And Homeward Bound!

And Homeward bound!

We have finally left Fiji, with everything working we hope, and are homeward bound, with a bit of time to spend in Vanuatu en route. Spent a week testing the new auto-pilot most of which we spent at Musket Cove where we were hit one afternoon ( luckily and NOT in the dead of night when these things usually happen,) by a 40 knot wind while at anchor. This was quiet dramatic as on our stretched anchor we had a boat on a mooring half a boat length behind and another at anchor half a boat length in front meanwhile boats were dragging anchor left right and centre so we had to sit it out with the motor running in case we did the same but there was no way we could actually get it up and and reset in these winds. Had the usual lovely ‘ farewell’ from Vuda Point Marina which had become a home away from home. The staff at this marina- office, bar, managers,boat boys, etc are with out a doubt the friendliest, most welcoming of anywhere we have come across in the world. They all know your name and greet you with it – and hugs- every time you return.

We have enjoyed Fiji although we found it very stressful cruising. It is virtually uncharted which means someone has to keep an eye out for reefs. While there we had several friends who managed to hit the dreaded things and this was something we could not bare. So in a lot of ways we were glad to leave all in one piece.

So it was then off to Vanuatu. I have often been asked have we been caught in any really bad storms and while some of it has been pretty uncomfortable I have been able to truthfully answer ‘ No’ but unfortunately the answer is now ‘ Yes’. We took this passage pretty lightly as it was only 600 nms, about four days but on the third day at 10pm at night we were hit by the mother of all storms. The winds got up to over 50 knots – this is 100kms – the seas got up like I have never seen and the rain belted down. The Auto pilot could not handle the conditions and David had to hand steer all through the night – in those conditions this is not fun. The waves were breaking into the cockpit and one wave took our life ring and downbouy off the Pushkin at the back.. By the morning the conditions had improved marginally but we were still hooning along with nothing more than a handkerchief up at 6 or 7 knots. And then, as could be expected, the winds dropped for the last four hours and the motor was on again. This storm developed in what is known as a ‘squash zone ‘ when a high and low meet. I think it is a phenomena that is unique to the Pacific and is really hard to forecast. Anyway rounded Pentecost Island and dropped anchor in a beautiful little bay and spent the day getting Fanny ship shape again. Everything inside had been thrown everywhere during the storm.

Sailed on over to Luganville on Espiritu Santo Island the next night. This is the largest Island in the group and second largest in population (9000). It is also one of the most northerly.
Did the usual check in then picked up Susie & Richard Rowntree, who are here for a week with us, from the airport. The next morning we sailed around to Petersons Bay, got a nice anchorage with not another sole in sight. The next morning we did some exploring and just around the corner in another fabulous bay found a very low key Resort ( Octypus).
Were advised there was a river we could dingy up to some “Blue Holes”. This we did, about two Kms through very lush and beautiful vegetation. At the end is a large limestone blue hole. The water rises up through the rocks and is incredibly soft. There are apparently quiet a few of these holes throughout Santo. Had a really good dinner that night at the resort and did some repairs to Little Fanny who is saying she has had enough of this tropical sun beating down on her and is trying to die but we keep saying “only a little while now!” And patching her up.

Next day sailed up the coast to Hogs Bay. This is home to the famous Champagne Beach rated a one of the three best beaches in the world, and it certainly is. Soft white sand and turquoise water. The water is amazing and almost feels bubbly like you are swimming in champagne hence the name. Visited the village where The people are very friendly, very dark skinned, speak a bit of English, most of them or otherwise a language call Basmati which is a combination of French & English and Pigeon. Vanuatu is I think the worlds best kept secret. It is the quintessential tropical island, incredibly beautiful, the water is clean and clear and warm and it is totally uncrowded. We are having beaches and anchorages to ourselves. It is a great place for diving ( maybe the divers know about it) .It was used as a base during the war by the US. As a result they left good roads, 3 airports, and a good hospital. A couple of days here and then up to Port Orlay which had some nice coral to snorkel on. Took Susie & Richard back to Hog Bay where they got a lift back to Luganville and flew home and we sailed Fanny back over a couple of days. Unfortunately the south –east trades are still blowing and we will be going south all the way to Tanna which will be our jump off point and the last island we will visit, so many days of beating into the wind are ahead of us but some lovely islands to visit on the way.

