Neptune gave us a good wallop for our last night, with winds hovering around 30 knots most of the night. Seas rose and fell above the decks due to steady 15-18 ft swells with random waves coming from the upwind direction that would push us over like a bully on a kids’ playground causing our port-side rail to carve a frothy through the waves. I was so tired though, the last night that I actually had one of my more restful nights of sleep.

By morning, the winds blew directly on the nose. This meant we could either beat into the wind or tack (a zig-zag sailing path) to make progress towards our waypoint, the entrance to the reef southwest of the island of Viti Levu, Fiji. There is one other option which again our Captain of infinite wisdom and no Popeye ego opted for which was creative sail selection, choosing what we call our D-Sail, but is actually spelled Diesel. Oh yeah! Jim started our 100 hp Yanmar turbo and we hauled butt for four hours to make the pass.

A few hours later, after transiting the channel, we dropped the anchor. We hurried to Customs to get checked-in to the country. Paperwork complete, we made a dash to town in search of Steve, Wendy and Allan on Elusive to see how they were doing in their hotel. We scoured the town in search of them to no avail. The town was sensory overload! It was more bustling, dirty and crowded than anywhere we’ve been since leaving Mexico. Still, it’s always interesting to see a new country and city. We think the tiny little islands where we plan to head in a day or two are where we’ll find calendar settings, a relaxed pace and island charm.

After a cheap but tasty dinner, that cost $9 USD for all three of us, we caught Elusive’s crew at their hotel. It was no surprise they were in good spirits and cheer and immediately ushered us towards the hotel bar for reunion drinks. Steve and Wendy have always had a positive attitude and let nothing deter them from making the best of a situation, even if it’s brutally forced upon them as was the case with the boat sinking. Jim felt so assured by their good mood he even let loose with a line to Steve even I wouldn’t have dared, “So, how is our newest submarine captain?” Steve, Wendy and Allan plan to spend a month in Fiji, much of it island hopping via BPD to land-based accommodations. This is fabulous news to us. Afterwards, they’re off to Thailand for a month of travel then hopping over to Hong Kong. Yeah, talk about taking things in stride… we couldn’t be happier. It truly does allow us to better enjoy ourselves knowing they will be having a good time.

So, with that exciting passage at a close, we’d like to say, “thank you,” to everyone for your notes and comments. The winner of best email goes to Elise on the sailing vessel Cutthroat who wrote: “STOP WHINING! It’s an adventure. Complaining about the boat rocking is like saying you didn’t know you were going cruising in the ocean. Remember how excited you were to get out there on the first passage? It was exciting… a chance to test your mettle… don’t tell me yours is made of nerf!” God bless Elise for a healthy dose of perspective. She followed that line with: “I do know exactly what you’re saying though. I don’t care if I ever do another passage.” Ah. Now, there’s my fellow cruisers’ attitude.

Stay tuned for rest, reading, swimming and sundowners in the islands.

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