We are out of here at the crack of 0800. Haha. Good wind from a good direction main on the first reef. Its a go Houston. See you all in a weekish. Remember sailmail :)
Thursday, November 1, 2018
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Leaving Fiji
Bula from Fiji. This our last post from here. We are NZ bound.
Our plan is to depart early am 01 Nov (NZ time). We expect to be 8-10 days. 8 would be awesome, but the wind is a fickle mistress.
Position reports post to oceantracking.com. Our call sign is WDJ9035. You'll note that initially we will be heading a little more west. We will not be getting a rhumb line sail. Sadly. Once the high pressure system we are leaving on clocks around more easterly, we will head more southeast too.
So starting tomorrow we will be without internet. I will be posting on the blog. Www.evergreenadventures.blogspot.com. As always we love hearing from you while we are underweigh. Our sailmail is wdj9035@sailmail.com. Keep those cards and letters coming (who is old enough to remember that phrase ?). Dennis will also be checking in each evening on the northland radio net . We think it's 1900 hrs NZ time. Josh is the adult in charge of us while we are off the grid. He mentioned that it is weird that in the US he can't have a legal drink but here he is our key go to person. We love you Josh. (no, don't jeez mom me.)
We left Denarau today after a busy morning checking out and using up the last of our Fiji dollars. Back on the boat the dinghy came up on the deck and last minute things got stowed. The sail to musket cove was pretty full on and likely what we can expect the first few days. Not awful, but not a nice beam reach either. It is of course as windy as it been. Anchored in 20+kts of wind. Only took two tries ..
I have been pre cooking some food, and we have a good selection of easy to cook meals. This is our first long passage just the two of us. Hopefully we will both arrive in one piece - Evergreen too. :)
Off to enjoy my last flat night for a week. Talk soon
Musket Cove
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Thursday, October 4, 2018
4 October Fulaga
Wow time has sure flown by. Fulaga is awesome, we have really enjoyed our time here. The weather has been very windy, so we have spent our time in the village. Church and lunch on Sunday, hung out with Ma at the school on Monday - it is exam week and each of the villages does the food each day. OMG the food. and it is always eat Dennis, eat Carol Yikes!! I am pretty sure that if we had been fed like that for exams we would have been like, bring 'em on, yay food!!
Tuesday I stayed at the boat, cleaning and cooking - Ma, Teddy and Joshua came for dinner. Typical 6 yr old, Joshua watched 3 movies. It was a good time. Dennis was in the village all day - having lunch and kava at the school and looking at Ma & Teddy's water tank that was leaking. They decided it was the fittings, so yesterday when we went in Dennis fixed those. I taught Ma how to make cake over the fire like we used to do when camping. we made a dutch oven kind of thing and made wacky cake (no eggs). It turned out good. Her grandmother came to watch too. Dennis and I were surprised that cooking like that was something I could teach them. I also gave her a recipe for chowder - they just give the leftover yams and fish to the pigs - easy to get one more meal out of it.
So yeah very interesting to see how they live on a day to day basis. So friendly and giving. In return, and note to anyone reading this and thinking of coming here. Bring dollar store readers, masks for diving, fishing line and hooks, vanilla, cocoa, olive oil. The powder kava is okay to bring to give out, just not for the sevusevu, that has to be the plant.
We will leave this afternoon with the high tide and sail to Toyota which is 70 nm away. The wind has been strong for the last week, so I imagine we will have big wave action, but at least it should be mostly downwind sailing. We will end up at Vuda Point to get work done on the boat. Then if we have time we may go to musket cove. Before we know it, we'll be looking for a weather window to head back to NZ.
Off to make pasta for school lunch today - lol.
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Tuesday I stayed at the boat, cleaning and cooking - Ma, Teddy and Joshua came for dinner. Typical 6 yr old, Joshua watched 3 movies. It was a good time. Dennis was in the village all day - having lunch and kava at the school and looking at Ma & Teddy's water tank that was leaking. They decided it was the fittings, so yesterday when we went in Dennis fixed those. I taught Ma how to make cake over the fire like we used to do when camping. we made a dutch oven kind of thing and made wacky cake (no eggs). It turned out good. Her grandmother came to watch too. Dennis and I were surprised that cooking like that was something I could teach them. I also gave her a recipe for chowder - they just give the leftover yams and fish to the pigs - easy to get one more meal out of it.
So yeah very interesting to see how they live on a day to day basis. So friendly and giving. In return, and note to anyone reading this and thinking of coming here. Bring dollar store readers, masks for diving, fishing line and hooks, vanilla, cocoa, olive oil. The powder kava is okay to bring to give out, just not for the sevusevu, that has to be the plant.
We will leave this afternoon with the high tide and sail to Toyota which is 70 nm away. The wind has been strong for the last week, so I imagine we will have big wave action, but at least it should be mostly downwind sailing. We will end up at Vuda Point to get work done on the boat. Then if we have time we may go to musket cove. Before we know it, we'll be looking for a weather window to head back to NZ.