Once again I have mucked up the photo. I have been using my phone and don’t seem to be get them on the iPad to include with this so just walked to the front of Fanny and took a snap of our mooring outside Aore Resort. Met up with two Austrians last night who we first met in Columbia two and a half years ago and have been bumping into them ( not literally) all across the Pacific ever since. They had hit a reef here so our worries are not completely over yet!

Hope everyone well from All aboard Fanny Fisher

This is what we do it for!

I know people are sometimes skeptical as to why we do this but this evening has probably been a perfect example of why we do. We sailed over from Navadra Island to Yalobi Bay on Waya Island and had no sooner dropped anchor and a voice on the radio said “anyone wanting a sundowner you are welcome on board “ Maona”. (A large catamaran with a Swiss couple and their three young -6,5,4 boys on board who we had met at Musket Cove a few days before. So off we went and apart from them there was a young 30ish couple from Norway/Canada, some from South Africa and another Aussie but it is such fun meeting all these very different people and hearing their stories and of course we all have a common denominator- good and bad cruising experiences.

When we finally got away from Vuda Point with cruising permit in hand our first stopwas a night anchored out at Denereau. We were needing a new O ring for the water maker and were told to go over there and they would have one. We had yet another sting from the Indians who run all the businesses here. Went into the agent (Indian) and yes he had one but we must buy the whole kit – about 30 assorted types and sizes for $300 – No we just wanted one. OK you can have 1 but it is $90! After trying all our best strategies like starting to walk out he said “ Oh if you go to ??? they may have one”, so off we go and find the place and are just explaining what we want and the chap from the previous shop turns up. “ Oh I just came to check you found the place he says” very nice of him and yes this shop assures us that their other branch would have one and it would be there in 2 hrs. Off we go have a wander around and lunch go back and yes they have the O ring but it is $90! Nothing we could do but buy it and those two little shits would be splitting the proceeds and there was no risk it wasn’t taken out of the kit we had seen in the first shop. For those not conversant with marketing of O rings or in fact don’t know what they are, a few dollars is the usual price and because this was not so common maybe $10 would pull it up.

Anyway watermaker operating we had a couple of nights at Musket Cove – a good yachties bar and some nice walks but not particularly Fijian! Then moved on to Mana with a tricky pass ( narrow) and badly marked into the lagoon. Here they were filming a series of Surviver US and most of the Island was out of bounds, helicopters flying around filming and the entire resort booked out for the duration, one backpackers dive place open so the next morning we went up to Navadra where Surviver had also been filming but luckily they had finished except for one cameraman taking stills. Anyway it is a lovely uninhabited island with nice yellow sand and some OK snorkeling and only 2 other boats. But We were rudely awoken at 7.30 the next morning by the sound of a very big cruise ship entering the bay and coming very close to us. The captain then called up on his radio and said” Fanny Fisher would you mind reanchoring we swing a bit and there’s not much room. There certainly wasn’t, by this time he was no more than 3 meters from our bow and we then wisely decided he was not the sort to argue with. After we had moved he then said would we like to come aboard and have breakfast which of course we did. Very nice Captain – Aussie , and a very good omelette. We were joined the that night by a few other boats and then the next afternoon over to Waya where this blog began.

The next morning we had to our first Sevusevu ceremony. This is actually when you seek acceptance from the chief to visit their island and permission to swim in their waters and walk through their village. So with 4 other yachts we were escorted into the Chiefs (Turaga ni Koro) house, he sitting in the center, an interpreter behind him, all sat on the floor, by rights we should all, men and women be dressed in sulus (sarongs, shoulders covered and no hats or sunglasses allowed in the village). He asked were we were from and names and then we all presented our bundles of Kava. He then proceeds with a small chant a few claps ( a chook in the next room lays an egg with the usual sound effects) we do the odd clap hopefully at the appropriate time and we are accepted! He was a very striking looking 72 year old. Then he asked would we support the village by buying things at the shell market which while we were inside the ladies were setting up on the ground outside. Unfortunately this was the most awful collection of stuff, lots of jewelery but they have also discovered it is a lot easier to make necklaces from lurid colored, plastic beads from China than to go find shells on the beach. Unfortunately this has all come about by the cruise ships and yachts visiting and even a nearby resort offers’ a village shell market tour ‘ as one of their options but hopefully as we get further on things will get less tainted by the effects of mass tourism.

