Viti Levu NE

We joked that this dry end of Fiji looks like Montana after the ice caps have melted. Palm trees added but grizzly bears, wolves, antelopes, elk and deer are suddenly missing.

Malake Islands

The "habitation" in the photo is actually a pearl farm workstation.

Viti Levu

Again, the sere mountains remind us of the American west rather than South Pacific Fiji

Viti Levu NW

The whole terrain across the north end of Viti Levu has this same dry mountain look to it. It was always hard to believe we were in Fiji.

And then there was....

the BOATYARD! Hot & dirty, not to mention disruptive and buggy. Only Jake was having fun. The flip side of living aboard 24/7/365.

Almost Done

After 33 days, 10 hours....etc, we were almost ready to launch.

Graveyard

Vuda Point has a series of "holes" where boat keels are set; hulls are supported by used tires. It's ugly but it makes for nearly-cyclone-proof storage.

Lorenzo

Lorenzo Ah Sam was the project manager for our cutless bearing and shaft replacement projects.

Good Old Tulak

Rises again with a new rig. Between the tsunamis of Pago Pago and this iteration, she ran aground on a reef in Fiji and ground her hull for 30 hours.

In the Pit

Ellen and Ed Zacko had been corresponding with us off and on for many years. Finally, at Vuda Point, we met them and got to see their lovely home built Nor'Sea 27 Entr'Acte.

Jake...

is a funny little doober.

Tapa or Masi

This extraordinary tapa was the work of a talented young man with wild hair. He agreed I could photograph his work but didn't offer to pose. If we only had wall space...

Moving heaven and earth...

and a monster catamaran. This baby is wider than Carina is long and cannot be lifted by any Travelift or even by one crane; it took two cranes to pull it out of the water when it was sinking due to a failure in one of its daggerboards.