2005 before May Trip to the U.S.

2005-05-07

Just got the keel attached today, it took several days longer than they had originally planned. And it's a bit crooked. the forward starboard edge is an inch farther over than it should be to be balanced. Do we have them take off this powerful one inch steel to move it half an inch? Dan decided to add some weight to the port side of the keel to counter-balance it, but that may affect the steerage in yet another way. We will sea-trial it first--all the errors might work together nicely... but if they don't the yard will make it good later. The men have been kind but are not the top quality workers we had hoped for.. come to think of it, few people come up to Dan's standards for comprehension and hard work. He has been watching them carefully but misses something from time to time. Like when they broke a drill bit when drilling the keel to set the new part, so replaced it with one that "looked about right" and was actually then making holes too big for the screws we were using. So that was another hour or more of delay to get bigger bolts. Son Marshall came and helped his dad today, it was good to have him here. Now all we have to do is put on the fiberglass and do the painting, so it will be a few more days. Tomorrow is Wedding Anniversary #6. Amazing, huh? More later.

2005-05-05

Suva Shipyard. Still "on the hard" with no plumbing or electricity and many nights of interrupted sleep from night-shift hammering on steel or waves washing across concrete, birds calling noisily with the lightening of the sky in the early morning. The new rudder is on and looks good. The keel was to have been attached on Monday. It's Thursday today and it is just now going on. Then we have to finish the fiberglass work and paint everything -- barrier coats, primers, and then anti-fouling with drying time in between and an extra day to "cure" before going back into the water. And tomorrow is another HOLIDAY! Youth Day. So Dan and I will be working on the boat, doing glassing and painting probably. We want to get back in the water!!! That's about it. I'm going to see about sending a couple more photos, so check it out. See if I was successful. More later.

2005-04-27

Suva. April 27, 2005. Our photo was in the local newspaper today because Daniel said he would try to give medical treatment to a 9 year old boy who has a curious tumor on his back. We caught the attention of the reporter following this story and she came with a photographer to the boat and talked with Daniel. She said she would help us gain access to medical records but so far we have not heard anything. We have been told our work visas have been approved however. Not sure whether this is a good thing or not! We might be expected to work! Besides, there are extra fees and taxes associated with receiving a work visa, so it is not a done deal yet.

Progress on the boat is slow. The rudder post had to be replaced after attempts to straighten it failed as we thought they would. This entailed cutting away portions of the rudder, stripping off the old one and welding the new straight one on. So I learned the rudder has a central core of steel covered by ultra-high density foam, then fiberglass. It is at the fiberglass company getting restored now and is due to be reinstalled on our Friday.

We finally figured out how to get information about our boat on the irwinyachts.com website. (Thanks, Curly and Bonny). We learned this boat came with optional keel configurations beyond the basic shape, still extant, which helps to convince us most of the weight of the keel is still in place and all that was actually lost was some depth, probably made of fiberglass and designed as a ?sacrificial boot? for times such as we have had. Dan is considering a sort of inverted ?V? shape of steel with the point flattened to about 25? which is the distance across the keel at this time if my memory serves me correctly. This design would add stability with approximately 1000 lbs to the bottom of the keel, probably somewhat more than was lost. It would also add vertical depth even when heeled10 ? 20 degrees. He is thinking of a length of 5 ? ft for it, a sort of modified fin I guess. He is designing it and talking to the engineers here and I am praying he receives wisdom from God for it.

Last Sunday we went to the large Calvary Temple (AOG) and I offered to give a testimony about our reef accident. The pastor invited me to return for the 3 pm service which we did and I spoke for about 10 minutes. I have already written most of it to you I think, how God prepared people to be there to help us before we even needed the help, and how it was God?s hand which kept us on the reef that early morning when we did not know our rudder was broken. Sometimes ?no? is a very good answer! And how big God?s mercy is, that we can ask.

The more recent Sunday we went with one of the Fijian Shipyard foremen to his Brethren church, a new experience for us both. Women are not allowed to speak in the meeting (Don?t all cheer at once!). I had not known that, but found it interesting that I was basically being told by the Spirit that I was not to plan to give our testimony that day at that place. And it was right in that context. We met some extra special people. The foreman?s wife has English ancestors from the Pickering family, a name which is also in my family tree, so we were quite excited to claim each other as cousins! And she is very lovely.

Also we met a missionary family from Colorado with four children. They have welcomed us as family and today I?m doing my laundry at their house with Carol while husband Roger is helping Daniel at the boat. Maybe they are working on the water system. Carol and I are having a relaxed time visiting and doing laundry.

The wind is high still, but it?s not raining today. Yet. I really hope for some dry days to come so we can get dry! And get painted, etc. Don?t know yet when I?ll get to mail this, probably ?tomorrow? but that?s fine. More later.

2005-04-14

We left at 3 am from Levuka and motored all the way to Suva, arriving at dusk and finding an anchorage. Now eating mashed potatoes and gravy from a can. We will be hauled out tomorrow. The leak seems to have been slowed by the Splash Zone epoxy, and the rudder seems to have held. The weather was very kind. Many thanks for your prayers, more later. Mary Ann and Dan.

2005-04-13

Ovalau. I have never hoped for calm seas more than now. And it looks like we have a window of a couple more days of calm, so we are currently planning to head for Suva beginning 4 a.m. tomorrow morning local time (about 20 hours from now.) We will be wanting to motor carefully with our GPS leading the way, and when we get into the harbor the man from the shipyard will guide us in via our cell phones. We should be arriving mid-day.

The biggest concerns are: the leak, that our pumps will continue to work; the seas to be calm so we can get this injured boat to Suva; our rest, that we won't be too tired and will keep our patience with each other; and the rudder, that it will stay on and function to steer us.

Yesterday afternoon Ram came to the boat with special tools. He is a local mechanic who works on the big fishing boats (Bumblebee Tuna has a factory here) and he and his brother also own a "small" container ship. Within a fairly short time, he and Dan had the quadrant realigned with the rudder and the rudder now turns both ways as it should. He also pounded the rudder shaft back into place. All the men involved in this project are very satisfied with the outcome.

This morning Luc and Daniel worked on putting Splash Zone on the potential leak sites. We are not sure it helped much. We are still taking in about a gallon per minute. Thankfully our pumps are working, although we were very vigilant last night. It is obviously critical to keep ahead of it. To that end, we are also setting up a fourth emergency pump which can be hand-operated if the leak begins to overwhelm the rest of the system. We are going to stay afloat if at all possible.

Luc also inspected the rudder after yesterday's work and said he thinks the bottom part will hold since it is attached to the shaft. We still might sandwich it between two bolted steel plates which would make it safer, but we'll see what Ram can do today. It is probably worth the risk to go without it rather than wait for it.

Daniel has gone into shore to check out with Customs which you have to do when you arrive and leave any "Port of Entry" of which there are four in Fiji. We're making a big pot of food, more water (access through hand pump in galley), and charging up the batteries. Hoping for naps today.

Did I mention one or more radar wires jarred loose with the first hit on the reef? It is not working. Maybe Dan will let our crew go take a look this afternoon, I'd like to have it working. But this trip tomorrow is one we have taken before so it is not as uncertain as a totally unknown way.

Also, our main halyard slipped through the mast during the reef rescue activities, too long a story and not interesting enough to tell. It can be fixed by dropping the yankee, hauling someone up to the top of the mast, and working a weighted fishing line through the inner tangle of wires in the main mast. Dan says we are not sailing to Suva, but if we have decent wind we will employee the yankee and the mizzen and we will wait until later to fix the main.

Lets see, hungy-angry-lonely-tired (the "Halt" formula) I guess the only problem is tired. All the rest are in order. We are eating, our emotions are decent, and we are in good company. And good weather. With a good Lord and lots of friends and supporters?you among them. More later.

2005-04-12

Levuka, Ovalau, Fiji. We are floating in the harbor but there is an invisible leak which has been getting worse. We think it is coming up through the layers of fiberglass on the keel. It seems to be coming into the sump. Our new friend Luc said he would dive on it this afternoon and stick "Splash Zone" on the raw damaged edges of the keel to see if it will slow the leak down; hopefully it will.

We have not been sleeping very well to say the least. About 3 a.m. Dan and I were up to check on the third bilge pump. We had to take the clothes and shelves out of a closet and pile them on the bed before we could even see it. It was clogged. We fixed it.

