Since we last reported, we had a fun two weeks at Musket. Elisabeth was on her Stand up paddleboard pretty much every day, and is getting really confident. I had promised her some quality Musket time since Majuro, and we made it good. Unfortunately, we had to cut it a bit short. Our new dinghy has developed a leak in the inflatable floor. We did the soap thing, and found two seams with a small leak and four pinholes leaking. We thought that we could deal with it better at Vuda Marina, so off we went. The dinghy is under warranty, and we contacted Defender, the store where we bought it. They said that Achilles would want photos, so we sent them off, and here we wait for a response……

Meanwhile. We are having a blast. The marina hosted an out rigger canoe and stand up paddleboard race last Saturday. What fun. The outrigger canoes were absolutely beautiful, like Formula One cars with paddles. The stand up paddle board racers were an inspiration. It was a seriously windy day with lots of big waves out of the marina’s harbor, so the racers really had to work hard. It was pretty exciting.

Then, a few days later, Elisabeth bought me a stand up paddleboard. So cool. Of course, I am a bit wobbly, but I have been on it nearly every day and can see improvement every day, so look out!

Our friends Mike and Karen from the Kiwi boat, “Option One” (who we had met last season) found us here and at Musket. We had dinner together recently, and are making plans to have them on board Proximity next season. They will be taking Option One home to NZ, and next season there is no plan to sail up to Fiji, so we may have them with us for a visit.

We took a bus ride into Nadi and Port Denarau. Poor Denarau was really hit hard by the hurricane. I would say that only about a third of the docks are rebuilt and have boats on them. The rest are just gone. The stories about the hardrock Café being gone are fiction. It is there as are all of the other businesses. Only the docks are missing.

Our friend Jeff is now in the country. He and his family are in Taviuni until the first of August. Then the family will fly home, and Jeff will come be our crew. For the first time ever, your Argonauts will sail with crew. Jeff will sail to Vanuatu with us, and we plan to leave soon after he arrives. It will be sad to leave our beloved Fiji, but we will probably be back again next season, since our plan is to spend another “off season” in the Marshall Islands.

In the spring, we are thing of trying to head east to Samoa, and then revisit Tonga, and then Fiji. We will keep you posted. So, here we are paddleboarding, preparing for passage, enjoying the most beautiful sunsets, socializing with great people, and eating incredible Indian food in nearby Lautoka. (We have been here long enough to find the good places!).

We love you all and wish you Bula Vinaka!

Rod and Elisabeth