Day 77, Year 2: Getting Ready to Leave Savusavu
Date: Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Weather: Weather Changing
Location: Savusavu, Vanua Levu
Today was a day of reconnecting with old friends and getting ready to leave Savusavu. The weather is changing, and not in a positive way, but even though it is supposed to rain with winds blowing in from the west or northwest, we think we can do the passage we have planned around the south side of the island safely. The plan is to leave here by 8 AM, go through the Naisonisoni Pass, and arrive in Wainunu Bay just after noon. We will then decide whether to push on or to stop and wait for better
weather. We have spot-on waypoints for the Naisonisoni Passage, so we feel safe going through it even in bad weather. We will be using Max Sea with C-Maps charts along with locally purchased waypoints for this area. Right now Mark is briefing Steve on the other computer, so all of us will be familiar with the territory.
Tom and Bette Lee of Quantum Leap came over to visit early this morning. It was great to see them again. They will be arriving in the Nadi area around the time we arrive there to take Steve to the airport for his return trip home, so hopefully we will see them again then. After Tom and Bette left, Mark, Steve, and I went into town. Our first stop was the internet cafe to try once again to connect with our daughter Heather. We wanted desperately to see that grand baby of ours. We connected via
Skype webcam on Saturday, but the connection was horrible. Today it was much, much better, and we got to see Sam at his best. He is so curious. You can tell that he hears voices coming from the computer and he stares like he is trying to figure out why a computer can talk. He loves the computer and plays with the keyboard and the touch pad. Sam also loves books. He knows how to turn the pages and sometimes jabbers as if reading. And he loves to laugh. Jed came home while we were talking,
and Sam’s attention went to his daddy. Jed knows just how to make him laugh and it is very cute. Obviously, I’m a proud gramma that is absolutely in love with Sam. If I didn’t have my Skype fixes about once a month, I don’t think I could stay out here. With the Skype webcam connection, I can watch Sam grow and change, and that makes being far away an okay thing for now.
I spent the rest of my morning shopping for provisions while Mark and Steve went back to Windbird and made trips in and out of the fuel dock to fill our fuel tanks. On one of their runs to the fuel dock, they picked me up and took me back out to the boat. I worked to find a place to put all the food away and finished the laundry I had started early in the morning while Mark and Steve went to visit Quantum Leap. Mark wanted Steve to see the boat. Mark and Steve then made water runs to fill our
water tanks, and before we knew it, it was Happy Hour. Tom on Quantum Leap was going to a seminar late this afternoon, so we said we would pick up Bette Lee and bring her to Happy Hour at the Yacht Club. When we arrived, Tom and the whole group that had attended the seminar were already there. We reconnected with Penny and Greg of Long Tall Sally and Robin and Rick on Endangered Species. And then we all walked to the Sea Vu Restaurant for a special cruisers’ barbecue night. It was all good and
it was really great to see old friends again.
So tomorrow morning it is up early and hit the road. We are hoping to see Marie and Paul on Ranger before we depart. We didn’t see them at all today. They have a guest arriving tomorrow, and then in a couple of days they will be heading in our direction, so if we don’t see them tomorrow morning, we hope to see them again in a few days. Savusavu has been a great stopping place, but as always, we are ready to move on and share more of Fiji with Steve.
Today was my sister Patsy’s birthday, so happy long life to Patsy!
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| 070710 Day 77 Vanua Levu, Fiji–Reconnecting with Good Friends |
