Sailing Moala to Totoya, Lau group, Fiji

August 1, 2013
Underway Position: 18°57' S 179°49' W
Sailing Moala to Totoya, Lau group, Fiji

We're underway again today, this time sailing south after dropping the guy from Totoya island at the airport in Moala. Risi bought supplies for the villages and we are loaded down as we sail the 44nm back to Totoya. The weather today is stellar with great sailing winds from the NE and we're making 8-9 knots.

In agreeing to this favor to sail to Moala, we broke our cardinal rule about tight schedules. It all seemed fine back then but then the morning of our planned departure the weather turned on us with torrential rain and heavy dark low clouds. Navigating out of Totoya was extremely technical as we retraced out track through the lagoons' coral studded waters we did so at a much higher risk than we prefer.

Totoya Island, Lau group Fiji CM93 chart is very poor as evidenced by a lack of soundings and our sailing track crossing over land and reefs.  NOT FOR NAVIGATION

It was one of those days that we would normally never even consider lifting the anchor. That's the trouble with schedules. The heavy rain accompanied us all the way to Moala where the clouds finally parted at just the right time to reveal that our charts were showing Moala well east and North of it's charted position.  

Moala Island, Lau group, Fiji the chart here shows details, but is poorly geo referenced as shown on MaxSea.  NOT FOR NAVIGATION

Moala island Fiji shown on Open CPN with chart offsets applied.   NOT FOR NAVIGATION

However, it wasn't until we navigated a labyrinth of reefs and arrived at our anchorage on the northeast that we were finally able to correctly geo reference our charts. without the charts for guidance we relied on eyeball navigation and even that was literally clouded by poor overcast lighting conditions and murky waters as the result of muddy river runoff from the deluge of rain. When we finally arrived at the NE Nario village 'anchorage' suggested by our Fijian guests it was absolutely lousy with heavy confused chop, no wind protection and a deep broken coral rubble bottom. It was late in the day, so there was no opportunity to move to an alternate locations.

Risi left and the cousin of Risi right inbound to the NE corner of Moala after the rain stopped.

Risi and his cousin, oblivious to our plight, headed for shore for a night of drinking grog and we suffered one of the worst nights sleep in the crappiest anchorage to date. The next morning we performed our sevusevu with the chief and he asked that we wait for the plane to arrive at 11:30 as a parcel was aboard for someone at Totoya. I was keen to leave and find a better anchorage, but I couldn't refuse the request of the chief as the parcel clearly must be very important to be arriving by plane. So, we waited with everyone aboard LightSpeed totally sea sick from the crappy anchorage in front of the chiefs house. Of course the plane was late and then Risi disappeared for an hour even though we agreed that we had to leave by noon to sail the 18nm around the island to the anchorage where he could purchase supplies for the village.

Risi showed up at 1:15 and we immediately left the anchorage on the northeast and set the spinnaker for the sail down and around Moala. I was plenty annoyed at this point, but got a little mad when I found out we'd been waiting all day with everyone seasick for a parcel of 40 packs of cigarettes! What the hell! I was seriously starting to regret making the trip to Moala, but forced myself to grin and bear it. Because we missed our planned noontime departure time we again had a real struggle making our way through Daveta-I-Thakova, a dogleg pass in the reef and then past several dangerous coral heads on our way to the Thakova bay.

Daveta-I-Thakova pass, Moala Island, Lau group, Fiji the chart here shows details, but is poorly geo referenced as shown on MaxSea.  NOT FOR NAVIGATION

Daveta-I-Thakova pass, Moala Island, Lau group, Fiji shown on OpenCPN with offsets applied.  NOT FOR NAVIGATION.

 The good news was that we'd have a calm anchorage with good holding in solid mud near the head of the reef fringed bay. I was pretty exhausted from lack of sleep in our crappy anchorage, but still needed to run Risi to shore for his sugar, rice and flour. I was expecting a quick trip to the shop, but how little I've learned about the speed or lack thereof in which business is conducted. It seems simple enough to buy some dry goods, but still this took hours. While Tim and I were waiting around we met a local teacher and were invited into many homes, received a dinner invite that we declined as Kathy already was cooking aboard LightSpeed and eventually ended up joining a group of villagers who were drinking some Kava. I had a few bowls and eventually we saw Risi appear with a bag of sugar then I saw him walk by the home we were in with plenty more large bags. The light was waning and the tide receding so I knew we needed to get going or the dinghy would be stuck high and dry on the muddy tidal flat for the night. When Tim and I went down to the dinghy it was over flowing with heaps of large 50kG flour bags full of who knows what. I asked Risi if he was ready and then we struggled to get the dinghy to deeper water in its overloadeded condition. Back at LightSpeed I was concerned that the many bags might contain vermin like cockroaches or worse yet rats or mice. So much for just a few bags of sugar, rice and flour. Risi had also purchased three huge sacs of kava. To me buying kava when you yourself are a kava farmer seemed odd, sort of like taking sand to the beach. But, what do I know! So, hoping to mitigate the spread of vermin to our home, we double bagged all the goods and left the Kava tied up in tarp in the dinghy. My fingers are crossed.

