17⁰ 40S 177⁰ 23E

Progress is being made. The hull has now been scraped and sanded ready for the antifoul to be sprayed on. They were ready to start painting this morning but Mike had to stopped them as they hadn’t yet done the fiberglass repair on the rudder...What were they thinking?! That’s been done now and 3 guys are sitting round the rudder watching the fiberglass dry!

 

It is very hot here during the day on the hard but luckily early mornings and evenings are cool. It is also very dusty and the decks are constantly covered in dust. We have taken all our gear out of the store room back on board. We have put all 3 sails back on. So we are doing pretty well. We hope to be back in the water next week and if all goes well, sail to Blue Lagoon, an island 45nm away, in the Yasawas group.

 

Last Saturday we went to a Fiji Horse Race event. Spectacular. The Jockeys ride with no saddle, no helmet, no boots, well, no gear at all really, just T-shirts and pants. Sometimes they miss the turn and go straight over the fence. On one race they had to run 20m to their horses, jump on them and race... The British Grand National seems a doddle compared to this!

 

We met some nice people in the marina and have had enjoyable evenings round the bar.

 

All is good. Back to work. More later.