Hi All,
Whoa….what a ride on this hobby horse!!!!
We left Lautoka at 9:00am. Check out of Lautoka was super easy. We overnighted in Lautoka with Bella Vita….had a very nice, rowdy closing ceremony…..too many tears but lots of wine!!!!
Got there about 7:50am, first in line, they were open and took us right in…..out and back to boat by 8:30am…..everything there in one office….custom, immigration……super easy!!!!!
3 other boats came in right behind us….one was a Kiwi w/6 trips…..said this is a good window hopefully…..they always checkout at Lautoka!!!!
We were outside the Navula Pass around noon time and then the games began…..SE winds and seas….off our port bow…..not our best motion!!! There is a lot of motion from the headseas and wind, up and down and a little rock and roll. It is not too bad when you are sitting but walking is a challenge!!
Overall we are very, very, very sad to leave Fiji. First, saying good bye to our friends…..that was a tough one….but also leaving Fiji. For us, this is as close to a cruising paradise as we have found.
Boat Stuff:
Moon Lite goes pow 🙁 (((( The other day before we left, 4 boats (Interlude, Bella Vita, Somerset and Buffalo Nickel) took the big boats and went over to Cloud 9, a bar in the middle of no where 3 miles from our anchorage in Musket Cove….gorgeous….well, the wind came up, of course, and Moon Lite got shoved under the dock and POP…..oh no…..what a fiasco…..arghhhhhhh!!!! We managed to get her back to MM…..slapped some duck tape on the one inch hole, pumped her back up….towed her back the 3 miles as it was too choppy to lift her there…..by which time she was pretty deflated…..hoisted onboard……then 3 boats came over…..Jim and Cheryl have lots of experience patching…..but, turns out all our glue was bad…..5200 to the rescue…..then the 6 people stayed and too many to count beer/wine cans/bottles later we finally kicked them off the boat and collapsed 🙂 )))))arghhh!!!!!!!!!! We undid the clamps 2 days later and viola, she seems to be holding all her air…..no leaks!!!!!!
Winch: Well, we think the repaired winch is a goner. On our last lift of Moon Lite when she was so deflated, the winch made some awful noises…..straining and screeching like noises. When we checked out of Lautoka we borrowed Bella Vita’s dinghy so we did not have to use the winch again…….wow, we made it all this time from Fulaga where we did the repairs except for the last lift!!!!!
Big Bay Navigation Computer: Yep, kaputs…..arghhhhh!!!! About 3 hours outside the Pass in this motion we lost the navigation computer. We are sure it is the RAM again. We thought we had another stick but it is the wrong kind…..ugh, ugh, ugh. So, we are navigating on the b/u Simrad chartplotter….Mr Reliable!!!! That is fine except we can’t see any AIS targets although we are still broadcasting.
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Stats:
Position: 20 07S 176 53E
Traveled: 158nm today; 957nm to go; ETA to Marsden Cove was late Sunday afternoon 10/26 now it is Monday am 10/27
Course: 175M COG
Wind: current 15-22 kts SE; has ranged from 5-22 kts
Waves: 6-9′ 10-12 sec SSE swell, 2-4′ wind chop SE…..nasty stuff!!
Speed: current speed is 6.5 kts SOG; has varied 6.2-7.9 kts; avg is 7.2 kts; 1525 RPM
Weather: 100% cloud cover and squalls all around: sea temp 77.5 deg F; air temp 75 deg F
Boat sightings: 0 today: 0 total
Fishing: no way jose….too rough
Sail: down
Fuel burn: no readings yet
Hope all is well!
John
Mystic Moon