Off to make pasta for school lunch today - lol.
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Saturday, September 29, 2018
29 September
We are now at Fulaga. Last stop before heading to Vuda Point. We got here on Tuesday afternoon. Upwind motorsail from Namuka, but not too bad. The pass into the lagoon here is narrow and shallow at the lagoon side. The light wasn't great, but we made it, and I only have a few new gray hairs to show for it.
Wednesday, we walked into the village for our sevusevu. It was about a 45 minute hike thru the bush. There is of course an easier walk from a different anchorage. But the walking is good for us. We have a host family. Ma, Teddy and their 6 year old son Joshua. They are the same family that hosted Doug and Carla on Moondance, whom they remembered with big smiles. Dan our teenaged guide showed us first to the wood carver - Dennis bought a really pretty bowl. After that we went to see Ma. She served us Tea, yams and pancake like things. Her grandma, auntie and another lady were there weaving a huge mat for her house. Eventually her husband (Teddy) came by and we were shown their house. Its a nice village, pretty simple, they have solar and I think the school might have internet. Dennis had a look at their inverter - needs a fuse that we might have. Unfortunately their TV is broken and not something we can fix or replace. They told us that since they are our host family, that we should come to them if there is anything we need or want to do - they offered fishing, clamming and of course church and food on Sunday. We will do the Church thing. Carla told me Ma loves chocolate, so I will bring in a wacky cake. After all that, we walked over to the close anchorage to check it out, then back to our boat. We dinghied around a little first to get a feel for the place. It really is cool. The lagoon is huge, mostly sandy bottom with the requisite bommies scattered throughout. It was cloudy and rainy , so I didn't take very many pictures.
Thursday was a spectacular, picture postcard perfect day. We gathered our gear and toured the whole lagoon. At some point I will post pictures, because even those won't be able to show just how amazing this place is. Lots of white sandy beaches interspersed with islets that look like sculptures that have been haphazardly placed. We explored like crazy, were able to go out a pass into the lagoon on the east side of the island, stopped on a beach where we say a white eel. We drove the dinghy out the main pass thinking we might snorkel, but way too much current. There is a cool beach with a lagoon to the outer reef just west of the pass also right out of a post card. We ended the day on a small beach close to the boat, just hanging out with a bottle of wine and snacks. I can see why people suffer the 2 day bash to get here from Suva. Its pretty idyllic.
Yesterday was a pretty quiet day. The forcasted winds came, so we moved the boat to the anchorage with the easy walk to the village and yeah.... that was it.
Today is forecasted to be windy again. There is a picnic planned with all the boats and villagers. I imagine it will go ahead unless its pouring down rain. I am going to make a peach crumble. We are down to our last 6 eggs, so am having to plan what I bake around them. No eggs or butter to be had here - sadly.
So we figure we will be here till a good weather window next week then head off to Vuda Point on Viti Levu. That will be a 2-3 day trip, depending on whether or not we go straight thru or break it up. It is an overnighter (90 miles) to the next closet Island and at least that again to Vuda, but we'll see. We are trying to eat thru the freezer as we will have to turn it off when we haul out. It is hard to believe that we only have 4 weeks left before we head back to NZ. I am torn, as Fiji is pretty amazing, on the other hand a grocery store sounds pretty good too. hahaha
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Wednesday, we walked into the village for our sevusevu. It was about a 45 minute hike thru the bush. There is of course an easier walk from a different anchorage. But the walking is good for us. We have a host family. Ma, Teddy and their 6 year old son Joshua. They are the same family that hosted Doug and Carla on Moondance, whom they remembered with big smiles. Dan our teenaged guide showed us first to the wood carver - Dennis bought a really pretty bowl. After that we went to see Ma. She served us Tea, yams and pancake like things. Her grandma, auntie and another lady were there weaving a huge mat for her house. Eventually her husband (Teddy) came by and we were shown their house. Its a nice village, pretty simple, they have solar and I think the school might have internet. Dennis had a look at their inverter - needs a fuse that we might have. Unfortunately their TV is broken and not something we can fix or replace. They told us that since they are our host family, that we should come to them if there is anything we need or want to do - they offered fishing, clamming and of course church and food on Sunday. We will do the Church thing. Carla told me Ma loves chocolate, so I will bring in a wacky cake. After all that, we walked over to the close anchorage to check it out, then back to our boat. We dinghied around a little first to get a feel for the place. It really is cool. The lagoon is huge, mostly sandy bottom with the requisite bommies scattered throughout. It was cloudy and rainy , so I didn't take very many pictures.