Then a while later we checked the bilge again and it was bone dry. We went back to lay down and the pump started a few minutes later. Dan dipped a stick in there and discovered the water was so clear and clean from so much leaking and pumping out that the bilge appeared to be empty when in fact it was overly full. Pump #1 needs to be manually operated but it does empty the (3 foot deep x 1.5 ft square approximately) space fairly quickly. Pumps #2 and #3 are automatic (Rule brand) pumps but only operate after the bilge begins to overflow. Their sound is not big. Yet when they are coming on about 3 times more often than they did yesterday (about every 5-10 minutes, Dan figures 3 liters per minute, I figure the equivalent of 3 buckets per 5 minutes), it is enough to worry a person.

I ask for prayer and mercy and all that, then I get to thinking I'm feeling sorry for myself and should "shape up." We recently got a report from a niece (www.dalitnetwork.org) about the tsunami aftermath and it does put things into perspective. Yet our God is there for all, no matter what the size of the need. Even he knows and cares for the sparrows. It is OK for me to ask for His help, wisdom, and guidance. He wants to comfort me (and them and you. I want to let Him. Usually it comes in the form of help from others, what I call "Jesus with skin on." So it is good to be His instrument for help, and also ok to receive from others. It is not God's only way, but it is a primary way, for us to be helpful and care for one another.

Please pray for the survivors of the tsunami. Many have lost loved ones and all possessions and an ancient life-style. The shock is very deep. It is nearly incomprehensible. I feel ashamed to be feeling sorry for myself. We are all safe, we just have some major problems with the boat.

Dan has been thinking hard about the rudder. Not only is it broken nearly in two pieces, but it is about 90 degrees off true. By that I mean, when the wheel is turned hard to starboard, the rudder is straight back, not turned at all. (It does turn to port all right and appears not to be binding.) There is an interior mechanism (the quadrant) (under our bunk) which is attached to the rudder post and needs somehow to be loosened and re-adjusted. It is designed to take very heavy pounding of the seas against an 18 ton boat, so you can imagine how strong and tight it is. Also, the rudder post was pounded vertically up about an inch and our friend Luc thinks it would be better to pound it back down. OK, it was pounded up by the ocean waves bouncing our 18 ton boat against a solid coral reef. Other than that, it should be a piece of cake to readjust it.

Once we get the leak under control and the rudder braced and the steering manageable, we'll be hoping to successfully sail this critter to a shipyard. The closest is 50 miles, better than the 150 of the other yard. It will probably require someone to be in attendance the whole time. We'll see what happens, and we will definitely keep you posted.

2005-04-10

Levuka, Ovalau Island, Fiji. Shipwrecked on a reef. Not our idea of a good Friday night out. We are off the reef now and safe in an anchorage in Levuka, floating, sleeping better, eating well, cleaning up slowly. It was more of an adventure than we wanted, but it is turning out all right and we have had a lot of help. Probably God knew ahead of time (I think He is outside of time and can see our future and the way to help us out of our mistakes before we even make them, an interesting tension between free will and the creative intervention of God.)

Here's how it started: We decided to sail to Suva for some errands and to see our sons before our May trip to the States. Our friend Elayne and her son Scott would be crew. We would have a good time in good weather and be back by mid-May. So we got ready and Dan plotted the trip on the chart and we had our compass and our radar and our GPS all working fine. The wind was mostly good?at times we were sailing up to 10 knots and Elayne was doing well as a new crew member. We even saw a whale, not sure which kind?it had a small fin and was by itself as far as we could tell. Quite exciting.

But the journey was taking longer than we had hoped. We had planned to leave at first light, about 6 a.m., but didn't actually leave Savu Savu until nearly 8 a.m. Now it was getting towards sunset, the waves were rough (a Beaufort 6), we were moving fast, but not sure where Levuka was. The GPS said we had about three miles to go, but we wanted a visual on it, too. Our friends told us to look for a big church and we saw one on the shore with buildings on either side (which we later discovered was a Catholic school complex). Along the side of the island we could see, no other community looked as big. We were two miles off shore. We decided to turn in a bit to see better. Within a couple of minutes, we hit the reef under full sail. And it was high tide. It took several minutes to drop the jib and the main to slow down. We also turned on the motor and Dan tried his best to steer us out. The Probe by that time was not giving us good information (and, I think with the roughness of the waves it wouldn't have been much help before we hit the reef). Anyway, at the same time our radar started to malfunction. We did have a decent visual on the shore and it felt like we were making headway, but finally we realized we were no longer moving. Then the boat started to tip.

It is a terrible feeling?getting dark, boat tipping, waves hitting the boat, lifting the boat, slamming it again against the coral, crunching, banging, slamming, floating hope, crashing fear, grinding against the coral, tipping more. We were stuck.

We could get no response via VHF 16 from Levuka which we could now clearly see with its evening lights about three miles from where we were stuck. We used our handy-dandy cell phone and called our friend Curly Carswell in Savu Savu who has lived in Fiji for nearly 30 years and made it his business to help yachties and divers and other sundry folks. He put other yachties to notice and soon we had a long list of suggestions and encouragements, including "drop anchor" and "don't panic" and STAY WITH THE BOAT. We turned off the engine and started to pray and strategize. Curly also knew the dive master in Levuka and soon we were talking with him on the telephone as well. He promised to come at first light which would be high tide again about 6 a.m. local time. Curly and our other friends said they knew of other boats which had lived through this type of ordeal and not to worry, try to get some rest, etc.

We ate some left-over stew and watched the waves breaking around us, always bouncing us and dropping us back onto the coral. After a couple more hours we could actually see coral sticking out of the water around us. Our boat was resting on its keel and its side at a 37 degree angle on its starboard side (galley downhill).

Very hard to walk or lay down or sleep. Measure that angle. You slide on it. And the waves, although calmer than earlier, continued to pound us up and down all night long at about one to two minute intervals. Curly called at midnight and at 3 a.m. to see how we were doing and offer his encouragement. We are very grateful for him. We did not feel alone at all, but very supported and cared for. And of course I prayed all night long and managed to send out an "SOS" prayer request to about ten specific folks. Many thanks for your prayers and God's provision.

By that time, we were worried about how the boat would fare, but knew we were not in a life-threatening situation. That was a significant comfort. Help would be coming, and the boat was not in deep enough water even at high tide to sink, so we could always hold on to the mast if the boat filled with water, and then wait for help which was on its way. I just didn't much want to get wet, or lose the boat or my computer or my cooker or DVD collection or the birthday card Robin just sent me. And it rained and blew hard in the night from time to time. And we bounced. It was very worrisome. We packed a ditch bag with our important papers and our medicine, etc. and waited.

About 5 a.m. we started to float with intermittent bumping. Floating is good. Would the engine work? Yes, it worked, and the propeller still moved us forward. It was still pitch dark and an hour before high tide. We waited for the morning light.

About 6 a.m. we had not heard from the Levuka dive master and suspected he would not have been able to find the needed help until the next high tide, about 6 p.m. so we decided to test our boat, raise anchor, and float off ourselves. We did move, and get the anchor up, and hit an occasional balmy with a terrible sound, but we were quite optimistic about getting back into the channel and down the three miles to Levuka. "Turn now, hard to starboard!" Dan shouted. "I did already!" I called back. The boat continued to port. We had lost our steering.

Dan took the helm and worked us closer to the edge of the reef. We were almost free of it. A couple of fishermen came along in a long boat with a 25 hp engine and tried to help us out. No luck. We could not clear the edge. The Levuka dive master came in another boat and the two tried to tow us towards the inner channel but the tide was already going out and we were stuck again. "We'll be back this afternoon around 5 or 6 to try again." Reluctantly we watched them leave us. Then we noticed, as the tide went out, another 37 degree heel, but no bouncing. Not one. No, no not one! We just sat there and looked down at the reef.

Curly called again for an update and introduced us to Luc, a Belgian sailor on the trimaran Sloepmouche who had just arrived in Levuka from Tonga with his American wife Jackie from Grass Valley the same morning. He had helped quite a few boats off reefs and would be out to our boat quite soon to assist us in preparations for the high tide event. And he came out very graciously and talked with Dan about strategy, told us stories of successful outcomes, gave us warnings, "Be patient. Don't panic. Do not let a powerful boat yank you off, you can sink that way" and to get some long lines ready for the tow boats, and eat something and get some rest, and inflate the dingy, and check for leaks. When he arrived, he walked to our boat from the channel in about a foot of water, swam around with snorkeling gear to check the hull. We got out and walked around and took photos. It didn't look like there were any leaks, but we were taking in a bit of water. The bilge water ran into the galley so whoever could get down there was standing in 8" of water along the side next to the stove.

