Pretty lazy days here.  Today we had a couple hours of paddleboarding including landing on a small sand “island” that only shows up at low tide.  I of course claimed it for Charisma!  We named it “Almost Island”.  It shows up twice per day.

Paddleboarding over the reef.

Claiming "Almost Island" for the good yacht Charisma.

Visiting our neighbors Bob and Linda on Bright Angel.

Not exactly a tough day.  It’s going to rain later today, so other tough chores include maybe taking a nap or reading a book, then tonight a bbq on shore.  One of the nice perks of staying here is they fire up a couple bbq’s each night and you just bring in whatever you want to cook or buy something at the little store and throw it on the grill.  Tonight we’re going to do grilled polenta with eggplant and maybe some melted cheese.  Most of the other boats anchored near us come in as well, so it’s a nice party.  Even though we enjoyed the solitude of the “other” side of Fiji (i.e. the east side) more, this is a nice way of winding down the season.

We have about two or three more weeks to cruise around this (west) side and then we need to start watching for a “weather window” to head back.  After two “boisterous” trips to New Zealand and back, we’re hoping for a nice, gentle voyage this time.  But it’s about 1,000 miles and at least 9 days, so hard to predict the weather over that whole period.  You watch, leave and cross fingers.  Ah, but that’s for another day.  For now-onto my nap!