Sunday  May 26th , Mana Bay in the Yasawas , Fiji  17:41S  177 07E 

Today’s Blog by Kevin  (Time zone BST +11; UTC +12.00)

Hi All At last they have let me have a say on the journey so far.

As you know I am a long time friend of both Daryl and Richard from London days  so it was very easy to become part of the team. Our Skipper David has welcomed me as part of his short term flock.!!!! All three of the English contingent have resorted to wearing local dresses to dinner each night and look like the “dance of the seven veils”. They honestly believe that it looks attractive and sexy.  I am sure you will all see plenty of photos to substantiate this odd form of dinner attire.

Anyway we have been having a great time and today we sailed for approx 25 miles with a good downwind and fine weather. We are anchored up at Mana Resort and head to Denarau harbour tomorrow where all the crew must depart.

Last night was spent anchored at Octopus resort, an upmarket backpacker style. Richard and I  had to go onshore to checkout the scene and obtain the obligatory email wifi pass and to sample the bar on the beach with a couple of Pina Coladas.

We have just finished the Last Supper on board tonight and David cooked a superb meal. Also it was time to “clean up “ all the food and wine etc left in the hold so we have all probably had more than we needed to, however we will not be leaving much for the next crew.!!!!

In looking closely at the three Englishmen over the last 5 days it was clear that they all had sorted themselves out in regard to their individual talents.

Richard has obviously been completely engrossed in all things nautical to the absolute extreme.!!!!The sight of Richard with a sextant in hand and a huge book of mathematical numbers etc  trying exhaustively  to find exactly where we are on the earth when David has it right in front of him is beyond belief.!!!Also he is completely joined at the hip with the I Pod and his reading of the Times.!!!What a wasted life.

Daryl on the other hand is the new kid on the block and is running around frantically chasing Richard and trying to learn all the new techniques of sailing from a self-confessed master. We are at odds on this description . However Daryl has excelled in the kitchen. Gilli,  I hope you are going to get some of the training and experimentation of his culinary skills when he returns home. The sight of him doing the cooking using recipes from the IPOD standing in front of him was a sight to behold. The end result, albeit it sat in the fridge for 2/3 days, was worth the wait. However we did decide to eat out the day he cooked it so the boys must have had some doubts on the end result.

David is the ideal skipper who has obviously been and done this many times and has the patience of Job!!! He is also a great fan of Heineken which we both enjoyed throughout the trip.

He is a great guy and runs a very organised and  friendly boat. It is not always easy to make it happen to satisfy all parties but he is able to do that with ease.

Anyway I am leaving tomorrow to head back to NZ to go and do some work as I am not yet in the retirement club like all these slack bums on this voyage but have thoroughly enjoyed my time with the gang on board and to David and his superb yacht “Serendipity”. I wish both him and all who sail in her in the future, all the best.

Kevin Peterson

Note from David, Richard and Daryl: “Farewell to the Exide Bunny”.