This morning we headed out Daveta-I-Thakova pass on west side of Moala and set sail for Totoya. In calm seas in the lee of Moala Kathy prepared pancakes for breakfast and just as we finished washing up the dishes we set sail as we cleared the wind shadow and protection of the reef. Great sailing conditions today. Bruce has a sore throat and is laying low and Tim retired to his cabin after breakfast as he was feeling a bit sea sick. Actually, everyone is racked out this morning. Kathy is in bed, Risi is sleeping on the couch and even our cat Shell is fast asleep on the navigation desk as I type this report. It's kind of nice having everything quiet and enjoying a great sail.

Underway for Moala, Lau Fiji

TIME: 2013/07/29 00:03
LATITUDE: 18-47.45S
LONGITUDE: 179-55.78E
COURSE: 270T
SPEED: 4.7
COMMENT: LightSpeed- Underway Totoya ito Moala, Lau group, Fiji

Heavy rain, but we're flying our biggest spinnaker and going fast.

Yacht LightSpeed flying the big spinnaker in Mexico a few years ago.  

That's it for now.

Saturday is laundry day and time for fun in Tovu village

July 27, 2013
Anchorage Position: 18°57.317'S 179°49.348'W

Laundry and Volleyball at Tovu village, Totoya Island, Lau, Fiji

Saturday in Tovu village for many is mostly about sleeping off the Kava consumed on Friday night.

Risi and Dave at a community fund raising event drinking grog (kava).

Despite drinking some Kava with the villagers on Friday night we still managed to get moving pretty early aboard sailing catamaran LightSpeed. I needed to tend to the desalinator (water maker) for most of the day, run our Honda generator to charge batteries and power the water maker and work on some other projects like attempting to make mozzarella cheese from a 2 liter jug of milk we had in the fridge which was a fail as the milk had curdled in the jug. The visiting nephews Bruce and Tim joined Kathy for some hand washing of our laundry in the village to be followed by volleyball with the villagers until sunset.

If only there were an I-phone app to wash these clothes.

A place without washing machines... Tim Egan hand washing his clothes at Totoya Island, Fiji.

No volleyball pictures.   Bruce and Tim playing Rugby at Tovu village Totoya island, Lau group Fiji.  

So, a productive and fun day.

Sunday at Tovu village, Totoya Island, Lau, Fiji

July 28, 2013
Anchorage Position: 18°57.317'S 179°49.348'W

Sunday at Tovu village, Totoya Island, Lau, Fiji

Sunday in Fiji is about church, good food and rest. Today we enjoyed all three as the guests of Temo, Arieta, Risiate (Risi) and Mavoa here at Tovu village on the island of Totoya. For many in the village the day began early with the first of three church services beginning at 6AM. We were invited to the hour long 10AM service to be followed by lunch on the hill at Temo's home. The Methodist church service was conducted 99.9% in Fijian, so aside from the singing it was just a nice time for some meditation as we watched the clock behind the minister's head as it slowly click off each second of the hour.

Lunch at Temo's home was superb with fresh fish, land crabs, shredded coconut meat mixed with prawns, bread fruit, dalo (taro), cassava and Fijian spinach cooked in a lovo. The lovo is an earthen oven in which the root vegetables are often prepared.

Dalo, Casva and breadfruit being removed from a Lovo earth oven.

 A small pit is filled with a fire and black volcanic rocks are then stacked on the fire until they turn white from the heat. The fire is then removed and the food is placed on the hot stones and covered with banana, dalo or bread fruit leaves and left to cook during the church service.

Risiate Baleitoga Cama wife Arieta Vuli Gama and mother Mavoa Vulaono Baleitoga lay out Sunday lunch at Josateici Temo Cama's home on the hill at Tovu village, Totoya, Lau, Fiji.

