Monday, November 30, 2015

Moondance is for Sale!

Finally!  I know we have been talking about it for awhile, but now it is Real.

Please pass our listing (see link below) on to all of your friends and family - a great boat in a beautiful location!

For our next adventure, we would like to buy a trawler in Mexico and travel around the Sea of Cortez and the Mainland Mexico. Trading a sailboat for a trawler just makes sense. More comfort and space, plus the wind never cooperates in Mexico. Of course, this will make us "Trawler Trash", but we are OK with that.

Plus, we want to do some canal boat trips in Europe - why not?

This move will bring us much closer to our Family and Friends (yeah!), plus we have missed Mexico. 

Until Moondance sells, we will continue to enjoy beautiful Fiji!

For all of the details: YachtHub Listing


Friday, November 27, 2015

Futuna Run Done!

And we are very happy about that.
Good Morning, Sunshine!

The Fiji Government requires that all foreign vessels have to leave Fiji waters every 18 months - it was our turn.

So, most of the Yachties sail to the nearest foreign country - the small French island of Futuna north of Fiji.
Rainbow along the way

Futuna is only 250 miles away, but it takes 4 nights for us to make the round trip.

Some of it we are navigating through the Fiji reef systems; some of it in open waters.

Our journey












We (Doug) spent weeks and weeks analyzing the weather to ensure we had a good/comfortable trip. Which we did!

We ran into some really heavy rain, had to fight some currents, ran into a 3-hour squall, plus a couple of days of sunshine and great sailing.

Overall, it was a good trip, but we were pretty pooped when we got back to Savusavu. 

Wish we could have spent more time in Futuna, but the anchorage is too rolly.  The people are sure nice and accommodating tho - even on their day off.
Futuna Harbor
And, the best news,  we don't have to repeat the Futuna Run again until May, 2017.  Yahoo!

Now, we are getting Moondance back in shape, working on projects, and lots of relaxing.

Plus, planning our Turkey Day Potluck with the Yachties, of course.

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded by all of your favorite people and food!

Monday, November 23, 2015

Anchored in Futuna - the French Island!

And very happy to be here. It was a squally day at sea, but all is well on Moondance. We should be heading back to Fiji later this afternoon!

TIME: 2015/11/21 02:48
LATITUDE: 14-17.66S
LONGITUDE: 178-09.65W

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Thursday, November 19, 2015

Motor sailing to Futuna

And all is well on board. The seas are calm, but we are getting some pretty good rain showers and had quite the lightening show last night!


TIME: 2015/11/19 20:25
LATITUDE: 16-16.27S
LONGITUDE: 179-36.95W
COURSE: 035T
SPEED: 5.4

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Monday, November 16, 2015

Futuna Run - not today!

We actually made it out of Savusavu - 8 miles out - on our way to the French island of Futuna for our annual get-out-of-Fiji run.
Broken toggle - not good
But, it wasn't meant to be.

Staysail coming down












We noticed that our staysail furler was swinging around and we weren't even using it - not good
Goodbye Dancing Walrus

So, we turned around and headed back to the Copra Shed Marina.

Too bad, it looks like we finally head our good weather window - well except for the big waves we were hitting yesterday - yikes!

Catching a rainbow
The Customs officials weren't too excited about seeing us again so soon, but they checked us back into Fiji.

Doug quickly found the problem -  a broken lower toggle on the inner forestay.



That's our Ferry






Even quicker, Doug was able to buy a replacement from one of the Yachties.

Much cheaper than ordering from the States - even better!

Ready to get off the Ferry
Once the fix is in place, we will start looking for that good weather window to Futuna - again.

Hope you get a kick out of the pictures below - we have been having some fun since our return from the USA!

Cheryl and Karen enjoying the Melbourne Cup
Being Goofy

Ready for the big race!
Tanga sailing away

Happy Diwali!
Beautiful Dolly and Priti

Copra Shed Ladies ready for the Diwali celebration
Vili, SS sailing school,  big competition soon

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Only my Family could have this much fun!

The Clan
It doesn't happen often enough, but when the Clan gets together it is wild times for sure!
Badminton, anyone?

And, we can cram so much fun and laughter into a few short days - love it.
#60 already?
We all gathered at Phil and Danette's lovely home in Pasco, Washington.
Mom and Pops decked out!

Celebration time - Mom and Dad's 60th Wedding Anniversary!
The Band

So, we got all dressed up in our finest 50's attire (Thank You Goodwill).

Plus, cooked up a big batch of Mexican food and margaritas.

Gavin and Mom dressed up


We also hired a local band to entertain us, The Knutzen Brothers.

Dance-A-Thon? Yikes!

They were so much fun and played all of our favorites.

Ness and Pops

That's how you get a party started!
Crazy dancing!

And, of course, we had to do some dancing and singing - oh my.
David with a twist!

Our favorite - dancing a jig to some of the songs from the O'Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack.
Lovely Danice and Garrold

Check out our YouTube video - we are terrible, but laughed so hard.
Groucho's

We all had a wonderful time and really enjoyed seeing family and friends celebrating together!
Goofy Bexs and Pops

Besides celebrations, we spent a lot of time just visiting.
The Warren Brothers - looking good

It has been too long since we have all been together and we had lots of catching up to do.
Lots of cooking

Plus, lots of cooking, eating, and drinking.

Working the WASGIJ

The kitchen was always busy and there were daily trips to the stores for provisions!


Pool shenanigans

A favorite, solving the crazy WASGIJ puzzles.

Cousin time
They are so much fun and challenging - try one.
Ken after his nap

The weather was so nice in September, we even got some pool time.

Pool time!

Everyone loved the chance to splash around one more time before winter arrives - yikes.
Off to the Rodeo

Plus, we went on a road trip.

Collins enjoying the Rodeo

All the way to Pendleton for the famous Pendleton Round-Up, which started way back in 1910.
What a great show!

It draws more than 50,000 visitors each year and is one of the largest rodeos in the country.
Indian headdress - amazing

They put on a great show for all ages.
Looking good, Ryan!

Of course, for the grown-ups, you have to check out the Let'er Buck Room.
Selfies at the Rodeo

Just leave your camera behind!
Wild West Show

And, just to show you how crazy the Warren's can be, we threw a Denny Dimwit party!
Warren's celebrating Denny Dimwit!

If you don't know who Denny Dimwit is, Google him.
Ethen gone Denny

He is quite the character - you are going to want to throw your own party - hah.
Looking good, Lisa!

We had a few snafus with our props, but Mom did an excellent job making the costumes.
Ryan and Eric - love those ears

We had so much fun dressing up and laughed so hard - we are so easily entertained!
Love this picture of Ethen and Krystina

And before you know it, it is time for everyone to fly home - way too soon...
Steve and Wanda - great friends and pizza chefs

But, we loved all of our time together and looking forward to the next Clan gathering - hope it is very soon.
Thanks Danette and Phil!

Thanks Danette and Phil for letting us take over your home and making us feel so welcome!

Enjoy the rest of the pictures...
Stories around the fire

PS: We are now back on Moondance in lovely Savusavu looking for a weather window to head to Futuna. Oh boy.
Collins go Western!

Gavin enjoying the pool

Gavin and Pops - pool sharks

Ken hard at work

Beautiful Krystina

Tyson and Ethen