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This cute little snake is one of the deadliest in the world and he had
managed to get up on to our swim step. I thought that was
interesting until he started up the ladder. I knocked him back in
the water. We often see them when we're swimming but they're not
aggressive and their mouths are so small that bites are rare.
We're still moored at Musket Cove here. Boat after boat came in
with old friends and friends-to-be. Wonderful reunions and
get-togethers at what has become the crossroads of the Pacific.
Many boats sail here and stay for the whole season, year after year.
It's that nice. But after 7 weeks in Fiji and the coup still
continuing we decided to move on to Vanuatu. Checking out was an
all-day affair. We took the ferry to the main island, a one-hour
taxi ride to Lautoka, filled out a million forms in triplicate, back on
the taxi with a stop for more supplies and our final mail shipment from
the States, back on the ferry, and back to the boat that evening.
Tried to raise anchor at 0430 to head out the pass and the new windlass
wasn't working. Raising a heavy anchor and chain in 50' of water
is hard work! The 3.5-day passage wasn't too bad but the new
autopilot hydraulic ram leaked all the fluid out, the same problem we
had with the old one. And the boom vang fitting to the mast ripped
out - a serious repair problem. But we made it to Vanuatu on the
afternoon of the third day without running into any bad weather. |