By Ann…
So Ann says to Bob, ” Are you going to mention the picture update in the blog tonight?”
Bob says, “What blog? Nothing is happening.”

How can that be? As I sip my evening Charisma I feel the exhaustion melting into my soul! So what did we do today? More preparations!

Specifically we have another batch of Ginger Beer, fresh baked cookies (hidden from Bob), and some more hard-boiled eggs ready. And more important to you, our favorite readers…pictures uploaded to the blogs from Lautoka forward. Everything takes time and everything is important.

But not too important for parades! This afternoon we heard a band playing on the dock opposite us. It was a good band so must be the Suva Police Band. I stuck my head out the companionway and confirmed my suspicions…it was the Police Band. I have missed them before and did not want to miss them again so off I went.

Fiji Band.

The Minister of Tourism, I think, was “christening” a new route for one of the large Captain Cook Cruise Ships. And the band was there to celebrate. I asked around and unfortunately the new route is through the Lau Group. We checked out their website and for about $8500 FJ per person, you can get a stateroom for the eleven night cruise through the Lau Group! The Lau Group is where Fuluga is. Fortunately this ship can not truly get into the narrow passes necessary to see the pristine Lau that we have seen. But they will be fortunate enough to see it from the bow of the big ship, a few miles off shore.

This is where cruising tops those big cruise ships, the up close and personal touch. Just sad to us to imagine coming out of the pass at Fuluga and seeing one of these monsters. But for some people it is as close as they will get. We count our blessings…cruising the Lau on Charisma…priceless.

But the Suva Police Band was wonderful. I ran over to take pictures and was personally greeted by the Minister of Tourism as well as at least half of the band members. After they left the dock they set up in the terminal and continued to play with such joy I could not leave. Good thing because then I would have missed the invite to dance with one of the band members! Yep, I was invited to shake a leg with the police! No witnesses unless the TV news camera got us, but the locals enjoyed my efforts!

It was a fun break to preparations. We are expecting to go into the Nadi Market tomorrow for the balance of fresh provisions, return to Charisma to do laundry and complete our ever dwindling list (it started covering seven -three inch post-it notes and is down to one and a half). The remaining items are just last minute reminders to stow the dinghy, plug the anchor chain hole, put away the BBQ…last minute stuff. Then off to Vuda Point, just a skip to the next bay, and check out on Thursday!

NZ, are you ready for Charisma?!

Last night I was just laying in the cockpit staring at the stars and moon when I looked at our flag fluttering in the rigging and noticed-really took note-that it was the flag of the Kingdom of Fiji! “Holy crap!” thought I. Are we really here in Fiji!

It was just one of those wonderful moments when you realize a life long dream isn’t a really a dream-you’re living it. Sometimes I fall into a complacency about being on Charisma. This is after all our home. When you’re down below, it feels and looks the same as it was back in Berkeley. Accordingly, it doesn’t always feel like we’re in a exotic tropical location. Then (fortunately) something like the Fiji flag suddenly reminds me how amazingly lucky we are. We are here. In Fiji. Living the dream.

OK, enough introspection-I know you all just want to know: “What did you do today?”. Well, our days right now are not as exotic as our location.

We did boat work.

We’re getting her ready for the 1200 or so mile long ocean crossing back to New Zealand. As we have found from our two previous trips along this sometimes treacherous ocean, this is a serious passage with the potential for some “memorable” conditions. We have to make sure that all systems are ready. Here’s a few of the things we’ve been doing to get ready. Some don’t sound too exciting, but attention to detail means when things get ugly, we can concentrate on sailing the boat not fixing stuff that’s breaking due to lapsed maintenance.

-Replaced a broken bilge pump switch. We’ve been turning it on manually, but when conditions are bad is when you forget to do it and then next thing you know the water is up to the floorboards.
-Checked all the nav lights. Deck lights, tri-color, steaming light, compass light, deck light and the mast mounted strobe.
-Checked engine oil level
-Drained engine fuel filter. Checked for sludge/water.
-Sealed port side anchor chain. Will do same for starboard after we leave. We put modeling clay in the hole where the chain goes through the deck. In tough conditions when we’re burying the bow in the big waves, a frightening amount of water makes its way through these spots if they are not plugged.
-Cleaned all porthole and hatch gaskets, replaced one and put silicone grease on all the seals for water tightness. These things are famous for leaking when big waves hit the cabin sides or wash over the cabin top. It’s not the end of the world if they leak, but it’s one of those things that start to wear you down. Your clothes get wet, the bed gets wet, etc. You get the picture.
-Went up and down boat at deck level looking at all fittings, cotter pins, screws, swages-anything that looks loose or worn gets replaced.
-Checked battery on emergency Radio in ditch bag and repacked bag to ensure all contents still present.
-Changed water maker filter
-Greased winches on mast and windlass. Cleaned salt accumulation off winch pawls (they were sticking) and oiled same.
-Rigged storm sail sheets
-Rigged storm trys’l and secured to mast.
-Checked storm jib and prepared for deployment
-Repacked bow storage to ensure necessary emergency gear is accessible and not “buried” under non-essential gear after a season of cruising.
-Greased and adjusted steering cables under deck. Tightened steering quadrant bolts (some were loose after many thousands of miles of our passage from Berkeley)
-Updated Spreadsheet identifying and locating all equipment, spares and ships stores
-Filled out and emailed our “pre-entry” forms to NZ Customs. They require at least 48 hours advance notice. We send these via email and then update our ETA via short wave radio when we’re under way and close enough to give an accurate estimate.
-Started cooking projects that will eventually include: hard boiled eggs and pasta salad for snacks (especially good at 2AM when sugary snacks put you to sleep), cookies (for morale), pre-made tuna salad for sandwiches, egg, bacon, vegetable muffins for breakfast and snacks. Next to come will be the “day before” cooking. We make a big stew in the pressure cooker that serves as the first night dinner and second day lunch. This way we don’t have to cook for the first two days which is when you are most prone to seasickness. Ann also just finished a big, yummy, banana bread.

Preparing "Charismuffins"...

...easy to heat, portable, mini-omelettes for the passage.

Anyway, there’s actually a bunch of other random stuff that we’re doing (not the least of which is checking the weather about three times/day for the route to see when the window will open), but it would get too tedious to read much less write. 😉

So, we’re counting down the days. It’s raining right now and projected to potentially really pour tomorrow. We’re thinking maybe Thursday will be a good window to leave. In the mean time in between the rain squalls we’ll catch the bus into town and pick up our final, final supplies. The fresh stuff. Fruits and veggies for the planned 8-10 day voyage.

Nothing to it.