Our taxi driver/guide for our brief stay in Tonga.
I am back home to my natural habitat of the past four years.
My all teak galley racks for paper towels, dishes, cups, silverware and spices.
A captain’s work is never done! I get ready to go down under to scrape the barnacles off the bottom.
Here comes the crew in the “family car” with the provisions for the passage to Suva, Fiji. A relatively short (for the Pacific) 500 miles.
You ask what is the Tropic of Capricorn, the horizontal yellow line on the map above? It marks circle of latitude, about 23-degress south of the equator, where the sun is directly overhead on the longest day of the year. This day falls about December 22. The Tropic of Capicorn’s brother in the north is named the Tropic of Cancer. It is runs just below the southern tip of Florida.
Note that I am wearing a safety harness that is tethered to a cable the runs the full length of the boat. There will be no “Captain overboard” drills.
Say cheese!
The most benign passage of the whole circumnavigation!
Fresh fish for dinner tonight. Mahi Mahi, my favorite!
We motor a bit. Diane catches a few rays on the foredeck and turns a few pages of her book. Calm passage, a good thing for the new crew. Although one crusty Kiwi advised me it is best to take any prospective crew out “in the worst storm you can find”!
A gourmet dinner coming soon!
We arrive in Suva Harbour, the capital of Fiji!
Fiji’s capital, Suva, is on Viti Levu Island, the most populous and largest of Fiji’s islands. The island accounts for well over half Fiji’s population.
Suva is a modern city but much or most of the country is still in a natural state. We will visit a village on a Fijian island soon.
Downtown Suva
Fiji has an interesting if tumultuous political history. Always associated with the British Commonwealth, the indigenous Fijian population has maintained its independence and dominance. A feisty bunch with a history of cannibalism and fire walkers. However, missionaries persuaded the Fijians to stop taking their enemies home for dinner.
We decide to take a break from liveaboard sailing and take a short flight to the Musket Cove Resort on a nearby island.
Thinner warm air does not provide much lift to small airplane wings so the pilot counts every pound taken on board. The pilot wants to be sure the runway is long enough to get up enough speed to get off the ground with the load he will have. Great idea!
Tropical climate with abundant rainfall makes for plentiful harvests. Sugar cane is one of the main crops.
Great luxury compared to the tiny berths on the Grey eagle.
A tropical paradise, warm sun and sparkling waters for swimming and snorkeling.
That’s me, the great speargun fisherman. The score: Fish win 66 times: I win 0 times!
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II? What does he have to do with sailing in the remote South Pacific??
Well, as planned, Penny flies from Fiji back to Chicago to join her church choir to perform for the Pope at the Vatican in Rome.
Penny with her Naperville church choir in Rome.
Meanwhile back in the Suva Harbour, we have a bumpy day at anchor.
Next post #4: Suva, Fiji to nearby Mbengga Island. We visit an island village and snorkel on the coral reefs.
We have a rare invitation to share in a kava ceremony and dinner, a very special treat.
THE ODYSSEY OF THE GREY EAGLE 