SAFELY BACK AT VUDA

Today I awoke early and reluctantly departed Tokoriki Island and departed for the safety of Vuda Point Marina.

After wrestling with my anchor chain in a merry little dance, I left Tokoriki and had a pleasant little cruise back to the relative safety of Vuda Point Marina.

Tomorrow, New Year's Eve, I will venture into Lautoka to reprovision. I'm thinking of revisiting Robinson Crusoe Resort. It would be a very simple 2 day trip there and it really is a wonderful spot. My only concern is the distance involved in case another cyclone brews up.

This most recent cruise has been fun and refreshing. The Mamanuca Islands are truly stunning in their beauty.

TOKORIIKI ISLAND RESORT

Tokoriki Island Resort is now amongst my "Top Ten" places to be in the World.

The setting is beautiful. The grounds are pleasant. The snorkeling is great----once you get out into deeper water.

I spent a very relaxing day ashore and shared dinned with the resident manager and his wife.

I met a charming couple fron San Clemente. Jim is a retired United States Marine and was stationed at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii while I was preparing Torrid for this trip. His girlfriend "Johanna" is stunningly beautiful. Semper Fi!

CHILLIN' AT TOKORIKI RESORT

Here is another boring old self-portrait.

It was taken at the Tokoriki Resort Hotel with Torrid in the background as well as Mamanuca-i-thake Island way in the background.

TOKORIKI ISLAND

This morning I moved over to nearby Tokoriki Island.

The water is just beautiful. I swear I can see bottom at 70' from my deck.

The island has two resorts. One VERRRRRRRRRRY nice, the other just OK.

Fortunately, I was welcome at both.

I waded into the "infinity" pool at the Tokoriki Island Resort to take an interesting photo of Torrid off in the distance.

You will need to click on the photo to enlarge the picture. Torrid looks like a toy boat floating in the infinity pool.

SUNSET WITH CASTAWAY ISLANDS

Today was rather uneventful. Same old thing, snorkeling for an hour, discovering a seashell (dead) which I didn't have in my collection, etc. etc.

I fixed up my fishing lures. I'd kind of like some fresh fish.

I'll attach a sunset photo of the Castaway Islands Monuriki, on the left, and Monu on the right.

Both islands are uninhabited. In my chat with Zo yesterday, he confirmed the reason so many of these beautiful islands are uninhabited----no water.

Tomorrow I have to think about making my way back to mainland Fiji as my provisions are running low----or out!

I really hate to leave, but I'm very thankful for the opportunity to visit this part of Fiji.

MONU ISLAND

In the movie "Castaway" Tom Hanks climbs to the top of his island and looks out upon an empty sea.

In reality, he was actually atop another island, Monu Island, which is adjacent to Monuiriki Island.

Also, in reality, you can see at least a dozen other islands as well as mainland Fiji from the SHORELINE of Monu Island.

The photo is of the top of Monu Island where Tom Hanks contemplated suicide.

Oh yes, the wind came down and the evening became quite pleasant.

MAMANUTHA-I-THAKE

This morning I sailed from "Castaway" Island, aka Monuiriki Island, over to the nearby island named Mamanutha-i-thake. I wanted to get over here early because I knew that once the tour boat collected the mobs from Monu Island they come over here to take the tourists ashore and buy local handicrafts.

The chief was away on another island so I had a meeting with their second in command. Traditionally, one gives Kava as a present to the chief. I don't drink, so I don't promote Kava. Instead, I gave the assistant chief several fish hooks, 6 cans of tomato sauce and on of the most important "tools" an American always has in his toolbox: a brand new roll of duct tape. They all seemed to enjoy the gifts and invited me ashore this evening for music and dancing. They ALL wanted to make sure that I did not have a wife or a girlfriend. Then they ALL started giggling and talking in very rapid Fijian. As if I would understand Fijian if they spoke slowly!

