We had a very pleasant surprise on the 25th April, a dawn service was held at Vuda Marina which was very touching and was attended by a very enthusiastic mixed bag of nationalities including not just Aussies and Kiwi’s but Canadians and a couple of Americans.  This was followed by a traditional breakie of Egg and Bacon rolls.  Thanks to Adam and the team at Vuda for getting up super early.

 

 

 

 

All the “out of the water” boat jobs on Sally went pretty much to plan and we were lucky enough to splash down on Saturday 28th April.  Everything went well for our first short hop into our marina berth where the jobs continued although we were pretty close to completing the list.  Mark ended up adding another one to the list after we found that the SS braided fuel hose for the genset was a little worse for wear so had Baobab in again to help with the change over so no more of that nasty SS hose which has always resulted in much angst and plenty of cuts and abrasions. 

 

The list is now as short as I have seen it so we figured it was time to get out and about again so after a visit to the fuel dock early on Sunday morning we took to the big blue and headed over to Musket Cove which is only about 15NM but is always a great spot to hang out and make sure everything is working before heading further afield.

 

On departing the marina we were very excited that our new AIS unit is doing everything it should be and were happy to be able to pick up lots of target on the plotter – it is pretty much the same as the old one.  Big thanks to Richard our marine electrician at home who did an awesome job to ensure the installation was as simple as possible.

 

Many people often speak of the terrible charting in Fiji and in particular around the Manamuca and Yasawa Island groups.  Although the trip to Musket Cove is pretty much like a main highway the charting here is pretty ordinary as you can see from both our track in and also our current location on mooring ball number 5, which according to Navionics, is well and truly on the coral. 

Our current position is at 17:46.16S 177:11.42E

 

 

After ensuring Sally was well and truly attached a swim was the first order of business and it was definitely good to be back in the water again.

 

The firsts for the season keep on happening.  The dinghy was lowered this morning, motor attached and started on the third pull – not bad for being in storage for six months...

 

 

 

 

We have just spent the morning having a bit of a stroll around Malolo Island and stopped for a morning coffee at the local store so quickly settling into life here at Musket Cove.

 

 

 

The plan is to stay here for a few days and hopefully get in a bit of kite boarding on the local sand bar. 

There was a fellow kiter out yesterday so look forward to hopefully getting out there ourselves a bit later this afternoon.