The rudder?snapped in two, a horizontal break, unbelievable. The rudder post is somewhat bent! And driven up into the boat about an inch (It can be pounded down with a sledge from under our mattress on our bunk.) So we have no steering.

The keel is pretty chewed up on the bottom with a hole on its inside where the lead ballast was. We are pretty sure it is in the water where we first pounded, and I think the dive shop people will go out tomorrow to look for it.

The outside of the hull has scratches here and there, and that is all. Unbelievable. You would have thought it would have cracked like an egg with all that bouncing, but it seems not to have.

Luc and his friend Mike walked around and decided on the safest route for us to get into the channel, then wanted floaters to mark the way, so we ended up using white fenders for one side and red life jackets for the other, tied to coral rocks with some of the nylon string I just had to have on the boat with us. At low tide it was easy to see the way.

The Customs and Port Authority men came out to see us. We filled out all the necessary paperwork and they stood around for quite a while and visited and climbed aboard and expressed a lot of interest. We are local celebrities, apparently the first ever yacht to get stuck at Ovalau. A dubious distinction! Several other fishing boats came by to greet us and one inquired whether we had any cigarettes or liquor. It was quite comical to have visitors to your yacht in a foot of water on a reef, everyone walking around and chatting and taking photos.

Everyone went away, we ate and rested. It's tricky at a 37 degree tilt to get any rest, but we did get a bit. Then the tide started coming in, and by 5 pm, a full hour before high tide, we were floating. As Luc said, "Your keel isn't as deep as it used to be." Oh dear. The Levuka dive boat came by with one extra crew and four spectators with cameras. They actually hauled us the whole way with assistance from two other boats. It went very smoothly with Luc's directions. We were towed right to where we should anchor and got settled very smoothly.

Throughout, our new crew Elayne was a real trooper and her 5 year old son was a gem. Nothing was too much to ask. She even dug into the lazarette when the angle was bad to start getting out the lines, and has helped clean the pots and pans that got wet in the bilge water, and has remained in good spirits the whole time.

Luc and his wife Jackie accepted our invitation to dinner that night and we had a delightful first visit with these veteran cruisers. I told them, "In my report to the prayer team, I said God had prepared help before we knew we needed it by bringing you clear from Tonga." And he looked at his wife and said, "We weren't even going to sail this soon, but on Monday we decided it was a good weather window and we would come this week." So. . .

We are looking for the purpose of God in this. We think we made some fairly significant mistakes which I may wait another day to list, but sometimes even our mistakes can be worked into God's purpose. I'm not a fatalist, I do not think this was "meant to be" but I think God may have a creative purpose or redeeming aspects to it all.

Our generator stopped running yesterday after we got settled. We looked, and it was moved about 8" off center, had never been fastened in properly. Dan simply moved this 300 pound piece of machinery back into place. He said he thinks the Holy Spirit gave him the thought that he could, and helped him do it. Then Dan drilled holes and put in two substantial lag screws to hold it in place. The new situation of the generator makes it easier to check the oil and the water levels, both still fine. He found the raw water pump hose O-clamp had corroded through, replaced that. Then the pulley was not turning the raw water pump for the cooling system, so found the loose nut and tightened it, and it is working again (took three hours).

The water-maker is working, but the pressure system for the water is not working because of a problem that happened before we hit the reef. We think there is another tear in the hot water tank. All the fresh water leaked out before Dan realized the problem and turned off the pressure system. We made enough water to get through the night. Luckily we had a hand pump (Do not let anyone talk you out of the need for back-up systems.) With a short supply of water, though, the hand pump didn't even work when the boat was so extremely angled. The next day before low tide, we filled every available container with water.

By the way, we had very mild seas and a cooling cloud cover all day yesterday, thankfully.

Well, tonight is the grand "thank you" party to all the crews that helped so far, at the local Chinese "all you can eat" restaurant. So I need to close out. We are well and very relieved, even though there is plenty to do. We will see about getting the rudder fixed so we can steer this thing to a port which can haul us out so we can get the keel fixed. Also our bottom paint has worn off and it needed more painting anyway.

Other than that, things are pretty much the same. More later.

2005-04-03

Savu Savu. Emma died this week. And we have been away from shore for a year. A double headline this time.

Emma was the wife of Tuki who sometimes helps us on the boat. I have written about them before, very lovely people with six children ranging roughly from age 18 on down. She was only 39 but had breast cancer and died about two years after diagnosis, including a radical mastectomy over a year ago. The treatment here is not brilliant, but then again, the disease is ferocious. Anyway, a bunch of us went to her funeral yesterday. A bus was arranged to leave at 9 a.m. and yachties from about six different boats were there, along with some local people. There was talk of us needing to wait for the casket from the hospital. If I had been in charge, there would have been more than waiting around happening! I wasn't, though, and one of the other yachties reminded me to "let them handle it, just wait and see." So we enjoyed each other's company in the shade of a tree. Finally about 10:30 we left, a good example of "Fiji time". I'm not quite sure what tipped the decision to leave, but we did head out.

Got over the hill towards the airport and stopped again. Some people were saying, "Yes, I see the truck over there." So some of us got out and walked down the long hill, across the road dissecting a middle school's soccer field, past three or four houses, and across a three-log crossing of a stream to Tuki's house. Probably there were about fifty family members and close friends congregated there in quiet groups. The coffin was in place on top of a woven mat in front of the house, covered with decorative tapa cloth and colorful flowers laid on top. I wanted to photograph it, but it felt too intrusive. Later I learned this was "Emma's last visit" to her home.

After a few minutes of standing around, we walked back to the bus. Shortly a long-bed truck from the lumber company drove up the road behind us carrying the casket and many of the family members. Another smaller truck followed, then we got in the line. A second bus with more family members came behind us. The ride was about 40 minutes along the Hibiscus Highway, through two rain squalls, past the end of the paved road to the turn-off to Salt Lake. That is where Tuki's family's property is. His great grandfather was a European who bought the 500 acres from a chief many, many years ago. The house is set on stilts, looks like it was planted there. Temporary shelters had been hastily built to house many relatives from out of the area. Large pots of food were cooking over extended temporary fires behind the house. A large pit had been dug and filled with rocks to become an oven (called a lovo) for cooking roots: dalo and casava, sort of like bland potatoes, very large and starchy and neutral. A good food. They baked for 1 ½ hours. A lady told me they will keep for several days without spoiling when cooked that way, as opposed to part of a day when cooked with steam.

The casket was set under one of the temporary shelters which had woven mats on the ground to sit on. When everyone got quiet, Emma's father formally presented a large bunch of yanqona (kava roots) to Tuki's family by way of asking for permission to bury Emma's body there, and to take care of the children. This was accepted with due ceremony. Then the casket was taken into the house where the chief mourners said a final goodbye with much wailing. It was unsettling to me, I walked around for a while. Tuki walked around, too.

After that, the formal funeral began with Fijian from one pastor interpreted into English by another. Very Christian. Very solemn. Our friend said it would be OK to take photos, so I did, and will get some in the mail soon.

I went behind the house and up the hill a ways to see the grave site. A dozen adolescent boys were perched around a serious square hole in the ground. I looked down into it. Lo and behold! "There's already a dead body in there!" I said, and the boys all laughed hilariously; then the one in the hole laid down again right seriously for a photo. You'll get to see it.

The funeral speaking over, the pall-bearers led a procession up the hill to the grave site, then more prayers and they lowered the box with the body into the ground and covered it all up with dirt. I walked away. I've already been to enough funerals. The women were crying again, and Tuki was nowhere to be seen. It is hard to bury a spouse, but in my experience, it helps to have a lot of friends around.

Oh, yes, and then the feast. Then the bus back. It was a long day. And it is still quite hot here.

We have been gone from the states for a year now. Last Easter we were on the high seas. It's amazing. We've been in Fiji about eight months. It's good. Our book is almost finished. We have some yachties reading it, and some have given very constructive comments; others have praised it. So! After this, we'll send it to a free-lance editor, then we'll see. And we'll keep you posted.

