Back to Blue Lagoon by way of Musket Cove. After leaving Vuda Point Marina last month, we spent a couple of weeks at Musket Cove. There are many changes there, and we hear much complaining in the yachting community about them. Musket Cove Resort was founded and built years ago by a man named Dick. Dick loved yachties and made Musket a very yacht friendly place, establishing the Musket Cove Yacht Club, where you pay a one-time fee of $5 USD for a lifetime membership, which entitles you use of the resorts facilities, laundry, swimming pool, rubbish disposal, etc. He also built a rustic bar that became the yachtie “headquarters over the years. Many yachts autographed and donated their countries flags and yacht club flags from all over to decorate the place. It was quite special and inspiring to go have a beer, visit and meet other yachties and to see these old artifacts from cruisers who had past this way years ago. The bar also had a number of wood –burning barbeques that were free of charge. The resort furnished the wood, and you cooked your food. It became a place where people congregated.

So, now fast forward and Dick got old and recently past away. The resort is now run by his daughter who allegedly dislikes yachties. Said daughter has made changes. The old bar has been torn down and replaced by a bigger and nicer facility that is probably more to the liking of regular resort guests rather than yachties,although wehave heard many current yachties say that they like the new place. But the old feel is gone. No more flags, no more feeling of history. Additionally, the barbeques are gone. They have been replaced by coin-operated electric hot plates that do not get hot enough to cook a steak. This, it appears is the thing that bother the old yachting community the most. An electric hot plate is fine for cooking an omelette, but it is most certainly not a barbeque. Many say that they are no longer interested to go there, they don’t feel welcome, etc. Indeed, we noticed that by 8 PM, we were the only ones there, so yachties do seem to be staying away. The writing on the wall that we see is that new yachties will come, and find the new place to be just fine. When that is all you know, there is no old loved place to mourn. The new bar is quite nice. We never really got interested in the barbeques, so it is not a loss for us, although we find the idea of a coin-operated hot plate to be very tacky and pathetic. And we miss the old flags. Thus, you have our observation of the changes at Musket. There are others. The wifi at the restaurant is no longer free, so it is hard to justify $10 for coffee and croissant and pay wifi on top of that. But let me say that these politics are really small potatoes to us. It is still much much better to be here rather than in a 2 o’clock meeting at work. It’s all about perspective.
So, while at Musket, we paddled our boards, went walking, swimming, visiting with friends, met new friends, cooked at the electric hot plates with friends, had cruiser pot lucks, and had a great time at beautiful place. If you are thinking of going to Musket, and have heard that it is no longer good, fear not. It is still great place. We like it.
We have guests coming. Walter and Silvia, Swiss friends who have a home near ours in California are coming to visit. They will fly in and take the ferry up to Blue Lagoon in the Yasawas. Our plan is to be there before they arrive, and meet them there. They will stay at the resort for a week then come sail with us back to Vuda Point. So, after Musket, we spent another week at Vuda buying groceries and provisions for about a month of being off the grid. We also took the time to clean the boat and get ready for guests. We have an Indian restaurant in Lautoka that has become “our place”. We are getting to know the owner, and are very impressed with his, no compromises, way of cooking. He just does it right. The restaurant is called “Chilli Bites”, and from the street has the look of a fast food take out place, but do not be fooled. This man does it right. No canned sauces, no pre-boiled onions. It is true honest and super delicious food. Hard to find anywhere anymore. He is the real deal. He has taught Elisabeth how to make the Paneer cheese that you find in so many special Indian dishes. Yum, so of course, we had a couple of lunches there when we went into Lautoka for groceries. If you find yourself in Lautoka, we strongly suggest that you stop in for lunch. You will be happy you did.
The weather forecast showed that the wind was going to pipe up, so we thought it best that we get out of Vuda and head up to Blue Lagoon before “the show”. Our first stop was the island of Waya, about 25 miles away, and we had a beautiful day of it. The anchorage is beautiful, and like many local anchorages, it was a trifle rolly. Got to meet a local man named Tom who was out fishing in his kayak. Tom stopped by to ask if we might have a fishhook, as his had broken. He showed us his catch of three small fish. We did have a nice hook for him, and off he went, happily to the reef to try and catch the rest of his dinner. About an hour later, he returned to show us that the hook we gave him caught two more much bigger fish. We felt pretty good about that and gave him a nice handful of hooks that we had for him. He pointed out his house in the village and invited us over. We told him of our plans to get going in the morning, but that we just might stop in on our way back from Blue Lagoon with Walter and Silvia. We probably will.
In the morning, the wind had come up and was forecast to stay up and get higher as the week progresses. So, we had a fast sail up to BL in wind ranging from 9 to 25 back down to 12 then up to 32, etc. We got into BL about 1:00, and anchored next to a beautiful old Norwegian-built sailing ship. We had met this ship and its owner last year in Port Vila, Vanuatu. It is really pretty in this anchorage. We are protected from the wind here. As we turned in to the bay, the wind dropped from 25 kts to about 8. Nice. So, then here we are. Blue lagoon. And there is internet due to the resort! Got to love the resort. Oh yes, it is the Nanuya Resort, a very low key and elegant place with a wonderful kitchen. Elisabeth is looking forward to her steak.