18/09/2009 0710UTC 17 40.828S 177 23.159E Day 829 Up at 0610, 24C, Cloudy, Rain, Wind Calm.

[Above, the latest satellite photo shows the large weather system that hit Fiji slowly moving off to the east. The Fijian Islands are at left center; we are on the largest island which is just coming into the clear.]

[To read our book, Family Voyaging - Ak to nZ, and receive personal voyage planning assistance (VIP Service) go to the Family Voyaging website at www.familyvoyaging.com.]

Strong winds continued to rock the marina overnight and until about daylight; the rain ceased around lunchtime today and the storm was over. By this evening we were back to the brilliant blue skies of the tropics, a fair and light southeast tradewind and near normal conditions.

The kids returned to playing with their friends, but the clock is ticking. Most of the people we know here are preparing to shove off for Vanuatu (formerly The New Hebrides) within the next day or so. Some have even checked out of Fiji and are simply awaiting a weather window to proceed on their passages. For us, we will miss our pals, but not the anxiety of planning another major ocean passage. Our decision to remain in Fiji for the season has proven to be the right call -- the entire crew is happy and relishing the experience of really getting to know an island group and its people.

"Crew Quarters"

1st Mate: It was a very pleasant evening last night. The curry was a few notches hotter than poor 3rd Mate could stand although it was supposed to be 'mild.' I believe countries that have extremely hot weather, like Mexico and Fiji, enjoy extra-spicy foods in hopes of building up their internal temperatures to stand the external heat. The rest of us loved the spice; a dab of sour cream and the salad cooled it all down. Grace was able to fill her roti with salad and cheese and dip it in the dhal soup for a satisfying meal. The boat was cool and we all slept much better. Captain and I retreated to our berth after the movie but had to get up to adjust the boat's dock lines for the incredible amount of surge and winds that made it in to this hurricane hole. After that, neither of us woke until morning.

It was still raining when we got up today but no one complained. I enjoyed watching 'The Big Chill' by myself. It is the best soundtrack, yet seeing all those actors so young was a bit depressing ... where does the time go?

I decided it was time to make a batch of tollhouse cookies. The kids played games and after much arguing for a choice of movie to view I told them that in my day you watched what was on TV at the time. So today the TV Guide (me) said 'Uncle Buck' was on channel 12! They loved it and later rounded up their friends to play. I think our schooling better start soon as it sounds like the end of summer break around here with the kids keep arguing about games and movies. Therefore they must truly be tired of them and need to refuel their brains with reality.

Tonight is cheap pizza night at First Landing and we are hoping to have a last meal with our friends from s/v Kairos, New World and Meridian. Also s/v Cristal Voyage came in and they hope to make it for dinner. Bertie will be around through the rest of the season, but his sister, mom and cousin are coming in and they plan to be moving around Fiji a bit more than we do. No worries as we will find new activities and friends often.

2nd Mate: Wildlife seen yesterday and today: least tern, squaretail mullet, blueback jack trevally, black surgeonfish, rock crab.

Yesterday, it was raining buckets all day. The wind got up to 40-50 knots outside the harbor, and about 25 knots in here. We couldn't really go outside at all yesterday, so we just hung out on the boat. Grace and I played multiplayer on our DSs, and we read a lot. We played around until dinnertime. After dinner, we watched 'Analyze This' as our family movie.

Today, we did quite a bit more than yesterday. I played some on the computer, and ate breakfast. After that, Grace and I watched 'Uncle Buck' as it was still raining outside. After that, Abbey came over and we played Monopoly together. About halfway through, Grace dropped out to go play with the Meridian girls. We all wanted to play with our friends today because most of them are leaving over the next few days. Abbey and I walked up to the café and hung out with Nick off of s/v Mikado, an Aussie boat that we met in Musket Cove (he's also leaving for Vanuatu soon). I walked back to my boat because Abbey had to call her friend in the States. We're now resting and watching the sun break through the clouds. We plan to watch 'Casablanca' tonight as our family movie.

Today's Fijian word: vulagi = visitors.

3rd Mate: [The last day with her longtime pals, Sophie and Maddie, the Meridian girls (who are among those headed for Vanuatu shortly). I could not in good conscience call her away to scratch out a blog entry.]