We'll be coming back to the US for a visit of about six weeks beginning near the first of May, so we'll be seeing some of you. I hope so. More later

2005-03-27

Savu Savu. Happy Easter to us all, and Happy Birthday to me. We are having a small party on our boat later, with a good-sized chocolate cake made by a local lady. Dan just picked it up?it is decorated with bunches of salmon-colored bush flowers and orchids all around, it is so pretty. So it will be a nice party. I'm planning to color a few hard-boiled eggs to go with it in memory of many Easters stateside.

This week has been full. I was just mentioning the Hong Kong Sevens last time, and they did play last Sunday evening. This is an interesting contest. For you uninformed people out there, I'll tell you what I learned. The whole elimination takes place over about two days, then the last three sets of games are all on one night. Each game takes about fifteen minutes to play (seven minutes per side). I watched Fiji beat Argentina with the rest of the crowd at the yacht club. More games were played after that with teams from all around the world, then we went back to our boat because we are "old" and go to bed early... Somewhere after 11 pm, Fiji lined up for the final game against New Zealand who was favored to win. All evening the town was unusually quiet, no cars or trucks on the road, no dogs barking or anything. Then suddenly, about 11:15 in the middle of the dark night, shouts started coming from everywhere around the harbor as Fiji began to score. It was a close game and very exciting. Then we won. Fiji is the Rugby Sevens World Champion. The shouting from everywhere was amazing!

Everyone understood this meant very little work would be done on Monday, and sure enough, a lot of places opened late or not at all. Then the government announced Thursday would be an national holiday in recognition of the victory, so all government offices were closed, along with everyone else. And Friday, being Good Friday, was a holiday; Monday is a holiday?I'm not sure why, maybe for Easter. Anyway, that was five holidays in a row. Luckily we have some Chinese businessmen and some Indians around who never mind what day it is, if they can sell something they'll be open. So we could get emergency supplies. And Saturday was half-day shopping, but Dan bought the last pineapple in the market and it is pretty green. Never mind. We're doing fine.

We went to church on Good Friday and the young people put on a passion play from the Garden of Gesthemane to the cross, then left it there for contemplation. Very moving and very sweet. Bed sheets of various colors served for desert garb, and cardboard for the skirts and swords of the Roman soldiers. About 50 adolescents from various small congregations all over this island and the next (Taveuni) were gathered and organized this play. Very thought-provoking, well worth getting over there by 9 am. Many people had tears in their eyes.

I think that is how it is with God when we fail to receive what He has prepared for us with gladness and gratefulness. There are many "exceedingly great and special promises" which he has prepared for us, all listed out on the menu (the scripture). Shall He who spared not His Own Son not also with Him freely give us all things? So let's see how to partake.

Best wishes for a Happy Easter and a Prosperous New Year. More Later.

2005-03-20

Savu Savu. This week we received a note from Kaylyn, a friend in the Marshall Islands. Here is an excerpt from her letter: "Majuro: A couple of weeks ago, George preached at BNJ church in Delap and Pastor Paul felt impressed to give an altar call after the message. The service was broadcast over the radio. I found out later that a young relative of our friend Charles L. was listening. He was swollen and very sick due to a serious problem with his liver. The doctors did not know what to do. As he was listening to the broadcast, he chose to give his life to Jesus. Shortly after that, God miraculously healed him. All the swelling went down. Charles said that he could hardly recognize that he was the same man; his countenance had changed that much. Now he is helping Charles more around the house and is full of joy. God is so good!"

Today is Palm Sunday. Our priest pointed out the same crowd who cheered and welcomed Jesus one week was demanding his crucifixion the next. The Hong Kong Sevens have every rugby fan in Fiji wound up, and our team is winning. Our priest said, What if they don't win next time? Will we crucify them? Will we be more excited about the outcome of the game than the coming of the Kingdom of God? If it doesn't happen the way we want it to, will we give up and demand an end of it?

Or, I ask you and myself at the same time, will we persevere, looking ahead toward the high calling which is ours in Christ Jesus, and believe, and not become discouraged but give thanks in all things, and boast about our Savior, and expect miracles, no matter what our circumstances?

And so often our circumstances feel like more of the same: more living on the boat, more writing of the novel for hours at a time (a third of the book has now been printed out and delivered to our first "reader", and more fixing what breaks down, which in our case is usually the sump pump. Dan and I spent nearly 3 hours on it yesterday, because it would get an airlock and not work. Then work. Then not work. We got down on our hands and knees, sweat pouring off our skin and making our knees slippery and blinding our eyes with salty sweat, twisting and bending and shoving and straining. We took apart the fittings between the water and the pump, a ridiculous 7 junctions, and then added plumbers' tape and fit them all back together again. Now it's working. Again. For now. Dan surmised the junctions were not tight enough and were letting air leak in. That would cause problems. The other problems include too many junctions, including some right angles, and the fact that the hose from the pump has to be stepped down about half an inch from the input in order to go out of the existing thru-hull. The best fix would be to enlarge the thru-hull (not easy) and eliminate a bunch of the junctions by purchasing longer hose (could have been done with the original installation, couldn't it? Reminds Dan of what our boating friend Ken said, "You get a shipwright to do a job, then you re-do it. So you might as well do it yourself the first time." Thanks Ken. We are remembering what you said!) More later.

2005-03-13

Savu Savu. First thing, our winlink account cleared itself of all approved correspondents. If you have tried to contact us and have not heard back from us, try our yahoo address, or try registering with winlink. I'm thinking I may have missed some of your correspondence.

Today we are once again moored near Cousteau's out in the main harbor, sheltered from south and east winds of 10 - 15 knots. It rolls and pitches our boat gently also keeps a light breeze coming through. Enjoying the quiet except when the dogs on shore are barking which they can do for hours at a time. We can jump right into the water here since it is clean enough, not like in town.

In fact, the weather is looking good these days. We have been keeping close watch on any lows that could turn into cyclones and scare us, but they have stayed away from Fiji this year pretty well. We have even started putting our sails back on the boat in preparation for some short trips before long. Did you see the new photos yet?

Most recent news is that I broke my little toe on my left foot by ramming it into some hardware on the combing around the cockpit as I was going on deck without shoes...I know, shouldn't go barefoot on a boat. Shouldn't be in a hurry, either. You caught me twice!

And I'm paying for it. Missed a great party last night at the "Planter's Club," an old European-type members-and-bona-fide-guests-only type place. They were celebrating a successful fishing contest. We stayed home, me with my foot propped up to control the swelling around the joint of the small toe.

And we missed church today. When I got up this morning and put my leg down, the sore place started to throb.

The next news is that the major re-working of our novel is completed. Almost. We are now just going to read it through and make sure the characters are properly introduced and consistent throughout, shouldn't take much longer. So stand by for further news!

This past week we spent several days near Cousteau's on a mooring and got a lot of work done on the book. We also made water and charged up our batteries. Had one family here for dinner before they left for Vuda Point in Viti Levu, and joined another boat the night before they left for Koro. Had some quiet time. It is too easy to run into town when we are moored closer to Savu Savu.

We did get to one party on Friday, an actual Art Show. One of the resorts here held an artist's workshop for four days, then had a no-host bar and a show, so we went there and rubbed shoulders with some international artists (one delightful lady named MaryAnne of all things!) and local cultured folks. It was quite fun.

The lady who hosted the seminar is Delia, the same person who taught the writing workshop I attended a few months ago where I learned so much about creative writing. I think our novel now reflects a lot of this new learning. We deliberately borrowed John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath for studying his writing style and feel deeply impressed.

More later.

2005-03-06

Savu Savu. New photos have been added to the website under "Life in Savu Savu" or some such title. Hope you enjoy them.

Today was "Mothering Sunday," the fourth Sunday in Lent. The service was given over to the women and I was allowed to do the sermon. Cool. My text was from Exodus Chapter 2 about the birth of Moses. I made 4 major points: 1. Reverence toward God is a good foundation for any marriage and for raising a family: Moses' parents were both Levites, people set apart for the worship of God (and we are also part of the priesthood of God if we are believers). 2. We should do our best to worship and obey God when raising children. There may come a time when we need to give them over entirely into God's care: Moses' parents prepared a special basket for the baby, then set it carefully into the river's edge not knowing what would happen. 3. Those who are not the parents also have a role, sometimes very important, in caring for a child: Young Miriam watched what would happen to the baby. It took a lot of courage for her to approach the daughter of the most powerful man in Egypt regarding the need for a nursemaid (no matter what your age, you may be called by God to do something special.) 4. Anything we do within the direction and will of God will bear fruit, and we cannot know how important the smallest thing is, such as making a basket or offering to help someone with a baby. It is interesting to note, with all the impossible lists of names in the Bible, that the parents of Moses were not mentioned by name. There are many bright stars in the sky, but as a sailor I can tell you those points of light with names unknown to me are just as important as the more prominent ones.