The village has a school with 164 pupils, 114 of whom board, these are from outlying villages and islands. They sleep in very basic huts with no adult but are looked after by the prefects who are no older than14! After that if they wish to go on with school they must go to the mainland. A very nice headmaster who invited us to an assembly the next morning ( 8.00am). Only 3 of us went- boats I mean but fortunately there were the two with children. Here we sat at the front in chairs and with them all facing us on the floor, teachers included. The kids were gorgeous all seemed so happy and sang us a few songs and we then told them a little about where we come from. They were particularly amused by the Swiss kids as they are all as fair as could be and about the same size and they had been going over and playing with them each afternoon. Religion does not seem to be being forced down their throats as it was in Tonga and there is only one church in the village!

Having a small ( read that as very large) problem with our electrics again! Having had someone working on them in NZ for days we thought things were right but had a pretty bad trip up with the auto pilot dropping out often then when we went to leave Navandra everything disappeared. And while we can do without most things depth here is vital as there are so many reefs many uncharted. So it is back to Vuda to get yet another technician to work on them. Fortunately Urs ( the Swiss chap ) is an electrical engineer so he came on board and fiddled with them for a couple of hours yesterday and managed to get our depth sounder working again. As the technician is on his honeymoon and won’t be back until Monday rather than go back and sit in the marina we have moved to another little bay were there is Internet and I can hopefully get this and other things finished and there is a restaurant! We will be sailing back in convoy with another yacht ‘Lafiesta’ English/Kiwi , who had the misfortune of hitting a reef, actually going into Mana and have damaged their rudder. It looks like they may have bent it so we will escort them back just in case and it will be good for us because if we loose our depth they still have theirs!

Hope all well and that you finally get a Govt. back in Aus, with love from all aboard Fanny Fisher

Oh what a welcome

!
After a fairly nasty passage up from NZ we arrived back at Vuda Point to be serenaded on the dock with a traditional ‘ Bula Bula’ song and with lots of hugs from the staff. Just what we needed after 8.5 days of strong winds and rough seas.

Unfortunately we had left our run up here a little late and we knew our chance of a perfect passage were a bit slim. The omens were not good and yes we did bring bananas aboard!

While sitting it out at Opua three boats that had left the week before returned with broken gear and scrutinizing the weather maps we did know it was not going to be an ideal trip

It began with no wind and we had to motor/sail for about the first 24 hrs then it started to blow and the seas got rougher and by the third day the winds were up sometimes in the 30s kts- this is about 70 Klms/per hour– far to much for us but we were taking it slowly with plenty of reefing in the sails. We then heard on our radio a call from a yacht Platimo about 30mls away to the NZ navy that they were in trouble – their rigging had come down and they had one man overboard and another deceased on board, ( the rigging hitting him as it came down) the navy had Orion planes out searching all day for the MOB but it is a huge ocean and he had no protective gear on. The remaining crew were eventually picked up the next day by a cargo ship- with much difficulty and the yacht was abandoned. A very sobering thing to happen so we reefed a bit more and took our time but the wind didn’t let up and it was like heaven when, at 2.30 Am on Monday we sailed through the reef into Bligh Waters and calm flat seas! And we have finally had some sun which we had hardly seen all the way up.

Now we a rejuvenated- washing done, fresh supplies on board etc – we are ready to go. We are actually still waiting for a cruising permit. It took us the best part of a day to check in and we thought we were set to go but them discovered there was one more form we needed and things don’t happen quickly here so as today, Friday, is a public holiday looks like we won’t get it until Monday. Then intend going out to the Mamanucas, Yasawas, Yadua, and over to Savusavu with hopefully lots of idealic anchorages in between.

This part, Viti Levu was not so badly effected by cyclone Winston but there are other areas more to the east that have been absolutely smashed. They all comment on how wonderful Aust. and NZ were sending in the armies and supplies but we have also heard a lot of the money given as aid by the Govts has not reached where it was intended and ends up in the wrong pockets.

When we arrived Kitty, ( David’s barmaid friend) asked if we would help with a sailing school they had just set up here at Vuda Point for the local kids. They have 5 Optis which have been donated. Well today was the day so we were all ready at 9.00am boats out, sails up but no kids showed up( last week there were 11!) so we waited until lunch time thenthe boats went back – and that’s just Fiji – no one had bothered ringing and saying they wouldn’t be there!

Ok so this week I do have some photos. One of the sunset taken from ‘The Sunset Bar’ where we spend each evening but I was a little late so that’s not as spectacular as it usually is. On from our back doors of our neighborhood.

