Photos and Position updates

Hello All,
The last few days we have just been relaxing and hanging out. I am at a local hotel using there Internet to up load some new photos and update my position so you can see where I am at on the planet. I am loading some photos under New Zealand and Fiji. so take a look when you get a chance. The Internet is a little slow here so bear with me. I think we will leave here on Thursday and Island hop up to Savu Savu so I should get more photos loaded when I get there.
Thats all for now so talk to you soon.


PEACE

Making Friends in Levuka

Hello All,

The last few days we have been here we have met some really nice locals. They have invited us to there home and fed us. They have showed us around and took us to a really cool water fall yesterday where we could swim in the pond. After the hike up it was really nice to jump in the fresh water. It is to easy to forget how kind the people are here so I am glad I have returned.
The weather has been rainy but today we got a break and had sun most of the day. We cleaned up the boat and dried out weather gear from the soaking wet passage up here from New Zealand. I found leaks in my boat I didn't know existed so I have been busy cleaning up salt water in some of the lockers. Finding the source of the leaks is another issue that I will have to look into at some point.
We will stay here for another week and do more exploring and visiting. This was the first capital of Fiji before the British made it a colony so the local motto is "You haven't been to Fiji till you have come to Levuka" I was visiting with one of the locals when we first got here and he asked me if this was my first time in Fiji, I said no, I was here last year but it is my first time here in Levuka, he told me, so it is your first time in Fiji lol.

That's all for now so I will keep you guys posted.

PEACE

Made it to Levuka, Ovalau Island Fiji

Hello All,
We made it to Fiji this morning at 1000. Checking in was a bit more complicated than I remember but it's all settled now and we will be here a week.
I am very tired so I will keep this brief. All is well and we had lunch on the beach. It was really nice to see land again. I will keep you posted and try to find internet in town the next few days.

That's all for now.

PEACE

20 10.05S 179 53.55E

Hello All,
We finally got a little break from strong winds and high seas. We have been making a lot of easting on the passage to try to make Minerva Reef. After I realized that wasn't what I wanted to do because of the weather we turned towards Fiji. The wind started turning to the north so we were hard on the weather and it was not fun at all. The port rail was always in the water and the deck looked like a submarine from all of the water on deck so I found a more western approach to the Koro sea and we are now almost running with the waves at our stern. We should see the most southern Fiji Islands by this after noon then we will be just a day out of Savu Savu. We are all pretty tired of the passage and looking forward to being done.
Getting back to paradise hasn't been easy but it will make it be all the sweeter.
I will let you know how it goes through the Koro Sea tomorrow.

PEACE

22 14.64S 179 44.43E

Hello All,
The last 48 hours have been high winds and rough sea. This is not the dream passage for a sailor but all that being said I am still full to the top with diesel fuel and I have been finding small annoying leaks in the cabin that I haven't been able to find in the past until now with all of the salt water spray and dipping the rails in the water. The wind has come down tonight but I don't expect that to last. It is suppose to be more of the same weather for the next few days. We had the first Tropical squall of the season last night. I can't say I was thrilled to see it but it is nice to know we are back in the tropics again.
I hope to be entering the Koro Sea Fiji by Thursday and Savu Savu by Friday. That is the plan and as usual all subject to change.
The guys are doing okay, this is there first ocean crossing and we all agree that we will be glad to get our feet on land again.
I'm on watch tonight so I better get.

PEACE

25 19.86S 178 50.01E

Hello All,
The last 24 hours has kicked are butt. The wind came up yesterday morning to 30 knots gusting 40 and has just come down this morning. For the first time on my trip I put up my tri sail, it is much smaller than my double reef main and is working like a charm. Seas built up to 16 feet but they didn't pose any danger, just a rough ride and we all got soaking wet. It's not over yet but I hope as we go it gets a little easier. Every thing is good but we are all a little tired.
That's all for now and I will keep you posted.

PEACE

27 31.56S 178 15.84S

Hello All,
I am on a night watch at the moment so I thought I would take the time to fill you in on the last few days. The wind and the seas have come down to make it easier to type and still be able to stand up. I got the Main up today with a double reef with the staysail so the boat is moving right along. We haven't set and passage speed records yet but we are making good time. I have been down loading the weather and it looks like the trade winds are going to be a full on easterly to get us into Fiji in the next week. We will be passing the half way point today so we are pretty excited. I haven't decided if I will stop at Minerva Reef yet. I will wait and see and if the wind is good to go on in to Fiji we will just skip the reef.
Alex and Renaud have been doing an awesome job on the boat. The first 3 days were rough so I was really glad to have good hands to help out.
We haven't seen any other boats out here since are first night out but I can hear them on the cruisers net in the mornings on the radio. About 12 of us or more left on Monday for Tonga and Fiji.
I fixed breakfast for the guys this morning, eggs, hash browns and toast. It is a lot of fun to make fried eggs on a moving boat but I managed to do 6 with out breaking a yoke hehe.
Well, I better get back to my watch so I will talk to you soon.

PEACE