I mention "light" because the theme of the World Day of Prayer on Friday was "Let our Light Shine." Now the World Day of Prayer has always seemed a bit hokey to me, but I decided to participate here. A few weeks ago I learned it would be at St. Leonard's (my home church) but Methodists, Catholics, Pentecostals, etc. would all be there, too, and the men would do the cooking. The service was written by an ecumenical group in Poland and disseminated throughout the world (some of you may have participated in your own communities.) When I read over my copy, I was concerned about the complexity of the sentences and the obscurity of some of the words, but glad enough when I got to the church to discover the Methodists had the service booklet in Fijian. That way, everyone could follow along.

There were over 200 women there! And you have to realize, usually there are about 40 people in church on a Sunday. It was an amazing service! Our pastor's wife did a beautiful job officiating. Our priest was out in the kitchen shed with five other men preparing chicken curry and dalo and fish stew and rice and fruit for lunch. Five women served 200 plates of food and others carried them out and back in. Everyone had a very wonderful time. I was the only non-Fijian aside from a 90 year old New Zealand woman named Mrs. Lowe who has lived here most of her life.

On Saturday I learned the arm motions for a Fijian dance to a Christian song and so I joined about six other women today in dancing this. It was very cool. Hopefully, I'll get to do more of this. We did take photos, too, so will be sending them after a while. More later.

2005-02-27

Savu Savu. It has been raining and blowing hard this whole week, the heaviest rain I have ever seen or heard, a deluge. Like buckets being dumped on the deck for hours at a time. The wind has been 20 - 30 knots in gusts which swing the boat back and forth on its mooring and raise white caps in our tiny, well-protected harbor. The sound is frightening, but I have been getting used to it, so it doesn't bother me as much as it did at first. We have left up the bimini and the wind-scoops, but some extra moisture has come in, especially the tiny raindrops which can ride into the boat with the air.

The cause for all this rain is another low to the northwest of us and a slow-moving trough eastwards from it. This line from northwest to northeast and down to the Cook Islands has been the path of three or four major cyclones this year so far, with winds 140 knots. This much wind does a fair amount of damage. I have been practicing the kind of prayer Agnes Sanford teaches, to respect the forces of nature but ask them to calm down, dissipate in smaller gusts, avoid populated areas, wear off their energy without causing damage. Who knows whether this type of prayer works or not, so I'm believing that it does. Supposing it does? We'd be crazy not to pray that way. Agnes Sanford lived on the San Andreas fault line in the LA area and would pray continuously for the earth to release its tension little by little.

Reminds me of the admonition to "never let the sun go down on your anger". Releasing tiny tensions between people is a far better way than letting it build up.

We've declared war, though. "Live and let live" didn't work. "Consider the ant and learn from her" all well and good unless the ant is on your boat and crawling on your bed at night and biting you! Or biting your legs while you're writing a best-seller. I think they came in on the pineapples, well worth eating, these local pineapples, so sweet. Or the bananas, which are also a source of spiders and earwigs. Anyway, the ants got out of control and have been too many. I use the past tense, because the boric acid powder sprinkled on various protein-laden treats seems to have made a big dent in their population. "Don't leave home without it!"

It is sad, too, because the ant is really quite amazing. It can carry more than its own volume, probably more than its weight. When scurrying, can move at a tremendous pace relative to its size, and communicates with other ants somehow. Scouter ants who find something, go tell some others, and within seconds the target is inundated. If we have moved the target, they will still look for it in the original location for a while. It is quite fascinating. Also, they can sense your finger posed above them to do serious damage and are able to do avoidance maneuvers which would be respected by any army. Still, we have to be smarter than they are. You can have too many ants on your boat and it is not recommended!

This week we have stayed on our mooring, worked on the book, visited friends for "Happy Hour" at the yacht club, a two minute dingy ride away. That's about it. Oh, and sent a bunch of photos off to our webmaster, may God bless him! Hopefully, you'll see them on the website before long. More later.

2005-02-20

Savu Savu. Yesterday we served dinner in our cockpit to a Dutch couple and their four children (ages 5 - 13) from the Dolphin Queen, a cutter about the same size as our boat. They have a five year or more plan to sail around the world and told us last night they will be leaving this harbor in about a month. Then they listed 4 or 5 other boats they believe will be leaving about the same time. These are people we have been getting to know. It is one of the down-sides of cruising, to become acquainted and then say good-bye.

In first arriving in Savu Savu and getting to know the people and the place, it seemed to me they all belonged here and would somehow always be here. It reminds me of my first semester at Fuller and how I absorbed the environment along with the various people there. I was delighted, of course. Then suddenly felt anxious as I planned to leave for Christmas break. Would the place be the same when I got back? "Yes, we'll all be here, don't worry," said a young classmate who decided not to continue his PhD studies after all and who was not there when I got back.

The lady of Dolphin Queen said she doesn't like to return to places she has been in years past "because they're always different, they've always changed for the worse, and you're always disappointed."

There is nothing like experiencing a new place (or person) for the first time and embracing everything about it (or them). But if you stay very long, it will change, whether you go away and come back or whether you live there day by day. We cannot hold onto the people we love, we cannot keep trees from losing their leaves or new sidewalks from cracking. We get older ourselves (at least you do...) Are we changing for the worse? Are we becoming a disappointment to someone?

When I think of our new friends leaving, I feel sad and think to myself, I will not be getting to know and care for the next lot of cruisers the same way. It is an understandable protective mechanism, but not what a rich life is made of.

There is one thing that does not change. Malachi 3:6 says "I am the Lord, I change not" and Hebrews 13:8 says "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." When we are changing, are we changing into his likeness? 1 Peter 2:6 says, "Whoever believes in him shall not be disappointed." More later.

2005-02-15

Feb 15th, 2005. Savu Savu. Just returned from five days in Suva. (First entry in about ten days...) We flew down in a small plane, a 15 passenger job. We could see the water and islands and reefs, very interesting to look down on where you were sailing. The trip was good. We saw our two sons several times; the invitation to dinner at a restaurant is quite compelling! We slept in air-conditioning, even took naps with a blanket! Such a treat...We visited a friend of Dan's who is in government here, and he just contacted his friend in the immigration department. We are now assured of receiving our work visas about a week from now, "No worries." That is the message we hear from lots of people. But I've been a worrier for years. My theory? It takes a certain amount of worrying to keep the world going around, so it is a privilege to do some of this worrying.

The up side of work visas is that we don't need to leave the country to renew a visitor's visa, and we'll get to work in medicine again. The down side is that we will probably need to put in some professional hours at the hospital in Suva.

Anyway, we are glad to be back and everything is fine on the boat. It was a lot of work to get it ready, because?in case of a bad storm?all the sails would have to be off, everything stripped from topsides to minimize windage and loss. Not fair to leave it to others to do. So we did it ahead of time, and it took most of the day. Some of it will go back on so we can move around below, but we'll probably let the sails stay below decks until we get ready to sail around Fiji a few months from now.

Last week Tuesday I went with our priest's wife Esther and two other ladies from our parish to visit some women who live up in the mountains, a half-hour's drive from the main road, pavement to well-travelled gravel, then right onto a dirt road with bits of grass in the middle, then right again onto a grassy road with bits of dirt where tires sometimes travel. At the end of that road is a foot-path, and lucky for us, a house. This is where we met three of the ladies from "St. Peter's," a house-meeting of a daughter church of St. Leonard's where our priest sometimes goes to do communion services. All the sharing was in Fijian except what I said which seemed to be well-enough understood not to need interpreting. It's nice that a lot of people here understand and speak English. Most do. We had introductions, some words, then prayers, then a hymn, then tea and bread and visiting for an hour or so. I took some photos which created some interest and hilarity, especially from the oldest of the women.

