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About 2 hours after my last blog entry I finally managed some sleep. I couldn’t stop thinking of things to now do both for moving forward with selling Dignity and the rest of our lives. I didn’t sleep long and was soon back at it. One of the big frustrations I am having is getting the gas certification done for the appliances we have. I’ve been told so many things by so many people my head sometimes feels like it’s going to explode. If it did, I might make a radioactive mess.
 Shortly before 6pm our friends, who’d beat the weather window down here, all arrived to join us aboard. Suddenly it was just like the old times. We blasted through cruisers’ midnight with ease with most folks heading home around 10:30pm. It was nice to have the usual boating chat (sea stories and whatnot) and of course share our experiences with my health, the dismasting and with selling the boat. A great had by all. With us were Jack and Jan from Anthem, Gary and Jackie from Inspiration Lady, Ed and Cornelia from A Cappella, Steve & Vickie from True Companions and Rob from Bristol Rose. Take a look at the category links to see some, but probably not all, of our interactions with these good friends of ours.
This morning we both got down to work. We’ve now rescheduled our trip up to the Sunshine Coast to spend Tuesday and Wednesday night with Ella and Granddaughter Bau. And the whole of Wednesday. We’re really looking forward to their company.
Helen did her detailed cleaning of the boat. I pulled apart all the gas fittings and took a load of photos so I could be better positioned to understand the ragged bunch of gas fitters, inspectors and government officials that circle around us. The admin continues. We’ve sold off a few more items from the boat which will allow us to buy a few more packets of crisps.
This afternoon I suddenly came over immensely fatigued. I’ve been running so high on anticipation, excitement, challenge and drugs for the last few days I think I basically got run over by the truck of tiredness. A couple of hours of interrupted rest and I was back going again. Sam’s arriving soon and we’ll be having quality time together this evening. In the morning it’s off to see most of the same friends again for a delayed turkey dinner at Trish and Rob’s home.
We’ve had time to reflect on the first offer good enough for us to accept on the boat and what subsequently transpired. Our thoughts haven’t changed much since yesterday. Although we have our opinions I don’t think it fair to comment on the other parties as, if nothing else, we still like them. For our part we now feel we got too wrapped up in the ‘story’ of our finishing our life aboard Dignity and handing her over to a couple starting their own. We became too emotionally attached which brought a few tears to Helen’s eyes when it was clear the deal was off. Not for the loss of the sale, but for the failure of the story to emerge. When we sold our home in New Jersey back in 2008 to start our adventure we took the emotion off the table. It worked very well. We’ve taken the lesson.
Muscle recovery and cold/wet weather kept us in yesterday except for my RT session. This was my first one without calibration so went quite quickly once I reached my turn.
Had some more Skype calls. Got a chance to chat with son John who’d getting on without Ella and Bao. He’s using Skype to stay in daily (if not more) contact with them. He seems well.
We also had great chats with the David and Marian on Kilkea, Stuart and Sheila on Imagine and again with John from Sea Mist who’s now recovering from a hip replacement in Singapore. He’s doing well and for once seems to know not to push himself too hard.
It seems they’ll all be up in Langkawa, Malaysia soon. The opportunity to swing by there on our way out of Australia (by plane) and see our friends again is irresistible, particularly with many offers to stay aboard with our friends. Many factors could influence our being able to do this but it’s very high on our list.
We’ve also accepted an invite and made plans to have a Thanksgiving dinner with the Bristol Roses. Sam will come with us and their sons Elliot and Owen will be there. We last saw them in the middle of the Pacific. Also there will be Jack and Jan from Anthem. The song of the sea is truly playing loudly this side of the shore.
We continue to dance a dance of courtship with Dignity’s buyers. We all need to be cautious but we’re making positive steps. Contracts are now signed, deposits deposited and inspections booked.
This morning Helen found one of the buyers’ website – Helene Young. She’s an author as well as a commercial pilot. She has mentioned us in her blog so I must return the compliment. We’ll continue our dance of courtship and hopefully all get together soon.
Wednesday was Anzac Day here in New Zealand as well as Australia. It was a beautiful day with light winds. As a lot of the shops were closed before 1pm Sam and I used the morning to mount the main sail. It was a good learning exercise for Sam and a big help for me. Helen did some cleaning and sorting and also varnished the rail to secure our new microwave.
In the afternoon we went shopping. We picked up some stationary for Sam for his drawing and note taking. We also visited the Chinese store to pick up fresh vegetables which are much better priced there than the supermarket.
In the evening we were joined by Jack and Jan from Anthem and Jackie and Gary from Inspiration Lady as well as crewman Paul for a typical get together. Unfortunately the Jacksters had had a bit of bad boat day and were out for the count so they couldn’t come. Everyone is on the verge of being ready to go to the islands so the excitement is rising.
Dignity and her crew are ready to go so I’m analysing weather morning and evening.
