Shortly after we secured Van Diemen to the marina dock labeled "Visitors" yesterday, a very attractive woman who worked for the marina walked down the pier and told us that we needed to leave because another boat was expected shortly. "Are they visitors?", we asked her.
"Oui, Messieurs", she answered.
"But we are visitors too," we pleaded, "and we were here first." She would not be swayed. The other visitors apparently had some pull, so we cast off and powered across the harbor to the anchorage. We dropped the hook on the fringes of a mix of visiting, local, and what looked like derelict boats to await the arrival of the quarantine officer. Three hours later a dinghy from another cruising boat delivered the officer who was moving through the anchorage inspecting the day's arrivals.
We've been allowed to keep prohibited food items in the other countries we've visited because the food was going to be consumed on the boat. This quarantine officer was a bit more of a stickler, and he took our lamb sausages, three Fijian steaks, some celery, and a big bag of chicken. Zappa and Marie brought some vacuum packed prime Australian fillets with them when they joined the boat, and I suspect there would have been a fight if the officer had insisted on confiscating them, but since the meat was Australian he let us keep it. He also let us keep our ham and eggs, but only if we ate it all right away, so we had the world's largest omelet for lunch. Once again we weren't hungry on Van Diemen.
After our friend from quarantine departed we took down the yellow "Q" flag, all piled into the dinghy, and went ashore. Our mission was to find WIFI, a place to watch the Australian Rules football season championship game, and get a beer. A bar that fit the bill was right there next to the dinghy dock, but that was too easy to be the right answer. We needed to explore and see if there wasn't some place better. First we hiked down town where we found free WIFI advertised on lamp posts. It was indeed free and pretty fast too. We all caught up on our email and I got in a Whatsapp video chat with Lori. Asking around, we were told that a good bar to watch the football game would be the Fiesta Cafe "just over the hill".
We wisely decided to travel via taxi, and split up into two vehicles to get there. "Just over the hill" ended up being a couple of miles away, and when we arrived we found The Fiesta just closing for the day (it was Saturday). We had released the first taxi before figuring out that the bar was closed but held the second taxi to send half of the group back to the marina. Michael, Marie, and I started walking back hoping to flag down a taxi on the way. Of course, there were no taxis to be found out here in the boonies. About half way back we found a citizen sitting on a bench who helped us catch a bus back to town. We arrived back at the marina about an hour behind the first group. We found them in the marina bar drinking beer and watching the game. The game, beer, and food were all good so we stayed there for dinner finally returning to Van Diemen at 8PM. A second bottle of wine was consumed aboard along with a tutorial card game of "May I", a version of gin rummy.
This morning at sunrise we were awoken by a man shouting from a power boat along side, "Bonjour Messieurs! A ship, she is coming. You must move!" We scrambled to get the engine on, hoist the anchor, and pick up a vacant mooring out of the fairway just before a 600+ foot cruise liner entered the harbor. Hopefully we can either hang on this mooring or get a slip in the harbor until we clear customs and immigration first thing on Monday morning.
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Saturday, September 30, 2017
Friday, September 29, 2017
Bonjour Noumea
0800 position 22-17S 166-26E. Tied to the visitors dock, Port Moselle Marina, Noumea, New Caledonia
The wind remained light all day as forecast and we've been under power the entire time. We have all caught up on our sleep during the hours of darkness over the past few days so all of the crew was up during the day yesterday. Rob spends his time during the day puttering around the boat fixing and checking things. He seems to be happiest when he is doing that. The rest of us are reading, socializing, or working on meals.
Meals are major events at Chez Van Diemen that occur more often than necessary. Nobody is hungry here. Yesterday started for me when I came on watch at 6AM to have Michael offer me some of his homemade fruit cake to go with my coffee. I had no idea fruit cake could taste that good. It is filling too and I didn't need anything else for breakfast, but I ate some papaya anyway that Marie had prepared and left on the saloon table. Michael made grilled cheese, tomato, and chutney sandwiches for lunch. Somebody busted out the peanut M&Ms during the afternoon.
I spent the day thinking about how to prepare the two kinds of tuna for dinner. I decided to start with an aku poisson cru appetizer. The fish was cubed, soaked in lime juice for fifteen minutes, and mixed with shredded carrot, chopped cucumber, onion, and coconut milk with a touch of salt. I think it was pretty good because Geoff asked me for the recipe. The main course was pan fried ahi in a lemon/butter/caper sauce, pesto pasta, and green beans. A chocolate bar was split among the crew for desert. The only thing missing was a nice bottle of wine, but we don't drink at sea. The crew was happy.