The house was set on stilts, chickens, ducks, dogs and a couple of children had the run of the yard. It would have been very quiet there except the metal roof crackled in the heat of the sun. It sounded like rain. Nice breezes came through the unadorned window openings, I mean, no glass, no wooden shutters, no screens, no doors that I could see. A rooster helped himself to a piece of bread from the table and was shooed away. He carried it around in the bushes for quite a while. Banana and papaya trees grew nearby. It was the jungle. Very cool. I mean it was warm, but very cool. More later.

2005-02-06

Sunday Feb 6th, 2005, Savu Savu. "Roasted peanuts!" The adolescent vendors were selling snacks to the folks on the Napuka bus through the open windows as the passengers gave their fares to the two Indian conductors. It was $1.30 each for a half-hour's ride eastwardsalong the Hibiscus Highway, and Dan and I were on our first bus outing. First stop was Elayne and Scott's house. They live about a block from the main road towards the end of a grassy lane. We walked until we saw their place, a square shack with a blue awning . Elayne bought a quarter acre and will be building a small house, but for now they are living in a storage shed and enjoying it! The other day they got electricity and a phone line. She feels very up in the world for it, even has an internet connection right there in her windowless storage shed home. They showed us the creek that runs along one edge of the property where they bathe and wash clothes, and invited us to walk up it to see the waterfall. It was somewhat intimidating, even with sandals, to walk up an unknown creek in a distant land, but it was do-able and very "Fiji" to be in a creek in the jungle. Elayne said how nice it was not to have to worry about snakes or poisonous spiders or anything like that. Then she said, watch for those plants there, if you touch them with your bare skin, it will itch like crazy for a week and there is no remedy. So we walked carefully! Lunch was in the shade of a very large rain tree with a light breeze, very nice.

Sorry to be leaving so soon, but the bus we wanted was due, so back to the road we went to catch the Napuka bus for the rest of the way to the end. Dan decided to ask the driver whether in fact this bus went the same place as the Nukubalavu bus we would have caught to get to the village where they do the Meke every week for the tourists from the Cousteau resort. No, he said. That village is southwest of the airport. I'll take you back to the airport, then you have to get a taxi for $4 to get to the village. Short story: we made it in time.

The village of Nukubalavu is very clean and neat. Its chief is the chief of Savu Savu and the surrounding area. And we would need to do a "sevusevu" to receive permission to visit. Dan and I had worn our best clothes, blue Fijian printed dress and shirt to match. We had our hats and umbrellas and dark glasses to protect from the sun. The lady who met us said, "You are dressed in traditional Fijian clothing, and we appreciate it very much. But," she added, "You need to take off your hats and dark glasses and put your umbrella down before you approach the chief. He lives over there in that green house." So we did. And gave him our requisite packet of yangona, the root they make the kava drink out of. And Dan introduced us. Then we were free to look around for the ten minutes before the ceremony began. We watched the parade of tourists from Cousteau's resort arriving to greet the chief. Seeing them in their burmuda shorts and skimpy teeshirts, I felt even gladder I had worn my pretty dress.

We watched the formal kava ceremony between the villagers and the tourists, then a group of women danced, then a group of men dressed as warriors did some war dances. A group of villagers played and sang traditional songs for these dances. Then they served lemonade and store-bought cookies and offered handicrafts for sale. We bought another woven fan. They are very nice to have in this heat.

This was still Tuesday, my "day out!" So we went to happy hour at the SavuSavu Yacht Club in the Copra Shed, then to the Sea View Café for dinner. Our friends on Opus 4 were back from a 3 week trip? it was very good to see them. We celebrated Paul's birthday two weeks late! With balloons, etc, provided by one of his good friends. Quite nice.

Wednesday things settled back down somewhat with a short two hour visit from Elayne and Scott for his 5th birthday. We gave him an empty gatorade jar filled with Charles Shaw corks and other paraphanalia suitable for building a yacht to float in his creek. He was thrilled and immediately loaded all the corks into his new semi-truck, another birthday present. Dan has been doing a lot of the errands this past couple of weeks so that I'll keep working on the novel. And I had better get back to it now! More later.

2005-01-30

Sunday, January 30, 2005, Savu Savu. It is raining. There is a low system a couple of hundred miles to the north and west of us which is bringing rain and occasional squalls with winds predicted to reach 25 - 30 knots. Right now the mooring area is very calm and it has cooled off quite a bit?its only 84 degrees right now. We have been working on the novel. Dan keeps telling me, we will do this and that as soon as it is finished. I plan to hold him to it!

We just got a call on our VHF radio from one of the cruisers who watches the weather for us. She was requesting barometer readings. The barometer is dropping and the low seems to be heading this way. And the ocean water is getting warmer in general. This is not such a good situation. This is the cyclone season. We hope the current low, due to hit us later today, will not gather enough strength to turn into one of those beasts.

Highlight of the week was "Australia Day" and its party at the SeaView Café. Almost all the cruising fleet were there for dinner and the hermit crab races. The children had been enlisted to collect some hermit crabs, since it had been somehow foreknown the adults would do a poor job of finding their own. Alistair from "Largo Star," our only Island Packet, was recruited to be auctioneer for these racing crabs. I paid nearly the most, about US $2 for my fine steed, one of the largest who nevertheless was beaten by a small white-shelled fellow. In case you've never seen this type of race, all the contestants were dumped into one styrofoam cup, then expelled into a careful pile at the center of a circle about 4 feet in diameter, drawn by Alistair on the concrete driveway with a short piece of chalk. The winner is the first to cross that line, regardless of the direction. A good time was had by all, and the children excitedly pocketed the money from the auction

Another game was a sandal toss. Each person removed one sandal and stood in a specified spot to toss it backwards overhead and try to come the closest to a central target. Dan won nicely with a square-on hit. His only explanation was, "I grew up in Indiana playing basketball." He did a little jig to celebrate. His reward was a glass of undrinkable red wine.

A third game was hat-decorating, Australian style. I found out corks tied to strings on the brims of hats are used by Australians to keep the biting flies off faces. I tied plenty of Charles Shaw corks on Dan's hat with embroidery thread, but he came in second to someone dressed up outrageously as the famous Australian highway bandit.

We did not stay for the after-dinner coconut-toad races. After sundown when the hoppers came out of hiding so they could be caught, the children brought a nice cardboard boxful back to the café . So, as it happens, I cannot report on it. I assume there was a second auction with a larger circle for the race .

We have remained moored in our sheltered harbor all week due to the rain and the threats of a westerly wind which whips up waves on the harbor and makes a lee shore of our anchorage area where we like to go for swimming. We had a touch of dysentery, Dan's was worse than mine, but responded quickly to a bit of Cipro from our medical supplies. Missed church last week, but today it was good again. I think our priest must have been influenced by a book we gave him to read. His improved sermons lead us to that surmise.

Not having a whole lot to report, I will leave you this time with a couple of paragraphs from Chapter One of The Last Reunion, our book underway.

"Close the door!" he could hear her calling. He had forgotten. He was at the bottom step when suddenly his right foot caught against something buried in the snow. He lost his balance and pitched forward face first into the deep, stinging powder. The snow filled his nose and mouth with frigid softness, choking him. It jammed inside the collar of his tattered Navy coat and up the sleeves around his wrists. The numbing pain was so sudden and intense that for an instant John accepted his fate. He was going to freeze to death as he had imagined right outside the door, just like his brother.

"For land's sakes, John! What are you doing?" Sarah stood at the open door in amazement as she watched John struggle to his feet. She shivered involuntarily with the rush of frigid air which pinched her nose and stung her cheeks. About to make a joke, she checked herself as she saw the look on John's face. Then she noticed him feeling around in the snow at the bottom of the steps. What on earth was he doing? She backed into the warmth of the kitchen, still watching and waiting. Why didn't he speak up?

John was wheezing now, bending over, poking around in the snow. "Hey, bud! Whatever are you up to? And I don't like that cough! Reminds me of how my father used to wheeze?the doctors told me it was senile emphysema with bronchitis. At least you don't smoke, John. That would definitely make it worse. Emphysema! I still don't know why they didn't give him some of that new-fangled medicine that's supposed to cure pneumonia. You better take care of yourself. Where's that scarf I made you? What are you doing down there in the snow, anyway?"

"Here it is. Tripped on it coming out." John lifted something large out of the snowdrift and brushed it off. It was a picnic basket of some kind. He carried it carefully back up the snow-covered stairs into the kitchen, Sarah closing the door firmly behind him. Slipping and sliding on the linoleum, he managed to set the basket down on the table.