 Kathy and Bruce ready for a feast.

 Dalo (round) and Casava (long) root vegitables prepared in the lovo earth oven.

Pulasami (Fijian spinach prepared in coconut cream)

Top:  Dalo and Taro.  Left center: Fried reef fish.  Right center:  Pulasami.  Lower right: Shelled Land Crab meat severed in back shell or carapace of the same. 

The land crab was delicious, but my favorite was the pulasami or Fijian spinach (which are the young leaves of dalo) cooked in coconut cream inside a coconut shell that still has some coconut meat remaining after being scraped. Delicious! Thinking we couldn't have a richer experience for any amount of money our hosts gifted us a beautiful Fijian mat woven in the traditional way with leaves of the panadanamus tree and bordered with a colorful wool yarn fringe. The mat is at least 5 feet by 6 feet and features a cross hatch of jet black weave. The vibrant black color is achieved by burying the leaves in swampy soil for several days and then boiling the leaves in a special broth of plant leaves to set the color. It's an incredible gift that shows the incredibly friendly and giving nature of the Fijians found in the least travelled off the beaten track areas of Fiji.

Kathy spreads out our new mat on LightSpeed's trampoline.

After our meal Risi walked us back down to the beach and along the way described the uses of the many plants and trees growing in the village. Uses of the various plant leaves ranged from simply making a pot of tea from lemon tree leaves to a potion of mashed leaves used to purge the system after drinking too much kava.

These boys picked us a handful of lemon tree leaves for making tea.

Other plants they thought to be useful in preventing everything from cancer to diabetes. Given that the village has many healthy and active elders in their nineties the belief and use of native plants holds much merit. Along the way to the beach we had a group of boys tagging along from ages 3 to 13 and back at the dinghy we invited Risi to escort any of the boys that were interested in seeing the boat out for a visit.

Dave shows the boys a few pictures from the previous days Rugby match in the village.

 All 13 of us piled into the dinghy which was pretty close to capacity for one run to LightSpeed. All the boys enjoyed exploring the boat while Kathy and I chatted with Risi about village life and among other things how he met his wife and how a bride price is still paid in the form of an actual sperm whale tooth which might cost upwards of $1000FJD. Copra (dried coconut meat) is still harvested here, but at $500FJD (~$250USD) a ton it's an insane amount of work compared to the subsidized price for copra in French Polynesia of 100XPF (~$1USD) a kilo or loosely (~$1000USD a ton). The only way to earn cash in Totoya is a government job, copra or harvesting sea cucumbers which can be lucrative, but are in short supply.

Tomorrow, we will be joining a local group of young men to work high in the hills above Tovu village tending gardens of Kava plants.

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Friday Snorkeling, lunch in the bush and a school fund raising grog session at Tovu village.

July 26, 2013
Anchorage Position: 18°57.317'S 179°49.348'W

Snorkeling, lunch in the bush and a school fund raising grog drinking session at Tovu village, Totoya Island, Lau, Fiji.

Grog = Kava = Yaqona

Risi guided us on an amazing snorkelling trip to a spectacular section of shallow water reef inside the lagoon near the SE corner of Totoya. All five of us piled into the dinghy, so it was a slow ride the three miles to the reef, but better for going slow as we could ply Risi with questions about Fiji and life on Totoya island. Once we neared the snorkel spot we headed toward a sandy beach where Risi's mother Vuli was camping out harvesting and boiling pandanus leaves for weaving mats and husking coconuts for Copra. Vuli was on her third day of camping out at the remote beach with another of the village women. Vuli's son and Risi's brother who lives in Suva is getting married, so Vuli is busy weaving 20 mats as wedding gifts to her son.

 Tim enjoying the pristine waters and magnificent coral reefs.

 Snorkeling at Totoya Island

 Cool shells on this beach are round with holes in the middle.

 SE corner of Totoya Island.

 Pandanus leaves being prepared for boiling by cutting off the sharp barbs.

 Cute little girl standing next to bundles of pandanum leaves that are ready to be boiled.

 Preparing lunch

 Risi cleans a fish while kathy watches the pandana leaves boil

 Bruce and Tim enjoying lunch of fresh caught fish and giant clam and casava.

 Lunch

 Lunch at the beach camp.  Totoya Island, Lau group, Fiji

 Tim getting coached on how to husk a coconut

Tim husks a coconut.