The water temperature is down to 75 degrees F now, 11 degrees cooler than it was in the Marquesas and Tahiti and 5 degrees cooler than Fiji. It might be a bit too cool to comfortably snorkel here. Nights have been a bit chilly. The evening crew uniform is fleece, long pants, and socks in our shoes. It is great sleeping weather too.
Our destination was Noumea, New Caledonia's capital which lies on the large island's southwest corner. To get there we needed to round the barrier reef which extends forty miles to the south of the main island. The Isle of Pines, a picturesque island seven miles in diameter, lies on the southeast corner of the barrier reef. We sighted The Isle of Pines late in the afternoon on the starboard bow and at sunset it was abeam ten miles away. It was green flash weather, and the entire crew was on deck to witness the sunset followed by a debate about whether or not a green flash occurred. I didn't see it, but my cataracts prevent me from seeing anything anyway. Van Diemen rounded the southern tip of the reef at midnight, and when I came up on watch at 2AM we could see the loom of Noumea and the lighthouse marking the pass through the reef to the west of the city. In the calm conditions entering the pass through the reef and winding our way through the channel to Noumea was no problem. At sunrise we were just outside of the small boat harbor and at 6AM were tied up to the visitors dock. Another passage completed and we cheated death once again.
Now we get to play the waiting game with customs and immigration....
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The wind remained light all day as forecast and we've been under power the entire time. We have all caught up on our sleep during the hours of darkness over the past few days so all of the crew was up during the day yesterday. Rob spends his time during the day puttering around the boat fixing and checking things. He seems to be happiest when he is doing that. The rest of us are reading, socializing, or working on meals.
Meals are major events at Chez Van Diemen that occur more often than necessary. Nobody is hungry here. Yesterday started for me when I came on watch at 6AM to have Michael offer me some of his homemade fruit cake to go with my coffee. I had no idea fruit cake could taste that good. It is filling too and I didn't need anything else for breakfast, but I ate some papaya anyway that Marie had prepared and left on the saloon table. Michael made grilled cheese, tomato, and chutney sandwiches for lunch. Somebody busted out the peanut M&Ms during the afternoon.
I spent the day thinking about how to prepare the two kinds of tuna for dinner. I decided to start with an aku poisson cru appetizer. The fish was cubed, soaked in lime juice for fifteen minutes, and mixed with shredded carrot, chopped cucumber, onion, and coconut milk with a touch of salt. I think it was pretty good because Geoff asked me for the recipe. The main course was pan fried ahi in a lemon/butter/caper sauce, pesto pasta, and green beans. A chocolate bar was split among the crew for desert. The only thing missing was a nice bottle of wine, but we don't drink at sea. The crew was happy.
The water temperature is down to 75 degrees F now, 11 degrees cooler than it was in the Marquesas and Tahiti and 5 degrees cooler than Fiji. It might be a bit too cool to comfortably snorkel here. Nights have been a bit chilly. The evening crew uniform is fleece, long pants, and socks in our shoes. It is great sleeping weather too.
Our destination was Noumea, New Caledonia's capital which lies on the large island's southwest corner. To get there we needed to round the barrier reef which extends forty miles to the south of the main island. The Isle of Pines, a picturesque island seven miles in diameter, lies on the southeast corner of the barrier reef. We sighted The Isle of Pines late in the afternoon on the starboard bow and at sunset it was abeam ten miles away. It was green flash weather, and the entire crew was on deck to witness the sunset followed by a debate about whether or not a green flash occurred. I didn't see it, but my cataracts prevent me from seeing anything anyway. Van Diemen rounded the southern tip of the reef at midnight, and when I came up on watch at 2AM we could see the loom of Noumea and the lighthouse marking the pass through the reef to the west of the city. In the calm conditions entering the pass through the reef and winding our way through the channel to Noumea was no problem. At sunrise we were just outside of the small boat harbor and at 6AM were tied up to the visitors dock. Another passage completed and we cheated death once again.
Now we get to play the waiting game with customs and immigration....
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Thursday, September 28, 2017
Fresh Ahi
0800 position 22-19S 169-01E. Day's run 214 miles.