Next week hopefully from some exotic anchorage,

From all aboard Fanny Fisher

o

Sitting out gale force winds

We are back in NZ waiting to get back to Fiji – and some warmer weather. Arrived back in the land of the long white cloud to  the most beautiful clear sunny days and  6 degree mornings! That is cold when there is no heating and you are floating on water. Sailed up to Opua which is the most northerly port we can check out from. Checked into the marina and soon after the bad weather arrived. This is the same front that 

ravished the east coast of Australia ( and delivered a beautiful 91mls to Yarrandabbie). So we have been sitting here while gale force winds gusting to 50 knts howl outside. However today the winds have dropped and  after scrutinizing weather forecasts all week it looks like we may be on our way tomorrow. We have taken on a new crew member, Richard Statham has joined us as he was keen to do an ocean passage so this could be a slightly bumpy initiation.

Today the wind had dropped so we rented a car and went for a drive north to a beautiful little town on a magical Harbour called Manganui had a nice fish and chip lunch on the water and drove back to to do our provisioning for the trip. Other than that we have done some nice walks and done some of the never ending ‘boat jobs’.

Looking forward to getting back to the tropics but sad to be leaving NZ also. Will try and include some photos off the Bay of Islands. 

Hope all well 

With love all aboard Fanny Fisher

Sorry no photos this week

Lost but not forgotten

I can’t believe it is over a month since I last posted a blog! We seem to have been very busy, covered a lot of NZ and had a few visitors which has all been fun. Being an El Niño year the weather has been a bit iffy, we get about five days of summer and then cop about five days of horrible stuff mainly strong gale force winds. The Kiwi’s are complaining bitterly about their lack of summer but at least the water has finally warmed up enough for swimming.

We have managed a couple of good ‘road trips’ while the winds and rain beat about the coast which have been interesting. The first was to Rotorua via parts of the Coromandel Peninsular, Mt. Maunganui and the Bay of Plenty. On advise from our B&B hosts we managed to avoid most of the crowds at Rotorua which understandably is a tourist ‘mecca’.

We had a great walk down the Waimangu Volcanic Rift Valley which is a hydrothermal system created in 1886 by the volcanic eruption of Mt. Tarawera about 30kms from Rotorua. It was beautiful with a series of lakes, geysers and sulphuric hot spring, the vegetation in the valley has become quiet tropical because of the warmth given off by these.

Good weather and back on Fanny for a trip out to Great Barrier Island another stunning area about 100kms NE of Auckland. It was once an important island for timber, copper and whaling but all those industries now being closed the population has dropped to just 850. They have no electricity, a little bit of farming but mainly rely on tourism or holiday makers. East coast exposed to the Pacific with long beaches and the west coast sheltered and calm, home to hundreds of tiny, secluded bays and little islands with Port Fitzroy the most fantastic natural harbour . Inland it is mountainous most of which comes under DOCs i.e. Dept. of conservation control so there are some lovely walks. Once covered with Kauri but that is now only in small pockets and worryingly suffering from some form of die-back.

Back to Auckland and the next visitors arrived and so did the bad weather! So we did another road trip. This time to Lake Taupo, Napier and Hawks Bay. Taupo a massive inland sea really, the size of Singapore they like to tell you. Just north the Waikato River which drains out of Lake Taupo narrows to only 15 meters to form the Huka Falls. ( hopefully a photo) . Then just down the road a bit is Huka Lodge one of NZs very best and has a guest list of all the rich and famous including Liz1. So we drove ourselves in ( looking slightly grotty) and walked around checking out the accommodation,the swimming pools, spas, croquet lawns , the beautifully manicured lawns, well all of it really and then feeling so ‘at home’ thought a drink on the terrace would be good but unfortunately they very politely advised us they had to respect the paying guests privacy and couldn’t serve outsiders….what a bugger by this time we were feeling very at home!

Next day on to Napier the Art Deco capital of the world the reason being in 1931 there was a volcano which destroyed the whole city but in spite of it being in the depression years they banded together and rebuilt, so it is a fabulous example of that eras architectural style. Each year they have an Art Deco festival when people come from around the world to dress up, drive cars and listen to the music of that era.

Following day on to Hawks Bay to check out a couple of vineyards and some Kiwi wine. First was Elephant Hill , a stones throw from the sea! But excellent wines we thought so loaded the car with a few samples then on to Craggy Range which has an amazing setting just under the stunning TeMaya Peak and a really stylish setup. ( hopefully another photo) .Had a leisurely lunch and then thought the weather had improved enough to hit the water again. We had a fun week and visiting all our favorite haunts in the Hauriki Gulf, good weather and good bridge each night!

