There are many different things that can classify as a crisis aboard our boat; and those different events can be different levels of crisis. Some examples of a high level crisis that would cause us to stress out and require quick action would be: the engine dying while passing close to a reef or finding water splashing around inside the boat. Smaller levels of crisis that just piss us off would be: chart plotter not working, radio stops working, and no more alcohol aboard our boat.

Well, the last three things mentioned are what happened all within a few days of each other. Now considering that three small events happened so close together, it became a high level of crisis aboard Tanga!

Our stereo system is a car radio that we purchased back in San Francisco, about 2 years ago. Out of the blue, one morning, we went to listen to our IPod, and well, the stereo doesn’t turn on anymore. After Tom does some troubleshooting, he determines that the brain is fried. Bummer! No more music aboard Tanga. And let me tell you, a boat without music is a boring boat.

The next day, we wake to perfect surfing conditions. As we are getting Tanga ready to leave our mooring ball at Musket Cove, I turn on the chart plotter. It turns on but can’t load the maps from our SD card. Turn off breaker, turn breaker on, and turn chart plotter on. The maps load but the GPS locator is not working. Repeat steps again. The maps load and our GPS position is working. Ok, let’s go! So we are motoring over to Namotu Island, with no music, I realize that the picture on the chart plotter is different looking. The chart plotter never did load the maps from the SD card. It’s not displaying any of the reefs or islands around us! Bugger! Again, after a bit more of troubleshooting, we discover that our SD card of the Fiji Islands is toast. We never had any issue last year with the SD map cards, however, last year, we were jumping from one map region to another, so we were switching cards out as we entered a new map area. This year, since we have been in Fiji, that same SD card has remained inside our chart plotter and we are guessing, it just got to much humidity exposed to it. Oh well, it’s just another item added to our list of things to purchase while we are back in the states for the holidays. The good thing is that our chart plotter automatically saves all of our tracks, so getting around to the places we will be at in the next weeks is not a problem.

Because we could not tolerate no music for more than a few days, we headed over to the main island and went into Nadi Town. We found an electronic store and purchased a new car stereo.

Me being of the age where I still have to worry about unexpected pregnancies, needed some birth control. Maybe this is a subject that I shouldn’t talk about, but well, it’s our website so here it goes. We walk into a pharmacy, with no doctor prescription, just an old birth control pack. I ask the nice lady if they sell birth control pills. “Why yes we do”, “do you have an old pack with you so we can see if we have that kind?” I hand her my old pack. She comes back “we don’t carry that specific brand but I can recommend a different one.” Excellent!! She shows me and I ask the price. One month costs $19 Fijian. That is about $12 USD!!! “WOW…I will take 4 months worth!” I’m just mentioning all this because of the major difference of medical costs compared to the states, including Obamacare “cost savings” (LOL)!!

We also did a bit of clothes shopping, and bought Tom some new board shorts and a few new bathing suits for myself. Stopped by the surf shop and bought some wax for Tom’s surfboard. Our last two stops in town were at a liquor store for some booze and of course, treating ourselves to a nice meal. With all that done, our crisis level indicator is down to zero again!