From Voyage to Fiji

6/7 Tonight we are sailing among the Fiji archipelago, working our way toward the town of Savusavu on the island Vanua Levu, the sailboat hub for Fiji. We'll arrive in the morning, get a mooring and begin the check-in process. Unfortunately, it's a weekend so we'll have to pay overtime charges but it's hard to plan your arrival when it's so far out from when you leave. It was nice to start seeing the mountain silhouettes this afternoon and I think I even got a few whiffs of burning so I know I'm back in the islands! It took a couple of days to realize it but we can also tell we're back in the tropics by how long we feel clean after showering. At it's worst, you'd get about 1 hour of clean before starting to sweat again but right now it's like half a day. Before we left NZ, there was no sweating going on unless we were running.
A friend of ours quoted their passage to NZ last Spring as having more weather in the window than window in the weather which we thought was pretty accurate and this passage certainly started out that way but these last 2 days have been trade wind sailing so we don't feel so cheated. We were surprised how little we saw over all the miles, an albatross and some petrels was about it. Only 2 dead flying fish on deck. Friends on another boat saw a sperm whale being tormented by a group of orcas which may have been interesting to see but it was probably sad too. We put the fishing lines out yesterday but shortly afterward they got crossed and tangled up in the downwind waves so we took them out, cut off the rats nest of line and I took out some steak for dinner instead! Felt too much like work. Supposedly the fishing between islands is really good so we'll get back into it. We feel kind of sleep deprived right now.
One thing is, we sure made some miles this passage and we gave the new staysail we got from Willis sails in NZ a good break in. It sets so much better than our old one, it is heavily constructed with good reefing ability so we can get it pretty small for high winds. It has UV protection too so we shouldn't have the top blow out from exposure like the old one did. And, it really makes a good combo with a double reefed mainsail. We're becoming a sailing machine! Since carbon fiber was very reasonable in NZ, we had our carbon spinnaker pole extended there since it has always been too short so that is working much better for poling out the genoa. We also got a whisker pole for the staysail so we can pole that out instead of the main since the main chafes pretty badly when downwind. Not to mention, the pilot is happier steering with 2 headsails rather than the main. We also broke down and bought a spinnaker. We haven't had the opportunity to try it yet but are excited to see how it flies and how much we'll fly when using it! Plus it is colorful! It ends up s sort of diamond pattern and it is dark green, orange and then yellow in layers as you move inward to the center of the sail. All this is because we've never had a good downwind setup and after last year, we realized that we needed to make it better or we'll put too many hours on our new engine. NZ was an affordable place to do it since they have pretty good prices on labor intensive boat work. We could definitely give our friend Tim on Slick a run for his money now since he always beat us anywhere we went crossing the Pacific . But he's all the way in Thailand now, so we'll never get to race. To get around the safety issues of traveling the Red Sea, he is shipping his boat and meeting up with it in Turkey so he can do the Med. It's expensive but does allow you to do the Med and it saves time over going around S Africa. Plus, sailing miles cost money even if not immediately evident.
We're back onto charts with soundings rather than just a blue screen. When we're far out, there are so depth readings since I guess they figured what's the point? But now we can tell we're getting close because they're back again and now we're only in 12,000 feet of water! Jon always likes to tell me we're never more than a few miles from land at all times! Very comforting.
Jon has basically converted me (not that I had much of a choice living on this boat with him) to modern country music. After years of listening to it at his parents house every time we're there, I can't hear it now without thinking of them. But then, I guess it's the same principle as how your taste buds can change if given the chance & repetition, but I give in; I like it too. We're hot on the group Florida Georgia Line right now and those songs have been playing throughout this passage. Thoughtful lyrics. I'd like to see them live someday with Jon's brother & wife Craig & Melissa. Someday.

6/9 We're in Savusavu! We got here yesterday morning and were cleared in by 3pm in the afternoon. Back to island time, friendly Fijans, HOT temps, lush green scenery, roosters calling, tropical fish below the boat. On the way into the harbor, we passed Richard & Ali on Vulcan Spirit- they were headed out for a few days of diving at an anchorage nearby. We pulled the boats close together & Ali lobbed over a pamplemousse and I caught it!So it's like it was in the Marquesas, a memory burned in our minds- arriving to friends giving you fruit as a welcome. Here's a new one: A question on the customs forms asked "are you carrying any Holy Water?" Haven't had that one before, actually thinking about it now it might come in handy at times! I didn't dare ask what would happen if we were, like is that an issue? Then they asked if we were carrying cremation ashes, which is more understandable, I guess.

We took a little walk in town to scope it out and stretch our wobbly legs and then had a lovely Mexican dinner aboard a friend's boat Reality- Sharon & Vaughn that we did this trip with. They're from San Francisco. On their boat card they say: "Those with the most memories win!" Sharon even made fresh tortillas. Now I can't wait to start making them too.

As we pulled away from our boat yesterday in the dinghy to head ashore briefly, I looked back at it as I always do after a passage and thought: how in the heck did that boat come all that way getting pushed & punched with seas & wind and now sit quietly here all tied up looking pretty like nothing happened? It's all about switching gears. Now back are all those feelings of peace, relief & excitement about another passage completed and a new territory to discover. Leaving the comfort & safety of land to become a speck on the open blue, our little group of three (the boat is definitely one!), all counting on each other. It's good to leave it all behind, then find it again.