Yesterday morning at 10AM the wind backed far enough to the south to allow us to sail in the general direction on New Caledonia. We set a double reefed jib along with the single reefed mainsail and shut down the engine. Close hauled we were sailing 20 degrees low of our course to the mark but making eight knots.
The wind continued to back to the south and we were slowly lifted up to our desired course during the day. By 6PM we were aimed for New Caledonia and starting to ease the sheets. We were under full sail by 11PM.
Unfortunately the wind continued to back and started dropping off. At 2AM the engine went on again and we have been powering ever since. It looks like we are stuck in a stationary high pressure area and will likely be under power the rest of the way in to Noumea.
The fishing was pretty good yesterday afternoon. We landed three more small tuna (aku) and decided to keep them for a meal. Fortunately Michael had already started making dinner when we landed them. I say fortunately because Michael spent the afternoon making a fabulous beef stew that we all enjoyed. I will do something with the fish tonight when it is my turn to cook. The pressure to perform is on. All of our dinners have been great and I don't want to be the one to prepare the memorably mediocre meal.
In typical Van Diemen fashion, it was looking like we were going to arrive in Noumea over the weekend when clearing in through customs might be a problem. We scoured the chart to see if there might be a fun little island to stop at along the way and kill some time. Rob found Walpole Island on the chart, not too far out of our way, and we altered course a few degrees to head there. I took a look in a book I had brought along, "South Pacific Anchorages", by Warwick Clay, and I'll be darned if it didn't have a write up about this little spec of land 120 miles east of New Caledonia. An island formerly mined for phosphate, Walpole reportedly has a decent open roadstead anchorage on its west side. After giving it some more thought we decided to give it a pass. We are currently in a confused swell with seas from the southwest, southeast, and east. The southwesterly swell would likely make the Walpole anchorage uncomfortable. Instead, we altered course to head over the top of the "Banc De L'orne", a seamount that rises up from the 4,000 foot deep ocean floor in this area to a depth of 130 feet. We figure the fishing might be pretty good there. As I was typing this we were crossing over the top of the seamount and caught a nice five pound yellowfin tuna (ahi). This is the best eating tuna there is. I think I now have a chance to produce a memorable dinner.
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Yesterday morning at 10AM the wind backed far enough to the south to allow us to sail in the general direction on New Caledonia. We set a double reefed jib along with the single reefed mainsail and shut down the engine. Close hauled we were sailing 20 degrees low of our course to the mark but making eight knots.
The wind continued to back to the south and we were slowly lifted up to our desired course during the day. By 6PM we were aimed for New Caledonia and starting to ease the sheets. We were under full sail by 11PM.
Unfortunately the wind continued to back and started dropping off. At 2AM the engine went on again and we have been powering ever since. It looks like we are stuck in a stationary high pressure area and will likely be under power the rest of the way in to Noumea.
The fishing was pretty good yesterday afternoon. We landed three more small tuna (aku) and decided to keep them for a meal. Fortunately Michael had already started making dinner when we landed them. I say fortunately because Michael spent the afternoon making a fabulous beef stew that we all enjoyed. I will do something with the fish tonight when it is my turn to cook. The pressure to perform is on. All of our dinners have been great and I don't want to be the one to prepare the memorably mediocre meal.
In typical Van Diemen fashion, it was looking like we were going to arrive in Noumea over the weekend when clearing in through customs might be a problem. We scoured the chart to see if there might be a fun little island to stop at along the way and kill some time. Rob found Walpole Island on the chart, not too far out of our way, and we altered course a few degrees to head there. I took a look in a book I had brought along, "South Pacific Anchorages", by Warwick Clay, and I'll be darned if it didn't have a write up about this little spec of land 120 miles east of New Caledonia. An island formerly mined for phosphate, Walpole reportedly has a decent open roadstead anchorage on its west side. After giving it some more thought we decided to give it a pass. We are currently in a confused swell with seas from the southwest, southeast, and east. The southwesterly swell would likely make the Walpole anchorage uncomfortable. Instead, we altered course to head over the top of the "Banc De L'orne", a seamount that rises up from the 4,000 foot deep ocean floor in this area to a depth of 130 feet. We figure the fishing might be pretty good there. As I was typing this we were crossing over the top of the seamount and caught a nice five pound yellowfin tuna (ahi). This is the best eating tuna there is. I think I now have a chance to produce a memorable dinner.
