Still in Fiji

Thursday came and went and we did NOT depart. We are still squeezed into a spot at Vuda Point Marina. We managed to wash our bimini and dodger canvas on Monday, thanks to the fresh water at the dock. But then it rained on both Tuesday and Wednesday so we could not re-treat it with water-proofing so we decided to wait. We did make a run into Lautoka on the local bus which is always an interesting way to see an area. We did some last minute provisioning and picked up some fresh fruit and vegetables at the produce market. But knowing we weren't leaving on Thursday, we held off on the BIG fresh purchase. Now it looks like Monday will be the planned departure. It did clear off on Thursday – or at least with no rain – so we retreated the canvas.

This extra time is allowing us to do some other projects and get the boat in good order for the big passage. Our route will take us from here directly to Tuvalu. Its about 640 miles. We'll spend approximately one month there and then continue north towards the equator to get to Kiribati (pronounced Kiribas). After about a month there, we will make it to the Marshall Islands. That is the plan and we hope it will be a good trip. Michael is learning a lot about the various "convergence zones" that create the weather patterns for this part of the world. There is the ITCZ and the SPCZ – and both create either big, bad weather or no wind. So learning to read where these things sit is helpful in picking weather windows to make the passages.
We have enjoyed our time in Vuda Marina. This place does a great job at providing services and "entertainment" for the boats. There are three movie nights (the movies played on an outdoor screen after dark – weather permitting); two nights of live music – reggae on Friday nights and a good band on Sunday afternoons/evenings; Thursday night is $2 beer hour followed by "prop night" (we came in second with team "Dragonfly"). The staff is very friendly here and the facilities are great. So it has been a nice stop for us before passage. We are making up for the lack of "cook's night off" while in Fiji and doing the whole four months worth in one week here. But the prices are certainly reasonable.

Once we clear out on Monday – we won't have access to phones or internet for quite some time.

But we have posted the last of the pictures from Fiji. So check them out.

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