I had a long chat with a lad named "Zo". He seemed extremely intelligent and wanted my views on American politics, our involvement in Iran and Afghanistan, and what I thought about President Obama.

Later, I went past the shop displays, wanting to get there before the tourists swarmed ashore. I found two nice seashell specimens which I had found alive but replaced while snorkeling. I did not feel bad purchasing these shells. Besides, it helps the Fijian community.

A high wind warning had been posted on the Fiji weather outlook station. It is NOT being caused by a Cyclone; rather, it is being caused by a very strong High Pressure system south of Fiji and North of New Zealand.

While ashore I noticed that the wind had indeed picked up a great deal. Torrid was sitting at anchor in 35' of water with an onshore wind. Why is it ALWAYS on onshore wind? I rushed back out to Torrid to anchor sit.

The tour boat left, the wind came down and I moved Torrid over to the safety of the mooring ball.

I feel much more comfortable.

CHRISTMAS ON "CASTAWAY" ISLAND, 2009

This morning I sailed from Castaway Island Resort to Monuiriki Island. This is the island made famous in Tom Hanks "Castaway" movie. When I arrived a tour boat was in and the island was teeming with tourists. I motored over to some Fijian lads who were waiting off shore in a smaller boat. They explained that the large tour boat would soon leave and there was a mooring I could use.

I next hailed the "Seaspray II" and confirmed this info and also found out what time they will return tomorrow so I can be out of their way.

After everybody left the island I went ashore and did a little snorkeling. The coral was quite nice. I found two HUGE spider conchs side by side. As I expected, they were alive, so I wished them a "Merry Christmas" and let them continue doing whatever spider conchs do.

When I looked in the mirror this morning I was startled to think that instead of looking like Ernest Hemingway, which is the look I'm going for, that I had a strange resemblance to Santa Claus. Give me a red suit, and enough Valium, and I could've been a department store Santa this year.

Instead, I spent the better part of the day, alone, like a castaway, on tiny Monuiriki Island, Fiji.

Merry Christmas to all.

WAITING FOR SANTA CLAUS-2009

On Christmas Eve when I was about 7 or 8, my mother and I were on a US Navy transport ship returning from Guam to San Francisco. I let my mother know that I was very worried that Santa Claus would be unable to bring me my presents because we were on a ship, in the middle of the Ocean, and I could not see how it would be possible for Santa to fit thru the porthole---especially with all my hoped for presents.

Somehow, someway, when I awoke the following morning Santa had indeed worked his magic!

Now, at the ripe old age of 63, I again find myself on a ship (actually a small yacht) in the middle of the same Ocean (actually moored near a small, beautiful island) I found myself wondering how Santa will ever be able to bring me any of my presents.

It then dawned on me that I had not wished for any presents!

When I awake tomorrow I will receive about the best present I could have ever imagined-----another day of fulfilling my lifelong dream of sailing around the World.

The only thing I do wish for is the restoration to perfect health to my best friend in Hawaii. Together, we shared almost a quarter century of happy, meaningful Christmases.

The picture is of the Spider Conch I collected today.

May all your (reasonable and unselfish) Christmas wishes come true.

CHRISTMAS EVE 2009

In Fiji it is Christmas Eve.

To celebrate, a little, I went snorkeling. I found a nice Spider Conch which was dead and in pretty good shape.

I also noticed literally billions of tiny pieces of calcium which looked a lot like the old "puka shells" people used to make into necklaces in Hawaii. These items were much smaller and far more delicate than the Hawaiian "puka shells." It would be an extremely easy thing to string these calcium items together and make a fine, if delicate, necklace. The shoreline was covered with these items. Whilst snorkeling I noticed " Billions and billions" ( Credit given to the late Carl Sagan) of these little critters lining the shallow, sandy bottom.

Since I do not wear ANY kind of necklace, thank you very much, nor would I have the patience to gather, sort, string and finish any kind of necklace I only picked up 6 for my photos.

The attached photo is of yours truly, Christmas Eve, 2009, Castaway Island, Fiji.

