Fiji Week 12+

Sunday July 25, we forgot it was Sunday again, no pancakes.

Late morning we flew the drone, the reef was spectacular.

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After lunch we took the dinghy out to the sandbar, at low tide it’s quite visible. It’s a popular place to hang on the soft sandy beach. Musket Cove has more of party beach atmosphere unlike the remote islands of Fiji. There are several resorts here, however they currently are COVID closed. Now there are 32 boats anchored here.

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We connected BJ on s/v Discovery anchored here. We met him when we first arrived in Fiji. The three of us had dinner at the popular Musket Cove Resort. The dining area has several teakwood table sets with seating for four on the back deck as well as several clusters of love seats, chairs with stylish wide blue and white striped cushions with red accent pillows and a coffee table. On the lawn all the kid boat families had gathered around a big screen TV that was playing the animated movie Brave. There were also a few cruisers there we had met before.

Monday July 26, departed Musket Cove 20 minutes before sunrise following our path in to get out. The navigation system saved our track if. Destination Denarau.

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By 10am Trance was out of the water and had a power washing. Later she was prepped for painting. We are also having another through hole put in dedicated to the water maker. No more sharing with bow pump. This should be better pressure, increased volume for the water maker.

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We were told we could stay on the boat but chose to get a hotel room. We would be unable to use the water on the boat as the sink drains all exit to outside or the water. The Palms Resort is walking distance to the marina. For $169 Fijian per night $85 USD, we are in a one bedroom apartment style room. Endless hot showers and a bed that doesn’t move!

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Tuesday July 25, The water maker is now properly installed, hopefully it will work better!

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Wednesday July 26, work completed, Trance is looking great!

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Thursday July 28, The few times we taken Trance out of the water we’ve had to remove the forestay as the wind generator sits too high for the lift for the cross bar, to properly balance the boat on the straps. The staysail then acts as a forestay and keeps the mast from falling down. Before we remove the forestay, the back stays need to be loosened. Painters tape is put on the threads to mark their location so we know how far to tighten it later.

Trance was put in the water just after I arrived at the marina.

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Neil Tower from Oceania Water Group Fiji, delivered to the boat watermaker parts we ordered. They are a Spectra authorized dealer and servicer. The membrane was removed then reinstalled with the new parts. We had the marina added 2 fiberglass support blocks epoxied to the hull for it. The watermaker sits in starboard (right side of the boat facing foreword) lazarette, a storage compartment located in the cockpit. Hopefully we will have better quality water going forward.

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Friday July 30, Trance is being detailed today. The deck is being cleaned and polished by Admond and Seka.

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Sundowners on s/v Sea You, Fabienne and Dominique from France.

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Saturday July 31, a gray rainy day here. Spent that time rearranging winter clothes, they are going deep in the boat. Food in glass jars need extra protection, rearranging snack cupboard to be the glass jar cupboard. I typically avoid buying items in glass for fear of the mess if they should break in rough waves.

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The existing canvas on the boat, the dodger and the Bimini, really need to be replaced. So much sun exposure has deteriorated the plastic windows, they are very brittle. We’ve replaced almost all the zipper pulls with plastic ones as the metal ones broke, the canvas is showing wear. We have done many repairs to the dodger. Twice a wave has separated the plastic on the windshield from the canvas holding it in. The windshield looks like it is sewn in but it’s glued to the canvas surrounding it. The only adhesive we could find here is the 3M 5200 Marine Sealant. Add a new dodger and Bimini it the list of things to do when we return home.

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Sunday August 1, in the morning our time we video chatted with Ben, Rachael and Cora. Followed by a chat with Luke, Mecca, Autumn, Alyssa and Madison. Always good to see their beautiful faces! Beth and Danielle are “glamping” together at the Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort. Camping with amenities and resort-style services.

I ordered fruits and vegetables from FarmBoy for delivery tomorrow. It is a premium fruit and vegetable store that delivers.

It rained off and on in the morning, by afternoon all was dry. I took several of our cockpit enclosure panels off and repaired some areas on them, sewed new Velcro straps on most that had deteriorated from sunlight. we washed all the windows and reinstalled the windshield.

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Monday August 2,

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Another project we had the marina do was add a bar over the exhaust pipe as the dinghy had ripped the rubber flap off, this bar makes it easier to raise the dinghy over the sugar scoop, or swim platform.

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When we first arrived in Fiji in Savusavu, we were in quarantine with s/v Swell from Hawaii. Today our last night in Fiji, here in Denarau, into the marina comes Swell and is docked next to us again.

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Sundowners on Swell, fun times!

Tuesday August 3, Happy Birthday Max!

Vinaka Fiji! After 12 weeks we say good to Fiji. We are off to Marina del Ray in Lombok Indonesia. This will be our longest passage to date, about 4,000nm and it’s expected to take about 35 days. Especially interesting will be the passage over the Great Barrier Reef and through the Torres Strait on the north side of Australia. Till then, you can follow us on our Iridium Go. https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Trance

You may send an email message while we are at sea to: trance@myiridium.net
Note: text only email messages, i.e.: no attachments, no photos, no signature images, etc.

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