the day without much effort.

And that's the latest from Denarau!

Lisa