Together they scrutinized it?a long wicker basket with a handle, a well-worn quilt stuffed inside. This was probably not a basket of gifts for the Home. Instead, the faded quilt covered what looked like the shape of an infant's body.

John scooped more of the snow off the quilt, dropping it onto the already wet floor as Sarah watched. His gloved hand slowly lifted back the top corner of the quilt which glistened with droplets of melting snow. There was the tiny, ashen blue face of an infant.

2005-01-23

Sunday, January 23rd, 2005, Savu Savu. "Always use the good stuff first." This advice from our friend Ken in California has stayed with me ever since I heard it over a year ago. It has helped me to decide what to fix for dinner many times in the last year, like pulling out the frozen steaks early on the first leg of our journey across the Pacific; like getting out the package of vacuum-packed salmon given to us by my brother instead of saving and saving it. I admit, I saved the last of the buckwheat pancake mix to fix for Dan's youngest sons who visited us recently. Now the buckwheat is all gone, but a cruiser heading for New Zealand gave me a bag of rye flour and I have learned to use other local ingredients to make things interesting.

So far, folks, I have to tell you, I have not run out of "good stuff." It reminds me of various scriptures, like "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth..." and "Seek first the kingdom of God, then all these things shall be added" and "Give and it shall be given to you, full measure, pressed down, and running over."

If we don't use the "good stuff" we'll never enjoy it. What kind of benefit is that? I think back on things that got "saved for later" and some were very special because they were used from time to time, but some never got used at all and we might as well not have had them.

This past week we enjoyed having Elayne and Scott (almost 5) on board again for a few days and motored out to the anchorage near Cousteau's where we went snorkeling again and played "Go Fish" with a little boy and had a very nice cockpit supper with another cruising couple we've been wanting to get to know.

The book is coming along. I keep improving it! And last night read the first two chapters out loud to our friends Pam and Graeme who wrote a couple of autobiographical books themselves. They said it was well done, so there you have it! Well, not yet, but I'll let you know as soon as you can.

Their books If God Be for Us and Who Can Be Against Us are about their missionary experiences in Ethiopia and New Guinea, some quite harrowing. Very well done and well worth the read. Ordering info is as follows: $25 for the set includes postage and handling to Leighton Smith. His e-mail is lsmith@microsoft.com. By the way, Pam and Graeme will be stateside in May and June and may be able to accept a speaking engagement. You could contact Leighton, their son.

The tropics are not all fun and games, folks. It is very hot and humid (95 x 95). Things rust very fast, dishes stay wet in the sink, rashes form on skin. Dan got a serious welt from some type of painful sting when snorkeling the other day. Any water stings, use vinegar to rinse them, then water after that. Dan followed the initial treatment with cortisone ointment and luckily it responded and felt better within a few hours. Mosquitoes, flies, and nasty little grain moths have been plaguing us. Also ants, probably arrived on fruit from the market, which are protein eaters and bite us in our bed sometimes. We've been trying to get rid of them, finally bought some poison spray, can you believe it? We have managed to hand-smash the two flying roaches which have come on board (two only, wow.) Other than that, everything is fine. Oh, the diarrhea... not sure how we got that, it seems to be "what's going around." 20% of the guests at Cousteau's are allegedly not showing up for meals because of it.

PS. The tsunami has not affected us here any more than in the states. We did not notice it in the physical realm, although we are sorrowed by it.

PPS. We are not even thinking of building or buying here right now. We have our Taveuni land for sale. This is enough for now. We cherish hearing from each of you who write.

2005-01-16

Savu Savu. Amazing novel recommendation: The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay, ISBN#0-345-35992-5, Ballentine (1990). I've read half of it. The descriptions and characters are quite amazing. It is an engrossing story of a boy from the age of about five until age 21 who grew up in South Africa and learned that one person can make a difference, the weak can win, and you should lead first with your head, then your heart. I strongly recommend this book, hope you can find it.

The visit with Dan's two youngest sons went very well. Their choice of various activities was to take our yacht out of the harbor to the anchorage near the Cousteau Resort (about a 45 minute ride), fish along the way, then swim and snorkel, watch movies and play games, eat pizza and sweet rolls. All easy. They spent the bulk of one day with some local teenagers from our church and had a good time, but chose to return to our boat in time for dinner and an evening movie with us. They had brought a DVD set of the complete 4th season of the Simpson's TV show, so finally Daniel saw one whole episode of the Simpsons and tolerated it quite well. They are fairly clever, really, as many people will attest...

One of the evenings, we had the good fortune to be invited to the Cousteau Resort for a slide show given by their resident Marine Biologist, Chris from Hawaii, which focused on coral. (What kind of a job is that? To live at a plush resort, do research, and consult with educated wealthy tourists?!!) I learned a lot: Fiji waters are low on nutrients so they do not have the kelp, etc. which other places have; instead they are considered to be "desert coral"! What I had thought were drab, boring, coral are the "hard coral" which build reefs. They are shades of brown, grey, and dull green because of the algae which live on them and feed them and the tiny brightly colored fish which in turn find shelter in the coral and provide food for the algae. The coral are closed up hard and smooth during the day, but many of them bloom out at night in order to catch plankton, turning into miniature anemone-like creatures with wavy tentacles set in neat rows along the coral branches. As Chris showed us various types of hard coral, I tuned into the rich varieties: brain coral, table coral, and various branching types. The bright blue tips on the latter are the new growth which has not yet been covered with algae.

If you want to see brightly colored "soft" coral, you want to go where the tides come in and out with force, bringing the plankton food this type of coral eats instead of the algae which feed the hard coral. Then we saw some photos of some of those types which also host a different population of brightly colored fish. He suggested some local sites.

The next day we found "split rock" near our anchorage. This is a 20 - 30 foot high column of hard coral in deeper water which comes nearly to the surface at low tide. And it has a split (possibly two towers growing in proximity)?so there are many varieties of hard coral on top and all around, some with new blue tips! Inside the split are growing several varieties of soft coral, brilliant reds, greens, blues, and violets, keeping shelter for many brightly colored reef fish: bright reds, yellows, shy black ones with tiny white tails, bold vertically striped "sargeant fish" which swam within easy reaching distance they seemed to be curious! And not the least shy.

I recommend trying "Cousteau" or "corals" on the internet or your local library to see photos of these. Either that, or come for a visit! And we'll take you on a tour of them.

The night before, at sundown, we saw a large creature break the surface of the bay, then noticed about eight footprints?round smooth patches where the water had been disturbed?behind the creature. It only surface for a couple of seconds at a time, but twice I heard it breathe out! If we had been in California, I would have suspected it to be a sea lion, but we don't have those here. Chris told us it was probably a Minke whale. It was alone. The pilot whales we saw out in the Koro sea traveled in large groups, and dolphins typically jump and they like saying "hello" to boats. Chris seemed impressed we had seen a Minke. We were, too, what we could see of it?something big breaking the surface!

As I was making deluxe cinnamon rolls for breakfast the other day, I thought of a friend of mine here who longs for a good diabetic cinnamon roll?I told her I would make her some if she brought me some artificial sugar. So far she hasn't. So I got to thinking about the concept of investing in what you want. I had a friend who used to talk about winning the lottery and what he might do with all the money?but he never bought a ticket. I remember talking with folks about the election until I realized they weren't registered to vote?end of conversation! Why bother? And then I got to thinking about the things I hope to see of God and the things I'd like to do "for" Him?and the investment it might take. Time spent in Bible reading and prayer is known to be a requirement for participation in his kingdom work. Happy to say, these days Dan and I are doing better than we used to... fairly regular most days. The rest is for me to open my mouth. On Epiphany Sunday I wished we would sing "We Three Kings of Orient Are", then realized it wasn't in the hymn books there. I could have sung out the first verse and chorus for the small congregation, but didn't, then felt disappointed in myself. So today!!!!! I raised my hand during the announcement period and spoke up regarding what was on my heart for the day. I felt very satisfied with how I followed through with what I was feeling prompted to do. God can tell us and guide us, but he is not going to move our feet for us or open our mouths for us (not probably anyway).