CASTAWAY ISLAND

Today, 12/23/09 I moved over to Castaway Island.

The resort is "Yachtie" friendly and even offers a couple of free mooring balls.

They have THE BEST pizza in Fiji. I'm thinking of staying for another day just to justify having another pizza! Merry Christmas to me!

The wind has kicked up a wee bit and frankly, I don't trust this mooring, so I'll be content to boat sit this evening.

The picture is taken from Castaway Island with Mana Island in the distance.

I REALLY doubt that we will have a white Christmas.

I saw part of an American football game the other day. Of course there were the usual crowd photos of the shirtless, probably drunk, fans making a spectacle of themselves in the hopes of a momentary spot on national TV. It occured to me that it might be fun to have half a dozen Fijians dress up in parkas, snow pants, boots and ski caps and stand on the sidelines during a Rugby game, called a "test", shivering like mad in hundred degree temperatures here in Fiji to spoof the clowns in the US.

MALOLO ISLAND RESORT VISIT

Yesterday, 12/22/09, I visited Malolo Island Resort. I found it to be very friendly, to me, this means "Yachtie" friendly.

The internet connection was impossibly slow to update my blog. However, this morning I moved over to the nearby Castaway Island. I'll go ashore soon.

In the meantime, here is a nice picture I took of Malolo Isaland Resort yesterday. Of course, my dinghy always seems to get in the picture.

More pictures coming from Castaway Island..........I hope.

In the meantime, I'm keeping a VERRRRRRRRRRRY close eye on the weather forecasts.

It beats sitting at Vuda Marina.

MALOLAILAI SEASHELLS

Today I walked a long ways around Malololailai Island in search of seashells washed up as a result of Cyclone Mick. I found a few nice specimens.

The photo shows the best of the pickings. The best find was a partridge tun shell. It is in the upperright of the photo.

Last night I slept up on deck as the evening was beautiful.

COULDA', WOULDA', SHOULDA'

Yesterday I left Vuda Marina and had a pleasant, solo, sail out to Musket Cove. The entire trip was routine until I tried to hook up to a mooring ball. After 4 tries I simply set my anchor then tied a safety line to a nearby mooring ball. The rest of the day was quiet.

Today I expect to walk around and look for seashells which washed up during Cyclone Mick.

The true theme of this message is that there are countless things in our past which we look back upon and think: If only.............I could'a, would'a, should'a done things differently.

Obviously we cannot change our past. However, as Winston Churchill so precisely said: "He who does not learn from history is doomed to repeat it."

We should not beat ourselves up about those could'a, would'a, shoulda's from our past. Rather, we MUST remember them and we MUST learn from them.

CHRISTMAS MESSAGE 2009

Christmas 2009 is now one week away (6 days away here in Fiji).

The people I care for most on this planet are literally thousands of miles away. The one person who loved me the most and longest is seriously ill.

My plan was always to take 5 years to circumnavigate the globe, visiting new lands, learning new cultures, improving my foreign language skills and most important, making new friends. All of these plans are coming to fruition and I fully intend to stay the course so long as I am physically capable.

What I did not take into consideration whilst making these plans was how much I would miss my family and friends left behind in my wake.

What I NEVER contemplated was the fact that once I cast off my lines, set my sails and pointed TORRID south towards Fiji, that I was leaving behind friends and family that I might possibly NEVER see again.

My Christmas message is this: Talk to or visit with those in your life who mean to most to you. I failed in this respect many, many times. You just never know when that opportunity will be forever closed to you! TEMPIS FUGIT!

I suppose I can take some solace in the old adage: "If all else fails, you can always serve as a bad example!"

Merry Christmas 2009.

Cap'n Mal

THE ELUSIVE MOLE COWRIE

After I walked out to the far edge of the reef to take some pictures of the ship wreck off Vuda Point I came across a sea shell that I had been looking for in Hawaii for well over 30 years. It is called a Mole Cowrie. Although it is not classified as "rare", it is certainly uncommon. I finally found one on Kauai around 2001.