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Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Half Way There
0800 position 21-15S 172-09E. Days run 209 miles. Just past the halfway point of the passage.
The wind continued to die off as the morning progressed yesterday. Shortly after noon Van Diemen's boat speed dropped below seven knots so we turned on the engine to give the sails a hand in moving us along. By 4PM the jib started collapsing in the waves so we rolled it up and continued on motor sailing with the mainsail only. The wind died off completely during the evening, and shortly after midnight filled in from the west at about six knots. It wasn't quite strong enough to sail, and it was from the wrong direction. It has been slowly backing toward the south and increasing since then, as forecast, and we are hoping to be able to turn off the engine and sail soon.
This wind pattern was predicted in the forecast before we departed Fiji, and once the breeze fills in from the south it should keep blowing from that direction for a day or so. Anticipating this, we have been hedging our bets and have been sailing well south of the rhumb line since we left. We are now fifty miles south of the direct route from Fiji to New Caledonia and our positioning should allow us to ease sheets and sail faster and more comfortably once the southerly fills in than we would be able to if we were further north.
We've seen a bunch of commercial vessels on the AIS during our passages but we don't often see other sailboats. Late yesterday morning we passed the 49 foot sailing vessel "Aclyone" which was a mile to the north and headed in the same direction. Rob recalls seeing her somewhere earlier in the trip.
The seas have been flat enough to allow us to make full use of the galley, and with little to occupy our time the crew has been creative in the kitchen. Zappa and Marie made egg sandwiches for our first lunch at sea. Rob made a chicken pasta dish for dinner that night. I made blueberry pancakes for breakfast yesterday and a salad for lunch and Geoff made grilled lamb chops, roasted potatoes, and green beans for dinner. Nobody is hungry aboard the good ship Van Diemen.
The calm conditions have also allowed for lots of socializing. These Australians are a bunch of characters and all know how to tell a good story.
We see some strange stuff out here. Yesterday afternoon we passed through some current lines and came upon a patch of chocolate brown water that looked like sugar cane field waste. It was a couple of hundred feet wide and stretched off toward the horizon to the south. We were more than 250 miles from the nearest land at the time.
I am pleased to report that the fishing has improved. We've had four strikes, three hook ups, and landed two small aku on the Corstorphine lure collection. With a little fine tuning we are confident that we will soon be landing larger and more delectable species.
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The wind continued to die off as the morning progressed yesterday. Shortly after noon Van Diemen's boat speed dropped below seven knots so we turned on the engine to give the sails a hand in moving us along. By 4PM the jib started collapsing in the waves so we rolled it up and continued on motor sailing with the mainsail only. The wind died off completely during the evening, and shortly after midnight filled in from the west at about six knots. It wasn't quite strong enough to sail, and it was from the wrong direction. It has been slowly backing toward the south and increasing since then, as forecast, and we are hoping to be able to turn off the engine and sail soon.
This wind pattern was predicted in the forecast before we departed Fiji, and once the breeze fills in from the south it should keep blowing from that direction for a day or so. Anticipating this, we have been hedging our bets and have been sailing well south of the rhumb line since we left. We are now fifty miles south of the direct route from Fiji to New Caledonia and our positioning should allow us to ease sheets and sail faster and more comfortably once the southerly fills in than we would be able to if we were further north.
We've seen a bunch of commercial vessels on the AIS during our passages but we don't often see other sailboats. Late yesterday morning we passed the 49 foot sailing vessel "Aclyone" which was a mile to the north and headed in the same direction. Rob recalls seeing her somewhere earlier in the trip.
The seas have been flat enough to allow us to make full use of the galley, and with little to occupy our time the crew has been creative in the kitchen. Zappa and Marie made egg sandwiches for our first lunch at sea. Rob made a chicken pasta dish for dinner that night. I made blueberry pancakes for breakfast yesterday and a salad for lunch and Geoff made grilled lamb chops, roasted potatoes, and green beans for dinner. Nobody is hungry aboard the good ship Van Diemen.
The calm conditions have also allowed for lots of socializing. These Australians are a bunch of characters and all know how to tell a good story.
We see some strange stuff out here. Yesterday afternoon we passed through some current lines and came upon a patch of chocolate brown water that looked like sugar cane field waste. It was a couple of hundred feet wide and stretched off toward the horizon to the south. We were more than 250 miles from the nearest land at the time.
