From Ann:
We are finally relaxing in Fiji. We have the engine issue “sorted” and are waiting for the repaired parts to be returned. Bob has miraculously repaired the head, the storage holds are cleaned and dried and repacked AND Bob has downloaded pictures (at least on Facebook for now)! Watch for the upload to the blog.

More importantly we were able to re-live the passage at a cruiser’s potluck last night under less stressful circumstances. There were many funny moments that just won’t translate to a blog but none the less made us smile.

Many of our smiles during the passage came from our nightly entertainment…downloading blog comments and emails. Our boat friends stuck in Marsden were really great about sending many notes. Often they came from appropriately named users as “stuckinMarsden.com” or “iceonthedocksinMarsden.com”. just the user name had us laughing. Heather on Evergreen agreed to let us share a very clever excerpt from one of our favorite emails sent by them soon after they departed New Zealand and well before they found “weather”. The names in quotation marks are the names of our friends’ boats.

“Hi Guys,
We finally got up the “Charisma” to “Slip Away” from the dock. We’re finally “Adventure Bound”! Hope it won’t be like a “Blue Rodeo” out here or else we’ll be “Evergreen” but the “Reality” is we’ve waited long enough that we “Gato Go” since our “Gypsea Hearts” long for some new places to roam. Hopefully there will be a “Bright Angel” looking out for us and the warm “Vulcan Spirit” will greet us in Fiji. We’ll celebrate in “Victory” then, hopefully with you!”

And yes…we have been celebrating with them in Fiji!

Update from Bob: I got an email from the engine guy in Suva. Looks like the: “injector nozzles are seized from the saltwater contamination, but the injector pump looks OK”. He goes on further to say he’s trying to recondition the injectors. We don’t have a firm prognosis or timeline yet, but we’re making progress.

More importantly, we have a date with Eagle’s Wings to go paddle boarding up the mangroves tomorrow morning and we have no major projects right now, so can happily get off the boat and get some exercise! Yay.