Bruce learns to husk a coconut


Local Fijian husks a coconut.  Totoya Island, Fiji

On a scale of one to ten the coral was an 8.5 to 9 with huge table top corals, stag horn corals, green branch corals with amazingly long limbs, bright orange soft corals, soft spongy green lettuce leaf corals. Fish wise it was a 3 as Risi was busy spear-fishing while we ogled at the coral gardens and any fish within sight darted to safety. Perhaps, in other locations around the island one might find more fish life that wasn't running for its life. Recently, three marine reserves were established as no take zones and perhaps in the future these will not only provide breading grounds for fish and invertebrates, but provide some spectacular snorkeling to future visitors.

Heading back to the village we joined an evening fund raising event for the local school. A kava bowl 30 inches in diameter was placed in the center of the large community building with the elders sitting on one side and the fund raising supporters seated on a huge mat on the other. Near the door four or five younger men prepared the kava from Yaqona root by pounding it with a 1-1/4" bronze rod 30" long into a hollowed out log crucible. The crushed roots were then placed in a cloth bag and kneaded into a bucket of water until a latte colored fluid was produced. At certain intervals the pastor of the village would call for more kava and 3 gallons at a time were poured into the tanoa bowl where one mixer agitated the kava with a large coconut shell and filled the cups of half coconut shells to two servers who then passed the brimming cups of kava from hand to hand to each and everyone in the room. As an honored guest I received the kava shortly after the Vaka or #2 chief. After drinking the kava in one pull I clapped my hands three times to signify my liking of the kava. Maybe 40 people were in attendance at any given time and usually each 3 gallon batch of kava provided 2 coconut shells per person. We stayed for three rounds ~6 coconut shells full at which point the slightly medicinal nature of the kava started to take effect. The boys mixing the kava said they might make 15-20 3 gallon buckets before the grog drinking session ended that night! Throughout the evening a sub group played a card game similar to Hearts and four guys played guitar and Ukele and everyone joined in singing. An authentic off the beaten path experience to be sure.

That's it for now.

Monday mechanic. School generator 15kW, small 950W portable generator and Yamaha 40 outboard.

July 29, 2013
Anchorage Position: 18°57.317'S 179°49.348'W

Monday mechanic at Tovu village, Totoya Island, Lau, Fiji

At 8:30 this morning we met Temo and Risi on the beach. Kathy, Bruce and Tim headed for the hill with the local youth to tend to Kava plantations high above the village. I wanted to go for the hike as well, but had agreed to take a look at the school generator which hadn't run in more than a month. Temo and I walked up to the school where we met the headmaster and school administrator who guided us to the generator shack. Inside the tin shack was a 2 year old 17kW genset built by China Yangdong Co., LTD that was already looking worse for wear. The generator wouldn't start or even make a click. Apparently, another yacht that recently visited and determined it was a starter issue and had attempted to start the genset with a fresh battery from their yacht to no avail.

Since being installed several years ago this generator has yet to receive a oil change.  Even the initial 50 hour change was skipped.  Brillaint planning to purchase the generator and install all the wiring infrastrucutre, but fail to budget or consider even the most basic maintenance.   I strongly advised that the engine oil and filter be replaced and stressed that the generator would not last much longer being abused and advised that it not be run until properly serviced.  If you are headed to Totoya be a hero and take 4-6 liters of 30 wt oil, oil filter, final fuel filter and air filter for a Yangdong IND465Q Diesel engine.  See ID plate in photo above to confirm particulars.

Photo showing starter removed for disassembly and cleaning.

This photo shows the locations of the oil filter (bottom center) and final fuel filter just left of the injection pump piping.   Be a real hero and bring some engine coolant and new hoses as these are already getting crunchy from internal corrosion.

Armed with an electrical multi-meter and a set of tools I removed the starter and disassembled all the parts. We then took the generator battery down to the nursing station where they have a solar panel to charge the battery. Next on the list was a Chinese knock off of a Yamaha 950 watt generator. Before I started to trouble shoot the generator I advised the owner to save himself future trouble and purchase a solar panel. The generator had a component inside that was literally blown and melted so we swapped the part with another non functional unit and it was still not producing more than 40 volts. I again advised that solar panels were the future.

Next was a Yamaha Enduro 40 outboard that had a faulty gear box. I checked out the engine and found the transmission and gears to be working fine. Perhaps, the performance deficit had to do with the severe damage to the three bladed prop which was more like a two and a half bladed propeller. The ignition system was also suspect despite the engine running on either of the two cylinders at low speed. The owner was intending to take the boat 44 miles to the neighboring island of Moala. There is no amount of money that would have put me in a boat powered by this engine for that long journey as it's almost asking to be lost at sea. Tomorrow, we will take the guy who needs to get to Moala aboard LightSpeed and sail him up there.