I am pleased to report that the fishing has improved. We've had four strikes, three hook ups, and landed two small aku on the Corstorphine lure collection. With a little fine tuning we are confident that we will soon be landing larger and more delectable species.
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Tuesday, September 26, 2017
New Caledonia Bound
0800 position 19-30S 174-48E. Days run (22 hours) 213 miles.
Yesterday morning at 8AM Rob walked up to the Customs and Immigration office in the Vuda Point Marina to check out, but they hadn't opened for the day yet. The officials eventually showed up at 9AM, an hour after their official opening time, and we got our clearance. No problem, we had a bit to do to get ready to go to sea. Rob and Zappa had noticed that a seam on the mainsail was opening up, so out came the sailmakers kit and our resident surgeon, Michael Vaughan, sewed it up with the assistance of his scrub nurse, Zappa. The rest of us headed up to the store to spend the rest of our Fiji dollars on beer, bread, and snacks. At 930 four Fijian marina employees serenaded us on the dock with a guitar to wish us farewell. It was very cool and unexpected. When they were finished the leader of the group said, "So you are departing now, yes? There is another yacht waiting offshore to come into the dock to check out." I suspect they sang us the song to hurry us on our way. By 10AM we had cast off and were powering south for the pass out of Fiji's barrier reef at Tavarua.
We remained in the lee of Viti Levu until we were about two miles south of Tavarua. As the twenty knot trades filled in from the south east we put one reef in the mainsail, killed the engine, and unrolled the jib to the second reef. Van Diemen was zipping along at ten knots, right on course. We were heeled a bit more than was comfortable though so we put a second reef in the main and didn't slow down at all.
Honey and Kimo Corstorphine, pals from Hawaii, have been reading this blog and felt sorry for us because we catch so few fish despite our heroic efforts. They are experienced and successful fishermen, and the day before I flew back to Fiji they gave me a bunch of their lures so we wouldn't starve to death out here. Two of their lures were set on the hand lines when we cleared Tavarua just after noon, but I am disappointed to report that we saw no action before we pulled the lines in at sunset.
At 10PM Geoff and I were socializing on watch getting to know each other when a meteor lit up the sky to the south. It moved slower than any meteor either of us had seen before, and the colors as it burned went from white to yellow to green. It was as bright as fireworks but moved a bit faster.
The wind started dropping off at midnight, and when I came back on watch at 4AM I found that the boys had unrolled the reefs in the jib. Rob and I went from the second reef to the first in the mainsail at sunrise. The updated weather report says that the wind should continue to die off and we will likely be under power before too long.
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Yesterday morning at 8AM Rob walked up to the Customs and Immigration office in the Vuda Point Marina to check out, but they hadn't opened for the day yet. The officials eventually showed up at 9AM, an hour after their official opening time, and we got our clearance. No problem, we had a bit to do to get ready to go to sea. Rob and Zappa had noticed that a seam on the mainsail was opening up, so out came the sailmakers kit and our resident surgeon, Michael Vaughan, sewed it up with the assistance of his scrub nurse, Zappa. The rest of us headed up to the store to spend the rest of our Fiji dollars on beer, bread, and snacks. At 930 four Fijian marina employees serenaded us on the dock with a guitar to wish us farewell. It was very cool and unexpected. When they were finished the leader of the group said, "So you are departing now, yes? There is another yacht waiting offshore to come into the dock to check out." I suspect they sang us the song to hurry us on our way. By 10AM we had cast off and were powering south for the pass out of Fiji's barrier reef at Tavarua.
We remained in the lee of Viti Levu until we were about two miles south of Tavarua. As the twenty knot trades filled in from the south east we put one reef in the mainsail, killed the engine, and unrolled the jib to the second reef. Van Diemen was zipping along at ten knots, right on course. We were heeled a bit more than was comfortable though so we put a second reef in the main and didn't slow down at all.
Honey and Kimo Corstorphine, pals from Hawaii, have been reading this blog and felt sorry for us because we catch so few fish despite our heroic efforts. They are experienced and successful fishermen, and the day before I flew back to Fiji they gave me a bunch of their lures so we wouldn't starve to death out here. Two of their lures were set on the hand lines when we cleared Tavarua just after noon, but I am disappointed to report that we saw no action before we pulled the lines in at sunset.