We are now up in the Bay of Islands which we have been trying to get to for ages. Had sister Jill for the first week and will have another week before heading south again to Marsden Cove where we will leave Fanny for a couple of months until it is time to take her back up to the islands (Fiji). Once again these are pretty spectacular. Masses of little islands with lovely bays to just drop the pick (anchor) each night. Our admiration for those early sailors who discovered these waters is indescribable . Without all our mod cons like Charts, GPS etc we would be sitting on a rock somewhere and we have a boat with an engine but those guys managed it in boats that don’t sail to windward and have no weather forecasts or any sort of chart. Cook counted 144 islands in this area alone! NZ’s first Capital Russell is up here.

Having ‘lost’ the first draft of this Fingers crossed this will go and with photos.

With love from All aboard Fanny Fisher.

colourful geyser at Waimanga Volcanic Valley

Redwood Forrest Rotorua

A warm welcome to Great Barrier Island

Huka Falls

Sculpture at Craggy Range Winery

A new crew comes aboard

We arrived back in NZ after our sojourn home over Christmas with three new crew members, namely three of our beautiful Grandaughters, Millie, Zara And Chloe. After a late flight we arrived back on Fanny at about 2.00am but everyone was up early and raring to go the next morning and rediscovering the ins and outs of a floating home.

 We had arranged to meet up with the Hamills ( Kiwis with three boys the girls had become friends with while in Tonga) at a little island Tiritiri Matangi ,not far from our Marina, a little further from theirs. So great excitement catching up. Tiritiri is an open bird sanctuary. It was once farmed but since 1984 farming ceased and 280,000 trees have been planted by thousands of volunteers. These provide a new habitat for released species which were being threatened by an increasing population. After dinner we went for a Kiwi “hunt”, red cellophane over torches but didn’t see any, they are very allusive, but we did see a fairy Penguin sitting on an egg! Weather was not exactly the swimming variety the next day but the kids had a great time and we found some other cruisers from Tonga so the adults enjoyed themselves also untill at about 6.00pm when someone suggested the wind had swung around and it was beginning to get a bit rough. Next thing a message from the kids aboard Fanny saying Chloe had been sick! So we hightailed out of there to an anchorage which was sheltered! That seems to be sailing in NZ – lots of wind changes because we found another good anchorage the next night but in the morning the wind had swung around once again – so off we go looking for more shelter.

We are sailing in the Hauraki Gulf which is just outside Auckland. Seas fairly sheltered by The Coromandel Penisular to the south and east and mainland west and north so the seas are reasonable sheltered. Lots of islands and plenty of anchorages with shelter from every direction.

The second last day we went back to Tiritiri and walked to the top where there is a lighthouse and lots of lovely walks. Still no Kiwis. Then on the last day I hopped off and bought the car down to this Marina which is right in the middle of Auckland    Right under the Harbour Bridge! And the girls helped David sail down. They loved it , sailing in the Auckland Harbour and he didn’t get lost!

Very sad to see them go but they got the best of the weather. A low is hanging around and we a stuck in the marina with 40+ winds blowing outside. Our next move is to go north to the Bay of Islands.

  
That’s about it for now, love from all aboard Fanny Fisher

Well we are well and truly settled into NZ now. We had a reasonable trip down from Fiji. A couple of days of wind a bit on the nose, a couple of days with absolutely no wind a couple of very rough days and then a couple of lovely days with the wind behind. The thing that shocked us was how the temperature plummeted after a day or so and because the wind was coming from the south became increasingly colder. Never having the need for much in the way of warm cloths on Fanny we were piling on anything we could lay out hands on. trip down from Fiji. Our first and major priority after arriving was to jlook into getting our electrics fixed after the debacle which was Panama, plus a few other boat jobs. We found a electrical contractor who came highly recommended but of course was very busy. Anyway over several ndays he managed to track down our problem which was, in Panama they had cut off about four inches of wire which should have been an earth wire thus sending the who computer system berserk! What a relief to have someone working on Fanny who a. Knew what he was doing and b. Spoke English! Marsden Cove where we checked in was a bit out of the way so we move closer to Auckland to Gulf Harbour Marina where we will leave Fanny while we go home at Xmas. This is a massive Marina with over a thousand berths. In fact NZ is said to have more boats per capita than any other country in the world and I can well believe it. We had Contacted Richard & Susie Rowntree who we had met on our bike ride in the Sth Island and who had come to WA on our bike ride there. Susie was doing a bike ride at Lake Taupo but Richard spent the weekend with us and was our guide to some of the islands of the Hauraki Gulf which was lovely. This is to Auckland what the Harbour is to Sydney but much larger and many good sized islands. We visited Tiritiri which had been farmed until about 40 years ago when they decided to turn it into a bird sanctuary and planted the whole island with trees. Was beautiful and we managed to meet lots of NZs bird life. Had the night at Rakino Island then went around to Rangitoto island which is a fairly new volcanic ( lots of black lava). We had hoped to go out to Great Barrier Island this week but it is a day sail and there has been not much wind so rather than having to motor will go later, so came up here to Kawau Island ( where we could sail to) and are anchored in a little bay called Mansion House Bay so named because there is a very big imposing house in the bay built by a one time Governor General , Sir George Grey who was also a Governor of South Australia at one time. It rained today so much reading was done! Weather had been too cold for swimming and the water is a bit chilly! They keep telling us it will warm up soon. No wonder NZ is such a great seafaring nation I had no idea there was the number of little islands along the eastern coast with lots of little bays making it a great cruising ground. Will be home in about a week so love from all aboard Fanny Fisher .

