Fahiti ho!

She walked up to me and she asked me to dance I asked her her name and in a dark brown voice she said Lola L-O-L-A, Lola La-la-la-la Lola Anybody remember the Kinks?  British Invasion rock era?  Yah, didn't think so. However, this Lola has the potential to be a problem for Dave.  She's a Cat 2 tropical cyclone headed this way.  And strengthening.  Will I fly out before she hits Fiji?  Time will tell... See the little '1012' In the middle of the map?  That's us.   See that ugly set of concentric circles?  That's Lola. Update: Current forecast models show Lola veering toward Vanuatu.  She is not expected to hit Fiji.  On the one hand this is good news.  On the other, it means I've been stood up yet again by a woman.  Of course, the Lola in the song was a man, so there's that...

Stardate October 20, 2023 Job one is to get a haircut for the wedding.  I know a guy...  My barber is Wahid Khan and he is a master.  He is the manager at Shazia's Unikk Barber Shop in Lautoka.  He has cut my hair twice now and I swear these have been the best haircuts I have ever had.  Real old-fashioned, with straight razor trims and a splash of astringent cologne at the end.  He charges $15 FJD.  That's $7.50 USD.  Unbelievable. So I want into Lautoka this morning with the intention of getting my hair cut.  Turns out I missed the bus at Vuda.  Don't know how - I was early.  I guess so was the bus.  There was a guy siting there who told me that the bus had gone.  About this time his ride showed up.  I asked him if he minded sharing the taxi into Lautoka.  He laughed and said it was his friend but he would ask.  The friend said sure and I hopped in the back seat.  About the half-way point, the friend suddenly remembered he had to go to Nadi - the opposite direction.  So th

Stardate Wednesday, October 18, 2023 Well, that was easy.  Didn't start out that way.  Tried to reach Vuda Marina by phone - no answer.  Email? No response.  VHF?  Out of range.  Crap - all I wanted to know was whether or not I could come in early. So I suggested to Nick that we dinghy over to shore in Saweni Bay and walk to Vuda.  He thought that a perfectly good way to get off the boat and stretch our legs. So off we go in the dinghy.  Manage to find a sand spot on the beach that wasn't protected by coral.  Walked along the beach to the road access and there, waiting for us, was a taxi.  Karma.  Turns out the guy was a local cab driver and he had just taken his family to the beach for swimming.  He said he needed to drop them off and he would be back in ten minutes.  He was. So we rode in style to Vuda.  Turns out it would have been quite a hike.  Checked in at the office, and of course they had moorings available.  Just call on VHF when you want to come in.  Oh, and we can s

 Stardate October 17, 2023 Had sundowners with the kids as scheduled at Vatia Wharf last night.  They came over to get me and we went to Nick's boat.  Got pretty dark before we broke up the party.  My anchor light was on; theirs was not.  You couldn't see their boat against any background - it's a pretty big bay.  I stood in the cockpit and held a small flashlight on their boat which you could barely make out.  They made it back. Stardate October 18, 2023 Ok.  Time for a milk run down to Lautoka and Saweni Bay, just north of Vuda Marina.  Easy peasy, right? No wind, right?  Yep, for most of the way.  Full canvas up, motor sailing at 4.5 mph. Then I come to the narrows just north of Lautoka Bay.  Now this is not a particularly narrow passage, as Fiji reefs go, but it does have nasty reefs on either side.  And it was right in the middle of this passage that my Navionics decides to take a vacation from working.  I had seen this previously - a pink circle appears on the bottom

 Stardate October 15, 2023 Beer and dinner last night at Volivoli.  Met some kids from Europe who were well on their way around the world in a 50 ft Dufour.  They bought it in Cypress from a charter outfit and it wasn't kitted out for blue water.  No water maker, etc.  It was clearly a coastal cruiser, but they are making the best of it.  Or maybe the worst - they spend most of their time repairing the windlass.  Now raising the anchor is pretty important on a boat and having a reliable windlass would be one of my primary concerns.  But I guess they're getting pretty good at fixing it. Nick and I miscommunicated - I thought we were going to have dinner again at Volivoli and he went ahead and ate on his boat.  No problem, we go to the bar again.  This time we were greeted by 'Reserved' cards on every single table in the bar with chairs.  WTZ?  Turns out they had a big barbecue this evening for all the dive groups at the resort, some 37 people in all. Ok, we stood around

 Stardate October 14, 2023 A milk run until the last hour.  We had planned on stopping in Viti Levu Bay overnight.  We had made such good time that Nick suggested we push on to Volivoli point.  I think cold beer may have been the deciding factor.  I did point out that we would be passing up our last chance to do sevusevu and get rid of some kava.  Beer won out. The passage between the island and the reefs is not as fraught as it looks on the chart.  Plenty of room, good visibility, and the wind had dropped considerably from the crossing. Until here.  By now the wind had shifted to the east and was on the beam at about 35 knots.  The Navolau Passage is rather narrow and I had the main full up.  I wasn't worried about the narrow passage, but making that 90 degree turn to port did give me pause.  Especially in that wind.  I elected to keep the main up, thinking that I could use it further on (which was true).   So I come up to the turn and pulled the wheel over.  I had the preventer o