Fortunately for me, but not for the sea shell, it was dead when I found it. It could not have been dead for more than 36 hours. The animal literally poured out of the shell as I picked it up. YUCK!!! But since it was dead, I had no reservations about keeping this beauty!

It is a fine specimen with a very small amount of damage incurred while being battered about on the reef during Cyclone Mick.

VUDA POINT WRECK CLOSEUP

Today, at low tide, I walked out to the wreck of the boat off Vuda Point. I took a picture to share.

I talked with some of the crewmen who were in the process of preparing to have the boat towed off the reef. It seems that they had moored onto an anchor buoy which it used to secure much larger oil and gas vessels. Due to the force of the winds of Cyclone Mick, the anchor buoys dragged until the ship ran aground.

Fortunately, no lives were lost nor major injuries incurred.

Nearby First Landing Resort has been kind enough to put the crew in comfortable, land-based, rooms. We call them "bures" in Fiji.

FIJI FLAG AFTER CYCLONE MICK

Fortunately, the only damage to Torrid during Cyclone Mick was the shredding of my Fijian courtesy flag as the picture shows.

MORE MICK PHOTOS

A large tree was blown down and into the swimming pool of the First Landing Resort.

AFTER CYCLONE MICK

Cyclone "Mick" struck Fiji yesterday. It had just been upgraded to a Category 2 before it made landfall. The "Eye" of Mick passed between the towns of Lautoka, which I visit at least twice a week, and Ba (yes, the name of the town is spelled BA). The eye was within 25 miles of my location. Although I did not experience the "dead calm" effect of being right in the eye of a cyclone, I did notice a steep drop in the wind for a while. Silly me, I thought the worst was over. WRONG!

The nearby resort hotel had several trees get blown down. Bless their hearts, they re-opened for dinner and I dined with fellow survivors by candlelight. It gave us a chance to start working on our survival "lies".

A large (80' approx) steel hulled survey vessel was washed up on the reef. A picture is attached. Had it been built of fiberglass or wood it surely would've been broken to pieces. The flat-bottomed barge it was towing wound up well inland.

At the height of the storm I walked out to look at the shipwreck. It was impossible to look for more than an instant as the driving rain stung my eyes. It was like driving a motorcycle at 100 mph in a rainstorm, without a face shield. I felt like one of those nutty TV people we see standing in the middle of a storm, getting blown to bits, all for the sake of appearing on the late news!

It was interesting, very interesting.

Oh, well, another "survival" story for my memoirs.

AFTERMATH

Well, it was a dark and stormy day.... The time is 1730 hours and the worst of the storm is over. The barometer is rapidly rising and I actually caught a glimpse of the sun about 30 minutes ago.

There has been substantial damage done by falling trees, branches, coconuts and palm fronds at the nearby First Landing Resort. I "rescued" 6 nice papayas from certain devouring by mynah birds. I doubt First Landing will have pizza night tonight, the power has been off since 1000 hrs and the way things get done in Fiji, it is any one's guess when power will be restored.

A steel fishing boat, approximately 75-80' apparently lost power and washed up on the reef just adjacent to the Vuda channel.

The only apparent damage to Torrid was the shredding of the small Fijian courtesy flag we yachties are expected to fly. I'll buy a new one ASAP as I do not wish to show any indication of disrespect by flying a tattered flag.

I'll take photos tomorrow as well as give an update on how high the winds were. My best guess is maximum winds of 100-125 mph. As I said, it was a dark and stormy day. Oh yes, TONS of rain.

Wolfgang, your timing was perfect.























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HOLDING ON TO MY BUTT!!!

Monday 12/14/09 1430 hrs.

I have NEVER seen my barometer so low!!!!!

The wind is screeching. The boats are bouncing about.

Thankfully, I doubled up my bow lines this morning before the REAL stuff blew in.