At 10PM Geoff and I were socializing on watch getting to know each other when a meteor lit up the sky to the south. It moved slower than any meteor either of us had seen before, and the colors as it burned went from white to yellow to green. It was as bright as fireworks but moved a bit faster.
The wind started dropping off at midnight, and when I came back on watch at 4AM I found that the boys had unrolled the reefs in the jib. Rob and I went from the second reef to the first in the mainsail at sunrise. The updated weather report says that the wind should continue to die off and we will likely be under power before too long.
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Monday, September 25, 2017
A New Team
0800 position 17-41S 177-24E. At the customs dock in Vuda Point Marina, Fiji
I enjoyed a relaxing two week vacation in Hawaii with Lori visiting with friends, completing a few projects around the house, and sleeping in my own bed. On my last two nights at home Lori took me to see a couple of plays, "The Full Monty" and "The King and I". I think she is trying to culture me so it is time to go back to sea.
I arrived back in Denerau yesterday to find a mostly new team aboard Van Diemen. For the leg to Australia we have Michael "Zappa" Bell and his wife Marie Minslow, Geoff Wells, and Michael Vaughan (no relation) aboard in addition to Rob and me. Zappa and Marie had been aboard for ten days already, sailed in the Musket Cove Regatta on Van Diemen last week, and even made it out to Navadra with Rob and Renee for a couple of days. Michael and Geoff arrived in Denerau the day before I did. Renee flew out to the USA yesterday afternoon leaving me as the last Yank aboard the boat. The rest of the crew are Australian.
Van Diemen was anchored off of Denerau when I arrived, and there were numerous dinghy trips ferrying crew, provisions, and gear to and from the boat during the day yesterday. At 4PM we pulled the hook and powered five miles to Vuda Point Marina to tie to the customs dock for the night. Our plan is to clear customs this morning as soon as the office here opens and depart for New Caledonia before noon.
The forecast calls for light to moderate trade winds for the next week or so, perfect for a downwind slide to New Caledonia. This should be fun. None of us aboard have sailed to New Caledonia so it will be a new experience for us all.
This is being sent via WIFI at the Vuda Marina. The ship's radio/modem has been acting up since I returned yesterday and we haven't been able to get it working. Hopefully we will get it figured out and will be able to send and receive our daily emails and blog, and receive weather. We shall see. If you don't hear from us until we get to New Caledonia in four or five days it means we didn't solve the radio problems.
Friday, September 22, 2017
Looking Over the Horizon
At anchor aboard Moku pe’a in the lee of Coconut Island,
Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii
Late yesterday afternoon Lori and I decided to exercise Moku
pe’a one last time before I head back to Fiji on Saturday night to rejoin Van
Diemen. The trade winds were strong so
after sailing around Kaneohe Bay a bit we dropped the hook for the night behind
Coconut Island, one of our favorite protected anchorages. After getting the boat secured we sat back to
enjoy a cocktail and watch the KYC Happy Hour Race fleet round the leeward mark
nearby as the sun set over the Koolau mountains. After the mark rounding action died down I
checked my phone and found that two emails had come in, one from Rob in Fiji
and another from my buddy Matt Dyer in Washington.
Van Diemen had just competed in the annual Musket Cove
regatta in Fiji. Rob was pleased with
her performance in the long distance race where they finished third behind a
Santa Cruz 52 and an Oyster 82. The
Santa Cruz 52 got away from them (no surprise there) and they traded places
with the Oyster a few times before the larger boat pulled ahead on the long
beat.
Matt was emailing to firm up plans for Lori and I to join
him and his wife Vicki next summer aboard their trawler for a month of cruising
in southern Alaska. Nearly all of my
previous cruising has been aboard sailing vessels in the tropics, so the
Pacific Northwest on a powerboat will be a new experience for me. Matt and I double handed a couple of passages
together aboard Moku pe’a, Tahiti to Hawaii in 2011 and Tonga to Tahiti in
2014. He is a great shipmate. An Alaskan commercial fisherman, Matt knows both
power boats and this part of the world well.
We will be in good hands and we are really looking forward to next
summer’s cruise.
As we sipped our cocktails and read the emails Lori said, “Isn’t
it amazing that we can be anchored here in Hawaii communicating simultaneously
with friends in Fiji and Washington planning cruises to Tasmania and Alaska?” It is amazing, and we are very lucky to have
these opportunities.
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| Watching the fleet round the leeward mark |
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