Thursday was a spectacular, picture postcard perfect day. We gathered our gear and toured the whole lagoon. At some point I will post pictures, because even those won't be able to show just how amazing this place is. Lots of white sandy beaches interspersed with islets that look like sculptures that have been haphazardly placed. We explored like crazy, were able to go out a pass into the lagoon on the east side of the island, stopped on a beach where we say a white eel. We drove the dinghy out the main pass thinking we might snorkel, but way too much current. There is a cool beach with a lagoon to the outer reef just west of the pass also right out of a post card. We ended the day on a small beach close to the boat, just hanging out with a bottle of wine and snacks. I can see why people suffer the 2 day bash to get here from Suva. Its pretty idyllic.
Yesterday was a pretty quiet day. The forcasted winds came, so we moved the boat to the anchorage with the easy walk to the village and yeah.... that was it.
Today is forecasted to be windy again. There is a picnic planned with all the boats and villagers. I imagine it will go ahead unless its pouring down rain. I am going to make a peach crumble. We are down to our last 6 eggs, so am having to plan what I bake around them. No eggs or butter to be had here - sadly.
So we figure we will be here till a good weather window next week then head off to Vuda Point on Viti Levu. That will be a 2-3 day trip, depending on whether or not we go straight thru or break it up. It is an overnighter (90 miles) to the next closet Island and at least that again to Vuda, but we'll see. We are trying to eat thru the freezer as we will have to turn it off when we haul out. It is hard to believe that we only have 4 weeks left before we head back to NZ. I am torn, as Fiji is pretty amazing, on the other hand a grocery store sounds pretty good too. hahaha
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Saturday, September 22, 2018
22 september
Currently at Komo in the Southern Lau. Did our sevusevu yesterday with our guide Matai and the aging chief. Matai gave us a tour of the village and we were able to buy a few eggs. He said the supply ship was due today and in fact it came in last night just before sunset. It will be a busy but happy day for the village today as they unload supplies.
The anchorage is on the north side of the island and the pass into the harbour was easy. Good thing as our 5 hour sail from Labeka took all day as it was of course upwind. We arrived at sunset and happily got the anchor down in 30 feet on the first try. The village is on the south side of the island, about a 20 minute walk over the hill. The first thing we came to was the school. Funny how kids playing outside is a universal sound. Then paved path from the school into the village was lined with painted plastic bottles - a very colourful and pretty way to use that plastic. Except for one barking dog, everyone was friendly. Matai showed us his house, and promised us bananas today. In exchange, we copied some movies onto a usb for him. Note to self, next time bring more empty usb drives. We are also going to give him some of our recorded DVDs. hopefully they will work on his machine.
Yesterday morning was a work morning. The raw water pump we replaced in Tonga, started leaking like crazy, so we had turned off the valve to the water inlet, which in turn overheated the pump to the freezer. So, Dennis had to rebuild the old pump - thank you Josh for bringing the parts. It is a pain in the butt to remove and replace, but it is done and appears to working, and the freezer is working again too. A hard but productive morning.
Today the plan is to hand off the usb/dvds to Matai, snorkel and hopefully have a fire and dinner on the beach. Its raining at the moment, but its not socked in, so maybe it will clear up enough to go on with the plan.
We will be here a day or two, depends on the weather, the next island is not far, but really dont want another day of bashing.
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The anchorage is on the north side of the island and the pass into the harbour was easy. Good thing as our 5 hour sail from Labeka took all day as it was of course upwind. We arrived at sunset and happily got the anchor down in 30 feet on the first try. The village is on the south side of the island, about a 20 minute walk over the hill. The first thing we came to was the school. Funny how kids playing outside is a universal sound. Then paved path from the school into the village was lined with painted plastic bottles - a very colourful and pretty way to use that plastic. Except for one barking dog, everyone was friendly. Matai showed us his house, and promised us bananas today. In exchange, we copied some movies onto a usb for him. Note to self, next time bring more empty usb drives. We are also going to give him some of our recorded DVDs. hopefully they will work on his machine.
Yesterday morning was a work morning. The raw water pump we replaced in Tonga, started leaking like crazy, so we had turned off the valve to the water inlet, which in turn overheated the pump to the freezer. So, Dennis had to rebuild the old pump - thank you Josh for bringing the parts. It is a pain in the butt to remove and replace, but it is done and appears to working, and the freezer is working again too. A hard but productive morning.
Today the plan is to hand off the usb/dvds to Matai, snorkel and hopefully have a fire and dinner on the beach. Its raining at the moment, but its not socked in, so maybe it will clear up enough to go on with the plan.
We will be here a day or two, depends on the weather, the next island is not far, but really dont want another day of bashing.
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Friday, September 21, 2018
21 September
Arrived Komo late yesterday afternoon. Fixed the raw water pump again this morning walked to the village to do our sevusevu this afternoon. Standing on top of the hill hoping for internet to send this.
Thursday, September 20, 2018
20 September
Leaving Lakeba heading to Komo. Of course that is directly into the wind. Lakeba crazy anchorage and long dinghy ride into the village to do sevusevu. At least we were able to buy bread. Loosing signal. Bye
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