To Vanuatu
Storyteller
Thu 6 Aug 2009 23:41
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Position, 17.04S 174.15E
At sea again. It is now 22 hours since leaving
Musket Cove and we are enjoying near perfect motorboat conditions with light
following winds and moderate seas. At the current rate we should should get to
the island of Espiritu Santo in 48 hours. The yachts are having a rather hard
time of it, with very light winds. This time we have another motor launch
travelling with us, and we are both enjoying the current benign conditions.Long
may they last
Our time on the dock at Musket Cove was as
enjoyable as ever--more like a two-week long party, really. The first week
Paddy, Sally and their children, together with Paddy's aunt and uncle, Rob and
Marg, were staying in nearbyebures. The ratio of 6 adults to 2 children worked
very well, with the kids having masses of space for running around. After the
first night of 3-year old meltdown, due to 4 dummies being lost, it was aagreed
that employing a baby sitter each night was the way to go. At $3 an hour, the
Fijian women must be the best baby sitters in the world.At one stage I had had
to leave the kids in the pusher for a few minutes while I bought tickets for the
'bula bus' and when I returned I found two large Fijian security men
entertaining the kids.
Once the family left, the rest of the rally yachts
arrived and we spent several hilarious days playing old favourites
such as 3-legged races, wheelbarrow races and egg and spoon races. The was a
very competitive hobie cat regatta, and most important, an international beer
drinking contest, with NZ versus the rest of the world, with the women
participants being particularly impressive.
One of the great assets of the Musket Cove resort
is the Island Bar, formerly the $2 bar. Each night, and for some lunch times, we
would cook our own excellent Fijian meat over a great wood barbecue, using the
resort's cutlery and plates. No washing up! Of all the places in the Pacific,
Musket Cove excels in making life very easy for cruisers. I can't think of
anywhere else where boaties are welcome to use all the resources of a
sophisticated resort. And with the recent 20% devaluation, Fiji is now very
affordable. It seems crazy to us that Australia and NZ have travel warnings out
for Fiji as it's hard to think of a safer destination.
As we were finishing this note two tuna jumped onto
our lines and it has taken some time to get them in.
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