Back at in Business

Well we are about to depart for ‘the land of the long white cloud’ so while I grab my last cappuccino for about 8 or 9 days will post a quick blog. This and going through the straights of Gibraltar are the two trips I have not been all that relaxed about but ‘Clouds Badham’ or weather router says it will be all good with strong winds as we near NZ but at least from behind.Arrived back and found Fanny all ship shape and shining thanks to David having spent about ten days before I got back working on her. We are at Vuda Point Marina which has a great little bar and lots of people we became friends with last year here so it has been lots of fun. We did go over to Musket Cove for a couple of nights just to see something else of Fiji before we leave. We also did get up at 5.00am to watch the World Cup final but were in a sea of black and a mere 3 in yellow was bit hard to stomach now they keep telling me only a hundred people play cricket in NZ when I bring that subject up. Will be back next year or the one after to see a lot more of Fiji.Sorry no photo today

Sitting out bad weather

Well something strange is happening to the weather in the Pacific this year! We are still in Vava’u, Tonga waiting for a weather opportunity to get to Fiji. In the time that we have been here ( a month)  we have had a lot of overcast days and no suitable days to make a passage to Fiji. Although it is still warm the Tongas are getting about in all their wooly cloths and saying it has never been this cold! ( Days about 26degrees). They  have just had a mini- cyclone in Fiji  (unheard of for this time of year) and so we are waiting for the after effects of that to clear before heading off. Should be next Tues.

Not that we are complaining, we are really loving Tonga and it is probably one of our most favorite places we have been to. It is so un-commercialized with plenty of isolated bays where we can just drop an ancor.We have great company in the form of the Kiwi Hamills and their three boys, Dan &Sara from Broome and Apropo an American boat the latter two also waiting to head out, anchored in our favorite little Bay with a lovely beach and a good 8 Klm walk around the island for exercise when it is to cold to swim. We have had lots of fires on the beach- meeting other yachties, film nights, games nights, five hundred nights our only problem being we are not supposed to go into town as we have formally cleared out so to keep re supplying we have to come up with devious ways like anchoring somewhere closer and walking in  then catching a taxi back. There are lots of kids who are having a great time. This morning was Kyak races as in photo.

We went in last Friday’s yacht race. This time we hit the start line on time and lead around the first three cans but unfortunately we were just pipped over the finish line. This time our crew was very good it consisted of Rachael and the boys and the captain and his wife the chef off a Kiwi mega -yacht ( 110ft long ). They had done a lot of racing so we really stepped up this week and learnt a lot about racing. I can see how it could become very addictive.

We had a day swimming with the Whales. Unfortunately once again a rather overcast ,rough day so the visibility in the water was not fantastic but we got to hover over the top of a mother and her calf a few times. The calf was very playful and came up and breached literally meters away from us, the mother was more interested in resting lower down but we still got a good view of her.

Will try and enclose a few photos. One of Ivan and Dan. Ivan has become our surrogate grandson and if you hear of a kidnapping in Tonga it will be us taking him home.!

  

We have booked fights home on 19th for a couple of months R&R. Fanny will meanwhile stay in Fiji we will then take her down to NZ at the end of Oct or early Nov. After some sailing in NZ we will come back to Fiji next year and probable home after that.

Hope everyone is well. With love from All aboard Fanny Fisher