Later in the afternoon, Kathy and the boys returned with Risi, 9 children and two women in tow who wanted to check out LightSpeed. The kids all had a blast and enjoyed a big bag of cookies we shared. Kathy's gardening adventure to the Kava fields high in the hills ran from 8:30 to 2:30PM, so they were hungry when they returned, but despite the fatigue they had already scheduled volleyball for the remaining hours of light. So, we all headed to shore and the boys instead joined the evening rugby game. After hauling the schools generator battery to LightSpeed to charge, I headed back to the school generator and Kathy headed to take a shower at a village home. The generator repair was a success and I guess the wasps nest that was inside the starter was the cause of the non start issue. Combined with a freshly charged battery it started right up. I then headed to Temo's home where a Kava session was under way and enjoyed a few bowls of Kava.  Everyone in the village could hear the generator running and it was sort of my 15 minutes of fame.   Eventually, Kathy and the boys tracked me down and we all hung out for a while. Temo's wife and Risi's mother Vuli was working on a new custom woven mat for LightSpeed. It's the perfect size for the main salon and tonight she was adding 'LightSpeed' to the mat in high contrast black pandanamus.

Tomorrow, we are sailing Risi and Risi's cousin to Moala 44 miles distant and then the cousin will catch a flight to Suva and Risi will do some shopping for the village and return with us to Totoya after a few days.

Totoya is experiencing a shortage of sugar, flour and rice and we've gifted all of our supplies, so we'll be doing some shopping while at Moala as well.

That's it for now.

Totoya Island, Southern Lau group, Fiji

July 25, 2013
Anchorage Position: 18°57.317'S 179°49.348'W
Totoya Island, Southern Lau group, Fiji


As to be expected we made a change en route to Fulanga and ended up at Totoya island. We're anchored off the main village inside an ancient volcanic caldera with one side washed out creating a large round bay. The primary village where one must first call to make sevesevu is located on the eastern shore on south side of the concrete wharf. Anchorage can be found off the small beach just south of the wharf. We dropped our anchor in 15 meters and deployed 45 meters of chain as we backed toward shore until the stern was in 3 meters, from there we set a stern anchor to the SE in anticipation of stronger trade winds.

Kathy and I performed the sevusevu with the 'Vaka' who was acting on behalf of the chief who was away from the island. Meanwhile Bruce and Tim joined in on a game of Rugby with 30 of the local men. The sevusevu was super formal and incredibly serious as can be expected in one of the remotest villages in Fiji. Many tabus exist and we have much to learn as we visit the village today to make a few donation to the school and investigate hiking and snorkeling opportunities.

That's it for now.

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Tovu village, Totoya Island Lau group, Fiji

Bruce and Tim playing rugby at Tovu village Totoya island Fiji

Bruce and Tim playing rugby at Tovu village Totoya island Fiji

Bruce and Tim playing rugby at Tovu village Totoya island Fiji

Tovu village, Totoya island kids

Tovu village, Totoya island kids

LightSpeed at anchor as Bruce and Tim ready the dinghy at Tovu village, Totoya island Fiji

Tovu village, Totoya island kids

Underway for Fulaga. Hikes,catching fish, Ono Island, Coconuts and much more.

July 23, 2013 (time 1400 local and 0200UTC)
Position: 18°45' S 178°54' E
Speed: 7 knot on a beamish reach.
Course: 094T

Underway for Fulaga, Lau Group, Fiji, South Pacific

We stayed just two nights at Ono island and really only spent one full day ashore. Kathy and I were excited to visit Ono again as we were carrying photos aboard from our last visit in 2007 and looked forward to catching up with our old friends in the village. Our first stop was the required visit to the chief to present the sevusevu. We all dressed the part with me, Bruce and Tim all wearing sulus over our board shorts and presenting the chief with a 500gram bundle of Kava root. Honestly, the chief didn't seem as enthused as before and the ceremony was brief.