The storm has been named MICK and is the first cyclone of the season.

This is the ONLY time I've felt it important to turn on my Anchor Drag Alarm while tied up at a pier.

So far, so good. No damage----yet. I expect to get struck by flying palm fronds.

MICK is a category 1----so far. It it passing right over the island I'm on and I can tell you this: I'm SURE happy to be at the marina versus out at sea!!!

Transmitting this message now as I'm sure the net will go down soon. Lost power hours ago.

Livin' the dream!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bula,

Cap'n Mal

STORM COMING!

12/13/09 0900 hrs. Storm coming! Safely in harbor. Hang on!

ANOTHER VIVID DREAM

Last night I had another vivid, frustrating, revealing dream.
My father had come to visit me. He explained that he had been living in a faraway place which, I suppose, was his reason for not remaining in contact with me for so long.
He explained, with tears welling in his eyes, that he was very ill and did not have long to live. He told me, for the only time I could remember in my life, that he loved me.
The only time I had ever seen him cry in my entire life was at his father's funeral.
I tried to write down his phone number so we could get together within the next few hours. For some reason I found it impossible to write the digit "8". As hard as I tried, my trembling hands could not write down his telephone number correctly.
I awoke to find myself again in that post-dream condition wherein it takes you several minutes to realize that you had only been dreaming.
You see, my father had died on 2/8/88.
He never told me he loved me.
Sadly, I never told him that I loved him.
Shame on me!
Tell the ones you love how happy you are that they are in your life. Tell them that you love them EVERY DAY. Even on the days that you don't like them.

READY TO GO CRUISIN

Torrid is ready to go cruisin' again. Fuel is on board as are most provisions. I'm now awaiting a weather "window".

Unfortunately, a Tropical Depression has formed to the North West and looks like it will slam Fiji over the next couple of days.

The old saying goes: "There are old sailors and there are bold sailors, but there are no old and bold sailors."'

Since I'm already an old sailor, I'll continue to be a cautious, not a foolish bold sailor.

I await fair winds and a high tide.

A DISTURBING DREAM

I awoke this morning to the recollection of a disturbing dream. The details are not relevant nor even interesting to anyone other than my memories which became the genesis of the dream.

Suffice it to say that the lesson of the dream was this: You cannot change your past. No matter how much we hope and pray to undo the mistakes of our past, once made they cannot be undone.

Choices are funny things. We have many choices we make in our every day lives. Most are insignificant. Do we buy the mayonnaise we always use or do we try a new brand which is on sale at a much lower price. If we try the new brand and don't like it the solution is simple: toss out the new brand and suffer the small financial loss.

Other decisions are much more important. These are the decisions which, once made, exclude all other possibilities. Do we file for divorce, do we accept a marriage proposal, do we have another child? These are the kinds of decisions which will bless or haunt our futures forever. These decisions must be made with the understanding that once made, it excludes all other possibilities.

We cannot thank or blame God, the fates or our stars for our choices whether they turn out to be right or wrong. They are our conscious decisions. How well we reason out these decisions and their possible consequences varies from person to person and from situation to situation.

I'm not sure how accurate my recollection of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" is, but I love this quote: "Our fate, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves."

What is your most memorable decision? Were you right or were you wrong? Have you awakened from a vivid dream wherein you thought you could undo that one decision in your life? Did you wake up with a tear in your eye as I did this morning?





















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WOLFGANG VISIT

This past week-end my friend Wolfgang came to visit for an all too short 2 days.

I sailed out to Musket Cove and spent 1 night. I then took him to Bounty Island for some snorkeling and beachcombing.

Torrid behaved beautifully and I'm sure Wolfgang had a great time, except for WAAAAAAAAY too much sun!!! Oh, well, at least he goes back to Germany with a tan to show off.

He is a fine young man and I mis him terribly when he is gone. I'm happy to say I had just a little to do with him becoming the man he is.

I hope to visit him in Munchen.