Yesterday morning saw a possible departure on Saturday morning but there were a lot of uncertainties and hopes that things would improve to make that happen. By the evening the new forecast had quashed all thoughts of a Saturday departure but a Sunday evening departure was beginning to look possible. This morning that possibility has improved. Some of the niggly weather patterns later in the trip have smoothed out. It’s still too far out to be sure on this one as it’s not a classic pattern like the one that appeared a week ago.
We do have a few more purchases to sort out and things to do today so we may try and see if we can stay an extra day here in the marina. If the Sunday weather window remains favourable we’ll leave the country from Auckland.
by steve, on October 19th, 2011 ( Anthem, Drifter, Fiji, Ivory Keys) As it was promising to be a hot day we used the morning to head to Nadi for remaining shopping. Before catching the bus we tried the marina office and the post office for our mail. Neither were there but we dropped off the exact address we’d used at the post office in case that would help.
On the bus to Nadi we bumped into the Ivory Keys. We’d heard that some of the busses go on a really roundabout route and this turned out to be one of them so the journey was 2-3 times longer than normal. It was good to have someone to chat to along the way.
Having bought gifts we went to pick up provisions at the supermarket. There we bumped into Jack and Jan from Anthem. We all had the same intention of stopping off at the butchers on the way back so we decided to share a taxi.
The afternoon turned out really hot and sweaty. Here in the marina there is little breeze so we just vegged out through the hot period.
At 5pm I went ashore to meet Rico. I met Arnold and Coby from Drifter. They reported seeing mail for us at the marina office. Hopefully it is the item we’ve been looking for which should have arrived four weeks ago.
In the end Rico didn’t show. Not unusual for a Fijian. I eventually managed to exchange texts and it turned out he’d forgotten. While waiting I again met Jack and Jen from Anthem. We had a couple of beers together while I continued to wait. In the end we agreed to have dinner together. I fetched Helen and we ended up having a curry at Indigos.
Today our crew member Lissa arrives. The weather is looking crisp and clear so she’ll hopefully have a nice first day here. We don’t intend staying any longer in Denaru so we’ll move off this afternoon.
No surprise but the long term weather forecast is beginning to look a little more complicated. A second high is now forecast to follow the first off of Australia although further south. The general plan is to leave on ESE winds with moderate seas hoping for the wind to turn more to the ESE on the way down so we can curve our way into NZ. This second high may delay that turn and hence our departure from Fiji by a few days. The good news, at present, is that this combination presents a long period of trades so a good start is looking quite likely. But each day brings a new forecast and a new decision to make. We’re back in familiar territory.
by steve, on October 17th, 2011 ( Anthem, Fiji, True Companions) In the morning both Helen and I got busy with boat work. Helen got busy vacuuming and cleaning while I worked my way through our check list in preparation for our forthcoming passage to NZ. The good news is all looks ok.
I managed to talk to UPS about one of our lost packages and it turns out to be held at the airport. It’s highly likely I can pick it up today. Another phone call should resolve this today.
The weather turned very hot. We had the music playing and as we worked we moved to the rhythms and both of us got quite hot. For the last few days I’ve been building up to do some proper exercise so around 10am I went for a run. I couldn’t find my running shoes so I went barefoot. In the heat I managed just over a mile before I had to rest in the shade of a tree. There I did some floor exercises before returning. I was utterly exhausted by the time I was back on the boat and my calves were already cramping up.
We were both done for the rest of the day so we read and relaxed and even watched a few TV shows which we don’t normally do during the day. During the afternoon, despite the pain in my legs, I visited True Companions who we’d noticed were here in the harbour. Soon we’d agreed to meet up for dinner and then to watch the Rugby ashore.
For dinner we all ate fish and chips at Bonefish. When leaving there for Lulu’s to watch the Rugby we ran into Jack and Jen from Anthem. We were delighted to meet them for the first time in ages. We soon agreed to all meet up for the match.
And what a match it was. We had high expectations for the quality of the game and that we got. Both sides played so well but NZ were in terrific form and got the result they deserved. From what we’ve seen, France will be demolished in the final next weekend.
We invited Jack and Jen back to the boat to polish of the evening. We managed a lot of polishing as we said our goodbye well after real midnight.
As ever I continue to eye the weather. The forecast high leaving Australia is still out there and now looks more and more to be our first real opportunity to leave south. As it stands it’s still over a week before we’ll have the right conditions to leave. Of course, that far out, any forecast is like reading tea leaves so it really is just a waiting game.
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Shortly before 6pm our friends, who’d beat the weather window down here, all arrived to join us aboard. Suddenly it was just like the old times. We blasted through cruisers’ midnight with ease with most folks heading home around 10:30pm. It was nice to have the usual boating chat (sea stories and whatnot) and of course share our experiences with my health, the dismasting and with selling the boat. A great had by all. With us were Jack and Jan from Anthem, Gary and Jackie from Inspiration Lady, Ed and Cornelia from A Cappella, Steve & Vickie from True Companions and Rob from Bristol Rose. Take a look at the category links to see some, but probably not all, of our interactions with these good friends of ours.