Back in 2007 Ono was one of our most memorable stops due to the uniqueness of the sevusevu ceremony, drinking kava with the chief and even a meal at the chiefs home. As can be expected times change, tradition dies in the face of tourism and disappointingly every last one of the young people we met in 2007 had moved either to Suva or Lautoka. However, the younger sister of one of our guides from the 2007 visit was our guide on this visit. Sofa was our naturalist guide whom was happy to take us anywhere on the island utilizing her expert knowledge of the maze of trails that crisscross the island. Sharing the photographs around the village and catching up with one family in particular whom had hosted us in 2007 was a treat. Again, the family welcomed us warmly and shared generously by inviting us to afternoon tea with freshly prepared kasava/coconut treats and boiled plantains accompanied with freshly brewed lemon tree leaf tea.

 Tim keeping a sharp lookout at the inside of his eyelids as we navigate the inner reef of Totoya Island.

 Fresh Wahoo sushi rolls from the nice Wahoo that Bruce caught earlier in the day.

 Tim's Fish was promptly BBQ'd for dinner and was delicious

 Tea on Ono island.

 Our hosts from 2007 were happy to see us again in 2013

Flashback!  This is a photo from our 2007 visit.

 Tim with a nice stock of bannanas

 Bruce, Tim, Kathy enjoy some tea and boiled plantaines.

 A real bush hike

 Tim on a gorgeous stretch of Fiji coastline.  Ono Island, Fiji.

 Walking the beach at low tide.

 No tourists here.

 Bruce and Tim

 Bruce

 Bread fruit

 High on the ridge is a plantation of pine trees.  For a few miles it seems like you left Fiji and are hiking in Idaho.

 Coconut break

 Huge coconut to fuel us up for our hike across and around Ono island.

 Dalo (taro) patch

 Tradition still lives on.

All smiles after we shared a huge stack of photos from 2007

Flash Back:  This is one is from 2007.

With heavy rain and strong SE winds since my nephews Bruce and Tim arrived last week we were all very pleased to see the sun yesterday and the timing was perfect for our hike across Ono island. The trail was super muddy from all the rain, so on the return trip our guide Sofa gave us the option to return via the coast. The tide was rising, so we knew we couldn't linger too long as we hiked across a beautiful deserted beach. Even so, the tide snuck in quicker than we thought requiring plenty of wading around some cliff lined rocky shores. At one point Sofa's dog, Stryker, who joined us for the days excursion started to whine and convinced Tim it would be best if Tim gave him a lift through some of the deeper water that would have required Stryker to swim.

                                           It again proves that puppy dog eyes are pretty powerful.

We got underway around 8AM this morning for Fulaga about 180 miles distant from Ono Island near Kandavu. The first 12 miles of the trip we motored north along the edge of the Astrolabe reef before heading east into the open ocean for the overnight run to Fulaga. Looking at the weather GRIB files it seems we've caught a lucky break in the predominant SE trade winds that will allow us to sail on a easterly course toward Fulaga. Fulaga located in the SE corner of the most remote islands in the Fijian archipelago is a long sail, but we're all sure it will be well worth the effort. Our 2013 edition of 'A mariners Guide to Fiji' offers key hints about the island stating ...'that with no airport and infrequent visits by ships this is a very isolated world rarely visited by yachts'. Based on the reports from s/v Blue Rodeo who recently visited the island, we're pretty sure this could be one of the last unspoiled gems of the South Pacific.

A low pressure system to the southeast is blocking the normally strong SE tradewinds, so the winds are fairly light in the 8-15 knot range and from the unlikely direction of SSW. So wind wise we are set. The swell is not so nice with a 3.1 meter bump that is making for a bumpy ride and everyone but me is feeling either a little or a lot sick. Bruce has been doing great with the motion and spent most of the day assisting with the navigation and trimming sails, Kathy heated up some spaghetti for lunch then disappeared to her bunk, Tim was going strong for the first few hours until we hit the open ocean swell then he hit his bunk skipping lunch and has yet to reappear as of 3PM. Tim must be feeling bad as he didn't even take his iphone below to his bunk! Around 1PM the ocean caught up with Bruce and so it looks like I'll be sailing solo into the evening. Kathy claims she's making chocolate chip cookies for the midnight watch, but I'm not sure that's too likely at this point as the ocean is getting even bumpier. Even our cat Shell is nowhere to be seen.

 Bruce Bonich lands a beautiful and very tasty Wahoo near Ono Island, Fiji 2013.

Kathy coaches on proper handling and cleaning of the Wahoo to ensure the highest quality and minimal waste.

Lots of adventures the last few days, hikes, swimming with dolphins, catching a nice wahoo, sevusevu with a village chief drinking Kava and more.

That's it for now.