This Sunday was Memorial Sunday for the Tsunami victims in many churches around the world. With thanks to Agnes Sanford (All Creation Waits, etc.) and Peter Lundell (Blessings to You, see our web front page) I talked about "Why?!"It is such a tragedy, yet not caused by God. Natural processes are natural. The earth needs earthquakes to stay healthy, but they don't have to be big ones! (Just as in our families, small disagreements well-settled keep big ones from ever happening.) The earth is part of the creation separated from God by our sin, and for whose sake Jesus is reconciling us. As Christians, we have the authority and responsibility to pray for the world?we can pray the earth adjust itself in small tremors which do not cause harm as Agnes Sanford did. When Satan challenged Jesus during his 40 day fast, "See all the nations of the world which belong to me?if you worship me, I'll give them to you," Jesus did not contradict him, instead he proclaimed "I will worship the Lord God only." We ought to do the same. So the tsunami might certainly have been natural processes which built up dangerously high, or it might have been Satan's work of destruction and hatefulness. Scripture tells us "All things work together for good for those who are called by his name" and so we can agree with this scripture by asking God to bring good and positive results from the sorrow and suffering. This includes doing everything we can, such as sending money, maybe going ourselves, and certainly praying for God's hand to bless and provide what is needed.

Dan adds: Right now, many church organizations, banks, businesses, and relief organizations are accepting donations for services being provided by many countries for the victims. Meanwhile, however, the question in church today was, "How can God let this happen?" Some 200,000 or more people will die from this disaster. On the other hand, the world-wide practice of expedient killing of unborn children claims well over one million lives each year. As I pondered these and other lethal afflictions experienced by mankind--war, abortion, famine, neglect of AIDS victims--I was instructed firmly in my mind one day a few months ago that God is still in control, and we are not. As individuals we neither understand the ultimate effect and meaning of such tragedies nor do we have the power as individuals to avert or control them. God reminded me He ultimately takes care of his own creation. There is no way we will comprehend or come up with The Answer to "How could God..." but we can make a difference, we ought to do our part, we ought to do whatever we can and leave the rest to Him. More later.

2005-01-08

Anchored near the Jean Cousteau Resort near SavuSavu Fiji. It is quite pretty out here and would be quiet if the generator and the water maker and the washing machine weren't all running. We've actually been waiting to do these chores in a location with cleaner water, so today is the day. It is a drag to clog your filters needlessly.

Dan and his boys have gone off on the dingy to visit the sailing yacht Awesome, a true California boat painted bright yellow. The couple on board are around our age, in fact the skippers differ by only three days in their original marks on the calendar. They have some spare snorkeling gear they are willing to lend us.

Yes, you heard right. Dan's two youngest sons are here for a long awaited visit. They came via inter-island transport last night from Suva, arriving at 4:30 am. Yes, you heard right. Yours truly and spouse set the old cruising alarm and groggily greeted the pre-dawn sky. Prior arrangements with the night watchman of a closer by dingy dock kept the man from being scared out of his wits when we landed with our flashlight and made our way along a narrow walkway through their gate and onto the streets. It was another 1/4 of a mile along the main road to the landing area. We watched the boat come in, then the big trucks and small passenger cars unload. Finally the passengers straggled off, eventually even Marshall and Jeffrey showed up.

We have been having more equipment problems. My computer screen, recently out of warranty, developed a permanent icon in the very center. Our neighbor came over and took out those buttons on the screen, giving us a clear view, but warning also that moisture had begun its dastardly work and we may need to consider buying a new screen sometime before too much longer. This is not pleasing news. After he left for several hours the screen was much worse, but now it is working again. We'll be able to watch a movie tonight.

This same man named Leo lives with his wife and four children on a boat called Dolphin Queen, sailing under an Austrailian flag but originally from Holland. He is also an electrical engineer. He knows about computers, but is not as good with generators which will not stay running. Nevertheless, after I threw a few and refused to help Dan with the project after a fruitless hour, Leo offered his brains and common sense. It took the two of them about six hours to get it running and keep it running. Loose belts were the easiest, but the larger of the two was originally too big to have ever been right, and they were both too worn to continue working with any efficiency. A raw water intake filter full of leaves and dirt was also fairly easy. Among the most difficult was the loose hose clamp at the extreme underside of the generator which required the use of my best silver hand mirror to find. The subsequent need of several quarts of water into the engine still did not solve the problem. It continued to over-heat and turn itself off within about two minutes. At last Dan thought of the possibility of an airlock in the thermostat. That fixed, it ran fine, and still does to this day! (Two days later).

By the way, I am happy to say, I was off the boat during most of their work. We have also gone to a couple of parties. One, "Brian's birthday party," was quite a spontaneous celebration. A bit of a renegade from New Zealand, Brian has an American wife from Seattle and a 10 year old son on a trimaran called "Anon." It was a 16th birthday, but since he has already had at least that many of them, it could be at the local Yacht Club. This club has a rule that if you wear a hat into the bar, you (a man) must then buy everybody a drink. So Brian declared if anyone wore a hat, he would buy them a drink. So everyone wore hats, and I must say there were some terrific ones. The best was worn by a lady named Rixzene, a GP from Ohio who sails a 62 foot ketch called Karmaladen. She wore an upside down basket from which cascaded multiple soft fiber strands decorated with beads and shells, and on top of which was fastened a large bulbous blue gourd crowned with a wreath of straw flowers and from which cascaded a generous amount of white mosquito netting. It towered easily more than two feet above her normal height. That lady has class! Her prize was first in line to get some home-made chili, a group effort spear-headed by two NZ physicians, a couple with an 11 year old precocious daughter, on a red yacht called "WhipJack."

We have had the second in a series of "cyclone preparedness" workshops lead by Curly, our resident shepherd. We all have quite a better idea of what to do "in case" and we also formed a plan to deal with an old unsafe fishing/interisland passenger boat roughly 70 feet long which is tied to two small trees at the shore of our harbor. The owner is "unconcerned" and so we as a group will present a petition to the Fijian Marine safety officer in charge of the harbor, then appeal upwards. The boat is too long to be safe on any of our moorings which are all occupied anyway. It is also an extreme hazard to any of our boats, as it is highly likely to be thrown at more than one of us by high, unforgiving winds.

It is great to have the boys here. Happy new year to you all! More later.

2005-01-01

Happy New Year! Usually we bring in the new year with the east coast then hit the sack early. Last night we realized there was no one else to "bring it in early with" since Fiji is one of the islands to be First into the New Year! We would have to wait 24 hours or more! Actually, as I write this about 5 pm local time, I realize Indiana is probably just now getting ready to bring in the new year and we have already seen about 18 hours of 2005. It's funny. The concept of "now..." Until you travel, you don't see the problem.

We shared the evening with friends at the yacht club and then with Pam and Graeme, a lovely missionary couple we have recently met. We had a nice dinner on board and yakked for four hours. When it came time for the yachties to sing "Auld Lang Syne" at the club, they called us on the VHF to lead the song over the radio! Pretty funny, and fun.

Thoughts for the new year will come from Micah: "I have shown you what is good: to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." For me, this means being patient and kind to others and listening carefully for God's leading each and every day. It is like the summary Jesus gave us: "To love God with all your heart and soul and mind; and to love your neighbor as yourself." It means letting God be God. Letting Him do what He does while we do what we ought to be doing cooperating with His Plans, praying according to his will, etc.

I knew I'd remember what I wanted to say if I waited: The whole thing works itself out very practically in a situation like this: I had been hoping in someone else's behavior (don't even try to guess, could easily be more than one different person and different occasion!) Anyhow, I started to think in terms of "they should" and "they're obligated" and "they've got a lot of nerve not..." Might as well mention "they won't!" Managed to work myself up into quite an angry state over it. The solution came as I took a break to sing a hymn or two. Immediately I was reminded of how God has made preparations for us and we haven't shown up. He has hopes for us and we won't cooperate. He has wonderful promises for us, and we won't listen, we won't accept them. I felt embarrassed and immediately thanked God for the situation I was complaining about. "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God...." So I started to give thanks for this situation instead of grumbling and within minutes, I am not kidding! I felt better. Actually I am looking forward to how it will all work out as Dan joined me in giving the situation to the Lord afresh.

As I write this I realize I've been in lots of situations like this. One funny one was when I needed help with a research project and I was praying "God, make them help me." And he said, "I don't have any more control over their wills than you do!" So I laughed, and prayed for him to lead me to the ones who were willing.

It's a process, life! May God bless you in your process this coming year! More later.