Rover

Travel Hiccups, Acclimation, Prep

24 September 2023
Mark
My approach to any blog post is to try and convey the essence of
the experience. So far, it has been 3 days since we left Corvallis and
thus far we have been getting acclimated, resynced to Fiji time,
provisioned with supplies and trained on Rover’s systems in preparation
for heading out cruising to explore Fiji. Hopefully we will leave
tomorrow, dependent on weather and fuel availability.

I had some challenges with travel paperwork and lost luggage. Fiji
immigration is quite adamant about visitors having proof of how they are
moving on. I suppose non-US citizens have a similar experience when
coming to the USA. As I am sailing to New Zealand, I didn’t have a plane
ticket out (and some missing sailing paperwork Eric and I figured out).
They almost didn’t let me on the plane in LA. We worked it out, I made
it here, and got my bag the next day. On any adventure such as this, one
has to learn to go with the hiccups and not get overly stressed.

Part of the fun of travel is interacting with the local people and
getting a sense of the culture. Fiji is an old British colony so English
is one of three national languages and communication is easy.

We took the bus into town to buy supplies, had lunch at the food court,
and a taxi back to the boat laden with purchases. During the bus ride we
got a glimpse of the countryside, the vegetation and infrastructure.
Sugar cane is an important commodity and we saw it growing, harvested
and being transported to the sugar factory in Lautoka. The people of
Fiji are very friendly, with greetings of “Bula” on the street and in
the stores.

The boating culture is similar with some stark differences. The biggest
difference is that in the boatyard, are “hurricane holes” for boats to
be secured during the November to March hurricane season. Ditches are
dug deep enough for a sailboat keel and rudder. The boat hull is set on
tires on the ground. Thus the boat is much lower and protected and
shouldn’t be damaged in a blow.

I stretched my comfort zone and bought a bright “Bula” shirt (think
Hawaiian shirt) to dress up my drab wardrobe.Looking forward to heading out.

--
Sent via OCENSMail satellite email service.
www.ocens.com
Comments
Vessel Name: Rover
Vessel Make/Model: Valiant 42
Hailing Port: Seattle. WA
Crew: Eric and Linda
About:
We're making a big change to a cruising lifestyle. Eric retired in 2012 after 32 years in R&D (mostly) at HP. Previous passions included flying and bicycling. Linda will retire in 2013 from Oregon State University. She's been active in Zonta, was a Scoutmaster, and is a champion baker. [...]
Extra: Linda was barrel master and Eric participated in the Jackson Street Vintners; a group of friends that made wine from 2000 to 2013
Rover's Photos - Main
From Seattle to San Francisco
166 Photos
Created 21 August 2019
Photos from week seven
2 Photos
Created 3 November 2013
Living in Port Townsend
4 Photos
Created 2 September 2013